Jan 6, 2009 4:00 pm US/Eastern
EnergyWatch: The 100K House Project
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Can you use $100,000 of labor and raw materials to build a whole house and make it energy efficient? That's what some Philadelphia builders are trying to do as CBS 3's Liz Keptner shows us.
It doesn't look like much, but Chad Ludeman hopes a little house becomes the future of energy efficiency in Philly.
"We kind of think if you take a different approach, and design it from the beginning to be more energy efficient and environmentally sound, then you can actually build a home that meets that criteria for less than a budget," said Ludeman.
They call it the 100K House and blog about it. It's built with pre-insulated panels and energy-efficient window placement. It will also have an energy monitor. They hope for "the Prius effect."
Nic Darling of the developer Postgreen explained: "When you look at the dashboard of your car and say, 'I'm getting this many miles per gallon,' we have the same effect on this house -- with this many lights on and this equipment running, I'm getting this much value out of my energy usage."
Utility bills, including gas and electric, are expected to run only $100 a month.
"Normally, a regular code house would be twice that, and the regular remodel house may be three times that," said Darling.
Ludeman says they have six projects in the works right now, so expect green communities to pop up all over Philadelphia in the near future.
"We're kind of making 2009 as our ramp-up year, and we hope to have a model that we can build quite a few of these in 2010 and beyond," said Ludeman.
So move over, McMansion, there's a new house on the block.
Follow the progress at
www.100KHouse.com.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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