During a recent home inspection in West Vancouver BC I came across a brilliant feature, that shows attention to detail and future thinking by the house designer or contractor.
Look at the photo below. It's two conduits that have been stubbed into the mechnical room. They are thoughtfully labelled as 'Solar Conduits', for future installation of roof-mounted solar heating panels or possibly photo-voltaic solar cells for power generation. The other end of the conduits are stubbed out, on the roof. These conduits can be used for either piping or electrical wiring.
Many provisions for future use can easily be incorporated into new house construction for a very modest price. I recommend that anyone designing or building a new home incorporate this detail in their plans. Although it may not be of interest to a current owner, future buyers may find this detail most attractive.
This is certainly the gold standard for an environmentally thoughtful design. At some point in time, I suggest that this will be part of the building code.
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