Just got my electric bill for October 5th through November 5th.  The bill was $142.29.  Keep in mind, though, that the average high was 72 and the average low was 55 in October.  But this bill for my 3500 square foot house is still lower than it was for my 1400 square foot house!

During the Home Tour we received a couple of questions about the knife block in kitchen and the teak stool and shower mat in the master bath.  I couldn’t remember the catalogue I found them in at the time, but did dig up the information.  They both came from a company called Viva Terra.  Enjoy!

Our architect, Kelly Mitchell, and her husband, Sean Garman, have a couple of very exciting things going on these days (that’s the happy couple in the photo).  A couple of months ago Sean received his Architect credentials to match Kelly’s, and then a couple of weeks ago Kelly received her LEED Accredited Professional credentials to match Sean’s. 

The icing on the cake was having Kelly’s design (our home) chosen for the 2009 Dallas AIA Tour of Homes.  And almost simultaneously with the Tour of Homes Kelly and Sean released a newly designed website that showcases their work.  Visit it here.

Congratulations Kelly and Sean!

We are claiming points in the low flow categories of LEED for Homes (WE3).  I’ve posted before about our dual flush/low flow toilets, but we also claimed points for our low flow faucets.  We chose the style that is shown here, however these faucets are rated at, I believe, 1.8ish gallons per minute. 

That’s not low enough to get the “very high efficiency” rating, so we worked with our Kohler rep and found aerators that got us down to 1.5 gpm.  1.5 gpm got us the two points for very high efficiency.

For those of you who live in Dallas (and for those of you who don’t!), the City has published “The Green Guide”.  It’s an 8 page pamphlet that discusses how to Green your life.  Topics range from Renewable Energy to Water Conservation to Trees.  It’s a good overview.

I was, however, surprised to see that almost half a page is dedicated to the disposal of fats, oils and grease.  It’s obviously a problem that I haven’t been that aware of.  Check out the publication here.

OK, so I’ve never linked to You Tube, but this one is really great.  The Fun Theory = if we made environmental ‘stuff’ fun, more people would join in.  Enjoy the video here.  There’s also one about trying to influence people to take stairs versus an escalator.  It’s a Volkswagen initiative!

See this article from the Mansfield News Journal about a utility company who, in an effort to reduce energy consumption to comply with an Ohio law, crafted a plan to deliver two compact fluorescent lamps to each customer.  The CFLs cost roughly $3.50 each, but the utility was going to charge the customer $21 for the pair.

While I’m sure lots of folks are supportive of using CFLs, the move didn’t sit well with customers.  But that’s hardly a surprise!

I know I can be impatient…but the wait to hear from USGBC regarding our certification application is killing me!  Our final inspection was over five weeks ago, and while I know these things take time, I keep bugging our Home Provider every week.

So, as soon as we know about what Certification level we’ve achieved I’ll post it here, and until then I guess I’ll just stay nervous!

And, by the way, I just checked the USGBC website…it looks like as of 9/23 there are still only two other Platinum homes in Dallas (although one was certified under the less stringent Prelminary LEED for Homes rules).  We still have a chance to be #3 (or #2 if you look at it as I do!).

Our electric bills over the past couple of months (see this post) have validated our economic decision to not immediately install solar panels.  If we assume that our usage this past month is probably peak in Dallas (month of Aug/Sept), and even if we assume that we can eliminate this bill completely by installing solar panels, that gives us a best-case return of $3,480 per year.  That would allow us to get a 9 year payback on the $30,000 it would take to install the solar panels.  So…realistically if we assume that our electricity will actually cost us somewhere around $2,000 per year, and that we’ll only be able to eliminate 1/2 to 3/4 of that cost, the payback becomes something more like 20-25 years. 

Admittedly, I don’t know the ins and outs of the new federal tax implications of installing solar panels, but even if I get a break of 50% of the cost of the panels, a 10-12 year payback still seems a little long for us.

BUT!  We did have all of the conduit installed in the guts of the house to accommodate solar panels if/when we do decide to install them.

PS:  We use Green Mountain Electric, so even without solar panels we’re contributing to the promotion of green energy.

Our home has been selected by the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture to be one of eight homes on the 2009 Dallas Tour of Homes.  The event is a great way to see some of Dallas’ newest and most amazing architecture.  We’re in great company – check out all of the homes that are on the Tour here (click on “Homes” at the top of the page). 

Accolades go to our architect/design team of Kelly Mitchell and Garry Walling.  This is Kelly’s second home on the Tour (she also contributed to a third home that was on the tour a couple of years ago).  Check out Kelly’s first one here.

If you take part in the Tour, you can actually see our house first-hand!  Buy a ticket!

PS:  I never mentioned that the tour is November 7th and 8th!