Builders Sell Energy Self-Sufficiency

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By GREGORY SEAY | Special To The Courant

Once, the formula for constructing houses was simple for Ron Gaudet and his father: Find and clear a lot, set the foundation and framing, put on a roof — and presto, they were well on their way to completing a new house.

Inside, plumbing and electrical systems were connected to a no-frills furnace and hot water heater. Energy technology wasn't fancy, except for occasional buyers who could afford central air or radiant heat installed in the ceiling. In a time when oil and electricity were relatively affordable, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability weren't terms in the builders' or buyers' lexicon, let alone barely known.

Today's builders — Gaudet included — pitch almost nonstop the virtues of the energy-saving technology of their houses' construction, materials and appliances, from systems that tap the earth to heat and cool to rooftop panels that harness sunlight to power the microwave.

Read more at The Hartford Courant.