Father and Daughter Build an Eco-Friendly Home

At AC World we’re always keep our eye on building trends of the future – especially those that relate to heating and cool. We ran across an article in the Sonoma Index-Tribune titled Father-daughterdesign project results in ‘house of the future’ that tells a rather inspiring story.

Carole Kelleher writes, “It’s amazing what an environmentally minded, artistic and tech savvy father and daughter duo can do when they set their sights on building the ultimate eco-friendly home. Darrel Jones and his daughter, Lolly, partnered to build a LEED-certified masterpiece on the eastside; and it’s ADA compliant, too. Calling it “your forever home” they are marketing it now, potentially to a buyer who wants to age in place, and who has $2.8 million to allow them to buy into the luxury.

While the entire 2,800-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home is wheelchair compatible and includes an elevator to the second floor master suite, it would be equally appealing to a wildly energy conscious owner. The home is super-insulated with blown-in fiberglass and is virtually airtight, using vapor permeable construction. That means the house is very quiet and easy to keep warm or cool with limited need for the ductless Mitsubishi heater/air conditioning system. And there is a whole-house ventilation system that filters in fresh air.

The Zola European exterior doors and windows have thermal-break wood construction and are triple-pane glass with triple seals. There are two on-demand tankless water heaters, with Energy Star rated stainless steel appliances and efficient LED lighting everywhere.

Darrel said he first started being aware of protecting the environment when he got his conservation badge as a Boy Scout many years ago. “It’s been completely gratifying to be able to build this as a sustainable house,” he said. He has been an electrical contractor for 50 years, and also has a general contractors license. He owned the 1,200-square-foot, 1970s-era house in an alley off Patten Street that was taken down to make way for “the forever house.” He and his wife live in the house next door where they raised their two-daughters; Lolly lives across the alley with her husband Zac McCormick and their two young children.”

This is an exciting house indeed, but at such a high price tag it’s out of the price range of most people living in the U.S. The good news is that AC World offers competitively priced air conditioning systems that are much eco-friendlier than AC units of the past.