San Luis Valley Energy Fair proudly presents:
2009 Home Tour—alternatively-built residences, Sunday August 30

Make way for the Home Tour! 15 homes, 6 structural building methods, 5 different types of power sources, 3 tours, 2 houses in construction phase, 1 great day, and innumerable learning lessons along the way. You get them all on a Sunday afternoon.

The Home Tour will consist of 3 routes.  The first route sheds light on some great homes throughout the Baca, the second is an informative walking tour in the Town of Crestone (this tour has the most variety in structural building techniques), and the third will travel to the northern end of the valley, with many new houses never before seen on the home tour. This tour will conclude its educational adventure at the Valley View Hot Springs. After touring their hydro-electric plant you can soak in their healing waters! Please call the Hot Springs (719-256-4315) for soaking/lodging reservations.

3 Tours:

Tour Crestone

1. Carmin’s strawbale residence earthen plasters passive solar
2. Annie’s strawbale residence and yoga shala solar thermal photovoltaics strawbale adobe flooring
3. Adam’s strawbale house local building materials earthen plaster passive solar
4. Jeremiah and Cora’s underground home under construction ! passive solar
5. Keith and Mia’s home built sips-panel timber frame solar thermal photovoltaic biogas digester

Tour Baca led by Paul Shippee

1. Steve and Jill’s strawbale home passive solar off grid PV
2. Lynette and Scott’s strawbale residence/massage studio adobe floor off-grid PV passive solar
3. MaryAnn and Jim’s strawbale home passive solar adobe floors earthen plasters
4. Jeff’s environmental book storage under construction ! furrowed cement concrete domes
5. Paul’s strawbale house/school adobe floors solar thermal passive solar

Tour Valley led by Talmath Lakai

1. Keith and Mia’s home built sips-panel timber frame solar thermal photovoltaic biogas digester
2. Dragon Mountain’s strawbale retreat center earthen plasters adobe floors passive solar off grid photovoltaics with additional hybrid buildings
3. Barbara & Chuck’s strawbale passive solar earthen plasters off grid photovoltaics solar thermal
4. Valley View Hot Springs large scale hydro-electric geo-thermal waters (option to soak/stay overnight. Call 719-256-4315 for reservations )

All Tours begin at 2pm, in the Crestone Town Park. Bring water and some snacks with you.

This Home Tour will feature many beautiful dwellings throughout the Baca Grande subdivision, the Town of Crestone, and the Northern SLV.  Some houses on the tour are still in some phase of construction, while others have had many years for the home-owner to perfect all imperfections and design problems, or learn to love the elements that worked well. While out on the Home Tour, you will be guided by an instructor, whose knowledge of the key elements in this alternative home tour will be shared. Yet more importantly —as well as a unique Home Tour attribute— the home-owner will be present to help share their perspective on how the building process went, as well as proudly emphasize what works for them in their abode.
Each home on the tour will be alloted about an hour. The 2009 Home Tour will show homes using different structural methods and talk about effective building-site impact levels, renewable energy sources for electricity and heating, efficient design plans, and briefly, what not to do.

Innovative structural methods

The shell of a house— the parts that create the support, strength, insulation and shape of a house — are the structural elements.  Many houses in the Baca are traditionally built, which is referred to as stick-built.  Yet Crestone has also become a mecca for using strawbale for walls.  This building method provides all the structural attributes mentioned above, when compared to stick-built homes, which require additional materials for insulative value.  Other fantastic—though not as popular—structural building methods include underground homes, quanset huts, rammed earth, cordwood, canvas yurts, insulated concrete forms like Rastra, and earthship (tires filled with compacted dirt).  Many of these will be on the Home Tour.  At each home, how and why these methods were implemented will be discussed.  Some technical background will be shared as well.

Effective building-site impact levels

When arriving at a home on the tour, or while planning your own home, it is important to note when and how the house is placed on the terrain.  You should ask questions like how much vegetation is impacted, and which direction is the house pointing.  Take into consideration the lay of the land, prevailing wind, views, and whether or not there is a hill or large tree blocking the essential southern exposure.

On-the-rise renewable energy sources

Between the 3 tours, we’ve got solar photovoltaic, solar hot water, wind, plus hydroelectric at Valley View hot springs.  Learn the differences between systems and why each was chosen for the application.  See and hear from the owners how living off-grid is a chosen lifestyle that has limitations that teach conservation, simplicity, and creativity.

Efficient design plans

Passive solar design relates to how the sun can bank energy in the thermal mass of the house in relation to its seasonal angle and the area of southern glazing. This is a subtle, yet very important design process.  The materials that those sunrays hit are important, as this thermal mass is the radiant heating device that holds the heat and slowly distributes it throughout the house.

Problems

When not following a textbook plan for building a home, many home-owners have found themselves in a quandary when mixing new ideas with (typically) little experience.  Small parts of each home have room for improvement, and learning from others mistakes may save you a lot of time, headache and money on your project.

Just a sample…

One home featured on the 2009 Home Tour is located the Grants section of the Baca.  This home-owner was lucky enough to have a general contractor for a neighbor, and together they built a great home. This single-storey strawbale home has it all. The owner is a healer, and chose to place charged crystals in auspicious places within the walls.  The south wall has a stream of windows, providing great solar gain.

Another great residence that will be in the Home Tour is in Chalets II in the Baca. The couple moved to Crestone with the intention of building their alternative dream home.  With the help of family members, they designed their perfect example of efficiency: effective passive-solar layout, great views, plus plenty of space.  They took the reigns as an active home-owner should, and helped in nearly every phase, from pouring the foundation to the finishing details.  They created a peaceful strawbale house with graceful curved walls. Their home is fantastically completed, and if you get to see this home, you can check out the earthen plaster on the exterior, adobe flooring, plus the use of green building materials.  Please note the custom cabinetry using local lumber.

I’m sold. Give me a ticket.

Home Tour tickets are on sale now! Pre-registration is required, and the cost is $15 per person. You can purchase your tickets 3 ways before the day of the Fair; 1) pay online at www.slvenergyfair.com, 2) call 719-588-8276, or 3) look for the display at the Crestone Music Festival, or 4) at the energy fair itself.  But don’t wait, as the Home Tour is nationally recognized, space is limited, and tickets do sell out! If you want an intensive, fun, learning atmosphere to prep yourself on the joys of building your own home, or have questions for the instructors and owners about what you’re planning to do, this is your opportunity. Or, maybe you’re just curious what your neighbors have been up to and haven’t wanted to jump the fence and peek in the windows. Well, here’s your chance to get it all. Don’t miss the 2009 Home Tour!