As both environmental awareness and the cost of energy continue to rise, people are looking for ways to reduce their power consumption costs. Perhaps the most effective way to do this is to disconnect one's self from the power company completely.
This is not as maniacal as it sounds—jumping "off the grid" in this manner does not mean living in a home without electricity. Instead, some people have begun upgrading their homes so they produce all their own electricity, heating, cooling, and waste and water treatment on-site.
How do they do that?
How is this possible? People who live in “sustainable houses” commonly generate their own electricity through use of solar cells, or in more wide-open spaces, through the use of wind turbines. Water is typically collected from rain, and then treated to be potable (safe to drink). Waste products undergo similar treatment so that recycled water can be used to flush toilets and water gardens.
And it’s affordable, too. In 2002, British architects Brenda and Robert Vale said, "It is quite possible in all parts of Australia to construct a 'house with no bills' … for the same price as a conventional house, but it would be (25%) smaller."
Living in a fully self-sufficient house does have its drawbacks. Maintaining all the separate systems can be incredibly time-consuming, and may require significant lifestyle changes. A person living in a sustainable house may need to be much more mindful of conserving water during a dry season, for instance, or try to use less electricity on cloudy days.
Compromise
Because of these factors, some people are choosing to take the middle-ground: Buy or fit a home with sustainable energy technologies, but remain plugged in to the power grid just in case. This has the benefit of reducing the family’s energy costs, but gives them the confidence that they can still watch television on a rainy day.
Additionally, many power companies are starting to offer credit to families who put power back in to the grid—that is, if you’re currently harnessing more energy than you’re using, you can pass it along to the next family and reduce your own bills even further!
Although the concept of “sustainable housing” has been around since the early 20th century, it is only now just beginning to take hold. With its increasing popularity, the sustainable housing movement is also bringing energy conservation techniques into the limelight—for example, replacing incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent lights, or using laptops instead of desktop computers.
And who knows? With more attention being focused on personal energy use, maybe the next home you live in will have a solar roof!
How do I know this?
Mobbs, M,
Sustainable projects,
http://www.sustainablehouse.com.au/
Wikipedia Free Encyclopaedia,
Autonomous building,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_housing
