Stitt Sees Green In Energy Savings

Orlo Stitt is green with energy. He sees green in everything he does, drives and lives in. From his house to his hybrid car, Stitt believes there are a multitude of things that can be done to use energy wisely. People like Stitt have fostered a movement referred to as “green” because of its connection to the environment.

During the 1973 oil crisis, Stitt built his own energy-efficient house in Montreal, Canada. The house was featured on Canadian and American news stations. That exposure and Stitt’s own beliefs led the way to starting his own company in 1978, Stitt Energy Systems Inc. in Rogers, which specializes in custom energy-efficient home design and construction.

“Our mission is the same now as it was 28 years ago when we were founded, and that’s to provide energy-efficient housing for the satisfaction of the customer and for the health, welfare and happiness of our customers, our employees and our future generation,” Stitt said.

Stitt doesn’t have a background in architecture or engineering. Instead, he earned a bachelor’s degree in botany, ecology and life sciences from Iowa State University in 1964 and got his MBA from the University of Iowa in 1966. That background has helped him design and construct large, energy-efficient houses.

Stitt said it’s not only about saving money on utilities — about 50 percent on a yearly average — it’s about being environmentally conscious.

“It comes down to, for a lot of people, it’s the right thing to do,” Stitt said. “It’s the right thing to do that is not necessarily in the economic equation. It’s a direction where economics may go very quickly in terms of the depletion of fossil fuels.”

Seeing Green

So Stitt jumped ahead of the game. His company developed South Sun Estates on the Lake, a green subdivision on Beaver Lake near Rogers.

“Green means a lot of things to different people, but basically it’s talking about a trend that is environmentally positive,” Stitt said. “It’s good for your health, it’s good for your pocketbook, and it’s good for other people and future generations. It’s also sustainable. It’s something that we can keep on doing not only this year and next year but this generation and the next generation and their children’s children. So green means a lot of things, but it also means environmentally in sync with what is environmentally healthy. It’s a broad concept.”

The subdivision has 29 lots, with 11 green houses already built, including one Stitt lives in. He said two more lots have been bought and are ready to break ground. The houses range from $265,000 to $800,000, or about $115 to $125 per SF. That’s about 10 percent more than the same type of house in the same location that isn’t equipped to be energy efficient, he said.

But there is money to be saved. Stitt’s 3,295-SF house, heated and cooled, averaged about $74.55 per month in utilities over the last year. He said utilities would normally cost $225 per month for a house that size, which amounts to a 67 percent savings. His highest bill was $96 in December last year and his lowest bill was $51 in May.

One easy way to make a house energy efficient before it is built is to place it in the right spot. The orientation of the house is important because of the positioning of the windows in relation to the sun.

“If you have a lot of the windows facing west, it may pick up the afternoon sun and overheat in the afternoon,” Stitt said. “When you orient a lot of the windows to the south, you can take the winter sun in and keep the summer sun out. So by working with the orientation and the angles of the sun, you can minimize your utility bills so that you don’t need as much energy usage.”

All of Stitt’s houses are 5 Energy Star quality homes (the highest ranking by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), which mean the appliances, light bulbs, water heater and windows are energy efficient.

The dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, dryer and even the television all have the Energy Star label. Of the 76 light bulbs used in the house, 72 of them are compact florescent, which means they emit 90 percent light and 10 percent energy, unlike incandescent bulbs that emit 90 percent energy and 10 percent light, Stitt said. The bulbs also last eight to 13 times longer than regular bulbs.

Stitt uses wood to heat the house. To keep it cool, Stitt installed an icehouse roof, which is a way of reflecting heat in the summertime. A solar water heater heats about 80 percent of the water in the wintertime and 100 percent of the water in the summertime. It costs $4,600, but beginning Jan. 1, a federal tax incentive will allow people to deduct 30 percent, up to $2,000, of their energy-efficient purchases.

“People are amazed at how affordable houses can be when you look at what you’re paying monthly,” Stitt said. “And it doesn’t have to be seven years down the line because if you build it energy efficiently, your monthly payments, from the month after you move in, can be equal or lower by a little bit.

“Even though your price for the house might be a little higher … but then you subtract the utility bills and you deduct the interest, and sure enough, right after you move in your monthly total of principal interest, taxes, insurance and energy is equal or lower. In the meantime you’re getting a better house.”

The best part, Stitt agrees, is that the houses don’t look any different than regular houses, minus a few solar panels that almost look like skylights on the roof. Inside the house, it’s hard to tell that it’s “green.” He said that’s what many people worry about when discussing energy-efficient homes — they don’t believe it can be attractive.

“People want to keep their lifestyle and they want things pretty,” Stitt said. “They want to feel good … about themselves and their family. One of the things we do is that we work real hard to make the houses so they’re beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, not just something that’s maybe not desirable, like underground housing or people that talk about building houses out of tires or beer cans.”

Efficiency Awareness

From August 1997 to September 1999, the Arkansas Energy Office randomly evaluated 100 new homes in Arkansas for energy efficiency. In Northwest Arkansas, 16 of the 26 houses — 62 percent that were evaluated — failed to pass the Arkansas Energy Code.

“It’s just amazing how inefficient, from an energy standpoint, houses are built,” Stitt said.

Stitt said global warming has impacted the Earth in many different ways, including the unusually high number of hurricanes. He said he believes the energy of global warming also leads to volcanoes and earthquakes.

“People say, ‘well, what’s 1 degree or 1.5 degrees?’ But when you look at the whole world, 1.5 degrees is a lot of heat, a lot of energy,” Stitt said.

Not only have homebuilders become aware of being more energy efficient, but so have corporations.

Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened its first experimental store in McKinney, Texas, in July and another one in Aurora, Colo., in November.

The stores use solar panels, wind turbines, reflective coating on the building, reflective floor heating and an air distribution system among other things to conserve energy.

The Fayetteville Public Library also jumped on the green bandwagon when it was built in 2001. Louise Schaper, director of the library, said officials registered to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified with the U.S. Green Building Council but are still working on projects that will complete the certification.

The 88,000-SF library has waterless urinals, reflective roof, low-emissive glass, stationary shades and a cistern to catch rainwater for irrigation.