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Prototype home
hailed as model of
energy efficiency

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By Rosemarie Bernardo
Star-Bulletin

Several organizations will build the first home in Hawaii with pre-designed energy-efficient features that would save a homeowner more than $45 a month on electricity.

Homeowners would spend $5,000 more for the house due to its features enabling natural ventilation throughout the structure.

"It will cost a lot up front," said said energy program specialist Dean Masai of the state Energy, Resources and Technology Division. "But it will cost less from the first moment you live in the house."

A house with energy-efficient features will save thousands of dollars in the long run, he said.

The $128,000 home is part of a project created by the Honsador Lumber Corp. It will include a skylight, slots to ensure cool ventilation, energy-saving appliances and a solar water heater.

The prototype home will be built on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands in Waianae.

Homeowners who have air conditioners would save more than $100 a month with this designed home, said Masai.

The house was included in the count for President Clinton's Million Solar Roofs Initiative -- a program to install solar units on 1 million roofs on U.S. homes and businesses by 2010.

"If we educate the homeowners and let them know the importance of an energy-efficient home can help the environment, they would want the energy-efficient features," said Masai.

The home project is part of a public/private partnership that includes the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Building Industry Association of Hawaii, American Institute of Architects, Hawaiian Electric Co. and the Honsador Lumber.

Gov. Ben Cayetano said, "The partnership is a milestone and marks the start of a long range program to promote energy efficiency in homes throughout the entire chain of home development -- including architects, builders, financial institutions, realtors and consumers."

The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism received a $255,000 federal grant from the U.S Department of Energy to build the home -- a 1,248-square-foot wooden-frame house with four bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Federal funds also were used for consultations and a compilation of a report including statistics on a homeowner's savings, instructions on designing and building an energy-efficient home and energy-saving tips, said Masai.

Department director Seiji Naya said, "The model demonstration home was designed to be extremely energy efficient and comfortable without air conditioning, even in an area as hot as Waianae."

Deputy Chief of Staff for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Peter Dreyfuss, who represented the U.S. Department of Energy at the groundbreaking in Waianae on Monday, said, "In Hawaii, a solar water heater can save the homeowner about $540 per year in water heating costs."

Construction is expected to start in the beginning of December by the Building Industry Association of Hawaii.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands will award the home to a family at the end of January.