ECO-HOME™ MEMBER OPEN HOUSE
SOLATERRE/ECO ACRE
23139 Gertrude Ave., Perris, CA 92570
Sunday, October 26th, 2003 • 1–4 PM
(Remember to set your clock back Saturday night!)
Eco-Home™ Members Free • Guests $5 requested donation
Prize to be raffled at site!
A SUSTAINABLE DESERT RESIDENCE
By Gerald Katz, Owner/Builder
This project is meant to develop and demonstrate a residence and a self sufficient home site, using the power of the sun for energy, rammed earth for construction, and a variety of energy, water, and resource conserving technologies to sustainably provide for human needs in a desert environment.
Background:
Solaterre/Eco Acre’s sustainable design seeks to develop and demonstrate methods of meeting human needs in a way that uses renewable energy, conserves precious resources, and protects the well-being of the of the occupants and the environment. The sustainable challenge of the desert location is to have the site be as self-sufficient as possible in providing energy, water, building materials and food. To live sustainably in the dryland areas requires maximum efforts to conserve water and protect it from pollution; soils must be built up with composts to be fertile. Trees must be nurtured and carefully used, homes must maintain comfort under conditions of extreme heat or cold, resist high winds, and be fire and termite resistant. Much of the world is desert and many people in desert regions are poor, lacking housing, water, food, and energy. Sustainable development is vital to allow these people to overcome the shortage of resources and the pollution that lead to disease, despair, discord and death. Sustainable desert development is also essential to reduce Greenhouse effects and to allow survival on a possibly much hotter planet.
Solaterre
Solaterre, a self-sufficient home, gets its energy from the sun and is made out of earth. Solaterre utilizes solar electric and thermal energy to replace grid hook-ups and the use of fossil fuels. It uses rammed earth construction and most of the other building materials are sustainably grown lumber products or are made of recycled materials. The building design, lighting, appliances, and fixtures maximize energy efficiency and water conservation. The building materials will last for an extremely long time, they are non toxic and fire resistant. The owner-builder wants to explore and demonstrate technology and methods that allow people to live a high-quality, healthy, comfortable life that is also economical and helps instead of hurting the environment around us. Not everyone may adopt all the ideas demonstrated at Solaterre, but all can use some of the ideas that are shown.
Eco Acre
The one-acre site used to develop and demonstrate different environmental projects is called Eco Acre. Solaterre is the residence situated on the acre.
It has been opened to the public for Earth Day tours highlighting rammed-earth construction, active solar power production, resource conservation and information. School tours are given at the site to acquaint students with the possibilities of sustainable living. During the tours, children are given hands- on experiences making bricks, planting trees, composting, identifying wildflowers and seeing solar panels pumping water.
Site Description
The site is a one-acre plot of desert land with large boulders and with a slight slope. When we arrived, the only plants were tumbleweeds, a lone palo verde tree, some wild buckwheat and wild grasses. The region is rather dry with less than ten inches of rain per year. Heavy rains cause run-off from several other properties that flows through the lot and floods the lower end of the property. There was no electricity or gas and would have cost up to fifty thousand dollars to bring water from the nearest connection. For these reasons the land cost ten thousand dollars less than nearby properties with utilities. The ten thousand dollars saved was enough to have a well drilled, install the pump and a photovoltaic system to run it and the home. Even though the site was undeveloped, it’s less than one hundred meters from a highway, making it easier for visitors to come to see it.
Water Resources
When the well was dug, water was discovered at forty feet and at fifty feet there was solid granite that continued for two hundred feet until drilling was stopped. Output of the well was only about one quart per minute, which was not considered enough to live on. By allowing water to fill the well hole, about one hundred gallons a day were available to use for living. By using water-conserving fixtures and drip irrigation, our moderate supply of water was enough not only for drinking and washing, there was enough for more than a dozen trees, grape vines and even a small pond. Additional water conservation techniques: mulched water rings around trees, swales (compost filled ditches for water diversion and absorption) and a percolation pond with water purifying plants, have not only conserved water, but have actually raised the water level in the well and reduced salts and minerals in the water.
Solar Electricity
There are twenty-four 25watt photovoltaic modules producing 600 watts at 12 volts. On average, the system produces about three kilowatt-hours per day. The modules were bought second-hand and are twenty years old. They have been in the weather since that time and there is no decline in their power output. We use twelve volt DC converted with a 2500 watt, 120 volt DC to AC inverter. We are able to operate a refrigerator, microwave, lights and all appliances, including a washer, using this modest amount of power by using high efficiency equipment. To avoid summertime load on the inverter, an evaporative cooler has been adapted to run directly off solar panels. Electricity produced by the solar panels is stored in 12 six-volt golf cart batteries for use at night. These supply enough power to run the house for a day or two during periods of heavy rain. A gasoline generator is turned on several days per year to provide power and recharge the batteries whenever the voltage drops below 12 volts.
Solar Thermal
We originally used a “batch” solar water heater (a black tank in a box with glass across the front). This was okay for the summer, however in the winter the water had cooled off by the morning. We installed a Solahart solar-thermal thermo syphon flatplate water heater that has given us ninety-five percent of the hot water we have needed. An instantaneous, on-demand propane water heater supplies back-up water heating when needed. With this system we use less than five gallons on propane per year as compared to five gallons per week to run a conventional tank-type water heater. We will be using solar heated water for radiant floor heating to warm the house in addition to passive solar heat gain on the floor and massive walls.
Efficient Appliances and Appliance Use:
Lighting: All of the lights are compact fluorescent lamps, which use one quarter of the energy of incandescent lamps and last ten times longer. With good fixtures and proper placement it’s easy to light a room with less than 20 watts.
Refrigeration: We first tried a conventional frost-free refrigerator. It used nearly twice as much as our daily solar electric output. For several years we used a small manual defrost model; however, it had little freezer capacity. We finally bought a Conserv refrigerator which has a large freezer section, and rarely needs defrosting. It uses as little energy as the manual defrost (about one kW hr. per day). The twin compressors give excellent temperature control in both sections. The Conserv refridge was made in Denmark, and the dealer we got it from is no longer in business, but a web search might turn up another dealer.
Laundry: A front-loading clothes washer uses less electricity and one-third the water of a conventional washer. Clothes become cleaner with less detergent and a high-speed final spin makes it easier to (solar) dry the clothes.
Solaterre
We have named our sustainable home Solaterre because it gets its energy from the sun and is built of earth. We worked to develop a design that carefully uses resources in construction. Walls, floors and countertops are made out of the soil from the earth on site. Recycled steel was used for the roof and framing and form lumber was re-used in cabinets and shelves. Engineered truss joists were economical and fast to erect and were made using less wood and more recycled steel. A septic tank disposes of waste and a graywater system irrigates some plants. A compost area is convenient to the kitchen. Water conserving plumbing devices are used throughout the house. Materials are non-toxic and painting is not needed.
Rammed Earth
The walls have been built using compacted earth combined with a small amount of Portland cement that has been dampened and tamped into forms erected on the foundation. The forms are held together with pipe clamps. As each section is completed the forms are removed and re-used for the next wall. Earthquake safety standards have been exceeded by installing 1/2 inch rebar vertically and horizontally every 16 inches through the compacted earth. The rebar ties the foundation and a cement bond beam together. Electrical conduit and boxes were built in place when the walls were made.
Steel Roof
The roof is made of twenty-gauge galvanized steel decking screwed to the joists and covered with lightweight cellular insulating concrete. This is an extremely long-lasting, non-toxic, fireproof roofing system material.
Sustainable Lumber
The engineered roof trusses are made by Truss Joist Mc Millan. They use 2”x 4” lumber and metal cross bracing to get maximum strength with as little wood as possible. To avoid using old-growth trees for large dimension lumber the massive sixty foot long 4” x 12” wood beam supporting the verandah is made of small-dimension trees crushed and reformed into one continuous piece. The wood we used for forms was reused several times and much of it has been incorporated into the structure as recycled lumber.
Heating
The house has been oriented to achieve maximum solar gain in the winter, where sunlight enters large south windows and warms the floors and walls. Flexible tubing under the floor can heat the house with solar heated water or water heated by an on-demand propane heater or waste heat from a back-up electric generator. A wood-burning fireplace and radiant propane heaters can provide additional heat if needed. The eighteen-inch thick rammed earth walls have more than 200 tons of thermal mass that maintains a constant temperature. Tightly fitting double paned windows hold heat in the house while allowing heat gain from the south.
Cooling
The design of the house provides for comfort in the summer by the use of extensive overhangs on the south and west side of the home. An eight-foot wide verandah on the west side blocks the hot afternoon sun. An elevated section over the great room has opening clerestory windows that create a chimney effect and make air circulate through the house. The light-weight insulating concrete on the roof covered by a heat reflecting coating that blocks solar heat gain, combined with the rammed earth walls, keeps the house cool even on very hot days.
For additional cooling an evaporative cooler is run directly with photovoltaic modules. The DC cooler uses only one hundred watts rather than the six hundred watts an AC conventional cooler might consume.The evaporative cooler can drop the temperature 15 degrees F, and using its own solar modules, the cooler goes on when the sun comes up and runs until it sets.
Costs
This house was designed to be low in cost to construct, operate and maintain. The rammed earth walls used about $1,500.00 in cement and re-bar. The foundation and bond beam together cost less than $3,000.00. The trusses and beams cost about $6,000.00. The lightweight cement insulation will cost more than $8,000.00. Doors, windows, plumbing fixtures, electrical wiring, cabinets and flooring will add another $10,000.00 to the total. An estimate of $50,000.00 for the whole project seems reasonable. In addition to these costs, there was much labor by the owner-builder so labor wasn’t included in the total. Since the project was pay-as-you-go, no interest costs were incurred.
Long-term operating and maintenance costs are expected to be extremely low because of the self-sufficent energy and water systems and the durable construction material.
Future Plans
Teaching people how to live and build sustainably at workshops at the site is one objective.
Another plan is a transportation project to get or build a hybrid vehicle that can be charged with solar modules on a carport, or use an efficient onboard generator that would give the vehicle extended range. The vehicle’s generator could also be used to provide back-up power for the home.
Landscaping is also planned. We want to grow low water use plants, trees and vines that improve soil quality, and/ or provide nuts or fruit and shade, and develop a sustainable organic garden on some parts of the property. The back of the property will use native species that require no maintenance and would support indigenous animals and insects.
Directions
From L.A.: I like to come east on 60, it's just a mellower freeway. When you come up the hill past Riverside, branch off to the right on 215 South towards San Diego instead of continuing on 60 to Indio. Drive about 15 miles until you reach Perris, highway 74 WEST. (74 east is a little further and would take you to Hemet). Turn right and come through town. Drive about 5 miles, 1 mile past Ellis. Turn left at the Sophie St. SIGN, it is exactly across the street from the dirt lot that becomes Gertrude. You'll see handmade Gertrude St signs, balloons and the Earth flag. 23139 Gertrude Ave. is about 1/8 mile down the dirt road on the right.
From San Bernardino: South on 215 to Riverside. Merge into the San Diego 215 So/60 carefully. Continue up the hill past Riverside, and then same as above.
From San Diego: North on 215. Exit on 4th St. Perris, Highway 74 W. but turn left.Then continue as above.
Please feel free to call us the day or two before the Open House if you need additional directions.
Phone: (909) 943-1980, Fax: (909) 370-5561.
E-Mail:gszkatz@pe.net or gkatz@ci.colton.ca.us
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