Salem resident reaches net-zero

MT. PLEASANT - Living an eco-friendly lifestyle does not mean completely giving up modern comforts. Mary Hoyer, a Salem resident, hopes her net-zero house is an example of how regular people can lead more sustainable lives.

Now in its final stages of completion, Hoyer's newly built home recently received a Home Energy Rating System score of 6, which means her house uses only 6 percent of the energy an average house its size would use.

Ryan Meres, program director for the Residential Energy Services Network, confirmed Hoyer's house is the 'most efficient HERS rating in Iowa so far this year.” Overall, Hoyer's house is the fourth most efficient in the state.

'It's really encouraging. It was all theory before, but now it's a reality,” she said.

When Hoyer set out to build her new home in 2018, she wasn't looking to go off the grid in some cave on the side of a mountain or to build a 'financial extravagance.” Instead, her goal was a regular house.

'This is not a no-windows, no-nothing house. This is, I think, a really workable, staying in place, aging in place home that has everything you would want,” she said.

The Salem resident, who has a background in chemistry, said there are many factors that go into making a home energy efficient and a major one is finding ways to keep the temperature inside of the house separated from the temperature outside. To do that, Hoyer invested in double pane windows and substantial insulation between her walls.

'Heat moves from where it is to where it isn't,” she said. To keep heat out, houses need to reduce the amount of thermal conductors it has. Additionally, Hoyer has purposefully oriented her house to face south and installed solar panels on her roof.

'We've paid about $12 to $14 for our bill these last two months,” she said. The house has approximately 1,400 kilowatt-hours in reserve from the energy it produces.

Hoyer acknowledges that a person doing their part to have less of a carbon footprint doesn't always require building a new house.

'There are a lot of things you can do to existing homes too - even just used LED light bulbs,” she said.

Hoyer said she believes the threat of major lifestyle changes is what keeps people from wanting to acknowledge climate change is a growing problem. The Salem resident cited a Pew Research Center report which found only 43 percent of Americans found climate change to be a serious problem, but 66 percent believe they need to change their lifestyles.

'So they know, they just don't want to deal with it … People are afraid of change and cost,” she said.

Hoyer said she pushes against the idea that drastic changes have to be made immediately.

'There's eco-friendly ways of raising meat. I drive a car - I have a Prius. It gets about 46 miles per gallon. I didn't have to give up a car and not drive, I just found a better one,” she said.

The Salem resident added she believes the overall national attitude toward climate change is a result of a lack of proper STEM education.

'We have to believe the scientists,” she said.

Moving forward, Hoyer said she is interested in discussing her house and holding presentations for anyone who is interested in learning more. SHe hopes she can show people that making changes 'is not scary,” and is 'within the realm of possibility.” She also believes it's the way of the future.

'You can't stop progress. I remember using my first computer in 1979. It was a DOS and then the Macintosh personal computer came out. I think about all those computers in basement rooms because they just didn't think personal computers would take off. But you have to get with the times,” she said.