If you’re going to go green, go all the way. That was the message delivered by Premier Homes President Richard Borck, who spoke Thursday at the Rotary Club of St. Croix’s meeting at Getrude’s Restaurant.
During the talk, Borck described his home-building projects, including one that earned the top five star-rating certificate from Island Green Building Association.
According to Borck, Premier Homes has created six models utilizing green methods, which include using recycled materials, alternative energy generation (wind and solar), gray water and insulated materials.
Borck’s home is built so he does not need air conditioning. However, for people who do want air conditioning, he said his building methods would cut their air conditioning energy use by 75 percent.
He added that the solar power and solar water systems provide 50 to 60 percent of the home’s energy use. “Combined with energy conservation methods, such as low-voltage lighting, we are greatly reducing the typical household carbon footprint,” Borck said.
He also pointed out that his company plans to start installing 1-kilowatt Urban Green Energy Turbines. He says the plans are to install six within the next four months. He says when one is installed at his home it will reduce his WAPA bill "to nearly zero.” The Urban Green wind turbines are a modernistic design that claims to produce power from a low-wind resource.
Don Buchanan of the V.I. Energy Office, who was in attendance Thursday, said he was unaware of any being installed in the territory yet. He added that he was eager to see how they worked.
Borck emphasized that V.I. residents should definitely measure their wind resource and determine that it is constant before investing in a wind turbine.
Part of Borck’s talk focused on the benefits residents get from the Energy Office’s rebate program. He added that residents could even get a federal tax credit for purchasing solar and wind systems this year.
Club President Gail Jagroop Bourdon asked whether the Energy Office rebate program was always going to be there. Borck deferred the question to Buchanan, who said that though most programs were not scheduled to end until 2012, the programs were also dependent on funds being available.
He went on to say that the main appliance rebate program being funded through stimulus funds was “a victim of its own success.” He said many residents had taken advantage of that program, and that due to depleted funds, the Energy Office was planning to shut that program down on Aug. 15.
Mike Bruno, owner of Energy Wise Strategies, also spoke for a few minutes. He focused on how much money people can save over time by switching to LED lights.
