Johnson Square Village, a development of 26 townhouses that is under construction in Brockton, will include solar panels and other energy-efficient, environmentally friendly features.
At a time when energy costs are soaring, a townhouse development in Brockton that is being billed as the first all-solar newly constructed condominium project in New England will help residents save nearly $600 annually on their electric bills.
Construction of the $6 million project – which will feature 26 two-bedroom townhouses in seven buildings – began earlier this month. Each home will include its own designated photovoltaic (PV), or solar, system that will harness the sun’s energy to power appliances and other electronics.
Supporters say the project, known as Johnson Square Village, will create healthy, environmentally friendly “green” homes that generate clean electricity and will be sold at affordable prices. Prices for the multi-level homes, where the basic unit offers 1,056 square feet of living space, will start at just under $215,000.
“I wanted to prove that you can build a quality unit at a price that the average working person can afford to buy and live in,” said Dan Porrazzo, who is developing the project.
All the homes will have south-facing roofs with an 18-panel 3.24 kilowatt solar array included in each unit. The PV systems are expected to generate 4,212 kilowatt-hours per year, based on New England’s climate, and the solar output on each home will provide more than 60 percent of the home’s electric usage, according to Conservation Services Group, the Westborough-based designer of the PV systems.
It typically costs about $24,000 to install PV systems in each home, but Porrazzo said because the installation will be handled by his partner in the development, Dave Murphy – an electrical contractor who has been installing solar panels for several years – it will shave about 20 percent off the cost.
A ‘Smart’ Move
A Brockton resident, Porrazzo used to work for Conservation Services Group as a project manager and was accustomed to seeing builders include solar panels in a long list of options from which homebuyers could choose. In most cases, buyers confronted with choosing between a Jacuzzi, granite kitchen countertops and solar panels usually selected the first two options or other features, explained Porrazzo.
Porrazzo decided what was needed was “someone to step forward and say the way to do this is to have it on every unit.”
So Porrazzo, who started Johnson Square Builders, decided to launch an all-solar powered residential project on a 1.77-acre vacant parcel in Brockton that he has owned for nearly 20 years.
By keeping the home prices low and including some of the green technology, Porrazzo said his profit margin will be lower than what other developers typically accept. “We’re willing to take less,” he said.
To help defray the cost of the panels and installation, the developer applied for a grant and was awarded $458,300 through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Renewal Energy Trust. The grant also will help cover some of the other green and energy-efficient features that will be incorporated in the homes, according to Porrazzo.
In addition to the solar panels, for example, Johnson Square Village will include high-efficiency heating systems and windows and special lighting. The homes will be Energy Star-rated, which means they meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for maximum energy efficiency.
Porrazzo said he also will install two underground 20,000-gallon holding tanks that will collect rainwater that comes off the homes’ roofs. The collected rainwater will be used to water the landscaping through a “smart” irrigation system that senses the climate to determine whether watering is necessary.
And Johnson Square Village will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. LEED, a program of the U.S. Green Building Council, provides a set of standards and rating system to determine how environmentally friendly buildings actually are.
Jonathan Abe, a project manager at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), said one reason Johnson Square Village was awarded the $458,300 grant is because it incorporates solar systems into new residential construction that is also LEED certified.
MTC provides $4 million annually through its Renewable Energy Trust for on-site renewable energy projects in multifamily residential, commercial and institutional and municipal buildings across the Bay State.
“We like integrating renewable energy in early stages in new construction projects,” Abe said.
Many of the projects funded through MTC’s Renewable Energy Trust involve retrofitting existing buildings to include solar power. Only a third of the projects that MTC funds are new construction, according to Abe.
Another reason Johnson Square Village was selected for a grant, explained Abe, is because the homeowners will be able to fold any extra costs associated with the solar panels into their mortgages, but the energy savings ultimately will exceed any additional costs.
Porrazzo noted that in addition to benefiting from energy savings, homebuyers also will be eligible for state and federal tax credits totaling $3,000 during their first year of ownership because they own a home with energy-efficient features.
“This project dispels the myth that solar is too expensive for most people to own. Through the MTC’s grant, we are able to design a project that is affordable and will help residents cut energy costs,” Conservation Services Group Chief Executive Officer Stephen Cowell, said in a recent press release. “Most importantly, by purchasing a home at Johnson Square Village, residents will be supporting the PV industry in Massachusetts.”
The model home and first building are expected to be finished by July. The entire development is scheduled for completion by early next year.
