Walking the Walk: Fletcher Professor Bill Moomaw Discusses his Energy-Neutral Home
"Living deliberately in the nineteenth century is very different from living deliberately in the twenty-first century, because we have a lot more decisions to make that could impact the environment," said Bill Moomaw, Professor of International Environmental Policy at The Fletcher School. On Nov. 30, he and his wife, Margot Moomaw, gave a presentation entitled, "This New House: Living Deliberately in the Twenty-first Century." The Moomaw’s decision to build an energy-neutral home—a home that produces as much energy as it consumes—is consistent with Henry David Thoreau’s principle of "living deliberately."
Their initial step of deciding to construct an energy-neutral home was followed by many choices and decisions enumerated in their presentation. "Building a house means thousands of choices; building an energy-efficient house means thinking very carefully about every one of those choices," Margot Moomaw said.
The couple committed to living in an environmentally-responsible household when their children were still young. At the time, the desire to reduce their reliance on fossil fuel consumption was as much about protecting the environment as it was about saving money. In their first home, the Moomaws attempted to reduce their fossil fuel consumption with improvements such as insulating their home, replacing windows and doors and installing a wood-burning stove.
Among other benefits, these renovations helped the family reduce their consumption of and spending on heating oil by two-thirds in the first year. When they couldn’t make any additional environmentally-friendly improvements to their home, they decided it was time to construct a home from scratch, and paying attention to every detail in the building process. Now, with the construction of a new house—to be completed in February—they are proof that being financially prudent and environmentally friendly do not have to be mutually exclusive.
The Moomaws said they hope their home will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Certified, the highest standard in green design, set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Everything from the location and orientation of the home to the placement of windows, as well as the use of solar electricity and a ground source heat pump, has been carefully planned-out. While much of the technology utilized is not commonly found in new homes, Margot Moomaw notes: "This is not NASA technology. All it takes is some planning and a different way of doing things." Indeed, some of the technology is drawn from traditional New England-style homes, whose designers recognized the need for natural lighting and energy-efficiency. Coupled with more modern technology – solar panels, energy-efficient appliances and a ground-source heat pump – the Moomaws are meeting their goal of constructing a home that meets a "functional living standard" while maintaining a modest ecological footprint.
A second goal of theirs is to build a home that can serve as a model for others who are interested in lessening their household’s environmental impact. The Moomaws encouraged those who attended the lecture that they, too, could do much to create a more environmentally-friendly home, without constructing a new one. Some of their suggestions included: installing energy-efficient light bulbs; further insulating the house; installing low-flush and low-flow toilets; and replacing windows and doors with more energy efficient ones.
The attentive audience was evidence that the Moomaws are already moving towards their goal of inspiring others to live in an environmentally-responsible manner. Nancy Webster, co-director of the Environment and Sustainability Initiative at Fletcher, remarked, "It’s nice to be able to study the environment and see something that’s good that’s happening at an individual level."
