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Affordable • Healthy • Safe • Convenient • Eco-friendly • A Superb Investment
If you’ve been thinking about “going green” with your next home purchase, consider a net-zero energy home. By purchasing a net-zero home, you’re making a conscious effort to protect the environment through eco-friendly home features that all but eliminate the balance on your electric bill and keep your home safe and comfortable for you and your family. In short, net-zero homes save money, save energy, and add market value to your home.
A net-zero Green Key Village home is a regular grid-tied home that is so air-tight, so well insulated, and so energy efficient that it produces as much renewable energy as the average family consumes over the course of a year leaving residents with a net zero energy bill and a carbon-free footprint.
Our net zero energy home is not just a “green home” or a home with solar panels. It is a combination of advanced design and superior building systems. Net Zero is achieved by building an energy-efficient shell with spray foam insulation, installing highly efficient mechanical systems, windows, doors, lighting, and appliances and then eliminating the balance of energy used by installing a solar electric system on the roof.
Our solar electric system consists of two major components — photovoltaic (PV) panels and inverters. Photovoltaic panels generate the electricity, while the inverters transfer the created power from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) to be used in the home. The PV system connects to the local utility grid, which serves as the energy storage and power backup. During the day while the sun is shining, the PV panels generate electricity that is fed into the home and used. Any excess energy not used in the home is fed back through the meter into the utility grid, banking a credit. At night, as you use electricity from the utility grid, you utilize the credit accrued during the day.
This will depend on how you live. By following simple energy-saving tips, you can keep your energy costs at zero. Our net-zero energy homes are designed to produce as much energy as the average household consumes. This means if operated in the proper manner all our homes will average zero annual energy bills.
At the closing of your Green Key Village home, you will receive a receipt for the cost of your solar electric system, which entitles you to a tax credit on your Federal tax return. This one-time tax credit is equal to 30% of the cost of the solar array which amounts to a cash savings of $6,000 to $9,000 per home.
Our solar energy electric system has no moving parts and is virtually maintenance free. We recommend cleaning your PV panels’ surface once or twice a year with water and a soft brush.
Yes and no! Although you will pay approximately 10% more up front for your net-zero energy home, this initial cost will be more than recouped through the 30% Federal tax credit and the monthly savings on your energy bills. Energy prices always fluctuate and usually increase year after year. With a Green Key Village home, you pay the same amount over time – zero or close to zero – because you generate all the energy you need on site.
Yes! Green Key Village uses a Mission Solar panel that provides a 25-year Limited Product Warranty and a 25-year Limited Power Production Warranty. The product warranty covers normal defect in the materials and workmanship under normal use and the power production warranty covers failure of the panels to perform to a set standard. Solar panels degrade slightly over time but will continue to work well beyond the 25-year point. The inverters have a Manufacturer's 2-year Labor Warranty and a 25-year Product Warranty.
To begin, you will see the results in your zero electric bills. Secondly, each solar electric system comes with a web based monitoring service that provides real time performance and production data available to each resident from their home computer. This is a lifetime subscription at no ongoing cost to the homeowner.
At Green Key Village, we take the health and safety of your family seriously which is why each of our new homes has been built to deliver only the highest quality indoor environment. We understand that building a naturally clean and healthy home requires the careful implementation of strategic design and placement of equipment and systems, healthy construction practices, the use of non-toxic materials, and so much more.
