Enertia Builds Self Sufficient Homes

A house that stays warm during winter and cool during summer (60 to 80 degrees F) without the use of electricity or fuel is what Enertia, a North Carolina-based sustainable homes designer/manufacturer has to offer.

The house uses free energy from the sun without fuel, combustion or pollution. The materials of the house which is mostly built of solid Southern Yellow Pine wood (which is renewed at a rate greater than what is harvested) absorbs and retains heat during the day and releases it during cold nights. On the other hand, by thermally connecting the house into the ground, the geothermal conditions in the earth cools it during summer.

But those are not the main keys to the innovation. As you can see in the illustration below, the house’s design incorporates a biosphere. According to Enertia, this gives the house its own “atmosphere” quite like of the earth that creates a comfortable living space despite the extreme cold or hot temperatures outside.

I’d say it would be like as if the house breathes on its own and dynamically regulates indoor temperature. Absolutely without using a single drop of fuel or a single watt of electricity for a lifetime. No amount of power outage or fuel shortage would affect the performance.

Install this home with solar panels to power appliances, lighting and heat water, the entire house could very well be 100% self-sufficient.

Being sufficient is not only the nicest thing about the house. As a frustrated architect, I adore the designs and for sure these log-cabins come in with the sweet crisp scent of pine wood. They last very long too. According to the manufacturer, the life expectancy of timber homes is hundreds (not just a hundred) of years.

Watch a testimony of one of an Enertia home owner situated at 9,000-foot altitude.

Recently, Enertia won the Grand Prize in this year’s (2007) Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge. Again, below is the video.

Prices start at US$59,000. Would you like to own one?