Full text of archived
story
New house offers beautiful
utilities
Super-green house is built to be
energy-efficient, lower
bills. |
- Robert Kelly
ST. LOUIS
POST-DISPATCH
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
(MO)
|
- October 10, 2008
- Section: Business
|
- Edition: Third Edition
- Page
B6
|
KIMMSWICK • In today’s gloomy real estate
market, Jordan Heiman thinks he knows how to make
housing a more attractive buy.
Just take a look at the utility bills for the
prototype highly energy-efficient new house he and
his partners have built at Kimmswick.
For four straight months starting in June,
when Heiman’s daughter and son-in-law moved into
the house, its utility bills have been the lowest
among all houses in the new Parc at Kimmswick
subdivision. The utilities have averaged about $76
a month throughout the hot summer months, or
nearly half of the monthly average for utilities
paid by homeowners in similarsized
houses in the subdivision.
“Attention to detail is what makes the
difference, I think,” said Heiman, a spry
83-year-old retired engineer who worked for
Intertherm Inc., a manufacturer of heating and
cooling products.
And he’s happy to point out the house’s
energy-saving details, including:
•A ground-source heat pump that draws cool
air from underground pipes buried deep below the
basement, in lieu of a traditional
air-conditioning system.
•Insulated windows with fiberglas frames
that expand and contract at the same rate as the
window glass to stop air leakage around the
frames.
•A foyer with inside doors to cut off
drafts from the outside.
•Low-wattage flourescent bulbs in all light
fixtures.
•Low-flow faucets in all sinks, tubs and
showers.
•Rain barrels at all outside downspouts to
catch water to use on the lawns and plants during
dry periods.
Even the concrete used to build the
walkways outside the house was mixed with energy
savings in mind, Heiman said. The concrete has a
white tint, because fly ash was added to the mix
to make it more reflective. That reflects heat
back into the environment and keeps the walkways
cooler, he said.
Heiman, who lives in Olivette, said he
decided several years ago that he wanted to build
a house to demonstrate his belief that wasteful,
sometimes shoddy construction deters people from
buying certain houses and drives up heating and
cooling costs. It took him a while to find a
suitable location and partners and builders.
Everything fell into place about two years
ago, he said, and construction started in December
2006 on the house on Montesano Park Drive in
Kimmswick. The house was completed early this
year.
Heiman organized a company called Applied
Energy Solutions LLC, to design and build the
house. Architect Greg Polanik was the
principal designer.
Heiman says it costs more - maybe 15 to 20
percent more - to build such an energy-efficient
house because of the quality and strength of the
materials needed and the extra work required, as
in burying the cooling pipes below the basement,
for example. But the savings in utility bills
should more than make up the cost difference for
anyone planning to stay in such a house for at
least four or five years, he said.
The listed price on the house he and his
partners built at Kimmswick is $400,000, which is
about $50,000 to $60,000 more than most of the
other high-end houses in the subdivision were
selling for.
Heiman conceded that there has not been a
large market for extremely energy-efficient
houses, in part because of the price. But he said
he expected that market to grow as more consumers
see the savings they can have over time and
understand how they'd be helping the environment
at the same time.
The house already has been recognized with
two awards for energy conservation and
environmental design. It was certified as Energy
Star 5 Plus by the U.S. Department of Energy, and
also as a LEED-Homes Platinum by the U.S. Green
Building Council Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design, or LEED.
Heiman said only four houses throughout
Missouri have received the same certifications.
Heiman's daughter, Jill Crary, and her
husband, Don, have lived in the house since moving
to the area from San Diego in June.
"Dad's goal from the very beginning was to
get this house the highest possible
energy-efficient rating," Jill Crary said. "He
chose Kimmswick because no other 'green home' had
been built out here."
She said she and her husband have been
thrilled with the utility bills at the two-story
house, which has nearly 2,900 square feet of
living space, three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths.
Even so, the Crarys hope to move closer to
Jill's parents in Olivette, and they have plans to
sell the house they call "Kimmswick 1." Houses in
the subdivision recently have sold for $350,000
and up.
More information about the house is
available online at
www.appliedenergysolutionsllc.com or by calling
636-467-8211.
---
Electricity-Cost Comparison
Month
Kimmswick house Avg house
June $78 $122
July $75 $173
August $74 $135
Sept. $65 $117
Source: Ameren Services
GRAPHIC - BUILDING A GREENER HOUSE
MCT
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