COLORADO RENEWABLE ENERGY SOCIETY

This fairly large house, 3500 sq. ft., was finished in 2006, so they have a year of energy bills to look at to see just how well the house functioned. The house was designed and built as green, and was constructed out of structural insulated panels with an R value of 40 in the walls.

The homeowners are dedicated to energy conservation and green building techniques. They say, “We decided to design and build our home this way because we believe that green construction and solar energy are the need of the future. We wanted to demonstrate innovation in home design and how to build a home that uses less energy and is still a beautiful and comfortable home.”

Thermal Envelope / Thermal Comfort
- Sturctural Insulated Panels
- Radiant Heat
- Low-e windows (most of them)
- South windows are coated to allow for solar gain and prevent heat loss
- Passive Solar
- Domestic Hot Water System
- Solar Thermal System
- R-40 Walls
- R-40 Roof
- R-19 basement walls
Lighting
- CFL bulbs for all fixtures
- Some fixtures are Energy Star rated
All possible appliances are Energy Star rated
Re-Use / Salvaged Materials / Recycle
- Construction site waste reduction
- Reclaimed oak floor
- All materials possible from the non-structurally sound house that was on the site before
  the new house were recycled – bricks, concrete, wood, fixtures, appliances
- The old house was donated to the fire departments for training exercises
- All recyclable construction waste was recycled
Green Features
- FSC certified Ipe floor
- Concrete block foundation uses 78% recycled material and are 100% recyclable
- SIPS do not out gas nor produce CFC’s
- Cabinets are made with formaldehyde free materials
- Finish materials are low or no-voc
- SIPs do not produce CRCs and no off gassing
- Cabinets designed with formaldehyde free sheet goods
- Low or no-voc finish materials
Water Features
- Xeriscaping
- Low flush toilets