build your own active solar home

7/30/2019 Build Your Own Active Solar Home

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Kelly Coburn

Colorado

2010

Do-it-yourself homebuildingcan be a fullling journeyof education, fitness and

self-expression, with a rewarding

destination of home and equity. Readabout our experience and consider itfor yourself.

During an introspective momentas a young man, I read an ancientpassage by an elderly philosopher ofthe things we must do before we die.Build your own home was near thetop of the list. I was moved to makemy own Bucket List. Twenty-veyears later, I still possess that highlypersonal scrap of paper.

This article is mostly about thedos and donts of DIY building withan emphasis on energy conservationand capture. But it is also about thejoyous process of scratching thismust-do off the List.

BackgroundIn 2005 I found myself in an envi-

able position: married with children,in between jobs, neither young norold, neither rich nor poor. We livedin Dolores, a scenic mountain rivervalley town in Southwest Colorado,close to Durango and Telluride. At7,000 feet altitude and 37 degreesnorth latitude, Dolores is blessedwith four seasons, 340 days of sun-shine per year and a dry climate. Wewere surrounded by wilderness, yetconvenient to building supplies, par-ticularly lumber. I had basic amateurconstruction skills, almost no tools,was living in a rental home, andneeded something constructive to do.

I didnt need a regular paycheck, but

I needed to continue to build my networth. Why not build a house? Theresult was a 4,700-square-foot four-bedroom, three-bath, three-story, ac-tive solar, mountain-view home in asmall town in the San Juan Mountainsof Colorado.

Guiding principlesI spent a year thinking about

and researching the right way to goabout homebuilding given my ownvalues, the wants and needs of myfamily and the state of the construc-tion market. The following decisionswould shape this home far more thanany blueprint:

The L word: My wife Beckyand I were preparing to invest 7,000hours of our time into this project,so it would be a tragedy to do soin a poor location. We purchased a6,100-square-foot lot, nestled againsta stunning 500-foot south-facingsandstone bluff at the very end of adead-end street, just above the ood

plain, with trees, views of the town

Dolores sits in the valley of its name-sake river at the foot of the San Juan

and La Plata Mountains.

A house is a machine for living in. Le Corbusier

Alternative building:

Building his own home was near the top of Kelly Coburns to-do list.

Building an active solar

home


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and the La Plata mountains, just twoblocks from our boys K-12 schooland easy walking distance to theriver, restaurants, groceries and thelibrary.

Do it yourself: I was self-trainableand maybe slower than a profes-sional, but time isnt money whenyou have nothing but time. There isa deep sense of satisfaction in learn-ing valuable skills like plumbing,HVAC and trim carpentry. There isalso a tendency to forgive self-mademistakes that would otherwise beinfuriating had they been made by apaid professional, thereby reducingsome of the projects stress. It is alsocomforting to know that when any-thing needs to be repaired, you knowhow to x it because you built it.

Do it right: A home well builtshould last 200 years, and might bethe only noteworthy thing I leavebehind on this planet after a less-than-fullling business career thatproduced little more than reports,presentations and software. A soundhome doesnt have to be fancy orluxurious, but it should be reliable,solid and safe. As examples, hire astructural engineer instead of justover-engineering, err on the side of

too good when it comes to the foun-dation and roof, dont buy insulationthat degrades over time, and a poorstaircase could break somebodysneck. I also tried to heed my fatherthe cabinetmakers advice: neveruse a screw if you can use a bolt in-stead, and the same with nails versusscrews, and adhesive bonds breakdown over time, so always back themup with fasteners. In other words,quality is a mindset that you musttake to the construction site each day,like a voice in your head or an angelon your shoulder, and lay down yourtools and go home when you start toagree with the little half-assed short-cut devil on the other shoulder.

Build modern: Not bleeding edge,and not the way Joe Sixpack has beendoing it for 30 years, but state-of-the-market. After all, I didnt know howto do it the old-fashioned way andwould face a learning curve regard-less, so why not use PEX instead of

copper, or structural insulated panels

instead of balloon framing. But dontbuild modern to a fault: our oorsare solid oak rather than engineeredwood, because we have proof thatthis ooring will last for centuries,and at no additional cost.

Bigger can be better: A 4,000-square-foot house does not cost twice asmuch nor take twice as long to buildas a 2,000-square-foot house, affordscertain comforts and should increasereturn on investment.

Energy efciency is critical: Energyis not getting cheaper, a big housebuilt wrong can cost a fortune to heatand cool. The industry was makingtechnology leaps in efciency, andas a matter of principlecreating yet

another fossil fuel vortex McMansionis simply wrong in the 21st century.Im yet to fully embrace the greenreligion, but solar heating makessense when paybacks are less thanthree years.

Low maintenance: The last thingI nor the next owner wants to dois a lot of cleaning and paintingand replacing, so look for long-lifematerials like cement siding andsteel roong, and avoid things likecarpet and drapes that are magnets

for dirt.Embrace The Code: Dont cut

corners on things like structuralengineering, rebar, smoke detec-tors or adequate wiring. Exceed thebuilding code instead of trying toshort-change it. Youll sleep betterboth under its roof and after havingsold the home to the next family.

Design with marketability in mind:Every time we made a design de-cision we had to strike a balance

between our own idiosyncrasies

Radiant oor heat is not only comfort-able but almost free when powered bythe sun.

Art not only imitates nature, but also completes its deciencies. Aristotle

and the values of potential futureowners. As examples, we installed adumbwaiter to haul groceries fromthe garage to the kitchen, just in case afuture owner might be less physicallycapable. We designed, plumbed andwired a small second kitchen into themiddle oor family room, just in casethe next owner wishes to convert thehomes use to multiple families. Weinstalled radiant oor heat tubing inthe lower level even though we didntthink that we would need it (welater changed our minds and usedit). These are examples of featuresthat would have been impractical toretrot.

I believe the principles above aresound advice for all homeowners.But there were some principles of my

own that I refused to compromise,even though they may not be rightfor everyone:

Function over form: I could notbring myself to invest in nones-sential frills. As an example, I didnot install granite countertops,even though all new homes seem tohave them. The cost difference wasa factor of 30, laminate requires nomaintenance, and the next ownercan easily replace.

Reuse: Although not green, Iabhor waste, both of materials andmoney. Many of our building ma-terials were recycled, either newitems cast off as surplus from otherconstruction projects, or long-lifeused materials. As examples, all ofthe vital pillars holding up the houseare ve-inch diameter, thick-walledsteel oil eld pipes, the solar hotwater panels and dumbwaiter areused, and the windows were the re-sult of a misplaced order at a nearbyski resort. Some of the reuse alsoadded soul to the home. The masterbath tub is a carefully restored clawfoot from a neighbor and friend whowatched his grandfather install itas their familys rst-ever indoorplumbing, just down the street, in1938. The under-stair closet doorwas donated by a nearby elderlyWorld War II hero who died threemonths after gifting it to me. Whenhis children visit, they see that door

and remember their childhoods.


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Countryside & Small Stock Journal, July/August 2010 31

Some remnants of yesterday still havea place in a modern home.

BathtubBuy localnot: Despite all the

pressure to support the local econo-my by buying local, the scale of thisproject combined with the power of

the Internet sent me far and wide forthe best materials at the best price.As an example, I rented a truck anddrove nearly 2,000 miles roundtrip toacquire slightly used 75-year guaran-tee metal barrel tile roong, reducingthe cost per square foot from $2.50 to40 cents, and saving thousands. Andwhile there are four lumber yards andve saw mills within 10 miles of thehouse, most of the lumber came froma national chain 60 miles away. Fur-

thermore, my Four Corners locationenabled me to run across three stateborders and avoid sales tax.

Life as an ownerbuilderI believe the military refers to it

as the toughest job youll ever love.It took one year, nine months and 10days from the rst shovel of dirt to re-ceipt of the Certicate of Occupancy. Iwas fortunate to live under the threatof a one year deadline imposed bythe building permit. With no articial

deadlines, many owner-builders sim-ply never nish, or worse suffer fromthe old adage build a house lose aspouse as life in a construction zonewears on the relationship.

My wifes attitude toward theproject could not have been moreevolutionary:

At rst mention: Dont do it;While planning: Let me do the oor

plan, but dont ask me to work;After framing: Stand back while I

move those two walls;

After receiving the electrical bid:$15,000? Hand me those tools, Illrope it myself;

While laying hardwood oors: Thatlooks like fun, let me do it;

At move-in: We did it.She made an incredible contri-

bution, working some long hours,providing the right-brained solu-tions that bafe males, and were stillfriends. My boys did a lot of heavylifting, too.

Thanks to my family and many90-hour weeks on my part, outsidecontractors were limited to 210 work-days, less than one-fourth of the totallabor. Contractors performed all ofthe engineering, excavation, cranework and drywall, over half of theframing and concrete, and some of

the plumbing, electrical and siding.Some jobs are best left to the pro-

fessionals.I lost over 30 pounds during the

project despite ravenous eating. Inever visited a doctor during theproject nor received any stitches,but it took a year for my ngers (Istill have ten) and elbows to returnto normal.

If only it was just pounding nails.Besides brute physical labor, my job

involved countless hours shoppingfor materials, learning buildingcodes, searching the Internet fortips, drawing schematics, revisingbudgets and schedules and makinga million decisions.

Having been there and done that,my best advice to the owner-builderis:

Take care of your body; Always seek advice, particularly

online; Minimize distractions so you

can concentrate; Be decisive and dont over-think

things; Dont be afraid to buy tools,

because your productivity is critical,and theyre easy to sell when youredone;

Dont let construction get aheadof planning and materials procure-ment;

Dont let contractors work whenyou are not onsite; and

Get er done.

Saving energyI wont bore you with the con-

ventional wisdom on building atight house with good insulation,strategically placed windows and

uorescent lighting. We took thishouse far beyond energy efcient,and did so at minimal incrementalcost. Despite the locations 5000 de-gree-days of heating requirements,and the homes year-round 24/7 oc-cupation, combined gas and electricbills average $900 per year includingutility base fees, with electrical us-age averaging 14 kWh. Firewoodconsumption is also minor; abouta pickup load per year. There are

also no cooling costs. The homesenergy performance is due to its con-servation of heat, collection of heatenergy from the sun and preventionof summer heat inltration. This isnot passive solar; fans, pumps andthermostats control the heat so thata warm, sunny winter day doesnt

Becky proudly installing oak hard-wood ooring.

These are conventional SIPs: poly-styrene foam sandwiched between

OSB. Notice the electrical chases.


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bake you out of the house. Here arethe details:

Structural insulated panels (SIPs)were used to build the middle andupper oors. The panels consist of5 inches of expanded polystyrenesandwiched between two half-inchsheets of oriented strand board(OSB). Much has already been writ-ten about the pros and cons of SIPs.For this home, SIPs are important be-cause they provide a combination ofinsulation without thermal bridgingor air inltration, keeping the houseboth warm and cool, almost like thewalls of a refrigerator. We appreciatetheir quietness, not having to installinsulation, and the ease of hanging apicture (no studs to encumber place-ment decisions).

Homegrown solar hot water may looklike a moonshiners still but workslike Old Faithful.

gle-pane high heat-gain glass. Whenheat is available in the greenhouseand needed in the main structure, ablower system controlled by a dif-ferential thermostat distributes heatvia a system of insulated suppliesand returns. A large woodstove with

outside combustion air supply in thegreenhouse takes over for the sun toprovide heat for the system on cloudydays and cold nights. The greenhouselocation for the woodstove has theadded advantage of keeping the dirtand bugs of rewood out of the mainliving area. The greenhouse controlsalso invert to distribute cool night airthroughout the house in the summer.This feature is virtually unneeded,due to the homes optimized over-hangs, which prevent summertime

overheating. As an added benefit,the greenhouse gives the family ajump start on the summers vegetablegarden, and can produce vegetablesall winter. The greenhouse and thesolar panels access rights to the sunare also guaranteed by a solar deedrestriction which prevents neighborsto the south from building structuresthat shade this home, and allows meto trim their trees at my expense.

the steel deck pillars above the green-house roof rather than the main roofto facilitate ease of access and preventpotential roof leaks. Additionally,a timer and thermostat-controlledwater-to-air heat exchanger in themiddle oor enables the conversion

of surplus hot water to hot air for aboost of warmth on cold mornings.This heat exchanger also serves asa heat dump for excess hot water,used when the family is away fromthe home for more than a few days.The system also features a hot waterrecirculation system for the top oorkitchen, which uses a motion sensorto ensure that hot water is instantlyavailable at the kitchen sink when-ever the kitchen is in use.

Pumice basementThe solar radiant floor heating

system keeps the lower level warmin winter. A closed-loop glycol systemtransfers heat from 72 square feet ofsolar collectors to 1,500 feet of tub-ing within six zones in the concreteoor. The seven-inch concrete oorused to heat the lower level is insu-lated by two-inch foam board on itsouter edges, and by nine inches ofquarter-inch pumice stone beneath.Pumice is a superior alternative tofoam in regions where it is locallyavailable not only due to cost, butbecause of its near-innite life as astable insulator.

A small thermostatically con-trolled gas replace with blower ison the upper oor, for the few daysand nights when the absence ofsolar heat calls for a little fossil fuelsupplement, even if its just to warmyour backside for a few moments.

We could use its thermostat to rig-

ICFs serve both concrete forms andinsulation, negating the dismantlingof forms when nished.

Pumice is stable, insulates the base-ment oor, eliminates the need forcompacted gravel and costs less.

Berms surround half the lower leveland provide consistent moderate tem-

perature mass year-round.

Painting, n: the art of protecting at surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic. Ambrose Bierce

Basement

Insulated concrete forms (ICFs)make up the lower oor, providingmany advantages including insula-tion from their ve inches of poly-styrene.

The walk-out lower level is nearlyhalf covered by berms. Soil tempera-tures in this region range between 55and 70 degrees, and help regulate thehomes temperature.

Greenhouse

The attached greenhouse is thehomes biggest energy producer, withover 300 square feet of tempered sin-

Water heaterThe domestic solar hot water sys-

tem produces a surplus of virtuallyfree hot water. The system consistsof 84 square-feet of solar collectors,a closed-loop glycol system, a atplate heat exchanger, two 120-gallonstorage tanks, an 80-gallon pre-heatertank in the greenhouse and a thermo-statically controlled electric heatingelement on a timer. The solar panelsare installed at an angle optimized for

year-round use, and are installed on


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Manually switched motorized rollershades are used in the living room.

idly control the homes temperature,but usually dont, in the interests ofenergy conservation. Consequently,we sometimes pay the price and comehome to a cold house.

Roller shadesRoller shades are vital to minimiz-

ing nighttime heat loss and enabledthe home design to incorporate manywindows for the benet of the cityand mountain views. Two types ofshades were used: honeycomb cel-lular and infrared radiant barrier.Critical shades such as those in thegreenhouse are not only motorizedbut employ a sun sensor to automati-cally open and close them. For added

view exibility, manually switched(not sun sensor) motorized rollershades are used in the main floorliving room.

RoofThe metal barrel tile roof is in-

stalled upon battens rather than theroof sheathing. This provides a 1-inch ventilated airspace between theroof tiles and the roof deck, keepingthe roof cooler in summer, extend-ing the life of the roofs waterproof

membrane (superior to roong feltand only $500 more) and reducing thenumber of nail and screw holes in themembrane and deck. Radiant barrierstapled to the bottom of the trussestop chords also help keep the summerheat out, and motorized gable ventskeep the attic cool and dry.

The home site benets from itsown microclimate as a consequenceof its location at the base of a south-facing sandstone bluff of 40 degrees

slope. This scenic mass, warmed all

day by the sun, produces both hotair and radiant heat in the winter.As testimony to its effectiveness,the resident elk herd spends winterafternoons on the ledges behind ourhome, not only for its warmth but forearly forage.

Other small, but nonetheless im-portant energy features of the homeinclude:

An 80% efciency heat recoveryventilator which draws warm airfrom outside under the south eavesand exchanges it with indoor air tokeep indoor air fresh, but extractsthe heat from the indoor air beforeexpelling it. The ducts also serve as asubstitute for the upper oor kitchenand bathroom exhaust fans;

A clothes dryer exhaust systemthat enables routing of dryer exhaustfrom the outdoors to the lower oorvia a ltration box. A clothesline alsofunctions well in the greenhouse;

Light switches that incorporatea timer, so that lights cannot be lefton accidentally.

Other unique featuresThere are many freedoms an own-

er-builder can enjoy. Id like to thankmy general contractor, banker, hom-

eowners association and inexiblewife for their nonexistence, becauseI had none of these to encumber mein designing features. Here are somethings that make the home unique,beyond energy:

The oor plan employs invertedliving, similar to a beach house. Theliving area is on the top or third oor,with all bedrooms except the masteron the middle level. In this way, theviews are where you live, not where

you sleep, and the homes heat rises

Battens reduce the number of mem-brane punctures and keep the attic andmembrane cool in summer.

33


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to warm your waking hours, notoverheat your bedroom.

The staircases provide a strikingfirst impression as you enter thehome. They are wide, gentle, wind-ing and all oak in a pleasing varietyof grains, nishes and colors.

The oors are all pre-nished solidoak and tile, with the exception of thelower walk-out basement concretegarage and workshop oors. The oak

is a randomized mix of short pieces inseveral colors. Our oors dont lookdirty even when they are, and theodor of dirty carpet is absent.

The walls employ a Santa Fe tex-ture and bull-nosing throughout, fora plaster look without the expense.Even the basement walls are simi-larly nished, giving the workshopa rich look.

The workshop is a handymans

A colorful winding oak staircasegreets entrants to the home.

dream. There is 1,500 square feetavailable for workspace or to park asmany as ve cars, 400 square feet of

perimeter shelving, overhead storageand a built-in workbench wired andlit for serious work.

The greenhouse brings natureindoors in the winter, puts food onthe table, makes a fantastic clothes-line location, provides dry rewoodstorage and can even cool the housein summer. Weve even used it tobake paint onto auto body panelsand dry fruit.

The greenhouse in February is the

starting point for 1,500 square feet ofvegetables.

The deck off the kitchen provides cityand mountain views, and is mainte-

nance-free.

Pond excavation provided soil forvegetable gardening.

The Trex deck provides over 200square feet of outdoor living just offthe kitchen and 20 feet off the ground,where you can not only grill, butadmire the city, mountains, gardenand pond.

The landscaping includes green-belt to the north, a 4,000 gallon koipond deep enough for fish year-round, a 1,500 square foot irrigated

vegetable garden, a 60-year-old 50

This shed on a trailer allowed theleftover building materials to go togood use.

Buildings should be good neighbors. Paul Thiry

foot tall ponderosa pine nestledagainst the house for protection fromthe afternoon summer sun, produc-ing apple, peach and cherry trees,extensive hardscaping and, most

important, not one blade of grass tomow, water or fertilize.

The 8" x 10" tool shed is not a shedbut a trailer built from the same mate-rials to match the home. As a trailer,it is not taxed as a structure, can beplaced on a setback or easement andcan be moved at will. The shed keepsthe workshop uncluttered and keepsvolatiles like gas and propane out ofthe house.

The mud room at the main en-

trance stops the dirt in this no-shoes-allowed house, and its double doorsprevent winters blast of cold air.

Almost 50 running feet of artshelving provides space for handi-craft display of our Indonesian art,such as the handmade bronze doorhandles installed in the kitchen.

And of course the dumbwaiterthe only elevator in town.

Mistakes were madeIf I had this project to do over

again (and someday I will), Id behappy to make only as many mis-takes as I did. Instead, I will probablymake a whole new set of mistakes.But hopefully I will avoid most ofthe following foibles:

I built the woodstove chimneywithout regard for how I was goingto clean it, and should have installeda wye for doing so. Fortunately the30-foot stack of eight-inch triple-wall pipe combined with a hot stove

burns almost creosote-free.


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I spent a lot of time and money

building an insulated cobble heatsink beneath the greenhouse oor,complete with ducting and a blowerto store excess heat during the dayfor nighttime use. It turns out thatthe most efcient place to store heatis in the home. We just overheat thehouse a little to deal with a coldnight.

I should have put a drain in thegarage oor underneath the cars.Now I have to sweep water out when

snow and ice make a mess. I soundproofed the interiorwalls and oors with R-38 berglassbatts, but I did not ask the drywallersto install sound-deadening softstrips between the bottoms of theoor joists and the ceiling drywall. Ithink it would have made the houseeven quieter.

I wasnt prepared for the poli-tics of the concrete guy leaving andthe framing crew arriving, or theimportance of a level top-of-concretewall. The framers didnt want to do agood job leveling the top, and I hadto work frantically to replace theirimsy shims with broad, pressure-treated, custom-planed wedges,well-caulked, or suffer air and insectinltration.

We spent a lot of time andmoney installing three- and four-way light switches, but as creaturesof habit always use a single switch.

I underestimated contractors

reluctance to read and embrace

Storing heat in cobble below thegreenhouse turned out to be unneces-sary.

blueprints, and found myself forc-ing re-work upon them because Ihad not pointed out the ner pointsof the plans.

I underestimated the quantityof labor to be expended in movingmaterials around, and found myself

moving stacks of building materi-als multiple times, because I hadntplanned better.

And speaking of underesti -mates, the dumbwaiter and theautomated shades were costly interms of schedule, taking far longerto design and install than planned.While Im delighted to have themnow, I would never have installedthem had I known their difculty.

The self in Do-it-yourself

is a misnomerThis house would be a wreck

without the help and advice I re-ceived. I expected an antagonisticrelationship with tradesmen andvendors, and found quite the op-posite, with the exception of the fewwho just arent team players and

will only work for (and not with)the owner.

For about a grand, a structuralengineer not only performed de-tailed load calculations, but trans-lated them into design specicationscomplete with materials alternatives

for achieving the needed strength ofthe foundation, oors, verticals androof. I sleep soundly knowing that apro made sure the house was solid.

For under $200, a solar thermalspecialist taught me the dos anddonts that enabled me to designand build practical, efficient andmaintainable solar systems for abouta tenth of what it would have cost meto purchase them turnkey.

The surveyor performed a minormiracle. The lot was intersected by

the oodplain, necessitating thou-sands of dollars of hydrostatic vent-ing to meet code, and ood insurancethat would also cost any mortgage-holding homeowner thousands peryear. The surveyor petitioned forand received a Letter of MappingAmendment (LOMA) from FEMA,

Framing is fun and easy, but this crew shaved three months off the one-man

construction schedule.


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effectively re-drawing the oodplainto exclude the home.

It was my good fortune that thebuilding inspector didnt just in-spect, but helped me draw up plansand spent the extra time helping meevaluate better, cheaper ways to meet

and exceed the code.My concrete guy had a keen senseof how to use $100 of extra materialsto save $500 of labor, and coached meon the benets of violently execut-ing a good plan, rather than analysisparalysis.

The electrical consultant spent

and doors that werent nearly so tightand strong.

I was blessed to have a cabinet-maker for a father, who could whipout high-quality millwork from anemailed sketch and have it in the mailin a matter of days.

Probably the most seless act ofkindness was the contractor whopassed by one day, saw me struggling

at the top of a 40-foot extension lad-der and, taking pity on me, droppedoff a motorized mobile manlift formy complimentary use, probablyliterally saving my neck.

The outcomeMaybe it was dumb luck, but

as a consequence of my decisionto invest two years of my life as anowner-builder, Im more than just ahomeowner. I own a home the likesof which I could have never affordedto contract or purchase. It will sell forfar more than it cost me in dollars, ifI ever sell it. Ill never need a repair-man to maintain or x it, because Ican do it myself. I have the satisfac-tion of knowing that the product ofmy work will tread lightly on theplanet from an energy perspective.And Im a wiser person with somelife-long friends and newfoundrespect for the professionals of thebuilding trade.

I cant wait to do it again.

The advantages of this machine overan extension ladder are obvious.

Light, Gods eldest daughter, is a principal beauty in a building. Thomas Fuller

two or three hours per week teachingus to wire, inspecting our work andsourcing materials, saving us about$10,000 versus contracting out theelectrical work.

The plumber worked side-by-sidewith me and taught me so much thathe was able to reduce his participa-tion from full-time to an hour perweek, once again saving a bundle.

Without a good old-fashionedlaborer as a third hand, it wouldhave been impossible to install 12-foot strips of siding 35 feet off theground.

The framing foreman knew howto keep ve framers extremely busy,yet personally built the tough stufflike the staircase rough-in, shavingthree months off the project had I

framed it myself.Without an experienced SIP erec-

tor, we would have spent far moretime and produced walls, windows

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