Farm house has solar PV on the upper roof, and solar thermal (for water heating) on the lower roof
The Green Dirt Farm, located just north of Kansas City in Weston, Missouri, is a small community-based farm dedicated to producing healthy food in a sustainable environment. The entire farm complex was designed to be a net-zero energy farmstead, producing 100 percent of the energy for the operation using a combination of solar and wind. Chris DeVolder, the home's architect, calls it "the greenest house in the Midwest, possibly in the country."
From the ground up, this farm was built with sustainability in mind. Most of the materials used in the construction were salvaged from local demolished buildings (including a reclaimed church railing as the rail in the loft of the barn!) The designers largely limited themselves to these materials, and any new materials used in the home were considered environmentally-friendly. It was a true collaboration between owner, architect and builder.
The house uses only 25 percent of energy required in a typical home of its size, and uses no fossil fuels to heat or cool. This is accomplished in part using a passive solar design that shades the home from the sun in the summer but absorbs the solar heat in the winter. Complementing this is a geothermal heat pump, with radiant heating system in the floor. In addition, the home uses a small word-burning masonry heater as a back-up heating source, and doubles as a Swedish oven for bread-baking.
2.4kW Skystream wind turbine provides half of the power used on the farm
The Energy Savings Store was selected to design, engineer and install the renewable energy systems used on the Green Dirt Farm in 2005. The electricity used in the home and barn comes from a 2.4kW Skystream wind turbine, perched atop a 70' tower. Complementing this is a 2.4kW Uni-Solar PV laminate system on the home's metal roof. These two energy sources, coupled with the efficiencies designed into the home, enable the owners to live and operate their farm with a "net-zero" energy requirement. The home is actually connected to the utility grid, so that in the event that more power is consumed than produced at any given point in time, the system can draw additional power from the grid. On the other hand, when more power is being produced than consumed, the utility meter spins backward, pushing the excess electricity out onto the grid. The home also contains a battery backup system, so that in the event of power outages, they can run safely on their own backup power.
Solar thermal energy is also used to heat the potable water in the home. A 5kW SunEarth glazed panel solar water heating system was installed by The Energy Savings Store to heat water in a 120 gallon tank, enabling the owners to use very little energy to heat water used both personally and in the farm operations. Solar water heating systems typically reduce energy use by up to 80 percent.
Finally, solar energy is used for space heating in another small building on the farm. Several years after the home was built, a small cabin was built on the property to house the farm's manager, and the owners came back to The Energy Savings Store for guidance. The house was designed with a south-facing wall, on which a 1.5kW SolarSheat solar air heating system was installed. This glazed panel system is self-powered, using a small photovoltaic (PV) panel to power a fan that draws air from the bottom of a room up through a heated-duct and back out the top into the room. The panels are ideal for a south-facing wall on a great room, but can be installed on a south-facing roof as well.
The Green Dirt Farm owner's commitment to healthy, organic food and a sustainable living gives us a great model for home development. Everyone involved in the project shared and realized the same vision, and now the path has been cleared for others who wish to create a sustainable, environmentally friendly living space.
