Would you like to own one of Colorado’s — and possibly the nation’s — most energy efficient homes? Here’s your opportunity!
At Golden Real Estate, we love listing “net zero energy” homes such as this one at 1960 S. Gilpin Street in Denver. This particular home, listed just this week for $890,000, goes beyond net zero, generating more electricity than it uses, including the charging of the seller’s electric car.
This home was designed to meet passive house standards, meaning that, among other features, it is super-insulated and has triple- and quadruple-pane windows. The exterior walls of this home were built with structural insulated panels (“SIPs”) which not only insulate the home but make it super quiet inside.
At left is a picture of one of those panels being installed.
Because of its sustainable features, this home has been on tours of solar homes four times since its construction in 2008. Click here to view the narrated video tour of it which I myself produced for the 2016 solar tour. That video was limited to the home’s solar and sustainable features. Now that it is for sale, I have produced a new narrated video of all the features of this house. You can view that video at www.DenverPassiveHouse.com.
In 2012, the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) gave this home its coveted “Award for Renewable Energy & Sustainable Design in Buildings — Residential New Construction.” Space limitations here prevent me from listing all the reasons, but that video is a good start.
The home is so energy efficient that is has no furnace — in fact, no gas service at all. Limited in-floor electric radiant heating and one small wall heater provide enough heat in the winter, and the home requires no cooling in the summer because of its insulation and passive house design. A small propane stove provides extra warmth, but isn’t needed very often.
As in all super-insulated and therefore air-tight homes, fresh air must be brought into the house using an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) which improves air quality and also tempers incoming air by passing it through a heat exchanger with outgoing air. Thus, if it’s 30 degrees outside, for example, the fresh air entering the ERV could be as warm as 65 degrees by the time it is distributed into the home. This schematic explains how an ERV works.
Hot water is provided by a solar thermal panel on the south-facing roof, next to the solar electric panels. Another special feature is the battery storage system which maintains electrical service during blackouts.
I will be holding this special house open on Saturday, January 27th, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
