Homing In ON THE Future : After losing their home in the 1993 Laguna Beach fire, Joanna and Mark Konno decided to rebuild for the long-term with a solar-powered home.

When Joanna and Mark Konno walked into their new home last month, they turned on the lights. A simple--yet amazing--feat considering the electricity hadn’t been connected. They also had hot water and controlled heating.

With every flip of a switch and turn of a faucet, the Konnos realize the fruits of their decision last year to build a solar-powered house. Theirs is believed to be the first code-approved, UL-listed, solar electric home in Orange County.

The Konnos’ previous home was destroyed in the Laguna Beach fire--three weeks after they had moved into it. They decided that when they rebuilt, they would think long-term.

“A lot of people think when you build a house like ours, with all these energy-saving features, it has to look either rustic or space age,� Mark Konno said. “It doesn’t have to. The house can be very warm and inviting and designed in any style and still have space-age features; it’s just that you don’t see them.�

From the outside, the Konnos’ 2,200-square-foot contemporary craftsman house is a traditional U-shaped building with a small entry courtyard and a long, narrow front yard. The house takes advantage of a panoramic ocean view with windows along the entire south side of the house.

The only real indications from the outside of the home’s distinctive characteristics are the two solar systems on the concrete-tiled roof.

One system consists of photovoltaic panels that turn the sun’s energy into direct-current electricity, which is either used or stored in large batteries in the garage. That is the same technology that powers space satellites and call boxes along freeways. The only moving parts are electrons.

The second system--the type more widely known--is used to heat water.

Konno said that the finished house was the result of a blending of ideas from the architect, Patrick Mar of Laguna Beach; the builder, Christopher Prelitz of Seacrest Builders, and the Konnos themselves.

“We all were interested in the Eos Institute in Laguna and had the same ideals and wanted to see something like this happen,� Konno said. Eos Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides educational resources, technical assistance, teaching and research in the development of sustainable environments.

“When we first met with Chris Prelitz, we just had general concepts about wanting solar and in-floor heating. This actual house plan came from looking at pictures until we saw what we wanted,� Joanna Konno said.

The house that burned had been built in 1964. The new house, with its three bedrooms, two baths and powder room, has a similar floor plan but an added 200 square feet (the limit on size increases that the city would allow without requiring design review).

By staying within the previous design style, the Konnos were able to move into their house sooner than they would have otherwise and have been able to put money they might have spent on developing a new design into energy-saving features.

The heating in the house is from a radiant floor hydronic system; there are no heat registers and no noise. Because heat rises, it’s extremely efficient.

“The heat is created by warmed water going through tubes under the floor, so it heats just like an electric blanket would,� said Joanna Konno. “It radiates the heat up, (unlike) forced-air heating, which blows hot air and dust out without heating very well because all the heat is at the top.�

To aid in temperature control, a barrier that reflects 97% of the radiant heat was installed under the rafters.

Cellulose insulation in the house is made from recycled newspaper treated with a fire retardant.

This insulation has seven times the sound deadening as fiberglass, so it was also used in interior walls for soundproofing.

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In their choices of materials throughout the house, the Konnos tried to make environmentally sensitive decisions. The linoleum in the kitchen and garage entrance is from Holland and is made from natural products rather than vinyl. An interior paint was used that, when dry, seals the surface from outgassing of toxins. The carpeting is nylon with a natural fiber pad underneath. The Konnos chose granite for the kitchen counters and single-panel maple for the cabinets. The interior doors are made from single-paneled fir to save on wood.

The overall amount of wood used in the house was reduced by not having any baseboards; the heavy wood beam in the ceiling is made from 2-by-6s glued together and painted to look like a solid beam.

Solar-powered ceiling fans in the living room are the only air-conditioning in the house.

The appliances--including washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, refrigerator/freezer--are all European made and were chosen because they are the most energy efficient currently available.

Although the house runs primarily on solar, it is also connected to the traditional electrical grid, as required by city code. There are lights and plugs in every room that can be run off solar or regular electricity if needed. The house is also piped for future use of recycled, or “gray,� water, something the city does not yet permit but that the Konnos hope eventually will.

One of the most high-tech features in the house is also the most inconspicuous: The windows along the south and west sides are double- and triple-glazed, contain argon gas in the center and are covered with a low-emissivity coating.

The windows let in light but reflect heat back to its source. They keep the house cool in summer without the need for air-conditioning.

In winter, they keep the heat in the interior, because the glass slows the passage of heat through it.

The windows also make the house more fireproof because they help shield interior flammable products from the intense heat of fire outside.

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“It’s much easier to build a house like this from scratch than to retrofit it,� Mark Konno said.

“You don’t see a lot of interest in people doing this in new buildings, because of the cost. Because not enough people are buying these features, the volume is low, and the costs are higher.�

The home cost approximately $150 per square foot to build, including appliances. Although costs vary widely for conventional design, a more typical cost per square foot is closer to $100.

“People ask us when it’s going to pay back, but for us it’s our peace of mind,� Mark Konno said. “We feel that if everybody makes an effort to conserve and does just their little bit, it would mean one less San Onofre-like nuclear power plant.�

Konno says that often, after people spend a lot of money on architectural plans and intricate designs, when it comes down to spending money on things such as insulation, they want to put in the cheapest thing possible.

“For us, it was more like, keep the outside simple and put the money in things that we know are going to work out for us in the long term,� he said.

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Past May Hold Keys to Designs of Tommorrow

In the 21st Century, will our houses have heliports, robots and acrylic modules, as futurists of the past envisioned? Will they be like the all-plastic House of the Future found at Disneyland in 1959 or like Ozzie and Harriet Nelson’s tract home?

Ironically, future houses may be more like the Nelsons’ than Disney’s.

“Because of ‘Star Trek,’ people think that in the future we’ll be wearing spandex and living with synthetic materials,� said Gregory Benford of Laguna Beach, a science-fiction writer and professor of physics at UC Irvine. “Actually the opposite will be true. The future house will be innocuous and made with natural materials like wood, and clothes will be from comfortable natural fibers.�

That idea certainly isn’t as glamorous as hovering space stations, but it is a lot more practical.

Future building construction will probably look to the past for efficiency tips. It was, for instance, once a primary concern to position a house on a site so it would take advantage of the sun for heating and the breezes for cooling. The availability of cheap electricity made that basic consideration less important. As a result, many houses built during this century are energy inefficient--as inefficient as large, gas-guzzling cars.

“In the future, energy prices will continue to rise, pollution will become worse and so using solar energy is inevitable,� Benford said.

Although change may be inevitable, few people seem willing to take a chance on building a house that has highly efficient but hidden futuristic features; instead, function is often sacrificed for form.

But for those willing to brave the future, the technology to support alternative construction styles is increasingly available.

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Features of Konnos’ Home

Here are some of the features in the Konnos’ futuristic home:

* Electricity: Generated by solar energy system; backup traditional electric grid to meet code.

* Heating: Radiant floor hydronic system; no noise and the best for indoor air quality.

* Glazing: Exterior doors and windows are double- and triple-glazed, some with argon gas between the layers.

* Radiant barrier: Installed under the rafters; reflects 97% of the radiant heat and is nontoxic.

* Insulation: Cellulose insulation made from recycled newspaper treated with a fire retardant was blown into all the exterior walls.

* Daylight: Wherever possible, the sun lights the house; skylights in closets, hallways, garage and office; skylights open for ventilation and airflow.

* Gray water: A system that could use water twice, once for laundry or hand washing and the next for gardening; although its use is not sanctioned by Laguna Beach, the house is plumbed for future use.

* E.M.F. (electro magnetic field): A shielding fabric was used to lower the electric and magnetic fields created by 110 wiring.

* Hot water: Much of the hot water in the home is heated by the sun; the system uses vacuum tubes so very little nighttime heat loss occurs. A natural gas instantaneous gas heater is used as a backup.