Hawaii building solar homes for native people

New Kaupuni Village will have net-zero homes for low-income residents  As more and more new net-zero communities filled with energy efficient solar-clad homes pop up around the country, Hawaii has decided to take the idea a step further.

The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands built Kaupuni Village on Oahu’s western edge. It’s filled with 19 homes and community buildings designated for low-income residents of indigenous backgrounds.

It’s the state’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum single-family subdivision, according to a press release.

“The thing that’s really exciting about this project is that it’s a pilot,” said Ben Sentarris, spokesman for Oregon-based SolarWorld, whose panels are powering the homes. “And they’re looking to build 1,000 homes like this.”

Subdivisions of net-zero homes powered with solar panels are being developed in California, Arizona, Pennsylvania and all over the country. It’s still impressive and not altogether common, but the developments are a growing trend.

“This one is unique,” Sentarris said of the Kaupuni Village. “It’s not only net-zero low-income housing, it’s also on public lands, and it’s part of the homesteaders plan for indigenous people. It’s a pretty unusual project. It’s the only one of its kind that I know of.”

Kaupuni Village will not only provide housing for people of native descent who make 80 percent of Honolulu’s median income, but will also provide an ecologically sound community. In addition to the energy efficient homes, ranging in price from $260,000 to $320,000, the communities will provide sustainability gardens.

Each of the homes is powered with 26 245-watt solar panels for a total of 6.37 kilowatts, according to the release.

Hawaii aims to replicate the project and build 1,000 similar homes throughout the states, according to the press release.

“The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is excited that homesteaders who are moving into Kaupuni Village will reap the benefits of a neighborhood designed with the Native Hawaiian culture, the environment and sustainability at its heart,” Hawaiian Homes Commission Chairman Alapaki Nahale-a was quoted in the release. “By furnishing this project with high-quality solar panels and valuable expertise, partners like SolarWorld have made this net-zero community truly an environmental success story.”

Image courtesy of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.