Posts for ‘Residential Solar Hot Water’


Home Builder Partnerships Create Unique Homes

Monday, Feb 22nd, 2010 by Susan B.
More Stories: Residential Radiant Floor Heating, Residential Solar Hot Water, Uncategorized | Tags: , , ,

Janet Chapman wanted to build a new home that included solar thermal radiant floor heating, solar hot water and straw bale construction – not something the average home builder in the Kansas City area has done before. 
She was thrilled to find Greg Rothers at Rothers Design/Build .  Greg had experience with straw bale construction and [...]

Affordable Homes Use Solar Energy in Kansas City

Monday, Jan 11th, 2010 by Susan
More Stories: Residential Solar Air Heating, Residential Solar Hot Water | Tags: , , ,

Who says affordable homes can’t use renewable energy?  Ann Brandau-Murguia, Argentine Neighborhood Development Association, and Bob Solger, The Energy Savings Store, prove that solar can work for all types of homes. 
This picture shows them standing in front of one of four new energy efficient homes in the Argentine area of Kansas City, Kansas.  Solger’s Lenexa, KS,  based [...]

Architect Leverages Solar Energy

Thursday, May 14th, 2009 by Steve O'Rourke
More Stories: Residential Solar Hot Water, Residential Solar PV | Tags: ,

Tracy Stearns, a principal with 360 Architecture, was familiar with the benefits of solar energy, and wanted to explore ways to leverage solar power in his home office.  Solar can be used to create electricity, heat potable water or swimming pools, or heat the air in a room.  Tracy decided to take advantage of two [...]

Building the Solar-Ready Home

Monday, May 4th, 2009 by Steve O'Rourke
More Stories: Articles - General, Residential Solar Air Heating, Residential Solar Hot Water, Residential Solar PV | Tags: , , , ,

It’s an interesting study to see how home building techniques and materials have evolved over time, and how new ideas that were once radical have become common.  Drywall, for example, quickly replaced lath and plaster as the standard for interior walls, and radiators were replaced by forced air systems.  As we began closing the windows [...]

Calculating the Lifetime Payback on Renewable Energy

Monday, May 4th, 2009 by Steve O'Rourke
More Stories: Commercial Solar Hot Water, Financial Incentives, Residential Projects, Residential Radiant Floor Heating, Residential Solar Hot Water, Residential Solar PV, Residential Wind

While many people love the idea of using clean, renewable energy from the sun and wind, they find the investment significant enough to think twice about the purchase.  The installed cost of a mid-sized wind turbine or solar photovoltaic (PV) system is about $20,000, and does not provide the same visibility or utility as a [...]

Net-Zero Energy Farm is Model for Sustainability

Saturday, Nov 1st, 2008 by Steve O'Rourke
More Stories: Commercial Solar PV, Commercial Wind, Residential Projects, Residential Radiant Floor Heating, Residential Solar Air Heating, Residential Solar Hot Water, Residential Solar PV, Residential Wind | Tags: , , ,

The Green Dirt Farm, located just north of Kansas City in Weston, Missouri, is a small community-based farm dedicated to producing healthy food in a sustainable environment.  The entire farm complex was designed to be a net-zero energy farmstead, producing 100 percent of the energy for the operation using a combination of solar and wind. [...]