EPIA (European PV Association) predicts that the cost of solar PV panels will decrease at an annualised 9% from now until 2020. That's really sweet news to hear. There are however quite a few industry folks who think that the cost reduction trend will plateau down quite fast and one should not expect dramatic reductions from now on. But there are others who feel - like EPIA - that the solar panel cost reductions will continute quite as in the past: "However, there are reasons to be optimistic about cost reductions (US$/Wp) of PV modules: * Until now, crystalline silicon modules using electronics grade silicon scraps as feedstock have dominated the world PV market. Their manufacturing processes derive from the electronics industry and are not optimized for PV module production. * Significant cost reductions will be achieved as soon as dedicated production facilities for solar-grade silicon are justified by demand. * Even sharper module cost reductions can be expected in the case of thin film PV cells, irrespective of the basic semiconductor employed (amorphous silicon, CdTe, CIS, or others). First, this is due to the use of a much smaller amount of semiconductor material and to much lower energy consumption rates. Secondly, thin-film manufacturing techniques (direct deposition) allow the direct manufacturing of 1,000 cm2 integrated solar modules (i.e. a-St) and are particularly well suited for mass production. " All these point to a future in which solar PV cells are going to be available at a fraction of the costs at which they are available today. At this rate of cost reductions, solar PV could reach grid parity by 2017 or so, in many parts of the world. What do you think? Here is a link that might be useful: Cost Reduction Predictions for Solar PV

Some responses to the items I pointed out earlier... 2 - Foyer closet--I personally prefer hooks + a bench BUT now notice that you don't have a coat closet in the mudroom area. As it is, you will probably hang your 'current season' coat on a hook in the mudroom and store your 'off season' coats in the front closet. Since your foyer closet is so close to the mudroom, I think this will work! :) The foyer does have a spot for a bench which I think is ABSOLUTELY essential (unless you want your guests to wear their shoes indoors at all times.) 3 - Depending on your lifestyle, having space to have guests over to watch TV is nice when you have small kids. It's hard to get out to see a movie and/or friends, so inviting friends over for a movie kills two birds with one stone. We were never 'TV people' before our son was born. It is amazing all of the small ways a person's lifestyle changes when a baby arrives! I'd suggest talking to other parents in your lives (your own parents and your friends who are parents) to try to get an idea of what your life will be like once children enter the picture. 6 - Is there seating room at the island? I know guests can get a little uncomfortable (both physically and socially) standing around while someone is working in the kitchen. I think seating makes their presence seem more comfortable for everyone. :) 7 - As an voracious reader, I find it unlikely those chairs in the study will be your favorite reading nooks, since the natural light will be coming in at your face instead of at your back. Think about where you gravitate toward for reading in your current home. For me, anyway, during the daytime I like to have natural light from behind or next to me. If it's evening, I like a LOT of BRIGHT light above me (can lights galore!) 8 - I also work on the computer. (I work from home full time as a web developer and stay-at-home mom.) Side-by-side is different from back-to-back. If you both spend a lot of time at the computer at the same time, you'll just want to make 100% sure your computer nook is comfortable for everyone. Don't just think about once you're settled in---thinking about coming/going for trips to the kitchen, bathroom, and nursery. (If anyone plans on working at the computer while caring for the baby, I'd recommend a computer set-up near the nursery, at least for the first year of each baby's life.) 9 - If the stair layout is the most economical way, I'm sure you'll get used to it. I just know it would drive ME crazy to have to make a U-turn when I'm SPRINTING to the baby's room to take calm him down before his 'sleep fussing' turns into real crying. :) 10 - Our builder's opinion on the pocket door to the water closet is mostly that they're a pain to use if they are frequently closed. At the risk of over-sharing, our master bath door only gets shut when one spouse worries the aroma will offend the other spouse's senses. So, for us, the inconvenience of sometimes operating a pocket door is worth the aesthetic of having it out of the way 99% of the time. Again, it just totally depends on your lifestyle. I think our builder charges about $150 more for a pocket door vs. a normal door--it's worth finding out what your builder charges before going crazy adding them all willy nilly, of course. :D 11 - If you're not bothered by it, I think skipping a closet door in the bedroom would be fine. For aesthetic reasons, I'd recommend having any closet areas that are visible from the bedroom be anything but shelving. My husband and I are neat freaks and we both worked retail so we know how to fold and stack clothes neatly...and our shelving still never looks tidy. Hanging looks better by far. (I'd personally have a closet door that swings into the room, but that's just a personal preference, not a game changer.) Hope that helps! It's all just my personal opinions. We're only in the planning stages too, so I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. :) (Hope you'll go comment on my floorplan since it sounds like we have similar lifestyles.) Here is a link that might be useful: Floorplan of my 4BR 2-story Minnesota home

huango You have to be careful when applying generalities like "$30K" to your specific site. I have a large GT system - 12 tons worth of HVAC. The total delta cost between that system and one with High Efficiency heat pumps was $15K NOT including the digging of the loop field BUT inclduing everything else. The extra costs for GT heat pumps over regular heat pumps is not a large delta. You would not need 12 tons of GT for a 2200 sq ft home - maybe 5 tons at most. My 6 ton unit was spec'd to handle about 4400 sq feet (2200 on the main level and 2200 in the basement that is mostly below grade). The loop field is a big variable but there are many options. For a closed loop system you can use a pond (if you have one), a horizontal field (a pit), or wells. For an open loop system you can use a well BUT you need a place to dump the water that is pumped out (a pond or stream). This is where the costs for GT are very hard to estimate on a forum like this - you need to get several quotes for your site. Here is some data that might help you that I got this from research my install. Use this as rough approximations, I live in the mid-Atlantic region in the moutains. For every ton of GT you need a 100 ft well and wells cost about 10 dollars per foot to drill. So if you go that route - and assuming you needed 5 tons of GT - you would need 5 x 100 ft wells and that would cost roughly $5000. You have to weigh that cost vs. the cost of digging a pit. For a pit you need a hole that is 120 feet long x 6 feet deep. The width of the pit is driven by how many tons of HVAC you have. With 5 tons you would need 5 loops - and each loop requires 4 feet of space so that would be a 120' x 20' x 6' pit. See if you have that kind of space on your lot and rememeber they will also need space around that to pile the dirt (and it's a lot of dirt - way more than you could imagine!). If your site is right - it might be cheaper to go with a horizontal loop field. I too have been thinking about using solar to run my loop pump. My pump draws 7.5 amps at 240 volts which is 1800 watts and that runs 24x7. I would need a pretty big solar system to drive that and the cost right now is too high. However, I am going to keep watching and someday will hopefully be able to add that in. Perhaps with a smaller system you could make the the numbers work. I estimate that a solar system would save me about $75 per month off my electric bill - so I would need the solar system to cost around $10,000 to break even in 10 years. A 2 kilowatt solar system runs in the 20K to 30K range. You mentioned 7K for solar - that seems low but maybe prices have come down. Another idea I had is to add in a contoller for the system so that the loop pump only comes on when the inside themostats call for heat or AC. This would allow me to turn off the loop pump when it isn't needed instead of having it run 24x7. The contoller has to be smart enough to anticipate trends in temps so it doesn't make the pump start & stop too often which would be a waste of energy too (it takes a lot of power to get the loop water moving). This might be a neat project to tackle once I get through all the other things I have on my ever grwoing list. Before comitting to GT - you need to make sure that your house is well insulated and sealed from air infiltration. If you have a leaky house, you will not see the savings and the Gt system will struggle to keep you warm in the winter. GT systems are great but they cannot generate the BTU output as quickly as a gas or oil system can. If a GT system is overwhelmed, the emergency heat will come on (the heat packs) which is essentially a giant toaster and will run your electric bills through the roof. I also recommend having some wood burning fireplace inserts or stoves to augment the Gt syetm when it is really cold AND most importantnly provide a backup if the power goes out. best of luck.

I will probably have more to say on this later, but briefly: right now I feel that when it comes to interior design we are in a stasis, and it will be so until there is a new technology that is applicable to furniture design and construction. The last cognitive leap, so to speak, in furniture design was in the mid-century period, when new technologies allowed designers to create wholly new designs--e.g. the Eameses and George Nelson and others who applied steam formed plywood splint technology and plastic embedded fiberglass (from aeronautical sources?) to create now Iconic plywood and fiberglass chairs, etc. Expanded foam technologies lead to the gigantic foam furniture, such as the Ligne Roset Togo. And then people got experimental with blow-up furniture and bean bags. AND --this is key-- they were all processes that allowed Inexpensive Mass Production. The next major furniture movements, the Post-Modernist and Memphis Movements (see "Ruthless People") were cartoonish riffs on existing styles...a sure sign that there was nothing essentially new. Crooked shelves, slanted tables, and chairs made out of glass are interesting expressions, but they don't really add much to the vocabulary of good approachable pieces. There are some high tech applications and materials used to make furniture currently (Graphite Fibers and such) but they are expensive and not accessible for mass production. So, while we are surrounded by technological advances in the "envelope" of our houses (mostly artificial intelligence stuff), I think the interiors are going to be reiterations of what has come before, until an innovative material comes along.