Fighting the government for sustainable housing

Many Sisters residents who build sustainable housing say that the biggest challenge is not the construction but the government's inability to adapt to modern changes in energy conservation techniques.

On one hand the government encourages energy conservation through the use of tax credits and other incentive mechanisms, while on the other hand it lays penalties and a minefield of regulations in the path of the builder.

Significant energy savings are available to any who wish to pursue them. Having a home that uses so little electricity that the home can be run off-the-grid or remain on-the-grid with a utility bill that is insignificant is not a pipe dream. (See "Sisters residents go 'off the grid,'" The Nugget, March 21, 2007, page 3.)

However, trying to take advantage of energy conservation methods and accomplish the construction of a sustainable home on a "level playing field" with conventional construction is another matter entirely.

There are a number of approaches that can be used in construction of highly energy efficient homes that range from the very low tech to the very high tech. Surprisingly, the old-fashioned low tech methods do not give much up, if anything, in terms of energy efficiency to the latest modern high tech alternatives.

Straw bale construction is a centuries old construction technique that provides a home with excellent insulating properties for both sound and energy. Contrary to popular thought, straw bale homes often are more fire resistant than homes of common stick frame construction. This construction method tends to be favored more by the do-it-yourself crowd.

Another popular technique is the use of Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) construction; however, this is a construction method that is generally best left to the experts.

Both construction methods yield a highly energy efficient structure with thick, solid, quiet and very well insulated exterior walls.

Yet, the property tax assessment method used by the State of Oregon provides a tax penalty for building thick-walled, energy-efficient homes. Within the state, a home's square footage is measured based upon the structure's outside dimensions rather than the actual interior footage. A conventional home has walls approximately seven inches in thickness. One energy efficient home examined for this story has walls that are 22 inches thick.

Using the Deschutes County assessment method, in a conventional home assessed at 1,500 square feet, there is approximately 1,407 square feet of interior space. In the energy-efficient home that is also assessed at 1,500 square feet, there is 1,207 square feet of interior space. The energy-efficient home pays approximately 14 percent more in taxes per actual square foot of living space than the conventional home due to Oregon's method of property tax assessment.

"Deschutes County, as well as all Oregon counties, are bound by a statewide property tax system defined by specific Oregon Revised Statues ... so a uniform system is maintained throughout the state of which includes appraisal methods for determining square footage," said Scot W. Langton, Deschutes County Assessor.

Another issue that appears to be problematic is that regulations make it difficult to use DC wiring that can take advantage of unconverted energy from photovoltaic panels. Anytime that electricity is converted from DC to AC or voltage is raised or lowered, there are some energy losses.

"A residence in Oregon has to be wired to meet the minimum standard as outlined in the Oregon Electrical Specialty Code. This means it has to have a minimum 100 amp service installed ... remember stand-alone solar can supply a dwelling with less than 100 amps of applied current. It has to have the minimum branch circuits and required outlets in article 210 (of the code). In other words installing stand-alone systems still requires the dwelling unit to be wired just like any other structure," said Ray Dummitt, Deschutes County's lead electrical inspector.