29 May Invitation to 2014 Cool House Tour

Nearly 50% of global energy consumption and CO2 emissions come from buildings.  Fortunately, Austin Energy Green Building is leading the design/build industry to a more sustainable future. The 18th Cool House Tour, a collaboration with the Texas Solar Energy Society, gives you a close look at the planning, products and professionals that continue the movement to build safer, comfortable and energy efficient homes with a lighter footprint.

Eleven projects this year carry that message in a variety of styles. Two rural properties are a reminder that the Texas Hill Country is a fragile landscape demanding great planning and care. In the city we have stylish, urban, infill homes, a home perched above Lake Austin, one home built to high standards of environmental health and an English-style castle that is a net zero energy residence.

A family home built in 2002 returns to the tour as a laboratory for the building sciences and lessons learned. And for the first time, the tour features an urban farm plus a 5-star home on the property that is managed under the guiding principles of sustainability.

This year three houses are designed and built as net-zero energy homes that are connected to the electric grid, but designed and built to generate as much energy as they consume. In Austin that means building an extremely efficient home with a solar photovoltaic (PV) array sized to match the residents’ energy use.

Please enjoy the Cool House Tour and learn from the homeowners and professionals dedicated to the design and construction of sustainable, comfortable and efficient homes.

Warm regards,

Lucy Stolzenburg

Executive Director, Texas Solar Energy Society