Conservation 1st, “Toys” 2nd

In the late 70's I built my first solar collector, a box with pop cans with insulated tubes to the house. It was awful and I think took more heat out of the house than it supplied. It was the typical mistake made by the young attracted by of the 'gee whiz' factor of solar energy. The motive was right, but the order of priority was, well misguided. The house had more holes in it than the barn out back and a little caulking would have helped much more.

The advice given by architect and building scientist Peter Pfeiffer at the Feb. 13 at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Florida holds true today.

Renewable-energy appliances such as photovoltaic panels, solar hot water heaters, and geothermal pumps are often viewed as fundamentals of green building when in fact they really are just "the icing on the cake."

He urged attendees not to repeat the "toy" fixation that dominated the early green movement of the 1970s, Pfeiffer outlined a whole-house approach to sustainable building that advocates energy conservation as a necessary first step before energy production can even be considered.