2007 SUNDAY HOMES

The following are homes from the 2007 tour. Homes on the 2008 tour will be listed in July 2008.

Home A - Shady Side, Maryland

Features: Off the grid 4KW photovoltaics, passive solar heating and cooling, special windows, superinsulation, solar hot water, composting toilet, solar cooker, grey-water system

This Shady Side home is an ongoing experiment in living sustainably. It is intended to have no negative impact on the earth making it possible for the owners to live close to and learn from nature. The owners have installed additional insulation, low emissivity windows, and they have a wood pellet stove, a solar cooker, nesting osprey, an organic vegetable garden, a recycling grey-water system, composting bins, a composting toilet, passive solar heating and cooling, photovoltaic power, and a wood cooking stove. More important than the parts is the way they are integrated and the management practices which make it all work to create significant energy savings. The owner/designer of the home, has 30 years of experience in solar design, is happy to talk to others, and will make his library available to visitors on the day of the tour.

Home B - Upper Marlboro, Maryland

Features: retrofit, straw bale construction, composting toilet, light clay insulation, timberframe addition, portable saw mill, stone construction

This 80-year old country house was retrofit with strawbales for energy efficiency and aesthetic change. New windows and an EPS insulated roof were installed. The toilet was replaced with a composting model. An addition to the house has a rubble trench, local stone and recycled brick foundation, timber frame sawn from surplus trees, 14’ north strawbale wall attached to an internal pole frame, adobe stucco, light-clay infill in South and East walls that allows timbers to remain exposed inside and out, infill kept in place with home made wooden lath, lath covered with adobe plaster, white-washed walls, recycled materials, hand-made tiles, and clay slip finishes. Outdoor earth baking oven.

Home C - Lorton, Virginia

Features: Ground-source heat pump, superinsulation, passive solar, greenhouse, special fireplace, efficient lights, special windows

This contemporary, 2950 square feet, south-facing frame structure has 83% south-facing windows and skylights. A greenhouse supplies some passive-solar heating. Two heat pumps- one vertical closed-loop geothermal system, one high velocity air-to-air system - provide heating. An efficient Finnish fireplace allows the owners to enjoy a fire and gain real heating at the same time. Insulation includes R19 fiberglass bats in the 6” walls, R13 fiberglass bats with R3.8 polystyrene in the 4” walls, and R30 fiberglass bats in the ceilings. An air-lock entry, Tyvek wrap, and foam caulking reduce air infiltration. Windows are of low-E thermopane glass. Skylights provide daylighting, and the electric lighting is fluorescent. Clerestory windows allow natural ventilation. Other energy-savers include a timer on the water heater and low-flow shower heads. Cathedral ceilings add to the aesthetics of the home.

Home D - Fairfax Station, Virginia

Features: Earth-covered, passive solar, trombe wall, greenhouse, heat storage, superinsulation, special windows, composting

This 5000 sq. ft. house was designed and built by the owners as a passive-solar, earth-covered home. The entire structure is a concrete shell built of tilt-up concrete construction (large concrete blocks are poured and when dry are tilted up by a crane) most of which is underground. An exposed greenhouse on the south supplies the heat which is stored in a Trombe wall. The plenum floor (raised floor through which air is blown from the greenhouse to the back of the house) allows warm air pulled down through a chimney-like column from the high ceiling with a fan to circulate through the floor and envelope walls. Warmth stored in the walls radiates back into the house as it cools down. Moving insulated walls close off sliding-glass doors at night. Upper glass windows also have insulated panels for closing, and all windows are double glazed. A woodstove serves as backup heat for cold/cloudy days, and the kitchen has on-demand hot water (no hot water storage) which is also hooked up to the dishwasher.

Home E - Arlington, Virginia

Features: pv, rainbarrel, solar oven, recycled blue jean insulation, children's Power Wheels recharged by small PV, electric lawn mower, line dry laundry

Two-story home with 2.6kW SunPower PV solar electric system generating approximately 300kWh electricity per month. This system supplies 50-67% of the monthly electrical use. System installed by Standard Solar. Compact florescent bulbs and Energy Star appliances throughout. We have been cooking with our solar oven for two years, which will have warm brownies ready for visitors. A small PV system powers the children's electric car. One rain barrel helps water the garden and recycled blue jean insulation keeps the house warm in winter. Breezecatcher clothes dryer in back yard.

Home F - McLean, Virginia

Features: pv, solar air heater, clothesline, skylight, efficient appliances and lighting, rainwater collection organic garden composting

The home has a 1600 watt grid-tied Sharp PV system, mounted on a southwest-facing roof, solar air heater with integrated solar-powered fan, solar-powered attic fan, solatube skylight, mini-split ductless air conditioner. Energy efficient kitchen, including Fisher-Paykel dish drawer dishwasher, Vent-A-Hood range hood with fluorescent light, Peerless Premier gas range (no electric glow bar), no garbage disposal. 100% compact fluorescent or LED lighting inside and out, including dimmable and candelabra CF bulbs. Outdoor clothesline--electric clothes dryer has not been used in the last 12 months. Blown-in cellulose insulation in attic.

From March 2007, when the proper net metering electric meter was installed, to June 2007, the Photovoltaic system generated 130 more kilowatt-hours than was used! Large organic fruit and vegetable garden and extensive composting operation--kitchen scraps, coffee grounds from Starbucks, grass clippings from neighbors, always looking for free compostables! Rainwater harvesting system, including underground drip irrigation system and rain barrel. Electric and push lawn mowers.

Home G - Arlington, Virginia

Features: 3 types of pv, solar hot water, sunspace, wind turbine, fuel cell, solar heated greenhouse, sign-guided tour, table display of solar products

This 1920’s Sears kit home was retrofit in 1993 to incorporate several solar features including solar water heating and 1.5 kW photovoltaics system on the upper roof charges a large 24 gel cell battery bank. A rear sunroom adds passive solar heating, and the other is a freestanding solar greenhouse heated by ground-mounted solar panels. The homeowners have also added .5 kW of new solar electric peel and stick PV roofing shingles on the metal roof on the front porch and a solar attic vent fan. Behind the house, 1 kW of solar electric on the small office building along with a .5 kW small wind turbine and a 5 kW hydrogen fuel cell for back up power. The office building has an efficienct ductless heat pump and incorporates CFLs and bundled LED lighting and a solar light tube.

Home H - Washington DC

Features: solar water heating, pv, net metering

This 1917 bungalow was retrofit with solar water heating and PV. The 16 panel PV system was installed on the south-facing rear roof. Solar power is fed to the home via an inverter and to the grid through “net metering”. The family heats their water using 16 space age evacuated tube solar heat collectors, mounted above the back porch. Heat from the sun is transferred to an 80 gallon tank of water used to supply the water heater tank with pre-heated water. The installation was partially funded by a grant from the DC solar program.

Home I - Takoma Park, Maryland

Features: straw bale with earthen (interior) and lime (exterior) plasters , creative use of salvaged materials, passive and active solar PV

This home is highly energy, cost and resource efficient (both the building and living in), as well as nurturing and healthful. Come see the simplicity, beauty and pleasure of natural building as well as many Green/sustainable technologies, including living roofs , biodiesel-fueled radiant floor heat (and a hand pump to fill our diesel cars!), and a corn stove. Also included is an extensive storm water management plan, gracefully integrated into a beautiful garden (includes a retention pond, overflowing into a bog, with a rain garden around the corner, ending with pervious pavers on our driveway).

Home J - Takoma Park, Maryland

Features: solar heated water, solar powered roof vent, efficient lighting

This 5-unit apartment house has a solar water heater consisting of 4 panels and 2 80-gallon storage tanks. The system preheats the conventional electric water heater saving significant energy costs. All common area lighting uses efficient fluorescent lights. An ultrasonic switch in the main hall turns on automatically when people enter and turns off 5 minutes after sensing no movement in the room. A garage light is also automatic. 2 solar powered roof vents remove heat from the attic, reducing the air-conditioning load. These improvements have lowered electric usage from 800 kWh to 300 kWh per month.

Home K - Greenbelt, Maryland

Features: passive solar home, envelop construction, solar water heating

This passive solar home is a Colonial style home and was constructed in 1981 as a modified envelope system it has 500 sq ft of south-facing glass for thermal gain in the winter and overhangs and deciduous trees for shading to prevent overheating in the summer. The glass on the south side is thermopane. On the west side of the house the windows have no glazing, while the north windows are triple glazed. Each entry has an air chamber/vestibule for air lock entry. There is a 240 sq ft sunroom with thermopane glass in the the envelope. To reduce air infiltration through the windows, the homeowners installed insulated window quilts on all the north and east windows. The crawl space under the basemen floor is part of the envelope. In the summer, the attic exhaust fan helpt to remove heated air from the envelope. The 6’ exterior wall were factory prefabricated from 8’ x 16’ sheets of 4 1/2” extruded Polystyrene.

Home L - Greenbelt, Maryland

Features: pv, daylighting, energy-efficient lighting and appliances, solar cooker

The owners of this home installed a 520 watt grid-connected PV system on their home with financial assistance from a grant and tax credit from the state of Maryland as part of the Million Solar Roofs project. Solar tube skylights decrease the need for lights during the day in the central bathroom and kitchen, while the light fixtures and lamps throughout the house all use compact fluorescents or T-8 fluorescents with electronic ballasts. The ceiling fan has energy-saving blades with dimmable compact fluorescent bulbs. Nightlights throughout the house are either Limelite or Indiglo electroluminescents or are LED. Even the flashlight is LED. Insulated window quilts protect the home from air infiltration, and the automatic, sensor-activated faucets help conserve water. The homeowners use an energy-efficient Sahara dehumidifier, and decrease the load on hot summer days by cooking outside with their portable solar oven. A Toyota Prius hybrid-electric vehicle gets them around reliably with great gas mileage.

Home M - Greenbelt, Maryland

Features: domestic hot water, setback thermostats

In 1982 the homeowners installed a Reynolds Solar Hot Water Heating System to supply their domestic hot water needs and received a rebate from the State of Maryland for the cost of the system. In early April and late September the owner manually switches between the gas backup system and the solar water heater. Heat for the 2500 sq. ft. home is supplied by a four-level, water baseboard heating system with hot water supplied from a gas boiler. Each level has its own setback thermostat, and ceiling fans improve circulation of air making the home more comfortable with less energy used to condition air.

Home N - Greenbelt, Maryland

Features: pv, energy-efficient lighting, water conservation, set-back thermostat

This circa 1963 home was retrofit with 1.9 kW PV panels in 1999 with assistance of a $3000 grant and 15% tax credit from the state of Maryland as part of the Million Solar Roofs project. Excess electricity generated from the panels is pumped into the grid, spinning the homeowner’s meter backwards. To assist in reducing the electrical load, the homeowners utilize compact fluorescent lighting. The panels save them 20% - 40% on their electricity bills. The homeowners have been so pleased with the PV system that they recently installed a 1.4 kW grid-connected PV system on their beach house in Chincoteague. Additional energy-conscious conservation measures include low-flow toilets and showers and a set back thermostat for both heating and AC.

Home O - Bethesda, Maryland

Features: PV with battery backup, solar hot water

Grid-tied 2.8 KW solar PV system featuring Sharp 175 Watt solar panels, Outback PS-1 inverter and charge controller, and battery backup. Installed by Chesapeake Wind and Solar. Active closed-loop hot water system featuring Sunda evacuated tube collectors, 80-gallon tank with heat exchanger, and in-line, natural gas, on-demand water heater. Installed by Standard Solar.

Home P - Bethesda, Maryland
Opened 1PM—5PM ONLY

Features: PV, solar hot water and heat, net metering, superinsulation retrofit, solar cooker, electric vehicle, efficient furnace

Built in 1943, this Colonial features the latest in solar technologies including a 1.6 kW of amorphous silicon, 48-BP Solar Millennia modules, monitored and net metered into Pepco’s grid, a small emergency electrical power system, a solar thermal system that includes hot water pre-heating and radiant floor heating and two fan convectors space heating new additions. The ceiling in the new shed dormer home is insulated with lycnene Foam. Various other energy efficiency options, Rudd 90%+ efficient gas furnace, and an assortment of PV modules on display such as ASE Americas, BP Solar, Shell Solar, GE Solar, including reflective roof coating LoMit1. There will be solar cookers on display cooking hot dogs and/or corn on the cob depending upon weather.

Home Q - Frederick, Maryland

Features: owner-built passive and active solar straw bale house

This code-approved house just south of Frederick, MD with 1,105 sq. ft. has an American Southwest look. The interior plaster walls have soft contours and the exterior earth based stucco walls carry the same theme. The shallow frost-protected foundation was done as a mono-pour. The energy reduction strategy includes a 1 KW grid intertie PV array, solar hot water, a composting toilet, gray water filtering and careful home appliance selection. Cotton and cellulose insulation. Rainwater is captured in a below-grade cistern.

Home R - Libertytown, Maryland

Features: greenhouse, ground-source heat pump, superinsulation

This home is part of a new cohousing community of 18 homes each of which utilizes ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling, 6" frame walls to provide for added insulation, and double pane windows. This home also has a super insulated lower level with 8"-10" concrete walls insulated with 2" thick foam on either side. The attached greenhouse and blower system with thermostat vents warm air from the greenhouse into the home on sunny winter days. In the community, the second phase of home building is expected to begin in 2008.

LATE ARRIVALS
These homes are only in the downloadable PDF guide and the website. They didn't make the deadline for the print guide or the map.

Home S - Reisterstown, Maryland

Feaures: pv, fluorescent lighting, propane-powered vehicle & lawn equipment, solar water heating

Ninety percent of the lighting in this 3900 sq. ft. home is fluorescent, 40% of all the electricity in the home is supplied by a 2.8 Kw roof-mounted PV array. Domestic water heat also comes from the sun (with propane backup). The homeowner’s pickup truck, tractor, tiller, and pushmower also run on propane. The battery on the weedeater is recharged with solar power. Gardening with native species is a favorite pastime of this homeowner.

Home T - Takoma Park, Maryland

Features: pv, solar hot water, daylighting, corn pellet stove, structural insulated panels, high efficient ac and heat, high efficient appliances, radiant floor heating, recycled building materials, dual-flush toilets, water-efficient washer

Energy and materials conscious construction of a formerly 900 sq ft, one-story, brick Cape Cod transformed into a 1600 sq ft two-story house. Energy features include: corn pellet stove, large and small green roof, 3kw photovoltaic panels (grid-tied), evacuated tube solar hot water system, natural ventilation and daylighting, and ceiling fans and efficient lighting throughout. Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) construction, supplemental insulation of existing walls, and soy-based spray foam insulation of 2x6 construction for some new walls, old roof and foundation. High efficient AC and heat (21 SEER heat pump) with energy recovery ventilator (ERV) and small electric radiant floor heating used only as supplement to other systems.

Old building materials recycled and others purchased through Community Forklift. FSC, local and borate pressure-treated lumber and natural finishes; non-toxic paints, tile and wood sealants; recycled tiles and countertops; salvaged wood flooring and doors; surplus, energy-efficient windows (no vinyl); reused lighting fixtures and sinks; Interface Flor and cradle-to-cradle carpet tiles; extensive construction recycling; fiber cement siding and trim; recycled rubber shingles; metal roof and gutters and rain barrels for water conservation; low-flow and dual-flush toilets, water-efficient washer, clothes line.