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| PUSH's Clarke Gocker and architect Kevin Connors in front of 10 Winter St. |
Bengal News reporters
Even with the current economic downturn there is an apparent trend in the rehabilitation of the West Side with the latest PUSH project bringing a new optimism for going green with a self-sufficient energy home.
The long-vacant home was originally obtained from an elderly man who moved away, said Clarke Gocker, project manager for the Net-Zero home. People United for Sustainable Housing saw a great opportunity to develop a “green” home at the vacant site because of the lot next to it.
At approximately 1,198 square feet, with two bathrooms and three bedrooms, the Net-Zero single family home located on 10 Winter St. stands as a model of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, showcasing the ability to sustain itself year round. To make the project possible PUSH solicited the help and donations of many local construction agencies and labor unions.
The nearly $185,000 rehabilitated home features several concepts that most modern homes do not, like solar electricity, geothermal heat and solar powered hot water.
“The Net-Zero concept is, at the end of construction we will have created a space that produces as much energy as it consumes on the annual basis,” said Gocker.
Instead of using natural gas to heat the home, a geothermal system will deliver heat throughout the house with a floor heating system. The heating system will be installed in a vacant lot adjacent to the home and cost approximately $30,000.
“The heating will be supplied by the geothermal system, which in this case the house sits adjacent to a vacant lot that is about 150 feet deep, and in that vacant lot we’ll dig a trench about 6 feet deep, 6 feet wide, and 100 feet long,” said Gocker. “The bottom of the trench will run a series of piping, polyethylene piping, that will cycle through an antifreeze-water mixture that comes back into the house.”
Along with the geothermal system, PUSH has also installed a solar electric system to power the “green” home. “We had to factor in some cutting-edge renewable energy resources into the renovation of the building and those have included a solar electric system that will be mounted on the roof, 22 solar panels, 4.5 kilowatts and that will provide most of the electric load on the property,” said Gocker.
According to Gocker, whoever ends up living in the house will pay anywhere from zero to $100 a year in utility costs.
The halfway-completed project is the first of its kind on the West Side, thus giving PUSH the opportunity to get the rest of the West Side community involved in the development of the home.
Gocker said that project will involve using people from the local community to help with construction.
“We see a community benefit…during the renovation phase in which the house is served as an on-the-job training site for about 20 young people down right from the neighborhood, many who left high school without a diploma or graduated from high school but were not quite ready for college,” said Gocker.
Working with Western New York AmeriCorps, PUSH has received funding from the U.S. Department of Labor to run a YouthBuild Program that combines High School Equivalency classes with on-the-job training in the construction trades. Many of the program participants are black and Hispanic, emulating the ethnic diversity and gender composition of the West Side community.
According to Gocker, PUSH has also deemed the area in which the Net Zero home is being constructed as a Green Development Zone, due to the density of proposed energy efficient and sustainable energy design elements.The Green Development Zone is a section of Massachusetts Avenue devoted energy-efficient housing projects.
“The next step after completing this project is to figure out how to do it to scale, meaning that we could replicate it and that we could do it in a relatively affordable manner,” said Gocker.
To architect Kevin Connors, this project resonates with hope for the future of the West Side, especially with its distinctive diverse population and the willingness of many in the community to help rehabilitate the West Side.
The project is scheduled to be completed by late winter 2011 or early spring.
Edited by Heidi Friend and Kristine Starkey
Recently community activism has been key to the development of what some consider “desolate neighborhoods,” giving these once lively neighborhoods the chance to relive that experience.
ReplyDeleteEven with the Net-Zero home currently under development there are talks about making the home a center for Western New York refugee services. Clarke Gocker stated that it would be a great opportunity for PUSH Buffalo to join and work with other West Side organizations to get the “Green Development Zone” initiative noticed throughout the community.
Given the area where the Current Net-Zero home is located there is a high potential for the development of many more “green” homes that can potentially send the West Side into an economic boom that it has been looking for. -- Jeffrey Heras
In a world where everyone is striving to help the environment, go green, and making a conscious effort to use the resources around them, the concept of a geothermal heating system is an interesting area to explore for future use. I was intrigued by this new idea, and the potential of a thought process like this to positively impact the area was overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Popular Mechanics magazine, there is a “do-it-yourself” process of installing a geothermal heating system in your home, that will help to cut expensive costs.
With the current state of the economy and the way utility bills tend to add up, especially in the city where most houses are poorly insulated, the concept of a “net-zero” home is something that may play a significant role in the future. -- Kevin Hoffman
There is a chance you qualify for a new solar rebate program.
ReplyDeleteClick here and find out if you are qualified now!