Thursday, June 4, 2009

Green campus/climate wonking


I'm on a trip to Colorado, although I won't get to see much. I'm sequestered with (yet) another bunch of energy wonks, scientists, architects, planners, finance folks, plotting again how to save the world through climate emissions reductions. This time we're hosted by the fabled Rocky Mountain Institute, so I'm very happy, in energy geek heaven of a sorts, as we figure out how to accelerate campus climate emissions reductions.

This time the finance people are starting to gather, sensing finally that there's money to be made. And there is. Oil is going up in price again, and, in Congress, we're beginning to see the glimmers of real cost pricing for the deleterious effects of carbon.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Unity, the firm that built our new president's residence, dubbed the Unity House, has begun marketing it as a modular house for less than $200,000, quite the bargain when you realize it has no power or heat energy consumption.

That would be, say, between $1,000 - $1,500/month for the mortgage, depending on your site and interest rate, but you'd save on electricity, hot water, and heating, which might be as much as $600/month over the course of the year.

Sounds like a half-price house to me.

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