SierraScape February - September 2012
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By Richard Egan
Executive Committee Chair

Jim Young is a passionate environmentalist and ardent energy conservationist. He is also an active 37-year Sierra Club member and lemonade fundraising master. It is only fitting that Jim and wife Phyllis would have the distinction of being the first Net Zero Energy Homeowners in the city of St. Louis.

What is a Net Zero Energy Home? Simply, a residence that has zero net energy consumption. Much thought and planning went into making the Young's 1890 Victorian Soulard home "net zero"---including reducing their heated living space in winter, heating with a clean-burning wood pellet stove, using an exhaust window fan on most summer nights to minimize the need for air conditioning, painting the roof a reflective white, using efficient light bulbs and refrigerator and low flow shower heads, and installing a solar thermal hot water heater. But the investment that caused their electric meter to truly run backwards was the 2011 addition of the 3.36 kilowatt solar array on the roof which is actually producing enough energy to feed Ameren's electric grid. And the Youngs are able to continue living a comfortable life, now with no fossil fuel input into their home!

The Youngs' energy bonanza has received plenty of attention. The house has been featured on FOX 2 and KMOV Channel 4 news. In addition, the office of St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay was excited to hear the news of this milestone for the City. "The City has made a major commitment to sustainability in the last year," said Catherine Werner, Director of Sustainability for the City. "But we are always excited to hear about companies like Microgrid Energy and residents like the Youngs investing in the City and doing their part to help make St. Louis more sustainable."

Incentives can reduce the upfront cost of solar by as much as 75%. These incentives are a combination of: a federal tax credit which covers 30% of the cost; a utility rebate of $2 per watt, a direct result of the Missouri Clean Energy Initiative (Proposition C) passed in 2008; and solar renewable energy credits from Ameren for purchasing electricity from homeowners.

Going solar can be infectious---from the roof of the Youngs' home, solar panels are visible on the roof of a "copy cat" neighbor. Thanks to the example set forth by Jim and Phyllis Young, among others, Sierra Club homeowners are proving that the cutting edge of green technology is here, is affordable, and is leading the way to a future which embraces mutual enhancement between human beings and the solar system around them.