New greenie goal: getting to net zero

Filmmaker going to great lengths to retrofit his house

By Jim Redden

Pamplin Media Group, Jul 8, 2010

L.E. BASKOW / PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP

Briggs’ old Ford Explorer sits unused in his driveway, as a reminder of his greener pursuits.

For many years, the idea of going “off grid” was a goal of hippies, survivalists and UFO believers living in battered Airstream trailers on remote mountaintops. They dreamed of living self-sufficient lifestyles without depending on utilities to supply their energy and other needs.

As the climate change issue has grown, a similar idea has seized the imagination of many environmentalists who live more traditional lifestyles. It’s called going “net zero.”

People living in net-zero homes use minimal resources, and often generate on-site solar or other renewable energy to offset their total carbon emissions from all sources.

The goal is easiest to achieve in new homes, which can be sited and designed to take advantage of passive solar energy and the newest energy-saving and generating technologies. A well-designed and built home can reduce energy consumption about 50 percent, says Markus Stoffel, executive director of Solar Oregon. Most if not all of the remaining energy needs can be generated by photovoltaic solar panels.

“A small but growing number of homes in the Portland area are already near net zero,” says Stoffel, whose nonprofit advocacy organization offers classes on how to reduce home energy consumption.

But as Lake Oswego resident Matt Grimm has discovered, making an existing home net zero requires a lot more than a little extra insulation and a few solar panels.

“It’s a whole different magnitude of work,” says Briggs, a self-taught environmentalist who directed the new documentary “Deep Green,” a look at the latest technological fixes for climate change around the world. The film, which took two years and around $1.5 million to complete, debuted in Portland last month.

Inspired by his research, Briggs decided several years ago to improve the energy efficiency of his own home – a process documented in his film. The two-story house with a full basement was built in 1952, before the potential benefits of insulation and efficient heating and cooling systems were fully understood. Over the past few years, Briggs has invested thousands of dollars.

He has insulated it, replaced the old natural gas furnace with a high-efficiency model, bought Energy Star appliances, added solar panels to the roof and swapped his traditional light bulbs for compact flourescents.

Some of his biggest savings came from simply unplugging his second refrigerator, hot tub and other electrical devices when they aren’t in use.

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