Building Green: One
Woman’s Journey
7 May 10
Florissant Valley
CTL
Peggy Moody Ph.D
Assoc Prof Psychology & District Sustainability Coordinator
The Buffalo River National Park
Yellville, AR Courthouse
Caney, AR
10 miles from Yellville
My topography
Arkansas dreaming
 Land of rivers
Buffalo River National Park
Land of trails
 Ozark
Trail
system
Land of caves
 Many people used
these caves for
shelter
Mammoth Spring Caves
Land of quiet reflection
 Tom & Tere
overlooking
the Buffalo
and Ozark
hills
Land of family
Tere and her pumpkins
Mom’s visit
What is building green?
 For me,
 Design that will be energy efficient;
 Kind to the earth
 placement on the land
 use of materials keeping my footprint as small as
possible;
 Cradle to cradle
 from first dig to the possibility of deconstruction
200 years from now.
Many green certifications
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EarthCraft Home rating (South Eastern states)
Environments for living (GE)
Healthy House standard (Am Lung Association)
Energy Star (cut energy by 15%)
NAHB (National Assoc of Home Builders)
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) from USGBC
Seven guidelines (NAHB)
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Energy efficiency
Resource efficiency
Water efficiency
Lot development
Green Building Guidelines (cont)
• Site development
• Indoor environmental
quality
• Homeowner education
Beginning
 NO certification (for now)
 My sister Tere and husband
Tom built their home by
themselves
Tere and Tom’s 20 x 24’ cabin
Site location
Where could
we cut the
fewest trees?
Site location (cont)
 The view of my “hollers”
 South orientation to
capture passive solar
(FREE winter warming)
 Cut few trees to preserve
FREE cooling in the hot
and humid Arkansas
summers
Building Design
 FUNCTION
 Garage with a woodshop (16x20’)
 Fabric art studio (16x20’)
 Porch for shading intense summer
sun from studio
 Spot for composting toilet
outside my studio
 Studio double as guest cabin
Building design (cont)
 AESTHETICS
 Lots of LIGHT and
nature’s views
 A sense of SPACE—
deck increased living
space.
My Design
 Flooring—piers, rather than foundation (less concrete,
better air for cooling)
 Roofing—5 on 12 pitch trusses; scissor for in studio
(creates more spacious ceiling), regular trusses for garage
(storage in rafters)
 Porch—8’ L-shaped deck allows access to the woods all
around, and to my view of the hollers (2); roof
overhangs deck creating a 40x20 arial view
Design (cont)
Windows
 West (view) facing--5.0’ window + full glass door + 3.0 window over
kitchenette sink
 South (passive solar) facing—2 5.0’ windows
 East (sunrise)—2 3.0 garage windows
 North (winter winds)—no windows
Design (cont)
 Landscaping—natural, using native azaleas and wildflowers; paths in
wood chips that are in abundance after ice storm of Feb 09
 Indoors—front door on West wall, kitchenette; “cube” loft (with
futon); open studio
W
S
Outlets for cube
Materials
 Driveway—30 tons of limestone chip stone (porous pavers as I can
afford)
 Piers—12 sonotubes; 16 bags of cement (8” tubes in garage; 12”
on studio); rebar; and rock from property
 Flooring—beam joists; plywood (without formaldehyde glue);
and stone tile for catching passive solar
Materials (cont)
 Studs—2x6” locally purchased wood for walls and
trusses; wider depth allows for more insulation
 Insulation—corn-based foam insulation,
(contractor installed)
 Drywall—standard, but investigated “green”
drywall made from post-consumer materials—
very new (expensive) option
Materials (cont)
 Free (reusing) Wood stove—plenty of
natural wood source from downed trees on
property
 2 fans—energy star (cooling and warming)
 Open kitchen cupboards (FSC); recycled
sink from yard sale; propane stove; high
energy-efficient chest frig
Materials
(cont)
 Composting toilet—no water, tank below deck for easy disposal of
“dirt”
 1500 gallon Cistern--collecting water off roof
 Metal roofing--cream-colored paint for deflecting sun’s heat
 Siding—Hardie Cement Board—long lasting & fire-resistant
 Plastic wood decking—gray-green color
 Solar panels—electric, off the grid—energy from the sun
Energy-efficiency
 Heating
 Wood stove
 Passive solar from stone tile radiated into room
 Plenty of trees to block winter winds
 Cooling
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2’ eaves for more shelter from hot sun
8’ porch on West side to shade setting sun
Shade from many trees in west
Fans and cross ventilation
Energy-efficiency (cont)
 Electricity
 Solar panels
 Air-Tight building shell
 High R value for insulation
 Caulking (without fumes)
 Water
 Collecting water off roof into cistern
 Year-round spring on property; 700’elevation
below studio; 2ndcistern above my home that
gravity feeds to me (and to sister’s garden and
orchard)
Just finished
 Tile flooring
 Turn around in driveway
 My first tiny solar panel!
Still to come…
 Solar array and battery
system
 Garage floor
 Building kitchenette and
cube
You too can make your dreams come true!