Wimberley is going to have another mini-storage facility in town, but this one will keep your stuff cool, and I don’t mean in a trendy way. The green guru had a chance to meet the three Houston developers, Lisa and Greg Goulas and Rick Barrett to discuss their green choices. They have seen an opportunity, and have for investment purposes as well as just plain smart business sense, decided to make this new development as green as they possibly can, because they know that the average solar system will pay for itself in 5 to 7 years of no electric bills.
Their plan is to build two 1400 sq. ft. buildings outfitted in solar panels made by Unisolar that stick on the metal standing seam roof in long sheets between each standing seam. They will also collect all necessary water plus some off of these roofs into a tank hidden inside the corner of one building. The solar will be grid tied to PEC, but will undoubtedly cover the cost of powering their geothermal heating and cooling system and all necessary lighting requirements. Even though they will probably have enough rain water collection potential to bottle cloud juice and sell it at Glenn’s, they will only have a ten thousand gallon tank, which will take care of all of their landscaping needs and provide a water pond feature in front of the building that will become a habitat for birds and butterflies. In order to offset the building’s need to remove trees they plan to buy trees and plant them on site as well as give them to the city of Wimberley to plant elsewhere. Look at it this way, while you’re building your GREEN home and need to store your stuff, your couch can be living green long before you will!
The green guru would like to ask the City of Wimberley to strongly encourage this kind of offsetting and green decision making of all new development in the city limits. At the very least the new developments we approve should collect and be able to provide their own electrical and water needs. It’s the only way to grow in a sustainable way. Why not? Building green is cost-effective, better for our environment and just plain smart.
Quote of the Month: “While the environmental and human health benefits of green building have been widely recognized, our comprehensive report confirms that minimal increases in upfront costs of 0-2% to support green design will result in life cycle savings of 20% of total construction costs — more than ten times the initial investment. In other words, an initial investment of up to $100,000 to incorporate green building features into a $5 million project would result in a savings of $1 million in today’s dollars over the life of the building.” Aileen Adams, Secretary of State and Consumer Affairs