www.sustainableways.org
GREEN BUILDING
Sustainable Ways 6th Annual Solar Home Tour
Saturday, July 23th 2011
Meet at 8:30 am in the south parking lot of the Custer County Courthouse.
We leave promptly at 9:00am (12:30 pm approx. return to town.)
Please bring sunscreen, water, and comfortable shoes. We ask people to car pool to reduce carbon emissions.
If you have pets, please keep them secured by the car with water available.
Two Homes featured on the Tour this year:
1. This is a great example of a passive solar home using a pre-cast insulated concrete wall design. Learn about the well engineered mechanical systems! This home has a 3.3kw grid tied solar system, with a solar hot water heating system. This home’s aesthetic features are beautiful, and have a good story of the wood materials used in the home.
2. This is a highly insulated, passive solar stick frame home. The home was designed by a Boulder firm Rodwin Architects( www.rodwinarch.com) and is Energy Star Rated. This home features a 4kw grid tied solar system, with a solar thermal heating system. This home is still under construction, and in the final stages of completion.
This Solar Home tour is also advertised on nationalsolartour.org
Suggested donation: $5 to Sustainable Ways, Inc.
For more information contact Kimberly Stein at 371-0509 or by e-mail at kimberly.stein@colostate.edu
Sustainable Ways Green Building Focus Group
Many members of Sustainable Ways are involved in the building and construction industry and are committed to building homes that integrate thermal mass design, active and passive solar technology, wind turbines, strawbales, and even modern "Earthships" using recycled tires and rammed-earth walls. Many of our homes are "off-the-grid" requiring innovative technologies to achieve sustainability.
Form more information see The Path to Sustainable Homes authored by this Focus Group
Our Mission...
To increase public awareness while advocating the many advantages of sustainably-built structures, and provide technical building advice, support and education to the community at-large.
The following information, quoted from the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), succinctly expresses the Sustainable Ways approach to Green Building.
"Sustainability often is defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. A growing number of people are committed to reaching this goal by modifying patterns of development and consumption to reduce demand on natural resource supplies and help preserve environmental quality. Achieving greater sustainability in the field of construction is particularly important, because building construction consumes more energy and resources than any other economic activity. Not only does a home represent the largest financial investment a family is likely to make, but it also represents the most resource-intensive possession most people will every own. Making homes more sustainable, then, has a tremendous potential to contribute to the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
This hybrid 1300 square foot home is an authentic timber frame wrapped with 2-string straw bales placed on edge around the first story. This provides an estimated R-40 insulation value. The second story is standard 2x6 framing on the gable ends. The roof has R-30 fiberglass batt insulation.
Sustainable Ways - PO Box 672 - Westcliffe, CO 81252
A Non-Profit Colorado Organization