Green Homes Garner Praise

Water-efficient yet attractive desert landscaping is the first clue about what’s to come with each of the 41 homes in the O Bel Sole Estates project in the Antelope Valley. Solar panels are fully integrated into the roof, leaving clean lines and no obvious evidence that the sun powers the house and gives back to the state power grid electricity it creates yet does not need. The solar inverter, above left, tracks the electric generation capabilities hidden on the roof. Plus, a tankless water heater, above right, eliminates the wasteful 80-gallon water heaters of old, heating only what is needed and only when it is needed.

Let's start with an electric bill totaling all of $34 - for two months. Some months the electricity generated by each of the 41 homes in the pioneering O Bel Sole Estate project in the Antelope Valley is more than they need, so they give it to the state’s electric power grid.

Those savings contribute to what the developers say adds up to a 60 percent reduction in all typical monthly utility costs.

Going "green" truly makes cents. This first development in Southern

California to go completely energy efficient and environmentally friendly is being developed by a prominent leader of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors®.

Realtor® Jennie Stabile and her son Al are in the final stages of developing a community of solar powered, high efficiency homes in Lancaster.

The project is drawing praise and interest from all quarters and will be the first community in Southern California to participate in the California Energy Commission’s new solar homes partnership. The homes also are part of the California Green Builder program and are certified by a third-party inspector.

"I hope this will start a trend among builders statewide," Stabile said. "And, some day, I hope all homes are green and energy-efficient."

No longer are solar panels an eyesore. Instead, panels are beautifully integrated into roofing tiles.

The green aspects of the development include: water-efficient landscape designed for the California High Desert; satellite-controlled, weather-based irrigation systems; engineered wood products; and recycling of construction waste materials.

Plus, owners will benefit from a $2,000 federal tax credit.

The homes also have an improved building envelope with R-21 rated insulation in the walls and R-49-rated insulation in the attic, along with hermetically sealed air ducts that are buried in the attic insulation.

The homes have a high efficiency gas furnace and central air condition systems, a special air filter that virtually eliminates dust, high performance, triple-pane windows, fluorescent lighting, attic radiant heat barrier, and two tankless water heaters, which eliminate the need for wasteful 80-gallon water heaters. Tankless heaters fire up only when hot water is needed, heating only what is needed.

Each home is tested to ensure that they are air tight and that the ducts distribute air efficiently.