"GREEN" HOUSE

This Vlog is for those of you who saw Theresa’s piece on Friday about retired BGSU Professor Dr. Donald Scherer and his “green” house. Dr. Scherer had a lot more information about energy efficient living that we weren’t able to squeeze into a minute-thirty story. So here, in his own words, Dr. Scherer gives us the full tour of his “green” house.



There are businesses locally that offer ways to be more energy efficient. In the Bowling Green area there is Green By Design – a division of Stark’s Inc. In the Port Clinton area there is North Coast Wind and Power LLC.

According to Dr. Scherer, the cost to design and build the “green” house averaged just two percent above the cost of an average home. Scherer worked with Bill Decker of Decker Homes to design his home.

Dr. Scherer says the geothermal heating and cooling unit costs between $1,500 - $2000 more than your average furnace, but makes up for the cost difference very quickly. Dr. Scherer’s wind turbine is a Skystream model and has an average cost of $13,000. He estimates that his turbine will pay for itself in 8 – 9 years. The wind turbine is also maintenance free and Dr. Scherer doesn’t expect to service it for another 20 years.

Dr. Scherer estimates he uses between 700 – 800 KW/H of electricity a month in his new home. His old home used 650 KW/H of electricity in the winter, plus he spent hundreds of dollars in natural gas. To cool his previous home in the summer, he used 1,300 KW/H of electricity.

Thanks for watching!
-Billau