Slow Boat

In Grafton, Illinois, front-page news in the local paper was a new housing development featuring "net-zero" affordable housing.  We HAD to check it out. The ground-breaking was Tuesday, and the marina at Grafton Harbor kindly loaned us their stylin' red pickup truck for the 20-minute drive to nearby Jerseyville.

At the edge of a cornfield, about 30 people in business attire had gathered under a tent, shovels and hard hats at the ready. The term "net-zero" refers to the utility bills--there won't BE any.


The small, ranch-style houses will have roofs covered by solar panels--and each will have its own small wind generator. The design also features energy conservation through extra insulation and "energy-star" appliances. The folks involved believe it's the first such project in the nation for the affordable housing market.

Rural families with a household income less than $41,000 per year will be able to rent the homes for $590 a month. "That's what I'm paying now for a similar-sized house," said one Jerseyville resident who had come to check it out--and find out how to apply.  "I pay $200 a month for utilities.  So that would be a good savings!"

Bill Luchini, the energetic president of Capstone Development Group, told us how the project came to be:  His accountant called him up one day to say, "I ran the numbers, and I think this could really work!" The project will receive federal tax credit equity from the National Equity Fund and some financing from the Illinois Housing Development Authority as well as a local bank.  Luchini says it's not uncommon to find energy-efficient or alternative energy-focused housing developments in big cities and high-income areas, but using solar and wind power for affordable housing is a new idea.

We were interested to meet Jeff Lewis, president of Mid-America Solar, which is installing the solar panels for the project.  Lewis used to work as a goldsmith, but told us, he got fired up one day when he read about a local town that needed streetlights for its dark, forbidding streets but was facing a steep bill, since the power lines had originally been installed behind houses, not on the street side.

Lewis was inspired to invent a solar-and-wind powered streetlight (which is patent-pending), and to launch his new company.  Just another ordinary American thinking creatively about alternative energy technology.