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Keep on the sunny side
Local solar homes show that sustainable can be beautiful
by James K. Sanborn
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| Photo: Angie Seckinger |
Straw bale construction and and reclaimed wood make a lovely and environmentally friendly addition to Bill Hutchins' Takoma Park bungalow |
Increasingly, Takoma Park residents are chosing sustainable solutions as they retool their living spaces. Three local green-home projects were featured in the 17th Annual Washington D.C. Solar Tour of Homes during the first weekend of October.
The tour, which featured “green homes” in and around the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, stopped at three Takoma homes whose owners have worked to save the environment, each with their own unique flair.
Energy-conserving apartment house
Rick Reis, founder of Conservation Engineering and owner of a five-unit apartment home at 808 Kennebec Avenue, has incorporated an array of simple solutions to conserve energy.
Reis, who strongly believes in conservation, used existing and mostly inexpensive technologies to convert his building into an environmentally friendly green property.
The simplest method of conservation he employed was to separate utilities for each tenant. Not only did it create a more comfortable environment by giving each tenant direct control over the temperature of their apartment, but it created a financial incentive to conserve.
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| photos: Julie Wiatt |
Solar Array |
One of the more complex and costly forms of technology Reis installed was a solar water heating system. On the buildings roof he installed four solar panels which unlike photo voltaic panels, are not used to produce electricity.
Through a system of pipes, a mixture of water and an environmentally friendly anti-freeze is carried to the roof where it passes through the panels and is warmed on sunny days.
The liquid mixture returns to the house’s basement where it passes through a non-conventional water heater and exchanges it heat energy to the domestic water supply through a heat exchange coil.
That water then passes into traditional water heaters where it is stored. Only when there is insufficient sun to heat the house’s water do the conventional water heaters kick in and consume energy.
Reis also installed a heat pump to warm the house which he said is three times more efficient than a traditional heater. During the winter it works like a reverse air conditioner displacing cool air and drawing heat energy from outdoors.
The same unit becomes the air conditioner during summer months.
Most of Reis’ improvements were far simpler and inexpensive. He installed compact fluorescent bulbs in all lighting fixtures and used an ultrasonic light switch in the building’s foyer that only activates lights when people are present.
The final improvement Reis made was the installation of two roof vents that extract heat trapped in the attic during warm months. Both vents are powered by two small solar panels so they increase the efficiency of the air conditioner without consuming additional electricity.
In all Reis’s simple improvements cut energy consumption in his house by 580 kilowatt hours. His total investment was $11,383 but it only cost him about $4,646 out of pocket. This was because he received a $1,928 energy grant from the state and a $4,808 federal tax credit.
The improvements paid for themselves in about four years.
Reis, who graduated from Stony Brook University in 1967 with a degree in engineering, began Conservation Engineering about a year ago.
Previously a systems engineer for Verizon, Reis began Conservation Engineering to help businesses cut operating costs while helping the environment. His work is the intersection of ethics and profitability.
“I felt that conservation was being ignored because it is not as sexy as alternative energy,” Reis said, in explaining why he chose to focus on conservation.
He supports conservation because it is less expensive, more immediately viable and something everyone can do.
Green design, reusing resources
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| Photo: Julie Wiatt |
Alcoves for reading or sleeping can be space-savers. |
Takoma Park architect Bill Hutchins, also stresses the need for conservation but places an emphasis on building better and reusing.
Through his architectural firm Helicon Works, Hutchins helps people to build green homes. One who practices what he preaches, he has incorporated many environmentally friendly construction techniques in his own home at 7108 Holly Ave.
In constructing his home he used salvaged materials wherever possible. Many of the doors and frames he used are what he calls “orphaned.”
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| Photo: James Sanborn |
Reclaimed wrought iron was crafted into
an artful staircase. |
They are doors and frames that were returned to manufacturers because they did not meet client specifications. By using them in his home not only was he able to prevent waste and the pollution generated by ordering new products, but he was able to get them at a discounted price.
Hutchins also used salvaged fixtures in most of his restrooms and decorated several surfaces, including his shower, with a mosaic of fragments from old marble and granite counter tops.
He also used local and sustainable materials wherever possible. Much of the home’s wood that was not salvaged, is either local locust or was selectively logged and drawn by horse.
Some difficulties in renovating his home to make it environmentally friendly were local restrictions due to his neighborhood’s historic status. This meant that he could only modify the house’s outward appearance in accordance with local ordinances.
This influenced the sort of solar panels and other devices he could install on the forward portion of the home. In the rear, however, he constructed an addition using straw-bale construction, which is environmentally friendly and an effective insulator.
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| Photo: James Sanborn |
A corn stove provides most of the heat for the Hutchins’ home. |
Other technologies he incorporated include a corn stove that provides most of the house’s heating. It is fueled with corn from a local co-op. The stove is carbon neutral since the equivalent of the carbon it emits this year through combustion will be reabsorbed when next year’s crop grows.
Storm water management and solar power also play a significant role in his homes design.
“Most importantly, we need to build smaller and better,” Hutchins said.
By building smaller Hutchins said we conserve materials, prevent pollution due to manufacturing, and expend less energy in running homes.
In designing his house he tried to eliminate wasteful space like hallways and incorporated alcoves which he said can replace entire rooms in their function.
By building smaller, Hutchinson also said, one can reallocate the money they save by investing it in green technologies.
Apart from green technologies, Hutchinson said lifestyle is of the utmost importance in conservation.
His family walks and uses the Metro as often as possible. Buying a house a block from the Metro was a conscious choice, he said. When they do drive, they use bio-diesel that is stored in their basement to fuel their cars. The same bio-diesel is also used to heat water.
“You can build the greenest house in the suburbs and the most un-green house in the city and your net energy use will be the same because of the amount of commuting you would do,” Hutchinson said of the importance of lifestyle.
Energy-efficient home—only a step in the right direction
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| Photo: Julie Wiatt |
Mike Tidwell’s energy-efficient home on Willow Street has solar panels on the back slope of the roof. |
The home of Mike Tidwell, founder and director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, was also featured as part of the D.C. Solar Tour.
Tidwell has incorporated as many green-technologies in his highly publicized home as anyone. He has incorporated everything from solar panels and a corn burning stove to energy efficient appliances.
Tidwell said greening one’s home with environmentally friendly technologies is great but insufficient.
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| Photo: Julie Wiatt |
| Close-up of reflections on a Tidwell's solar panel |
“We are never going to save the environment one house at a time,” he said.
Becoming politically active and demanding new environmental legislation is the most important thing anyone can do.
“I would rather see 100,000 Americans phoning their senators twice a week demanding significant legislation than one million people filling their homes and driveways with green technology,” Tidwell said.
Tidwell said he has done a lot to help the environment voluntarily but we are in need of laws that will make the changes mandatory.
He said we need laws so that there will only be environmentally friendly products available. We won’t be choosing to buy hybrid cars and compact fluorescent light bulbs because they will be the only choice.
“We have no time and it is fascinating the degree to which we as a nation ignore this. The climate is snapping,” he said.
“It is one of the reasons I am losing patience with conversations about ways to green your home, conversations about 10 things you can do.”
As long as we are discussing ways to green our homes rather than becoming politically active, companies like Exxon are safe and the pollution they cause will continue, he said.
“The last thing they want is for us to talk about political change.”
Resources:
"Washington DC Solar Homes Tour" website
"Conservation Engineering" website
"Chesapeake Climate Action Network" website
"Helicon Works" website
Mike Tidwell’s editorial on the political changes needed to combat global warming, Enough with the bloody lightbulbs already!
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