In case you haven’t heard the news, all new single-family homes in Lancaster will be outfitted with solar panels. And energy-efficient plumbing. And gas-saving heaters. And eco-friendly insulation. Even drought-tolerant landscaping is part of the plan to effectively transform the town into one of the world’s most environmentally-concious municipalities.
That’s not a vision for the future. It’s happening now as the Antelope Valley enclave is consistently keeping true to its goal of becoming America’s first Net-Zero city.
The Lancaster City Council last year made the bold step of mandating residential solar installation. Now, all new single-family homes must include at least 1 kilowatt (KW) of solar power capacity per home. While that mandate doesn’t mean that solar panels must be on every rooftop, it does require new home builders to meet the aggregate energy generation requirement within every new subdivision being developed. And Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris couldn’t be more pleased. If anyone in Southern California could be called the “poster child” for energy-efficiency, it has to be Parris.
“As a city with just under 160,000 (people) and thousands of businesses dispersed throughout our limits, achieving true Net Zero status is a goal that most would deem impossible,” Parris said early last month. “Here in Lancaster, however, we are using our innovation and resourcefulness to make the impossible … possible.”
“Net-Zero” or “zero-energy building” involves construction that is expected to result in a finished product with “zero net energy consumption,” meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on site. Such buildings—or in this case single-family homes—are reported to not increase the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. While these new buildings do consume, at times, non-renewable energy and will produce some levels of greenhouse gasses, the effects to the environment are reported to be far less toxic than traditional construction.
Credit new technology and techniques in construction for the innovative Net-Zero buildings which, reportedly, receive about one-half or more of their energy from the traditional (fossil fuel) power grid, but return the same amount of energy consumed back to it. Therefore, buildings that produce a surplus of energy over a one-year period can be called “energy-plus buildings.” They can save money on energy costs in the long run, but may cost a little more during the construction process—subsequently passed on to the prospective home buyer—because of the unique materials required.
10-year goal well underway
Lancaster’s goal of reaching Net-Zero status is divided into two phases. First, the goal is expected to be reached by the end of this year, at which time Lancaster will supposedly procure and produce more energy via renewable sources than it consumes at its peak (about 215 megawatts this year).
Phase two, expected to be reached by 2020, may find Lancaster producing more energy via renewable sources than the total amount of energy consumed by the entire city (around 530 megawatts). City officials contend these goals must be made a reality, and that’s why the public is witness to a variety of programs aimed at involving all stakeholders in the ongoing journey to Net-Zero status.
One program, Solar Lancaster, is reportedly playing a major role in reducing the city’s environmental impact. Launched five years ago in partnership with SolarCity, Solar Lancaster is an affordable solar financing program for homeowners, business owners and nonprofit organizations. The program is said to simplify the process of going solar by reducing energy bills as well as by offering several financing options and discounted pricing. The program may be one of the nation’s most expansive solar community programs ever undertaken and includes clients such as Sierra Toyota Car Dealership; the Lancaster School District (19 sites); the Lancaster Business Park, and Lancaster Baptist Church.
Also, three well-known city facilities—Lancaster Municipal Stadium, Lancaster City Hall and Lancaster Baptist Church—are now powered with so-called “clean,” non-polluting solar energy in a 1.45 megawatt project, all of which is expected to save the city $6 million over 15 years.
Parris believes the progress being made toward Net-Zero status can be improved upon.
“We are even going to do it in a shorter time frame than originally anticipated,” Parris explained. “I firmly believe that Lancaster will reach Net-Zero status, and we will be a replicable example for communities around the world. Net-Zero is possible. Net-Zero is cost effective. Net-Zero is necessary to maintain the wellness of our planet.”
In adopting what can be called a “business friendly” attitude toward future, Lancaster is reportedly playing a major role in maximizing its renewable energy production. The city has been able to carry out its vaunted “solar farm entitlement” process in a matter of months; this compares with the usual year-long process utilized by most other cities and counties. One example of this process is the Better Build Home program, which became available in January. This plan incentivises residential builders to incorporate environmentally smart features, such as LED lighting, grey water systems, energy storage systems, and “smog-eating” roof tiles into their home construction. By offering builders the equivalent of about $9,000 to $12,000 in incentives per dwelling unit, Lancaster may be able to ensure that the environmentally conscious choice could be the most cost effective for home builders now and into the future.
‘Smart,’ eco-friendly designs
There is a new term within “green” industrial planning. Many cities worldwide are working to attract “smart” industries which, within their expansion and/or relocation plans, seek to locate their plants in areas where there is an ongoing effort to reduce greenhouse gasses via renewable energy. Lancaster officials attest that their locale is the optimal region where these new “eco-friendly” designs are being put into place.
“Smart industries are the revenue creators of the future,” said Lex Heslin, CEO of Beautiful Earth, a consortium of energy providers that develops, owns and operates utility-scale solar and wind power generating facilities. “These businesses look to locate their plants in areas which have the right mix of energy sources, locational advantages and employment resources to fulfill their environmentally responsible corporate missions.”
Beautiful Earth has been advising Lancaster on its transformation into a Net-Zero city. They’ve worked for the past four years on local feasibility studies and the development of general concepts and designs that have been submitted periodically in an advisory capacity prior to city approval of potential suppliers and service providers. Lancaster officials have attested to Beautiful Earth’s ingenuity in providing the city with a wide range of options to reduce its carbon output by using green technology coupled with future energy-saving techniques.
The debut last year of KB Home’s “Double ZeroHouse 2.0”—the first such structure in Los Angeles County—is another example of Lancaster’s push for Net-Zero status. The house was lauded by city officials for its dual emphasis on energy and water efficiency and is equipped to recycle drainwater on-site and reuse it for landscaping, thereby minimizing the home’s overall demand for new water. The home’s design is said to eliminate the household’s need to use fresh water for the property’s already-established “low-water” landscaping. KB Homes estimates that the Double ZeroHouse 2.0 at the Dawn Creek housing tract may conserve a minimum of 150,000 gallons of water each year when compared to a typical home, resulting in a possible reduction of about 70 percent less water used. Also, the Double ZeroHouse 2.0 is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes (the objective of Net-Zero status), potentially yielding an electric bill of $0.
“KB Home’s groundbreaking efforts to incorporate the latest water- and energy-saving technology into homes have been simply astounding,” Parris commented. “They knew the technology was out there and rather than waiting for someone to map it out for them, they blazed the trail, discovering how to implement this wonderful energy-saving, clean power-producing equipment into their homes. These are exactly the type of partners we need in our journey to become the nation’s first Net-Zero city.”
‘Green’ building vs. ‘greenbacks’
Besides energy efficiency, KB Homes says the advantages of Net-Zero construction can include improved building efficiency, better indoor air quality, cheaper maintenance costs, some tax benefits and a higher property value. But there are some disadvantages, according to KB rival Castalia Homes, that may put a damper on the high hopes that these may be the ultimate homes of the future. Natural ventilation can’t be regulated—no matter what size or design of a structure—and the particular cooling components that could precisely control the interior temperature in green buildings does not exist.
Second, to amend sun exposure, “green” buildings may need a correct structural orientation. This is what influences how natural light enters the building and how to shade some part of it; contractors will say that the location of a building is always affected by the land’s humidity and the circumstance of the surrounding area.
Third, green buildings require special materials, and a lot of eco-friendly materials are not always available in the United States; transportation of such materials can be cost prohibitive.
Fourth, it takes more time to construct a green building … including the time spent on acquiring the needed materials. And then there’s cost. You must invest a lot of money to build such a structure and that is usually passed on to the prospective homebuyer.
Earning the title of “Alternative Energy Capital of the World” may require more work, but Lancaster seems equal to the challenge. The city’s director of Public Works, Robert Neal, said late last year that while the “non-environmental” aspects of the move can certainly help balance the expense of the town’s electricity rate, the idea that officials are singularly trying to stop global warming may be far off the mark.
Financial benefits for homeowners, Neal said, is the true objective of Net Zero status. “We are looking to help to stabilize our electricity rate. That’s the prime motivation of our efforts at achieving Net-Zero status.”
That phrase, “global warming,” has sometimes been as divisive nationally as “red and blue states” or “liberal vs. conservative” when it comes to politics. Parris, a Republican, is performing a balancing act of sorts with some constituents who may believe the entire “climate change” debate is simply a ploy by the opposite party to gain public favor. Parris over the past few years has dismissed such political “camps” in favor of a viable alternative to fossil fuels … a different approach, he hopes, that will realize great energy savings in Lancaster for many decades.
“The one thing we have to recognize is just how desperate this situation is with global warming,” he said. “At the same time, we must recognize that we can actually fix it. We have tremendous capability if we just have the courage to do it.” In commenting on how his party is sometimes portrayed in the media as resistant to the idea that the world temperature is warming and sea levels are rising steadily–and that mankind may be playing an increasing role in exacerbating natural climate change that occurs throughout the millenia—Parris admitted that his political stalwarts may be on the wrong side of history regarding this subject.
“The Republican Party is in a quandary because polling shows that the voters support environmental protection,” Parris said. “It’s the (GOP) leadership that doesn’t. You’d have to be a moron to discount global warming. I don’t know anybody that doesn’t recognize that it’s occurring.”
