Project seen as national role model for affordable, energy-efficient homes
Frederick News Post
Ground was broken Wednesday morning for the first net-zero, carbon-neutral homes in a historic district infill site in the state, and possibly the nation.
The Residences at North Pointe, part of the Hope VI program, will include 55 dwellings at Sixth and Bentz streets, all LEED platinum certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Platinum is the top rating for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
The homes, priced between $290,000 and $325,000, are considered affordable as well as energy-efficient, said Paul Zanecki, president of Nexus EnergyHomes, builders of the dwellings. The homes will feature geothermal heat and cooling systems, solar panels on the roof, increased insulation and electronic controls for many functions.
"The homes will be completely sealed, like a cooler or refrigerator," said Mike Murphy, vice president of Nexus EnergyHomes. That could mean problems with indoor air pollution, but he said HEPA filter systems will help keep the air clean.
"I would like to think of the homes as clean as a surgery room," Murphy said.
Chesapeake Systems Service Inc. will install a state-of-the-art electronic system in each home that will allow homeowners to use a computer, iPod or iPad to check the security system, including allowing access into the home from a remote location. Owners will be able to check temperature and energy use, and be alerted to any problems at the house, such as a security breach.
"The system will even cut the temperature back when the house is empty, automatically, to save energy," said Jack Rainey, general manager for Annapolis-based Chesapeake Systems. "These are the kind of systems you find in million-dollar homes, and here they are in affordable homes."
Rainey estimated a system installed in each house will cost $10,000 to $25,000. "Nexus has made a significant effort not just in the heart of the home, but also the brain."
The city's Historic District Commission approved the use of solar panels, though the panels will be black to match the roofs of the homes, said Kyle Hall, project engineer for Custom Glass Services in Frederick. The panels come from Schuco in Germany and won't have the battery storage systems often found in solar energy setups. The panels, about 19 per house, will provide 3.5 kilowatts of power, enough to provide the energy needs of the house, Hall said.
The combination of the solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling, which uses underground piping, will provide extensive energy savings. Hall said the cost of installing the panels, which will take about two days for each house, is about $23,000. But that is before tax credits and grants available from the state and federal governments, Hall said.
"The payback on the solar energy system should be about five to six years," he said.
Kevin Lollar, director of development of Hope VI and a board member of East Frederick Rising, the organization planning the future of that end of town, said the Hope VI venture is a role model for the development.
"Today, Frederick is leading the nation in this project," Lollar said. "We have taken a historically neglected part of the city and improved it. This is a mixed community of people. It is a community of shared values, economics and education and a wonderful understanding of the relationship of us to our environment. The Earth doesn't need us to live, but we need the Earth to live."
Michael Luzier, president of the National Association of Home Builders' Research Center, said it heartening to see, as a Maryland taxpayer, a project that benefits not only the residents, but also the environment.
"As a Maryland resident and father of four, I want to turn the keys over to my children of an environment better than today," Luzier said.
The research center certified the various aspects of the houses.
"We will be doing two inspections," he said. "One before the walls are covered to ensure that all that is supposed to be there will be there, and a second inspection before the house is sold."
Mayor Randy McClement said Hope VI is building "a neighborhood for the future, one that reflects the history and culture of the community."
