Multiple
Solar systems heat the radiant in floor hot water. A very large flat plate
collector on the south roof and a high efficiency vacuum tube collector on
the garage roof feed hot water into an exchanger in the house. The exchanger
not only heats the hot water for the floors,it also heats the domestic hot
water and snowmelt systems. The flat plate collector achieves maximum efficiency
on clear sunny days,and the vacuum system works effectively even when it's
cloudy.
Solar Photovoltaics generate electricity. A solar system on the garage
roof creates electricity that is fed back into the electrical grid. Inside
the garage a small all-electric car, perfect for use in the city of Aspen,
indirectly runs on the electricity produced by the sun. The car uses 1KW of
electricity to go 4 miles, and the photovoltaic system creates about 8KW of
electricity on a summer day. The downtown location of this home, combined
with the electric car for in town use,should eliminate most need for a full
size gas burning vehicle.
Warmboard: An ultra efficient Warmboard radiant heat subfloor reduces
the temperature required for in floor heat by up to 15%. Essentially plywood
with an aluminum shell, this floor works by improving the efficiency of heat
transfer horizontally and eliminates cold spots. This system runs on 115 degree
water instead of the typical 130-135 degrees.
Automated Solar Shades; Cooling a home efficiently is also very important.
This home is equipped with automated GREENGUARD Certified Solar Shades to
help control any additional heat gain/loss on the major windows facing east,south,
and west. In summer the shades eliminate heat gain from direct sunlight during
the day and open at night. In winter the shades open during the day to bring
in solar heat gain, and then close at night to help insulate the windows from
night- time heat loss.