ABQJOURNAL HOMES: Artistic Homes' Zero Energy series designed to dramatically reduce electricity consumption

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Artistic Homes' Zero Energy series designed to dramatically reduce electricity consumption

By Jane Mahoney
For the Journal
          Every month, Miguel and Miriam Reyna write an extra check for about $120 toward the principal on their home mortgage. The payment reflects the amount they receive each month from PNM for producing more electricity than they use in their solar home in Rio Rancho.
        "We've never gotten a regular electrical bill," said Miguel Reyna, who, with his wife and young child, moved into an all-electric home in March. "So far, we've gotten back between $110 and $130 every month."
        Participation in PNM's net metering program is just one of the perks that Reyna likes about the family's new Zero Energy home by Artistic Homes, a production builder with a goal of bringing affordable solar homes to buyers.
        Artistic's Zero Energy series opened its first model home about a year ago, and now offers buyers several options. Top of the line in efficiency is a true Net Zero Energy all-electric home with rooftop-mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar panels to generate electricity and a solar thermal system to heat water. Other home packages include a smaller, introductory solar option in which about a third of a home's electricity is generated by the PV system.
        The base price of Artistic homes (without solar panels) ranges from about $149,000 to more than $260,000 depending on size and location. A photovoltaic system to produce electricity and a solar thermal system to heat water can add upwards of $60,000 to a home, although federal and state tax incentives and rebates have softened the blow. Artistic Homes builder/co-owner Tom Wade said that any floor plan offered by the company can support a solar option installed as the home is being built.
        The Reynas went for the true Net Zero home, one of about five built so far by Artistic. Reyna, an Intel technician, touts the comfort factor in the new 2,157-square-foot home that has a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) index rating of zero, and has been independently certified LEED-H Platinum, a top recognition in the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.
        At the Reyna house, the refrigerated air conditioning system is fixed at a cool mid-70 degrees this summer, but still one of his two electrical meters (one showing energy production, the other consumption beyond production) runs backwards on sunny New Mexico afternoons.
        The scenario is similar at Los Lunas, where Jeremy Zimmerman's family bought an Artistic Zero Energy home. Although he's only a couple hundred yards from Interstate 25, he marvels at the home's quiet and dust-free status.
        At both homes, a 5.5-kilowatt rooftop-mounted PV system (26 panels) produces enough electricity for these homes and to help supply PNM's utility grid. Participating customers are credited 13 cents for every kilowatt-hour generated, and over the course of a year, the consumption and generation of energy "zeros out." The rooftop-mounted solar thermal system provides hot water to the homes, which are not connected to a natural gas network.
        An energy-efficient house was foremost on Reyna's mind when he started house hunting about a year ago. After wandering into a new Zero Energy model home by Artistic Homes at the Cabezon development in Rio Rancho, he wondered what it would be like to pay no electric bills whatsoever.
        The company's well-insulated homes are certified as 43 percent more energy efficient than a comparably sized home built to code. Every Artistic home has generous insulation levels (R-23 in walls and R-50 in ceiling), low-e windows, Energy Star appliances, and high-efficiency mechanical systems, including ventilation.
        Two of the company's Zero Energy homes are open as models from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, and from noon to 6 p.m. Sundays and Mondays. One is in Los Lunas' Rancho Valencia community at 1580 Camino Rustica (866-7802). The other is in Rio Rancho's Cabezon community at 2729 Walsh (896-6783).
        Artistic Homes offers three solar energy packages for new homes. The following options can be used with any Artistic home in any subdivision:
        • True Net Zero homes have photovoltaic solar panels with enough power to zero out your electric bill. Other features include thermal solar hot water. All home appliances (including furnace and refrigerated air) are electric. The cost can range from $40,000 to $60,000 extra on a base home.
        • Net Zero homes have more PV panels than needed to supply the home's electrical demands. The extra electricity generated basically offsets the expenses for gas heating and cooking preferred by some buyers. Thermal hot water system is included. The cost of the system can range from $30,000 to $50,000 extra on a base home.
        • Solar 30 is an introductory (and smaller) package of rooftop mounted photovoltaic solar panels providing an approximate 30 percent reduction in electricity bills. Heating and cooking are gas. The cost of the Solar 30 system can range from $6,000 to $12,000 extra on a base home.

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