here’s no place like home, especially when home is a
multi-million dollar urban condominium complex that runs
entirely off the grid.
Sol-Lux Alpha is
an ultra-luxe residence coming to San Francisco that
generates its own power via rooftop solar panels and cuts
down heating and cooling energy costs up to
90% through efficient design.
Upon completion later this year,
the four-family structure will
be so energy efficient, it could change the way buildings are
constructed in San Francisco, if not
the rest of the country.
“We feel this is a building model of the future,” John
Sarter, a developer at Off the Grid Design,
LLC, tells Tech Insider. “We have the power … to be
participants in the [energy] system, not just consumers, but
producers.”
Sol-Lux Alpha
Sol-Lux Alpha will be California’s first net-zero energy
“passive house” condominium complex,
which means it meets strict energy efficiency
standards set by Germany’s Passive House Institute.
Rooftop solar panels generate all the energy
tenants use, from powering kitchen appliances to an
underground electric vehicle charging station. Any excess energy
is sold to the local grid and puts money on tenants’
pockets.
An energy storage system builds up a cache of energy in
case of city power outages. It’s enough to supply the
average American home’s electricity
consumption for five days.
The panels still leave room on the roof for
a deck and outdoor kitchen, which is covered by a
water-collection canopy. The system catches rainwater and uses it
to shower the planters and vertical garden wall.
Sol-Lux Alpha
The building’s amenities go beyond
infrastructure. Homeowners can track their energy use
through an energy meter that plugs into the building’s circuit
breaker. Developers hope the technology encourages them to be
more mindful.
“It’s designed to make people really think about,
‘Do I need to leave this plugged in?'” Sarter
says.
Each three-bedroom, two-bath unit is also outfitted with
ultrasonic motion detectors that turn lights and outlets off when
you leave the room.
Sol-Lux Alpha
The condos don’t come cheap. According to Sarter, each
1,760-square-foot unit will run between $2 million and $3
million. That price includes part-ownership of the solar
panels.
Sol-Lux
Alpha opens fall 2016, with ambitions to develop more
passive buildings on the same San Francisco block in the
future.
Read the original article on Tech Insider. Follow Tech Insider on Facebook and Twitter. Copyright 2016.
