MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Oahu – A historic home made more history Wednesday as Col. Robert Rice, the base commanding officer, opened his newly-converted Net Zero Energy home to guests during the Heleloa Neighborhood blessing ceremony.
The Department of the Navy, MCB Hawaii, Forest City Military Communities Hawaii and CONSOL Energy partnered together to incorporate sustainable technologies and renewable energy into its communities and homes.
The historic Eisenhower House underwent extensive energy efficiency improvements to become Hawaii’s first historic Net Zero Energy Home. This house is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who stayed in the house for five days in 1960 following the completion of his Asia goodwill tour.
The energy efficient improvements to the quarters include insulated vinyl siding and energy filtering window film, a high efficient air conditioning system and solar water heating system, Energy Star certified appliances, solar reflection tubes for daytime interior lighting, a radiant energy barrier on the underside of the roof, and an advanced interior lighting control system.
“A Net Zero Energy home is designed to be energy neutral over a one-year period,” said Will Boudra, vice president of Development at Forest City Military Communities Hawaii. “In the case of the Eisenhower House, this means the energy produced by the solar photovoltaic system mounted on the roof, will equal the amount of energy the home will consume throughout the course of the year.”
The house on Nimitz Road will collect and store energy from the sun during the day, and use that stored energy in the evening. The photovoltaic system also has a meter on the side of the house indicating how much energy has been collected.
The Heleloa Neighborhood includes 23 other restored historic homes which were upgraded to be more energy efficient by installing energy efficient air conditioning, solar water systems, thermal insulation improvements and photovoltaic panels.
2nd Lt. Diann M. Olson, Media Officer for the Public Affairs Office of MCB Hawaii authored this report. Kristen Wong of the Hawaii Marine Newspaper contributed to this article.