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WILTON-Luxury home buyers can cut costs as well as help the environment
at a subdivision featuring homes with alternative energy
sources.
Frank
Laskey’s Louden Ridge is a 22-lot development
on Louden Road. Work is under way now on a demonstration
house that Laskey plans to open in time for
September’s annual Showcase of Homes.
All
houses will have passive solar energy systems, and some also
will have geothermal energy supplies.
“We
have to see what the market asks for,” Laskey said.
Passive
solar energy is different from photovoltaic solar, which
converts direct current from sunlight to alternating
current that runs household electricity.
Passive solar is maximized by installing extremely high-efficiency “smart” boilers.
Conventional boilers fire up to 90,000 BTU’s regardless of the amount
of heat that’s really needed.
“All
the heat you don’t need goes up the chimney,” he
said.
A “smart” boiler, made by a German firm called
Vissemann, has seven settings. Using outdoor sensors, it
tells how much heat is actually needed and
doesn’t exceed that amount.
“That’s
a huge savings right there,” Laskey said.
Such
boilers cost about $5,000 compared to $2,500 or $3,000 for
a conventional
boiler, but energy savings offset the
initial cost within
five years,
he said. Annual utility bills for lights, heating and cooling
can be cut in
half.
Houses
will be designed with open floor plans and high windows to
create a “thermal
chimney.” A computerized, automated system opens and
shuts windows and controls heating, cooling and lighting.
The
house is designed to encourage air circulation and flow.
When windows open, hot air escapes up the “thermal chimney,” reducing
the need for air conditioning.
“It’s
low-tech, but it’s common sense,” Laskey said. “It’s
a conventional system with a 21st-century twist. We’re
assembling parts that work well together, and they’re
engineered that way.”
Automated
windows can even detect high moisture levels and close on their
own when it starts
to rain.
Laskey
is a registered Healthy House Home Builder, as recognized by
the American Lung Association. In October,
the National
Association of Homebuilders
Research
Center is planning a conference on “green” construction
at the Prime Hotel in Saratoga Springs. Its purpose
is to demonstrate how to build “green” in
upstate New York.
Laskey’s new model home will
be a focal point of the gathering, and tours will be
offered. Also, firms that supplied
parts such as energy-efficient windows,
will exhibit products and explain how they work.
“I’ll
be talking about building green and how it’s different,” he
said.
All
homes at Louden Ridge will be designed by Saratoga Springs
architect Michael Phinney. He designed
the new state Department
of Environmental
Conservation headquarters in downtown Albany,
the first green office building in New York
State.
Phinney
is a recognized LEED’s architect
for Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design.
Laskey
said homes at Louden Ridge will be priced starting at about
$500,000. He said it will
probably take four
or five
years before
the subdivision
is fully built out. |
