DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

The weekend Chron’s Real Estate section had a nice article about a custom home in Berkeley: Lean, clean and green: Berkeley builders toss the plans and create a work of art

A companion piece explained the builder’s struggles with making the home earth-friendly: It’s not easy being green:

The house … was built with the infrastructure in place for a solar electric system, solar hot water and geothermal exchange…

Builder David Bass hopes the new owners will be willing to spend the $25,000 or so for the solar panels, pumps and other parts and labor to complete the job.

“It seems to me the logical extension of building a house well is to make it green. It just makes sense. A house should be healthy, and it should last a long time. I think the world’s finally coming around to that point of view,” Bass said.

If he had had the budget, Bass would have delivered the complete package, but he admits it’s still a struggle to capture the hearts and minds of buyers.

“Green is good, but it’s not sexy. One of the things I hated about the [Berkeley Hills] fire zone — still hate — is that there’s all that money up there and clients spend it on marble and granite and Sub-Zeros.

“If you’re going to spend $5 million on a house, you can spend $40,000 to make it energy efficient. Unfortunately, many people don’t think that way.”

If that’s true, it’s a pity.

My only quibble with this otherwise excellent article is the following quote, again from David Bass, the builder of this $1.5 million dollar home:

What I’ve learned is that solar and geothermal aren’t going to happen universally before they make economic sense.

But they do make economic sense. My PV array will pay for itself in about 10 years, and then I’ll get free power for about 20 more. What about that doesn’t make economic sense?*

I know Bass knows this because of his other comments about solar energy being a “long term” investment. I guess his point is that most clients don’t think about long-term costs, but only about the initial purchase price.

(Gee, American consumers are shortsighted? Somebody kick the turntable; the needle is stuck again!)

*Chuck E. pointed out that most homeowners likely do not assume they’ll stay in their current houses for the 10+ years it would take to make a PV investment pay for itself. I didn’t consider this perspective, but there are at least two reasons why solar electric systems still make good economic sense:

• A functioning PV system adds to a home’s resale value. (You’d pay more for a home that wouldn’t cost you $100-$300/month to run, just as you’d pay more for a house with a new kitchen.)
• Or if you want to keep the panels, you can take them with you.

And for the whole time, you’re using emissions-free electricity, and reducing the ability of the utility companies to justify hugely expensive and polluting power plants.