http://www.ferriercustomhomes.com/home/
Don Ferrier met us on-site at one of his current projects at 2807 Hedgerow. The project is a new build that is being built to replace their former home. The house is located within a few hundred feet of the DART line and just south of the Love Field airport. The home will feature an 18 seer HVAC unit, tankless water heater, upgraded insulation and windows, drought-resistant landscaping, and a TPO reflective roof membrane. Don quoted a rough price estimate for this house at around $1.35 per square foot considering all of those features that were included. The conversation with Don was excellent because of his in-depth knowledge of green home building, his obvious passion for green building, and his generally sunny disposition. Don helped me understand that some of the best methods of making a home more efficient may not always be the flashy methods. For example, Don said that the single most impactful thing you can do to improve a building's efficiency is to improve the air-tightness through improving insulation and windows. According to Don, improving these basic features are the foundation of what he does when building a new structure. In contract, splashy green features such as solar panels are the last feature that he considers when creating a green structure. These features can help improve efficiency of a building, but improvement comes at a much higher cost than other more basic improvements. To me, sustainable improvements are all about prioritizing by what gives you the best 'bang for your buck.'
An interesting conversation we had while visiting the property was regarding how assessors and potential buyers assess green houses such as this project. Private owners typically approach Don to have him build them a green home or commercial space. If one of Don's home hit the open market, it would be interesting to see if assessors or potential buyers were willing to assign the appropriate value to the green improvements. My guess is that these features don't translate dollar for dollar to a higher sales price until the general homebuying public becomes more educated and and expectant of green features in homes.
Don was a wealth of information. Here are some other random notes:- buffalo grass is a native drought resistant grass strain
- Don's first step is always an energy audit - computerized process to determine best use of improvement funds
- Don created a net zero casita, which can be viewed on his website at http://www.ferriercustomhomes.com/services/custom_homes/projects/Zero%20Energy%20Casita/tour/
- When installing solar, you can have Oncor and the Federal Gov't each pay for 1/3 of the project
- Wind and Solar power create DC power (like Europe) so you need an inverter to convert to AC
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