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when it is needed during the winter. The fiberglass windows, filled with krypton gas,provide exceptionally good insulation levels for windows thus keeping the suns heatfrom escaping. Throughout the home, hydronic tubing is embedded in the floors tocapture and circulate the heat (or coolness in the summer). This system eliminatesthe need for any furnace.Think about the thousands of dollars that are saved in reduced oil, gas, or electricitybills each year. All these cost savings without producing any pollution . People whocame to the open house said they were paying anywhere from $1,500 to more than$5,000 each year in heating costs. Over twenty years th at adds up to $100,000assuming the cost of these energy sources stay the same. There is no doubt that gas,oil, and electricity prices will continue to rise. It is possible that the cost of energyrequired to heat conventional homes may reach numbers far greater than the cost ofactually building the home in the next thirty to fifty years, especially as fossil fuelreserves become exhausted. Most scientists agree that we are reaching the peak.Since the cost to extract th e rest will only increase as supplies diminish andbecome harder to reach it is quite possible that prices may skyrocket. When thishappens the investment in passive solar will look simply brilliant.As the tour continued, groups were told how the two levels of windows on thesouth side double the potential for passive solar heat collection. This design isoptimized for the specific climatic conditions of the site. There is a great need forsolar heating in the winter. Two le vels of windows to collect this heat doubles thestorage capability. In the summer the planned shading system and green roof willensure the passive solar system does not overheat the home. A green roof willreducing heating in the summer by 30-40% while providing additional insulation inthe winter when it is so critical. People are surprised to learn that more that 20% ofhouses in Germany have a green roof. The shading system (not yet installed) willalso help to prevent overheating in the summer. A vine -covered pergola will alsoimprove the cooling properties of the passive design in the summer.The solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are located above the upstairs windows. Thesolar PV panels turn sunlight into electricity. The DC electricity generated by the PVpanels is transformed into AC by an inverter in the basement, for use by homeappliances. The wind turbine also produces DC electricity. Again, the inverter turnsDC to AC. When more solar/wind power is being generated than used in the home,the inverter feeds the excess AC power into the public electricity grid, turning themeter backwards. The ten Siemens solar PV panels produce up to 400 watts an hourwhen the sun is shining directly above them, without any cloud cover. The Bergey258