October 23, 2007

EcoDwell home has its first owner

By

Sarah K. Winn
Charleston Gazette Staff writer

Christopher Sattes watched the development of his new environmentally friendly house online after a co-worker pointed it out. He didn’t really plan on buying it because it was out of his price range. “But after looking at, it is worth it,” he said Monday. “Its kind of cool to give back a little bit.”

Sattes, 22, bought his home — called EcoDwell — from the Religious Coalition for Community Renewal. The RCCR partnered with the Charleston Area Alliance to build the environmentally friendly home on Jackson Street in Charleston’s East End.

Sattes, who graduated from Capital High School in 2003, paid $120,000 for the 1,500-square-foot, three-bedroom abode, according to county property records. Some of the home’s green features include structural insulated panel walls and ceilings, an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, a metal roof and fluorescent light fixtures.

“It’s just so energy-efficient,” he said. “I don’t have to change the thermostat.” After just a month, Sattes has already seen the impact. His water bill was just $19 in September, he said. His electrical bill was just $20. “It’s a double whammy,” he said. “You are doing good and doing good with your money.”

Sattes considers himself “a pretty conservative Republican,” but still thinks its important to do his part for the environment. His favorite musician, Dave Mathews, really turned him on to green practices, he said. Even though Sattes has moved in, the green home is still connected to the RCCR and the Charleston Area Alliance.

“We will be working with the Charleston Area Alliance and homebuyer to do some energy study comparisons,” said Kim Statome of RCCR. RCCR built the home next door with traditional building materials and they want to compare and track energy usage, she said. Sattes is developing a Web site so the community can track his energy usage. The Web site isn’t up and running yet, but he wants others to be able to see his cost savings. Along with the green building techniques, the house came with some other strings, such as the new owner must meet low- and moderate-income guidelines. To qualify, a single person had to earn a maximum of $30,200 a year.

Sattes, who works in IT for Ameriprise Financial and sells special shot glasses on his own Web site, met the guidelines. For Sattes, most of his friends thought his reasoning for buying a home was strange. “When I rented, I felt like my money was being thrown away,” he said. “Now, all my friends come over and they think it’s cool and high-tech.” Although he considered moving away from Charleston, Sattes said his new home made the difference. “That’s how I got a sweet deal on the house,” he said. “It kind of changed my mind,”

To contact staff writer, call 348-5156.