Cohousing Magazine sidebar: Free Solar: The Swan's Story

When we moved into Swan's Market Cohousing in 2000, we were excited about being pioneers in urban sustainable living. We were reviving and preserving an abandoned historical market building, practicing urban infill and revitalizing a historic walkable downtown neighborhood, Old Oakland.

Energy efficiency was a high priority for the group. In preparation for the "value engineering" process, in which the builders propose elements of the project to eliminate or alternatives to save money, we had ranked various elements, and our shared hydronic hot-water system ranked high, driven by values around both quality and efficiency. When the builder proposed that we use electric baseboard heat instead, we were ready with a quick response: stick with the hydronic, even though it added more than $10,000 per unit to the prices. When a member found a new technology that might be able to support future individual metering of water, heat and hot water, the group didn't take long to approve spending more on plumbing upfront to make it possible.

After move-in, the community wanted to put in a grid-tied solar-electric system to power the Common House and our common heat pumps and lights and reduce not just our energy bill but our environmental impact. However, even with state and federal tax credits and rebates, it would cost more than $4,000 per unit up front. We knew that some members would have difficulty coming up with that kind of cash on top of their regular HOA dues and mortgage payments, so we rejected the idea of imposing a special assessment. We also faced increased reserve contributions and therefore increased dues to save for eventual replacement of our system, given the expected lifespan of some system elements.

One member kept pursuing the concept with a passion, and others had business savvy, financial acumen and connections. This potent brew led to us finding a third way, where two plus two did equal five: A solar installer had a business setting up Limited Liability Corporations (LLC's), with member-investors with large passive incomes in California, who could get the maximum benefit from the solar tax credits. The group (working with our nonprofit developer and owner of the rest of our building, the East Bay Asian Local Development Co. (EBALDC)). We would buy the system on time, paid for by the electricity it generated. A win-win for the community, and the environment.

Upfront cost to the group: zero. Reduction in electric rates: immediate.