Our world needs to be serious about Appropriate Technology when it comes to the energy issues and climate change we have.

The political world wants to use Alternative Energy. This does not address the reduction of the waste as the energy is passed through the system. Please do not misunderstand, Alternative Energy has its place but is not the cure all for our immediate issues.

Or world need to be putting the majority of our dollars and resources (man power) into the reduction of what we consume first. Only then should we be investing in technologies that we have no idea on how long it will take to bring them to market. Let’s use the 80-20 rule, 80% into what we have and 20% into new.

We already have off the shelf technology to build houses that are true Net Zero (meaning no utility bill). So why are we not doing this? You the consumer need to demand this from your local codes, architect, builder, and manufacture of the appliances and products in your home. And if the home does not perform as promised all should be held accountable,

We can even make the majority of existing homes at least 60-80% more efficient then they are. Through a Home Performance Evaluation by a qualified Building Science Person, then remediation by a company that knows how to do Home Performance Remediation. Then a test out to be sure the house performs. This is by products that are off the shelf and are available today!!!

So instead of looking for the silver bullet approach lets do the thousands of silver bb’s and reduce our consumption along with the technology we have to use renewable energy. Together these two avenues will lead us to the desired goal, less pollution, reduced climate change, less dependence on fossil fuels, many jobs and we can start today.

For those who do not believe homes can be so energy efficient look at the Austrian Passive Home.

And this is only what can be done in the residential market that uses about 21.75% (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/diagram1.html) of our nation’s energy. There are huge efficiency increases that can be made in the other sectors. This along with Renewable Energy could make the world NET ZERO, what a thought.

Andy Wahl
Whole House Performance
Our 23 yr old house produces more electricity than we consume. This is year 7 of our 2.8 KW PV system. Each year we work on a project to reduce our energy bill.