We are making as many choices as we can to build this home in a sustainable, environmentally friendly manner. Here are some of the initiatives we have taken or are planning to take.

• I think the biggest initiative is an overall design that will be 100% solar, burning no fossil fuel for the life of the house.
  
  
• EPA Phase II certified wood stove to burn about one face cord annually of local hardwood for heat when necessary. No other back up heating system needed.
  
  
• Minimized tree cutting when opening the driveway by moving nine mature evergreens, which now provide privacy and a wind buffer.
  
  
• Saved over 400 cubic yards of top soil for lawns and gardens by first scrapping the site of this precious material before building.
  
  
• Oriented the house not toward the street but toward the sun. While I’m sure this will have a little impact on “curb appeal” and maybe even market value, it is something I can’t imagine doing any other way.
  
  
• Flyash used in the concrete to minimize the Portland cement.
  
  
• Minimized 12” framing material to reduce impact on old growth wood. Used certified sustainable wood whenever it was available.
  
  
• World-Class insulation levels: R-60 in ceiling; R-40 in walls, including basement walls; R-30 below solar battery under basement.
  
  
• High performance windows that maximize solar heat gain on the south side and maximize heat loss on the other sides.
  
  
• Minimized interior space needing constant heating to “Active Area,” to reduce overall needed heat energy.
  
  
• Solar heated hot water for domestic use and in-floor radiant heating.
  
  
• Low maintenance, low cost concrete floors.
  
  
• Low maintenance, long life and minimal repainting needed with cement fiber siding.
  
  
• Metal roof that provides long life, low maintenance and is recyclable.
  
  
• Water catchment for garden and fruit tree watering.
  
  
• Photovoltaic (PV) generated electric with grid connection to share excess and borrow when needed.
  
  
• Energy efficient appliances, with a variety of cooking options, including a solar oven and induction stove top. I’d like to say the house was designed to not have a place for an electric clothes dryer, but that isn’t true. There will be built in drying racks and a linear solar dehydrator (LSD, aka clothes line), so the electric sucking clothes dryer will only be used in “emergencies.”
  
  
• Exclusively compact florescent and LED lighting.
  
  

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