Tucson Real Estate and Eco-Friendly Green Homes

USA Today ran an article on eco-friendly homes in a variety of areas throughout the United States. “Growing awareness among builders and home buyers of environmentally friendly building materials and methods - plus government efforts to address climate change - are fueling the focus on eco-friendly single family homes, environmental advocates say.” Eco friendly and green homes make sense. “When you think about the idea that 40% of our carbon emissions in the U.S. comes from buildings, and about half of that is residential, we’ve got to address all our building types.”

Bud Foster ran a special on a homeowner in Tucson who has a green home and green lifestyle. Local politician, Nina Trasoff, is seeking mandatory retrofitting of new construction homes for solar energy. Extreme Makeover Home Edition has even gotten into the picture recently. So, what can green homes bring to Tucson real estate?

With an abundance of sun there is no loss of energy for reducing dependency on commercial energy. Rain harvesting has been around for a long time, its a matter of trapping and keeping water for future use. Materials in a home are the least known way of having a green home.

The one thing that stands out the most is use of solar energy. I came across a home in a rural part of the desert that had no utilities to it. The electricity for the home was collected off two large solar panels and stored in an array of batteries. Enough to support the main house and a guest house. Both with air conditioning. His cost was around $30,000 for a 100% self sufficient system. Not everyone will want to nor need to be 100% self sufficient. If as little as 20% of a home relied on less commercial energy, imagine the savings? Say that’s only a $6,000 cost to a home. Not to mention the federal incentives that drastically reduce the expense which would reduce the expense. Worth it or not for solar electricity ?

The most common is solar assisted water heating. A home I sold earlier this year had a solar water heater in it. The solar heating was part of the package offered with the home when it was built three years ago. The owners claimed that they unplugged the electric back up and relied solely on solar heating for their water. Solar water heating is probably the cheapest way to save on commercial energy costs.

Rainwater harvesting is the least used method for helping to protect our most precious resource in the desert. Though we do not see as much rain as other parts of the country. When it rains during the monsoon season, it really rains. Collecting water during this time for outdoor plants can greatly reduce the need for municipal water. Saving both resource and money. Grey water is another means of reducing dependency on potable water for watering plants. Keeping in mind that plants produce oxygen, so having plants is a good thing.

Other eco-friendly ways to build home are through alternative materials. Materials that are recyclable, and other sustainable materials. What would a true green home in Tucson look like? Not all materials are going to be for everyone. However, even the smallest use is beneficial.

First the materials, like insulation, could be made from eco-friendly materials. Materials the emit less carbon. Materials that may be recycled from products that do not decompose in our dumps. The energy of the home would rely less on commercial energy, rainwater harvesting and grey water systems would reduce dependency on municipal water. Over all the home would compliment the environment, rather than draw from it.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 5th, 2007 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Tucson Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Receive an email if someone else comments on this post?

Tucson Real Estate Blogs & Golf

Submit Email For Feed

Really Simple Syndicate

Categories

• Real Estate News
• Tucson Real Estate
• Tucson Golf Courses
• Tucson Golf Community
• Tucson Golf Events
• Tucson Golf Resorts
• Tucson News & Events
• Just Because

Archives

• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• December 2007
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007

Favorites

Tucson Golf

• The Pines
• Tucson Municipal
• Starr Pass Golf Course
• The Gallery
• El Conquistador
• La Paloma
• Ventana Canyon
• Tucson National
• Arizona National
• Heritage Highlands
• Grand Valley GC
• Forty Niners
• Tubac Golf Resort
• Torres Blancas
• Canoa Hills
• Conoa Ranch

Blogroll

• Real Estate Tomato
• Tomato Blogs
• Tomato Tutorials
• SoundBiteBlog
• A Mortgage Guru
• Posh’d
• Consumer Mort Rep
• Central Denver
• Inspector Chronicles