Our neighborhood, Revive, caught Dan’s eye because of its focus on renewable energy and conservation. On Saturday we met our consultant from SolarCity (recently acquired by Tesla) — Justin walked us through the monitoring for our solar panels, which should produce enough electricity that the overage on our power bill also pays our water bill through a utilities agreement with the City. (It may even cover more… our neighbor and realtor Sue says her solar panels cover her electricity, water and all the power for her all-electric car.)

Even when it’s cold here, the sun shines… it will be fascinating to see how the numbers work out, especially in the winter. Besides being built with solar and geothermal systems, our house also feels very airtight. It is brimming with natural light, and bright LEDs keep things efficient at night. Still, I know we have a lot to learn about energy conservation — Justin says he can help us with that over time, based on data our house sends back to SolarCity.