In Texas Small Homes That Can Live Off the Grid

德州小屋 能源自給自足

By Karrie Jacobs

AUSTIN, Texas – Minnie J. Chapa, a great-grandmother and proud renter of a nearly new, minimalist-style home here, said old neighbors from a stretch of cottages east of downtown where she spent nearly 50 years regularly ask, “Do you live over there in the matchbox houses?”
當上曾祖母的米妮．賈帕得意地租住在美國德州奧斯汀市一棟極簡風格的新房子裡，她說，她原本在市中心東邊一大片獨棟住宅區住了近50年，老鄰居現在常問她：「你是住在那些像火柴盒一樣的小房子裡嗎？」

The description of the new development in which Ms. Chapa resides is both accurate and unfair.
把賈帕太太住的新開發區說成「火柴盒小房子」，一點都沒錯，卻也有失公平。

Yes, the houses are small by American standards (they range from 96 to 168 square meters). But their boxiness is mediated by the skyward tilt of butterfly roofs, angled to hold photovoltaic arrays and channel rainwater into barrels.
就美國的標準而言這些房子的確不大（只有96到168平方公尺，編按：約29坪到50坪），那一棟棟方方正正的房子小歸小，卻都有中低外高、斜向天際的蝶式屋頂，以一定角度傾斜以供架設一列列太陽能板，並將雨水導流到水桶中。

SOL, an acronym for Solutions Oriented Living, was developed by Chris Krager, an architect, and Russell M. Becker, a civil engineer.
這套「解方導向的居住計畫」（簡稱SOL），是由建築師克雷格及土木工程師貝克研發出來的。

The community is intended to be “net zero” – in other words, producing all the energy it consumed, with super-efficient homes outfitted with solar panels and geothermal wells. Mr. Krager said the plan was to “take all of our interests as a design firm and put them into one prototype project.” He said he wanted to “examine sustainability on a more holistic level, that would not just look at green buildings, but in our interest in affordability, in the economic and social components of sustainability as well.”
整個社區的設計構想是做到「零耗能」，換句話說，自行生產他們消耗的所有能源：每棟房子都配備太陽能板及地熱井，能源使用效率超高。克雷格說，這項計畫是要「把一家設計公司所有感興趣的元素全都用在一個原型設計案中」。他說，他想「從更全面的層次來檢視永續，不只專注於環保建築，還同時關切負擔能力，以及永續的經濟和社會要素。」

As it happens, holistic sustainability proved harder to achieve than anticipated. The two men spent six months pricing thermally efficient windows, foam insulation, Energy Star appliances and frugal heat pumps.
事實證明，要做到全面永續比預期的要難。克雷格和貝克花了六個月的時間，針對隔熱保暖窗、隔熱泡棉、節能家電及廉價熱泵等建材詢價。

The houses were designed to meet the federal Department of Energy’s guidelines for net-zero capable construction, using 55 percent less energy than a typical house (circa 2006). And they are constructed from green materials.
這些房子是為了符合美國聯邦能源部零耗能建築指標而設計，使用的能源比（2006年左右的）普通住宅少55%，而且全都使用環保建材。

But the recession made the net-zero agenda impossible to carry out. Financing dried up and drilling 40 geothermal wells was not possible.
可是2008年下半年景氣開始衰退，使得零耗能目標無從實現。財源枯竭，根本不可能鑽40口地熱井。

“I would have liked to have mandated the photovoltaic arrays,” Mr. Krager said. But buyers were often unable or unwilling to roll the cost (an extra $24,000 to fully power a house) into their mortgages.
克雷格說：「我真希望給每棟房子都直接裝上太陽能板。」但買家通常沒有能力或不願意讓房貸變得更沉重（要完全供應所需電力，每棟房子得多花上2萬4000美元）。

For the development’s market-rate houses, solar power became an option. Homeowners installed arrays over time, as rebates and tax credits became available. One is also heated and cooled by a geothermal well.
這個開發案中按市價出售的房子，太陽能列為選用配備，隨著折扣和退稅優惠措施的推出，屋主後來也都陸續加裝了太陽能板。有一戶人家還以地熱井供應冷暖氣的能源。

The houses are small, but inside they are spacious and light-filled. Typically, there’s an open kitchen, a hallway with a built-in desk, generous closets and cleverly disguised storage areas.
這些房子雖然都很小，但室內空間寬敞而且光線充足，多半有開放式廚房、附有嵌入式書桌的走道，容量很大的一些櫥櫃，還有藏得很巧的儲藏區。

Elongated clerestory windows maximize daylight while keeping heat gain (this is Texas, remember) to a minimum.
加長的高窗能引進最多日光，卻同時把引進的熱減到最低（請記住，這裡可是德州）。

In appearance, at least, SOL resembles a typical development. But the lots are smaller, and each house is positioned to maximize its use of what Mr. Krager calls “quality outdoor space.”
至少從表面上看起來，SOL就像是個普通開發案，但整個案子占地卻小得多，每棟房子的座向方位都充分利用奎格所謂的「室外優質空間」。

“I feel like it’s part of the house,” said Sandra Barry, 29, who shares her 101-square-meter house with her husband, James McNown, 26.
29歲的珊德拉．巴瑞和她26歲的丈夫詹姆斯．麥克農住在她那棟101平方公尺（編按：約30坪）的房子，她說：「我覺得室外空間也是房子的一部分。」

“We fell in love with it as soon as we saw the design,” Mr. McNown said.
麥克農說：「我們一看到這房子的設計，就愛上了它。」

Through this year’s record-setting run of 38-degree days they were racking up minuscule $13 monthly electric bills.
過去一年，德州有許多天都是破紀錄的攝氏38度高溫，但他們一個月的電費總共才區區13美元（約台幣384元）。

While Mr. Krager and Mr. Becker haven’t quite succeeded in building a subdivision that doubles as a power plant, they have created a new type of suburb.
克雷格和貝克雖未能盡如理想成功建立一個兼具住宅和電廠雙重角色的住宅區塊，但他們已創造了一種新郊區。

Lucia Athens, the city’s chief sustainability officer, noted that because Texas is a “car-dominated society” and not everybody wants to live downtown, a green version of “the suburban prototype,” one that “feels kind of familiar,” might prove invaluable.
奧斯汀市主管永續的官員露西亞．艾森斯指出，由於德州是個「大家都開車的地方」，並不是人人都想住在市中心，因此，「感覺起來很熟悉」的環保版「郊區原型」，或許將證明極具價值。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/greathomesanddestinations/a-texas-developer-attempts-to-upend-the-american-subdivision.html

Slideshow: Sustainable Design at SOL Austin
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/02/02/greathomesanddestinations/20120202_LOCATIONSOL.html

2012-04-24聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 馮克芸譯 原文參見紐時週報八版上