The House That Pays For Itself (Eventually) — Home for Life

For years we have heard about self-sustaining homes that can take advantage of the latest technology to harness solar energy and provide the most economical usage of available resources, but we haven’t been seeing them. However, a few families in the UK are getting some eco love with the Home for Life project. Perhaps this marks the beginning of affordable eco-friendly housing?

In order to create a self-sustainable, carbon-neutral home, the Danish concept of an “Active House” So what does a house of the future have? Just about everything you could imagine to maximize eco-friendliness:

• • Air-tight insulation to keep the house cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter

• • Climate-control system that minimizes the need for electricity and heating

• • Specialized, automated windows to take advantage of outside heat and air

• • Solar panels that generate electricity from the Sun

• • Eco-friendly building materials that reduces emissions from manufacturing processes

Unfortunately, the Europeans are the ones that get to have all the fun. But it comes with a price: around $700,000. While we don’t see that price tag as too inspiring for having these homes built in droves in the U.S., it certainly is a start.

Perhaps we will one day have our own eco-friendly Home for Life and be able to live in it as well, but for now, we will have to wait a bit longer.