Passive Solar Home Design:
Take a whole-house approach and view your home as an energy system and interdependent parts.

Green Power:
Buying ‘green power’ from the utility is one of the easiest ways to use renewable energy without investing in new equipment. Green power is another way consumers can contribute to the environment’s health. By purchasing electricity from utilities that generate power through solar wind, water, plants or geothermal, they use less power generated by fossil fuel.

Start with a Plan:
Start with an energy audit and learn where you are losing energy, how to conduct your own audit, or how to hire a professional.

Heating Water:
Heating Water is a large part of the average homeowner’s energy budget. If you have a swimming pool or hot tub, you can use solar power to cut pool heating costs. Most solar pool heating systems are cost competitive with conventional systems. And solar pool systems have very low operating costs. It's actually the most cost-effective use of solar energy.

Solar Lighting:
Installing solar lighting around your home and garden helps beautify your property and adds an element of security at night. Solar lighting is also quick and easy with an added bonus—no wires or electricity costs!

Consider generating your own electricity using solar PV cells.

Renewable Energy Options

Renewable Energy – Constantly replenished and just one more way to make your home a living zero home!

Today, the United States primarily uses fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal to supply its energy needs. Fossil fuels currently provide more than 85% of all the energy consumed in the United States, nearly two-thirds of our electricity, and virtually all of our transportation fuels. Our expanding economy will actually increase over at least the next two decades even with aggressive development and deployment of new renewable and nuclear technologies.

Because our economic health depends on the continued availability of reliable and affordable energy, much attention has been paid to the finite nature of fossil fuels and alternative energy sources. Renewable energy resources—such as geothermal and solar energy—are constantly refreshed and will never run out. In some cases the economics are not in the homeowners favor when investing in alternate energy generating technologies, however prices have been becoming more affordable and the technology improves yearly.

There are a number of renewable energy technologies options that can be used in your home with the majority of them making sense when building a new home. There are cases when renewable energy technology could and should be considered when retrofitting or upgrading existing homes. Check out the different renewable systems (including small wind) available today for residential use: Making Your Own Clean Electricity and Small Solar Electric Modules.

The following sites are extremely robust and can fill in a lot of answers about renewable technologies.

• Photovoltaic (solar cell) systems:    Solar energy is a truly fascinating way to save money and energy on your new or existing home and can be a reliable and pollution-free producer of electricity. These systems are designed to lower – or in many cases eliminate your monthly electric bill!


• Passive Solar Home Design:   Landscape, windows, walls, and floors can all be put into service to collect and distribute solar energy as heat in the winter and the same elements act to impede heat from the sun in the summer. Passive solar design needs to be integrated from the design stage of a home.
  
• Solar Water Heating:   Using the sun to heat water is an exciting way to save in your home and has economic payoff. Solar water heaters are manageable systems to install and maintain.
  
• Geothermal Direct Use:   From fish farms to homes, harnessing geothermal energy is another great way to use the heat stored in the ground.
  
• Geothermal Heat Pumps:   Geothermal heat pumps are similar to ordinary heat pumps, but use the ground instead of outside air to provide heating, air conditioning and, in most cases, hot water. Because they use the earth's natural heat, they are among the most efficient and comfortable heating and cooling technologies currently available.
  
• Wind Energy:     If you are going to build a new home in a remote or rural location, a small wind energy system will do wonders in cushioning against any future electricity bill increases.