ROCKFORD, Mich. — With the looming impacts of our changing climate, living a more environmentally friendly lifestyle is becoming increasingly important. One couple in Rockford is reducing their carbon footprint in a big way.
"We're proof that you can live carbon-free in Michigan," stated homeowner Jon Miner.
With solar-powered roofing, geothermal heating and even bamboo floors, this home was designed to be completely carbon-free. Back in 2009, Jon and Mindy Miner built this home with the mindset of creating an environmentally friendly place to live.
After a year of design plans, this passion project became a LEED-certified home, built to reduce energy and water consumption. On average, LEED-certified homes cut the cost of utility bills by 60%.
These homeowners found multiple ways to make this home environmentally friendly. The home is well-insulated so it does not use much energy in the first place. The roof angle was built in such a way that in the summer the sun does not come into the house directly, and in the winter it will provide extra sunlight to help warm the home.
Furthermore, they have appliances like an electric induction stove to replace the need for gas and solar-powered roofing. Even the floors and walls are made out of renewable resources and the yard is all native Michigan plants and natural landscaping.
They also introduced us to their inverter.
"Our inverter takes the electricity from the solar panels and converts it into 240 volt AC and puts it into our electric panel, allowing us to generate electricity year-round from the power of sunlight," explained Jon.
"On sunny days when we make more energy than we use, we export it to the grid and get credit for that. Our Consumers Energy credit builds up during the summer when we're not heating our home and we use up the credit in the winter when we need our electric heat."
Although the sun is not the only thing that is powering this home.
"Our geothermal unit circulates water through the ground with an environmentally friendly antifreeze and that brings in the warmth from the ground into this unit here, allowing us to heat our home and water," said Jon.
While doing all this may not be standard practice in building a brand-new home, Jon and Mindy do it with one clear purpose.
"We read about climate change and we take that seriously and felt like we needed to do our part," said Mindy.
"We are living proof that you can live in Michigan, drive an electric car, have electric heat and make it affordable. This way we do not do as much damage to the planet," said Jon.
While Jon and Mindy found huge ways to reduce their environmental footprint, there are more cost-efficient changes you can make to your home for less.
Michigan has the nation's first "green bank," Michigan Saves. This organization makes energy upgrades like smart meters, insulation and the like affordable for all.
So, it still isn't easy being green, as Kermit the Frog would say, but it is getting more affordable all the time and, if you stay in your home long enough, the payback will be there!
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