When Golden, Colo., emerged as the nation’s solar energy capital in the 1970s, the idea of creating a ‘net-zero’ home—one that used no utility energy at all—was pretty much a pipe dream. Now lots of people are making that happen; and you can tour some exciting examples Saturday, as members of non-profit New Energy Colorado stage their 27th Annual Metro Denver Green Homes Tour—this year of 11 homes around the area.
That includes one that solar pioneer John Avenson showed me a few miles up Golden Gate Canyon Road (you can tour it after you pick up a map at American Mountaineering Center, 710 10th Street in Golden, or register online). Last year, homeowner/engineer Ron Suliteanu played a personal role in designing his custom 3-bedroom/2-bath 2-story design, 2,800 sq. feet plus garage—choosing a 40-acre site overlooking Golden and the foothills, and then loading in the latest tech features for the best performance.
“I wanted to reduce my carbon footprint without giving up the hot tub,” Suliteanu says. His 10-kW system by Buglet Solar Electric, paired with some passive solar design and a heat-exchange system with a ground-based heat pump, does all of that.
You’ll see that hot tub on a view-swept deck, lavish appliances, a huge theater, and a garage where he charges his Tesla, never paying a nickel for gas. He was already at net-zero during summer months; before this week, when Buglet Solar put in two more battery units for him that should take him below net-zero during winter, as well.
Bugletap Whitney Painter says you could do a comparable solar electric system for around $20,000 after the tax credit; and Avenson says that a buyer could build a comparable performing custom home on acreage, with the newest tech, for under $1.2 million, all in. (You can talk with energy-architect Peter Ewers at the Golden Gate Canyon house.)
For tickets to that and other homes visit MetroDenverGreenHomesTour.org. Register free, and make a $10 donation if you want to support this tour. Or stop by the American Mountaineering Center for a map (they’ll host a greenhouse exhibit and an electric car rally at 3 p.m.).
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this postap preparation.
