Six years ago, Greg Booth and his wife Clare had an idea to build an energy efficient cordwood house in the Copper Country. There was just one problem. Neither of them have ever built a house or worked professionally in construction.
Booth's experience at the time was limited to working at a big box hardware store for a number of years where he says he learned "quite a bit from tradespeople and carpenters." The newly gained knowledge assisted him in some advantageous projects before moving to the Upper Peninsula.
"I remodeled our kitchen and bathroom, including all the electrical, plumbing and HVAC work," he recalls. Still, building a house from scratch was unexplored territory for the couple. "It is our first project aside from a shed we built just to see if we could build anything."
Inspiration came during a day trip to Copper Harbor where Booth and his wife came across a cordwood house--a form of construction using whole or split wood in a bed of mortar. The pair fell in love with the area years ago and planned to retire there.
"We were immediately captivated by the unique and rustic look of this building style," Booth remembers. "We researched cordwood, owner-builders, and energy efficiency for months before starting to design Nerdwood," the tongue-in-cheek name given to Booth's cordwood project. The couple chronicles their project at
Nerdwood.com to help and inspire others as they have been by other builders of cordwood homes.
Mark Roberts, a professor of economics at Michigan Technological University, applauds the Booths' work. "Greg and Clare are building a very attractive and architecturally interesting house that is extremely well designed for energy efficiency," he explains. "They have clearly mastered the art and science of cordwood construction."
Booth's decision to focus on energy efficiency comes from admirable foresight. "The cost of energy will certainly continue to rise, while wages will continue to decline," he explains. "So it's important to have a house that will be inexpensive to live in." Booth equates the challenge of producing a low-energy use home to seeing "how low a golf score you can get."
Launched in July of 2006 with plans to finish in 2014, the couple set out on an adventure to create an energy efficient, cordwood house by focusing on three key elements: sustainability, reducing heat costs, and using solar energy. Although the project has ultimately saved them money, Booth describes a more rewarding feeling.
"The feeling of accomplishment and self-reliance gained from doing it ourselves," he says. "It's a large investment of time, but has been a great shared experience."
Sustainability
"I believe in taking personal responsibility to minimize our impact on the land, air and water," says Booth on his commitment to energy efficient construction. "Sustainable steps, like sourcing materials locally, help the community we live in. Who wouldn't want to improve their community?"
Booth is doing just that by sourcing as many local building materials as possible. "The cedar logs in the walls are from the U.P., as are the pine and spruce timbers we used for the post and beam frame," he says. "The foundation is a frost-protected shallow foundation, which uses less concrete than a full-depth foundation." The end result is less waste. What waste is accumulated goes back into the house, such as waste wood Booth burns to provide winter heat.
While being an environmentally good Samaritan is certainly in the back of Booth's mind, the affordable cost of sustainable building doesn't hurt. "In many cases, such as the locally sourced lumber, the cost is lower since shipping costs are minimized and there are fewer middlemen," he explains. "The timber we ordered from a local sawmill was less than half the cost of getting them from a chain retailer." Roberts agrees with Booth's assessment.
"It is more cost effective with much lower total environmental effects if buildings are constructed to reduce or eliminate energy use over their lifetime rather than providing additional supplies of energy," Roberts says.
Ultimately, saving on costs simply requires a little creative thinking throughout the design phase, and spending more when necessary in order to save money in the long-term.
Heat Retention
Insulation is the key when it comes to saving on heat costs, a tremendously important aspect when building in the frigid Upper Peninsula.
"Nerdwood is super-insulated with R-40 walls and R-56 ceilings," Booth explains. "The floor slab is insulated as well with R-10 in the center and R-20 around the edges." Keeping cold drafts out was also a primary concern. "We designed it to have a tight building envelope, which reduces the heat load and increases comfort."
For the walls, Booth has open-cell foam sprayed between the inner and outer cordwood masonry walls. "Not only is this good insulation, it seals air leaks very effectively," he says. "We also have spent time sealing any potential air penetrations through door and window openings, electrical boxes, etc. using caulk or spray foam as necessary." It's a meticulous process worth enduring to achieve the ultimate goal of efficiency and heat retention.
Although additional insulation can initially cost more, Booth says the investment pays for itself within the first few years, if not sooner. But he admits the masonry heater was a costly endeavor, since they had to pay an experienced mason to build it. "You fire it once a day, the fire burns very hot, and all that heat slowly heats up the masonry mass," he explains. "It then gradually releases the heat throughout the day," allowing them to heat with wood inexpensively. In all, the investments save money in the long-term.
Solar Energy
There are three solar systems either in use or being considered in the Nerdwood project: passive solar, solar hot water and solar electric. Each one has a different purpose with the same goal: to reduce costs and live sustainably.
Passive solar means windows, walls and floors made to collect, store and distribute heat, and already has reduced costs at Nerdwood. "On a sunny day in the spring or fall, the outside temperature can be in the lower 40s and it will be 60 degrees inside without a fire or any other source of heat," eliminating the need for an electric heater, Booth says.
Solar hot water and solar electric are more expensive. Booth estimates it will take five and ten years respectively to offset the cost with energy savings, even with a 30 percent federal tax credit. "The key is to reduce your electric use as much as is practical before installing it, so you don't have to install a large, expensive system," he explains.
Roberts, too, is an advocate for investing in solar, saying widespread adoption of solar will depend on people deciding it's "cool" to invest in the equipment, rather than a boat, hot tub, or some other expensive luxury item. "I often get questions about how long it will take to pay off the $14,000 investment in my solar system, but no one seems to question the economics of spending $8,000 on a snowmobile or ATV."
Meanwhile, the Booths are still considering whether or not to invest in a grid-tied solar photovoltaic array. These are the solar panels Americans are more accustomed to seeing. "In this setup, when the sun is shining and we are using less electricity than we are producing, the excess will be fed to the power grid, thus supplying our neighbors with clean electricity as well," he says.
Not a bad neighbor to have.
Joe Baur is a freelance writer and filmmaker based in Cleveland. He's also the Sections Editor of hiVelocity. You can contact him at joebaur.com.