Insulating the house from outside. Typically, houses are insulated by tearing out the interior plaster and putting in fiberglass batts, or punching holes in the walls to fill with cellulose. We are introducing the “Persist” insulating system to Minnesota, which involves insulating the house from outside. The interior of the house thus does not have to be disturbed, and fine plaster walls can be preserved.

A “tight” house. Much heat is typically lost through leaky walls. We are wrapping the house in —– made by 3M. This will ensure that no moisture can be trapped in insulation and cause mold or rot. In our case, forty percent of the insulation will be inside the barrier, and expel moisture back into the living space. Sixty percent of the insulation will be outside the barrier and similarly will vent moisture back into the outside air. No moisture will cross the barrier.

Insulating the basement without tearing up the flowerbeds. A tight house needs to keep heat in the basement from leaking out. Typically, the wall is insulated on the inside—not very effective—or a deep wide trench is dug to insulate the foundation., which makes a huge mess. We are introducing Minneapolis to the “coccoon” method of sucking out a four-inch wide slice of dirt, then inserting a 2-inch foam sheet and 2 inches of sprayed foam, all of which has an R value of —-.

Removing formaldehyde by “eating” it. Formaldehyde is poisonous gas given off by plywood and some forms of insulation. It builds up if not removed. Ordinary houses are too leaky for formaldehyde to be a problem, but a tight house has constant venting through air ducts. We will reduce the formaldehyde problem using a new technology by the Certainteed Corporation. For a number of reasons, we have had to replace our interior walls. So we will use a new kind of sheetrock which captures formaldehyde and renders it inert within the sheetrock.

Making a roof fit for solar panels. Thanks to the structural engineering by The 100-year-old house has a “balloon” frame constructed of slender 2″x4″s. Since most house heat is lost through the roof, we needed to add 12” of rigid foam insulation and build a new roof on top of that to hold 45 heavy solar collectors—about x tons in all. To support this weight, workers hoisted a thick ridge beam in 300-lb pieces and assembled it on top of posts which run down to thick foundations in the basement.

Note: this strengthening will not be noticeable. New siding will hide the fact that the house roof has been raised by a foot, while the slender posts are out of sight within the house walls.

Saving the space wasted by doors. Traditional (and contemporary) homes use doors that swing open and shut—wasting much space. At key points on the first floor, where space is tight, we are inserting pocket doors into wall cavities.

Simplifying bathroom cleaning. Conventional toilets sit on the floor, accumulating dirt around their pedestals and making cleaning awkward. We are hanging TOTO toilets from the walls.

Getting hot water fast. One lament of old-home-owners is that they must run (and waste) water to get truly hot water from their centrally located water heaters. Our plumbers are installing a loop of constantly circulating hot water in a heavily insulated (R4) pipes, so that hot water is never more than a few feet from the bathroom tap.

Saving energy by recycling heat. The grey water that heads from sinks, showers and toilets for the sewer will give up its heat to clean incoming water through a heat exchanger.

Saving energy through new dryer design. Conventional dryers waste energy by heating with an electric coil and then venting warm exhaust outside. We are installing a Whirlpool dryer which will generate heat from a heat pump (three times more efficient than an electric coil), and then will filter and recirculate its exhaust air inside the basement.

Reduced maintenance. The porch deck is NyloBoard, a 100% recycled plastic.

Capturing runoff. The house will keep runoff, even from the heaviest of rains, out of the street and storm drains. The water will be channeled into FloWells, plastic barrels buried underground, and vertical water storage containers attached to the garage. These will hold the water until it can percolate back into the ground.