Cap Times: WNPJ member promotes super-efficient homes

WNPJ member and Community Car founder Sonya Newenhouse has a new eco-friendly venture, kit-built houses with a drastically reduced need for energy. The "NewenHouses" will be sold as kits and feature 16-inch-thick walls filled with cellulose insulation and floors of polished concrete on a deep bed of insulation. All-solar hot water systems will be standard, and the houses will be sized at fraction of the size of the average American home, with a one-bedroom model at only 600 square feet. "We have to start building like this now if we're going to reduce our carbon footprint in the future," says Newenhouse.