The $32 Million Zero-Carbon Home

What looks to be California’s first zero-carbon home has just been built in Malibu. It’s a spec home, and it’s hitting the market at a good time when many people are moving out of central L.A. - that is if they have $32 million handy.

To qualify as the state’s first zero-carbon home means that it has no-site combustion; 100 percent of its energy use is from renewable sources; and 100 percent of the embodied carbon (emissions released during the construction phase) were offset using sustainable materials.

As to energy use, the 14,400 square foot home has high-efficient, all-electric appliances and mechanical systems. Power is supplied by the Ventura County renewable energy power grid. But the house also has Tesla battery walls and solar panels on the roof as energy backups.??

“This home will have zero [carbon] emissions throughout its lifetime,” said Scott Morris of Crown Pointe Estates, developer of the home.

The average U.S. home emits a?staggering?8.3 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data. *

This 2.5-acre house, which has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, along with a home theater, wine cellar, and electric car charging station, was certainly built with sustainability in mind. For instance, instead of the estimated 80,000 tons of steel in the homes original design, recycled timber and related products were used.

Additionally, the amount of concrete that would typically be used for a house this size, was reduced by about 25 percent using recycled concrete. Further helping to reduce the use of concrete, instead of a concrete slab foundation, the house sits on top of a layer of recycled tires.

The home is part of a 70-acre development called Crown Pointe. The developers planted 317 mature oak, cypress, and pine trees on the Crown Pointe property. For this house specifically, they also included an organic herb and vegetable garden, an orchard, and an apiary.?

Sidebar:?For those of us that may not know what an apiary is, it’s a beehive. Bees are pollinators. It is estimated that more than one-third of all the food we eat is the direct result of bee pollinators, allowing plants to be fertilized and grow. This house is helping in that process.

So why should this house be included in our Happy Wednesday column, which discusses the many positive things happening globally to promote Green and sustainability initiatives and protect the environment??

Simple: it tells us that constructing a totally zero-carbon home is possible and this is a start.??

We already have an estimated 5,000 net-zero-energy single-family homes in the U.S. and about 7,000 net-zero-energy multi-family homes. As to the future, a 2019 CNBC report estimates that in the coming years, we can expect as many as 100,000 net-zero-energy homes to be built in California alone.

Taking this a step further, we can anticipate more homes constructed that are both net-zero-energy and zero-carbon here in the U.S. and worldwide. It will take time, but it is happening. And if the average home releases 8.3 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, it can’t happen soon enough.??

Folks, just wanted to update you, I will be presenting at the upcoming Net Zero Conference in L.A. Hope to see you there.

*Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2021