Servais House
Architect:
Jackie Gilles
Average utility bill: October, 2005- October, 2006 = $50/mo.
8-8-06-
view a photoshoot of the home.
Design
Elements of Servais' Home:
· Small footprint:
The square-like shape makes a more efficient use of space, and the
house stands on only 900 square feet of space. Living quarters are
only 1500 square feet of space, but by eliminating most hallways,
we actually achieved a comparable living space area to the average
2,000 square foot home.
· Passive solar: The house was positioned
and designed to take advantage of southern sun exposure and the resulting
free heat. In addition, every room is well endowed with windows, eliminating
the need for indoor lighting during the day.
· Bio-based, spray foam insulation: We achieved an
R-value of about 22 for the walls and 42 in the ceiling, but we also
eliminated nearly all infiltration. Of course, our furnace has an
HRV system, and the pellet stove pulls in fresh outside air.
· Pellet stove: Burning recycled wood pellets at 99.7%
efficiency, we plan to spend less than $1 per day heating our home
during the coldest winter months. The open concept design of the home,
as well as its small size, allow for the movement of heat generated
by the stove to move through much of the house. As of November 3,
2005 we have yet to use either the pellet stove or the furnace—the
sun has done the work so far (of course, the truly cold days have
not yet arrived in Wisconsin).
· Steel roof: The production of steel is not exactly
“green,” but as a roofing material it beats asphalt. Besides
lasting at least 4 times as long as a good asphalt roof, steel releases
its heat faster in the summer (reducing cooling costs), it allows
for rain water harvesting (without the granules and petroleum that
washes off asphalt), and it’s recyclable.
· Fiber-cement siding: Concrete, like steel,
has relatively high built-in environmental and energy costs, but it
promises to outperform vinyl and wood for its durability.
· Rainwater retention: No storm water leaves
the lot. This is achieved simply by letting downspouts empty into
rain barrels and a rain garden, as well as by having a porous driveway
surface. If every home in Milwaukee had this feature sewage overflows
into area waterways would be a thing of the past.
· Energy efficiency (electric): All lights
are compact fluorescent.
We integrated a few other
“green” features such as reclaimed materials, but in many
other ways our home is, unfortunately, building-as-usual. Some problems:
1) Much of, but not all of the wood used in the project came from
certifiably sustainably managed sources, 2) while we tried to minimize
waste, we produced enough to fill a 30 yard dumpster, 3) we have a
traditional hot water heater, 4) we do not generate our own electricity
using solar, wind, hydro, or any other source (none except PV would
even be feasible in our urban setting), and 5) in general, our home
does not constitute a major paradigm shift in home construction materials,
methods or design, but merely incorporates some fairly common, fairly
easy-to-achieve means to save energy.
