I thought people might be interested to see all the work that went into the world's most energy-efficient office building. http://www.nrel.gov/sustainable_nrel/pdfs/51124.pdf
I cannot download the pdf. I am unsure if the link is malformed or my browser/connection is squirrely.
The link works for me. If you keep having problems PM me your email addy and I will send it to you. It's a good read.
I had a similar issue. I thought about taking my house solar....so I went through all the initial steps. Unfortunately four huge Oak trees put the nix on solar panels. As a result my power bill is 1/3 of nearly all of my neighbors. That's because the first step of "going solar" is being smart with energy. It looks like 67% of being net zero is stupidity elimination.
Good! It might balance out the insanely inefficient Jefferson County building down the road. It practically glows in the dark from its heat signature on infrared.
Absolutely. Just ask my wife and kids "Do not turn stuff on reflexively." "Shut off what is not being used." I am Israeli, and residents of Jerusalem have a reputation of being frugal. An author named Amos Oz is from that culture, and likes to relate that he used to practice turning one light off at at same time he turned another one on. As in, he did not want to be in the dark, but two lights on at the same time was unacceptable. I am not *that* extreme, but I do appreciate the sentiment The link worked by the way -- it just took a while to download the large file.