A new home I designed has recently been completed near Breckenridge, Colorado with an emphasis on low environmental impact. Here are some of the features that reduce this homes impact on our natural resources:
Most importantly, the home is not huge. Within 2002 square feet of living area there are three bedrooms and three baths. There is also a very comfortable great room with the living, dining and kitchen areas open to each other and to the sun and views to the south. The home features a generous mud room with laundry and dog wash. In addition to that, there is a large two-car garage with a finished attic for hobbies and storage. The building is large enough for this family to be comfortable without consuming unnecessary energy and building materials.
The home has great passive solar characteristics with plenty of south-facing windows and stained concrete floors to absorb and store the sun’s heat. The concrete floors serve as both structural and finish components reducing the amount of resources consumed in the building process.
The home is very well insulated and sealed with a combination of spray foam and fiberglass insulation.
Passive solar heat is supplemented by a high-efficiency gas boiler heating radiant floor slabs.
To offset the electrical loads, there is a 6.0 KW array of photovoltaic (PV) solar collectors. These are tied into the utility grid so that excess energy is sold back to the local utility company.
A large portion of the lot has been left in a natural state so that the owners can enjoy watching all the wildlife that still life on the property.
Michael F Gallagher, Architect Breckenridge, Colorado http://www.MichaelGallagher.com
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