Vacant lot will be able to heat home

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A vacant lot next door is becoming an asset for a home on the city's west side.

How does a zero dollar a month heating bill sound? PUSH Buffalo says it's possible if you use geothermal technology.

The organization equipped a 19th century home on Winter Street with a variety of green technologies that it says will heat the house for free. The group dug geothermal trenches on the vacant lot next door that will produce the energy needed to warm the entire home. The idea was to create a "net-zero" house, which means all the energy that's consumed inside the house will be produced by the vacant lot.

PUSH Buffalo Housing Director Sean Ryan said, "The magic here is that we're taking a vacant house and a vacant lot, things that most people thought had no value, but we're turning that into the value. So we're going to use this vacant lot to heat this entire house."

Project Manager Clarke Gocker said, "Over the last ten months, about 20 neighborhood young men and women to learn the trade skills and to learn green building skills specifically."

Eventually, a family will move into the home where PUSH Buffalo will also host workshops to demonstrate other green technologies that can be used in urban settings.