Last week, we introduced readers to Spartan Giordano. When he was 28 and a Greenfield Community College student in the Renewable Energy Program, he built his own zero-fossil-fuel house in Greenfield (no oil, no gas, no propane).
“This is a house that uses well planned energy efficiency, and sunshine or other ‘renewable’ energy.” he says, “I have not paid a heat or electricity utility bill for seven years.”
And, Giordano also created his own company installing solar hot water. Spartan Solar now has two full time employees and regularly hires others. His business can be found online at gospartansolar.com .
Last week, we considered various attributes of Giordano’s zero-fossil-fuel house including:
■Its insulated foundation that uses floor tiles for heat collection (winter)/cooling (summer).
■Efficient appliances, especially an electric heat pump mini-split system.
■12-inch thick well-insulated walls,
■Windows that are carefully chosen and placed to avoid heat (summer) and add solar gain in winter.
■Moisture control/ventilation.
■Roofing insulation with a value of R-90.
■Use of solar electric panels to generate electricity and solar for hot water.
As a followup, I asked: “All those things have been working together. But, what did you have to do to get ready to build this beautiful house? Did you spend years building ordinary houses?”
Spartan Giordano: “No. I was a math teacher in Hadley, but wanted to work with my hands and do something about climate change. I was 26 and had almost no building experience. Greenfield Community College had received a Workforce Redevelopment grant, and through that I was able to take free classes in the Renewable Energy Program. I signed up and met great people. One teacher, Peter Talmage, became my solar hot water mentor. That was the spring board that catapulted my business, Spartan Solar, into existence.
“For the house, we hired builder Adam Heintz, who had experience and tools,” Giordana continued. “Together, we made a great team. It took us two years. Through it, I received an education in building. We spent about $220,000 for the land, the building supplies for our 1,500 square foot house, and Adam’s time. Some GCC classmates helped out too. Of course, my time was ‘free.’”
In my case, I found that contractors are very familiar with the constant changes of incentives for the products they are installing. I used tax credits, too.
Being over 65 when I rehabbed my home, I was able to tap funds from my traditional IRA, which requires paying federal (and state) taxes on withdrawals. But I covered the taxes with a federal tax credit (30 percent of the cost of the solar collectors, available at that time).
We’ll cover more on financing in a later column.
We will see many parts are subsidized by state/federal governments. Contractors, like Giordano, are very familiar with the constant changes and you can check with credit unions like Franklin First Credit Union in Greenfield or 5 Colleges Credit Union in Amherst.
Some, like Giordana, have been taking courageous steps, drawing on opportunities they created themselves or that came their way. Weekly, over the next month, this column will take a deeper look at training and finding jobs in the green energy sector.
Pam Kelly has lived in Franklin County for nearly two decades. She is a retired executive director of the national Unitarian Universalist Association’s economic justice network. Topics that will be covered in the next few weeks include: How a student at Greenfield Community College built a beautiful fossil fuel-free house, and green jobs at Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics. Have a suggestion for a future article? Email: pamelaskelly@comcast.net.