KWWL.com - News & Weather for Waterloo, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, Iowa | ''Green'' homes energy tour
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CEDAR FALLS (KWWL) - 8 homes in Cedar Falls, Independence, Waverly, Waterloo and Evansdale showcased their green attributes to the public for an energy tour.
The tour gave tips on how to reduce monthly energy bills and carbon emissions, as well as how to qualify for tax credits.
The University of Northern Iowa's Center for Energy and Environmental Education (CCE) and the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) organized the tour.
Jack and Carole Yates' house was on the tour. In 1991, the Yates built their house witlh passive solar heating, meaning that the house used the sun to heat rooms by having more windows facing south. In the last few years, they were able to implement active solar to heat their hot water and to make electricity.
"The typical American home uses about 30 kilowatt hours a day and ours uses more like 15 to 20 a day even though its square footage is bigger than the typical American home," homeowner Jack Yates said.
This year 85 percent of their house's electricity came from solar power.
Other homes on the tour also featured geothermal systems.
Online Producer: Jackie Manternach
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