Stocks. Mutual Funds. IRA’s. Retirement Accounts. Real Estate. Home Equity Loans.
It was dizzying. Lots of folks did well and looked forward with anticipation to the comforts that awaited us. But with all that upside, we forgot about the risks. Now we’re wondering what hit us and attempting to adjust.
It turns out that one of the key principles of investing, if carefully applied to the design and construction of a building, is a far safer investment. And not just financially. Its safer for our health and our environment. And both those things are mattering more and more.
Maximize gains. Minimize losses.
We can do this by measuring and maximizing the energy “gains” that we receive from the sun and that people and the equipment we use generate inside a building. If we then work rigorously to minimize the “losses” of that treasured energy by creating a building that just won’t let go, we’ve created a stable “energy balance” that offers us security and comfort. We’ve literally “insulated” ourselves from energy costs spikes and inflation.
I’ve been training in a rigorous and uncompromising design and construction methodology founded on this premise. The system is called Passive House and it has been applied effectively in over 10,000 buildings throughout Europe, beginning in the ’90’s. Its goal is not just to radically reduce the energy demands caused by living in buildings, but to do it in a way that provides better health and comfort with the added benefits of cost stabilization and energy and financial security.
And it makes financial sense.