My New "Green" Studio-House During the summers of 2005-6 I built a new home for my self and
the Mouse Works. While I was on a tight budget and doing most of
the work myself I tried to incorporate many affordable green building
practices into the construction. Here are a few:
The house is built on a large concrete slab and
is partly earth-bermed on the north and east sides. This provides a
slightly cooler space in the summer and warmer in the winter.
The building is oriented to take advantage of
passive solar heat gain in the winter.
I super insulated the building using recycled
newspaper. The earth-bermed cinderblock wall cavities were insulated
with used packing beads and fleece scraps! It took only 1/2 cord of wood
to heat the house last winter!
Most of the windows are recycled from houses
and construction sites.
Light colored energy star metal roof
My entire workshop is lit by window
light during the day and by night with energy efficient florescent bulbs.
The trash from the entire construction fit into
one station wagon car!
In the spring of 2008 I recycled a 1984 vintage
hot water solar system. After numerous headaches and replacing broken
components it is working fabulously. We regularly have eighty gallons of
150-180 degree water!
Summer 2005
House Site Clearing
House site before construction and ruffed out driveway
Tearing down an old retaining wall. It was built for a Hydroponic
Greenhouse that was removed in the 1980s.
I built the house in a Loblolly pine plantation.
Having fun at the end of a day of work
I cut 13 tractor trailer loads of pine out of the woods
Another load on the road
The House site. I logged all of the trees with the farm tractor and
then hired to have the sumps removed
The final site at the end of the summer.
Summer 2006
Studio-House Construction
Laying the last blocks for the foundation
Just installed recycled window.
The inside of the house before interior walls and insulation.
The finished house the next summer
Making cut before pealing the bark off of the log for future shed siding
Photo by McNair Evens
The finished house in the winter
Pealing off the Bark to use as siding on a shed.
The poplar logs were used in the house as beams and for fire wood.
Photo by McNair Evens
Moving the hat shed over to the land to use as my office while building
January 2008
Storage Shed Siding Project
Here is the bark that I finally installed as siding on my storage shed.
It took three days to put up what you see here. Talk about slow work.
A detail of the bark siding
A closer look at the corner.
Fleece scraps insulate the shed ceiling!
Spring 2008
Solar Hot Water and Door Construction
I spent a good month removing and installing solar system originally
manufactured in 1984. After many replaced parts and lots of trial and
error it has worked beautifully.
Finishing tulip poplar doors in the living room.
I made them out of left over boards from siding the house.
They never would have materialized without the expert advice from my father
and the use of his shop.
The final installed bedroom and bathroom doors. The paintings are by
my grandmother Ruth Ensign and the wooden bowl is a reject from my father's
workshop.
The bathroom door
The inside of the bedroom door
The pantry door open to view the new hot water solar system. The 80
gallon tank regularly stays between 150-180 degrees! The blue circle
is the heat exchanger that converts the antifreeze heat from the panels to
the domestic hot water.
The Mouse Works
4646 Buddy's Place Ln.
Earlysville, VA 22936
