Solar Power – Is It Becoming The Norm in New Construction?
I’m proud to have our first official guest blogger, Philip Reed, contributing to my blog. Enjoy!
It’s taken some time but we’re beginning to look at renewable sources of energy such as solar owner as the norm in new construction.
“Solar power as the norm rather than the exception.” –Philip J Reed, Westwood College
It’s taken some time but we’re beginning to look at renewable sources of energy such as solar power as the norm in new construction. Take a look around at new builds and renovations and there are clear indications that we are taking the condition of our environment much more seriously then we have in past years.
Government incentives, buy back programs, and rebates have played a large part in this change in attitude as they have lowered the price of these technologies therefore making them far more widely accessible. There is no point in championing a technology if no one can afford to implement it. This is important not only in commercial or industrial applications, but in residential ones as well.
If a homeowner has the option of an inefficient heating or cooling system that literally hemorrhages money or an efficient solar or other renewable system that actually saves them their hard earned cash and has been made affordable by incentive programs, which do you think they’ll choose?
A perfect example of this new way of thinking is to look at the education sector. Seem like a strange jump from environmentally friendly building practices to education? It’s not.
At some schools- the ones that are forward thinking and have an eye on industry- a construction management degree will include curriculum in utilizing renewable resources. This is a very important change in our thinking as it ensures that our future builders will consider these options the norm rather than the exception. This inevitably means that we will see a greater increase in green builds and a more stable cost to do so. The better training in renewable options given at the university level will mean more implementation at the building level.
There are certainly further steps to be taken and more environmentally sensitive options and technologies to explore but adding a solar power component to something like a construction management degree is defiantly a step in the right direction. If we can make environmentally damaging construction something that is socially frowned upon by teaching its alternatives to those who will eventually be in charge of building, we will all win.
- Philip Reed
PS – Here’s a related quote from a builder we know, too:
“The truth of the matter is this, if building an energy efficient or energy independent house is the goal from the start, it’s really pretty simple. By bringing together the client with a designer, architect, and building scientist that understand the process, a High Performance or Net Zero home can be built at a competitive price to similarly equipped ‘energy hog’ homes.”
Reed Schweizer
Ravenwood Homes
