Discovering Geos, the World's First Fossil Fuel-Free Community: Solar Energy: Eco20/20

Discovering Geos, the World's First Fossil Fuel-Free Community

Geos is a community in Colorado which is the first US community that is entirely fossil-fuel energy free. The community strives to be net-zero energy which means that it produces as much energy as it uses over the course of an entire year. The technologies used at Geos are at the cutting-edge and the community itself uses energy from the earth and Sun to meet its needs.

The focus on sun-based energy begins with passive solar energy collection. Additionally, the homes are super-insulated with a high thermal mass. The windows also feature mobile insulation which maximizes the heat gain and allows the homes to retain that heat energy. The placement of the homes themselves also adds to the ability to collect solar energy for the community's energy needs. Staggered placement of the homes, which looks a lot like a checkerboard, allows all of the homes to receive the maximum amount of sunlight possible because of lessened shadowing from the neighboring houses.

In addition, homes are placed with their longest length facing south so that the PV panels receive the most sunlight possible throughout the day. To add to the energy efficiency of the homes, the north-facing walls have minimal windows and doors to minimize heat loss through these colder walls.

The most impressive energy innovation includes the fact that all of the energy needs of the homes are met through the photovoltaic system which is connected to the utility grid so that it can easily be monitored. The community has over 300 sunny days each year which provides it with an abundance of solar energy. During the heat of summer, excess electricity is fed into the regular power grid in exchange for power for the community during cloudy days and for night time usage.

Another great innovation at Geos is the whole house monitoring system. The energy monitoring system analyses the entire energy use for the home including anything plugged in as well as the energy produced by the home's passive solar system. The homeowner can make adjustments based on the reports generated by the Geos home to maximize the energy efficiency.

All of these innovations are provided at the Geos community in mid-range priced homes. Providing the energy-efficient housing at the price range of a typical middle income household is possible because all of the technologies being used at the Geos community are already available. Because of this, there is no investment in the development of new technologies and applications which can increase the costs when placed in homes. The Geos community is an innovative example of how energy efficiency is possible with technology that is already available but under-utilized in the United States. As an example of what can be done, Geos illustrates what could be accomplished already to increase the country's overall energy efficiency.

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