Recently we learned that an article featuring our flagship zero energy home, Solar Harvest, had hit a Chinese paper. It’s a nearly direct translation of the New York Times feature article, and the translation back to English provided us with a few chuckles. We share it with you here and express our gratitude that our goal of building a zero energy world has officially gone international.

***

Not long ago, we participated in Earth Hour lights-out activities in the hope that concrete action to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, is the night, the whole planet as dark and beautiful.  However, the individual, he will go more thorough energy-saving, his own home built a hut covered with solar panels.

Sunlight collector
Master of the house called Eric Doub, a Colorado builder. Before the completion of the house, to the embrace of environmentally sustainable development, design and construction of residential project builders Although the concept of growing, but few customers would be willing to fully or almost at any cost to commission contractors to use energy-saving designs and materials. From the personal level, Doub wife and their two children will be introduced to him claiming he has been constrained by energy-saving plan: to know only that the house is built on the cost of 138 million (including the purchase of land costs), Doub this cut 10 employees, this is 40% of his factory workers. This is a gamble.

November 2005, Doub family moved smoothly or they call this the “Sunshine collector” of the house. Interestingly, the housing land is Doub wife Catherine found. The roof was covered with solar panels, let house looks somewhat like this beat Kung Fu Panda in winning the Oscar for best animated film Wall-E small robot, as if full of solar energy, along with the Apple system startup “pan” sound, it will move up. Here, the whole family can comfortably use their water, do not worry will increase the burden on the environment.

New home in Doub home after the completion of two years and a half years, more than 2,600 solar energy here especially to visit this house.

A 8.45 U.S. dollars bill
House using the existing technology, while saving as much as possible materials. Doub purchase of 12 used solar panels to heat hot water as the heating system, installed a ground bought from the dairy farm can hold 6,000 gallons of water in the tank. However, a good glass insulation is installed, the roof covered with solar panels, which makes the house cost increase of 8%.

But soon to pay off the debt Doub. Because “the sun collector” provides a lot of energy, which is usually offset by a large number of household energy consumption expenditures. Now, Doub home also placed an Xcel Energy company from 8.45 U.S. dollars of the bill, which is the energy expenditure of 2006 Doub a sharp drop in the evidence, the bill was added a box placed on the table. Especially, Doub proud of is that one day in February 2007, he received 15 local officials, when the outdoor temperature is 0 degrees already, but, as usual, even though people usually do not open the home’s heating system by, Doub home still warm.

Gengrang Doub pleased that the “sunshine collector” began to attract to such as Ronald M • 埃布拉姆森, a focus on renewable energy sources such as customer investment group chairman.埃布拉姆森 even moved from Maryland, local, and Doub to design an approximately 7,000 square feet of residential. Doub said the smaller house, designed to achieve zero emissions, the greater the challenge, because the interior wall will occupy a lot of space.

However, Doub said he has been on the “Sunshine collectors” to improve it. 2006 winter, solar heating system problems, so he placed a reserve of other heating systems.