Photo by Jakub Pabis on Unsplash
Net-zero-energy communities (ZEC) are being built for those enthusiastically embracing the green revolution. Geos, an all-electric Colorado development, is a case in point. The typical monthly utility bill is under $10.
The original concept around 2008 was to build 300 green homes. This was reduced to 28, and the first of the 28 sustainably-minded homes at Geos was completed in 2017. Norbet Klebl, the founder of Geos has left that business. He parlayed his electric home knowledge and co-founded GeoSolar Technologies, a service to retrofit existing homes.
Like the new homes in Geos, the idea behind retrofitting existing homes remains the need for an airtight exterior to reduce interior temperature swings in the winter and summer. Next is the need for solar energy collection and drilling into the Earth’s geothermal heating abilities. These two require solar panels and heat pumps that provide heating and cooling in one system.
According to the GeoSolar website, it is different from solar panel retrofitting this way: “It uses photovoltaic (PV) solar panels but also includes a geothermal system, electric car charging station, upgraded insulation, air censoring, filtering, and movement systems. It’s a complete makeover of the present energy system into a clean, modern way of living with all the power being created from natural sources.”
