By SALLY KEENEY
Advertising Staff Writer
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Sat 97Nov01, Real Estate section, p1
Eno Commons, a cohousing community now beginning home construction in Durham, will be sitting on top of a buried treasure when completed and the residents won't be the least bit interested in digging it up.
Why? Because this buried treasure is in the form of a geothermal heating/cooling system which will save residents up to 60 percent on their electric heating bills compared to older heating systems and up to 40 percent on their cooling compared to conventional air conditioners.
By tapping into the earth's renewable energy source stored in the ground, geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) use just a fraction of the energy needed by conventional heating and cooling units, and about 30 percent less refrigerant than ordinary air conditioning units. A 1993 Environmental Protection Agency report found that under most scenarios, GHPs have the lowest CO2 emissions of all technologies analyzed and the lowest overall environmental cost. Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas leading to global warming.
They also have the lowest life-cycle cost, which includes the purchasing the equipment, power to operate the equipment, and the cost of maintenance and service over the life of the equipment.
That study really impressed Sherri Zann Rosenthal, the Durham attorney who developed Eno Commons. "I was really impressed with both the low cost of heating and cooling with geothermal systems -- and how environmentally clean they are,' Rosenthal said. "When you combine that with the comfort for the home owner, there wasn't any other system that could match geothermal."
Rosenthal said Eno Commons is getting a "Cadillac" of a system at a low price . from Evangelist Service Company thanks to economies of scale. "Because we are installing these systems for the entire neighborhood that brings the cost down to $2,000 above the usual cost of a gas furnace for our residents, " Rosenthal said. "From the day they move in, our residents will have positive cash flow from these systems."
The result of the geothermal system will be homes that stay within one degree of whatever the thermostats are set at, all for an estimated monthly price of $27.50 a month for a three-bedroom 1 1/2-story home and $36 per month for a 4-bedroom, 2.5 bath home.
"Those figures, taken from computer modeling, are what Evangelist Service Company and Duke Power estimates it will take to heat, cool and provide all the home's hot water," Rosenthal said. Of course, the passive solar home's at Eno Commons have had many energy-efficient items designed into them from the start by architects at Cline Davis. For instance, all the windows will be argon-filled, and low-E. The home's insulation is damp-spray cellulose which blocks air infiltration better than fiberglass and is more environmentally friendly and non-toxic. "Our buyers am getting pretty fantastic values with these homes," Rosenthal said.
Unlike many air-source heat pumps, the air from a geothermal heat pump is consistently much warmer due to the stability of the earth's temperature as compared to above-ground temperatures. And during summer, geothermal heat pumps dehumidify better than conventional air conditioning units. Plus a geothermal system is quiet. The heat pump located in each house makes no more noise than a refrigerator and because the unit is indoors, it doesn't take battering from the weather, so the unit lasts a lot longer. The loop in the ground takes the place of the outdoor condensing unit, so you don't get that noise - outside its a completely silent system.
Which is great for Eno Commons residents who value tranquillity. What Duke Power especially likes about geothermal is that it is a high-efficiency system, providing an improved load factor for the power company while being environmentally sensitive, according to Bob Poole, geothermal project manager for Duke Power Company. Poole says that according to the 1993 EPA report geothermal heat pumps have the highest customer loyalty and customer satisfaction ratings.
A different kind of heating system for a different kind of new home community. Eno Commons has been different from typical new-home subdivisions from the start. The 22-home' has been designed over the past four years with a lot of input from its future residents. This is the "cohousing" (collaborative housing) element. Getting the most value for their money while keeping quality and comfort high have been primary goals, along with achieving energy-efficient, healthy homes. What resulted is a park-like neighborhood with traditional front porches facing onto a pedestrian way. The residents cover all age ranges, rather than a narrow demographic slice as in most new neighborhoods, providing a sense of extended family.
The shared facilities, chosen by residents, aim at creating a greater sense of community and easing residents' busy lives. In fact, the common facilities, owned by the homeowners' association, provide some of the supports previously found only in retirement communities. The clubhouse, called a "Common House," features include a guest room, laundry, meditation/exercise room, and space for on-site child-care. In addition, dinners will be offered several nights a week in the Common House, with residents billed for the meals they chose to eat as part of homeowners' dues.
Another valuable asset for Eno Commons is the site plan by Ken Coulter and architectural designs by Cline Davis of Raleigh. The architects worked with the residents of Eno Commons to come up with three wonderful passive solar home designs. The homes are not only energy efficient, but are built to accommodate a family's changing needs. All of the main floors are wheelchair accessible and every home is designed to be built using healthy, non-toxic materials. Even the carpet is made from recycled plastic soda pop bottles.
The homes at Eno Commons are on city-size lots much like homes in older Durham neighborhoods such as Watts-Hillandale and Trinity Park. "The differences being that Eno Commons has much more privacy because behind the houses, is common land, Rosenthal said. "Even the homes that share a common wall still have their own separate lot with common ground in back."
The price of the lots, starting at $40,000, and the price of the houses, starting at $140,000 [Webmaster note: Price of Homes starts at $131,400 which includes the lot price] make this a very affordable neighborhood by Triangle standards. There are 12 homesites left for sale. Children living at Eno Commons will attend Easley Elementary, an innovative year-round school; Carrington Junior High School; and Riverside High School.
On-site tours of Eno Commons are held every Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. Directions: Tike either Cole Mill Road or Guess Road to Umstead Road. Turn south onto Riverdale Drive, back toward the Eno River. Turn left onto Hillock Place and go to the end, where you'll see signs for Eno Commons.
Other upcoming events:
For more information about geothermal heating/cooling systems, call Duke Power at 1-800 976-4328 for the name of the geothermal contractor nearest you.
A horizontal loop uses a trencher or backhoe to install the coil below the frost line in a six- to eight-foot deep trench. While this method is less expensive, it requires more land area than the vertical loop design.
- A slinky loop is a spiral of pipe laid about six feet below the surface. The advantage of the slinky loop is that it uses less land area than a horizontal design and requires less excavation/trenching due to the increased surface area of the spiral loop configuration.
- A vertical loop uses drilling to install the loop in a 100- to 200-foot bore hole. This type of loop can be more expensive, but works very well where land is scarce. The loop can often be filled with water rather than antifreeze since the great depth eliminates chances of freezing.
NOT SHOWN IN ILLUSTRATION:
An underwater loop is pipe that runs from your home or facility to a. loop in a lake or pond, where heat transfer takes place, and back to the home or facility again. An ample nearby water source is required for this desigr4 and it offers lower installation costs because there is little trenching involved during installation.
- This open loop well system uses ground-water from a well as a heat source. The ground-water is pumped into the heat pump unit where heat is extracted. Then the water is discharged either back into a nearby water source or return well. Open loop systems are environmentally safe, as they merely remove heat from or add heat to the water.