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Living Gently

Our Green Built Home

In 2004 Charlie and I moved from Colorado to the mountains of western North Carolina. We bought a beautiful piece of land with a small stream, old-growth trees and great views. We have planted fruit trees and an organic garden. Charlie spent months preparing our building site. The trees that he cleared have been milled on our site to use in ceilings. We ground up the smaller branches for wood chips for our gardens. Other wood has been stacked to be used as firewood.

Because we are committed to living gently on the Earth, we have a photovoltaic (active solar) system. We will never have electric bills! We are using green building materials so that our home will be toxic free. The exterior blocks are 12 inch thick aerated autoclaved concrete, a pumice-like material made of cement, sand, lime and water. This energy efficient material creates thermal mass which keeps the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Because our house is oriented to the south, the sun warms our floors and walls in the winter. We heat mainly with a wood stove. We have six solar collectors on our roof for hot water and for our radiant floor heating system.

Other aspects of our home that make it green include the hardwood flooring made from recycled industrial pallets and cork flooring on our upper level. We used tile on the main floor for a thermal mass that provides passive heating and cooling. All our light bulbs are compact fluorescent's. Our appliances are energy star. We have a catch water system for watering our garden, and we are landscaping with native plants and edibles.

Our architect designed our home using principles of sacred geometry called the Golden Mean, also known as the Divine Proportion. Simply put, the spatial arrangement of the rooms uses a mathematical proportion that imitates the harmony of nature. This proportion can be seen in a nautilus shell, a pine cone, the relationship of petals on a flower, branches on a tree as well as in the human body. It is important to us to have a home that honors nature and provides a peaceful, healing environment.

Some Suggestions for Living Gently on the Earth and Saving Energy $$$

Shop less. Give more.
Replace light bulbs with CFL’s. Turn off lights!
Use Energy Star appliances.

Drive a hybrid or the most fuel-efficient vehicle you can afford; carpool.

Avoid unnecessary trips; air up your tires; use mass transportation.

Grow your own garden; compost.
Be aware of your ecosystem; don’t dump toxic materials.
Never use weed killers!

Buy as few processed foods as possible to avoid the packaging.
Take your own take-out containers to restaurants if you usually have food to take home.

Use non toxic, organic fertilizers and lawn and garden care.

Buy local; Buy organic; Eat low on the food chain.

Read labels; Avoid Franken foods (genetically engineered foods).

Buy shade grown coffee and chocolate.

Change your cup and your water bottle (Avoid styrofoam cups and plastic drinking bottles).

Use nontoxic cleansers; Buy Phthalate-free cosmetics to avoid possible carcinogens.

Unplug stand by power such as computers, microwaves, etc. or plug them into a power strip that you turn off when not in use.
Disable your screen saver on your computer monitor.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse; (for example, use cloth shopping bags, refuse plastic).
Shop at thrift stores and yard sales.

Consider using renewable energy, starting with solar hot water.

Air dry your laundry (I use the portable clothes line made by Mrs.Peggs, see web site below).

There is much info available on the Web. Here are some sites to visit:

http://www.circleoflife.org//education/sustainable

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/carbon_footprint.html

http://stepitup2007.org

http://www.thegreenguide.com

http://www.mrspeggshandyline.com

What makes Casa Solara green:

South facing

Renewable solar energy