(Photos
can be enlarged by clicking on them)
After creating the solar systems for
Utah's first commercial solar home, the state's first solar
subdivision, and
assisting with the Natural Bridges Photovoltaic Power Plant, I decided
to build my own home which would be a test bed for many new
ideas. Once again, there was a desire to create something very
different, and since it was my money this time being used, I did not
need to work with any clients, or make a marketable product as is
usually my goal. I had a great architect (Allen Erekson) whom
I worked with to create an exceptionally easy to heat structure which
was sunk two stories deep in the ground. The 7000 square foot
(650 square meters) circular home had a clear plastic roof with white
insulated fiberglass
"shields" inside which rotated on tracks to reflect heat in the summer
but which opened in the daytime sun in the winter and closed at night
to trap heat and warm the house.
The
inside contained a planting area as the model shows which
wrapped around the living area and which the lower level windows looked
out into,
and the roof was supported by a center column topped by a lightning rod
- we were struck several times without damage.
The
home was a "labor of love" which took three years to build. I was the
contractor for workers where needed, but I constructed approximately 60
percent of it myself with the aid of my 80 year old father. This
surprised even the workers I hired who did not believe it was possible
to build such a unique structure as it was unlike anything they had
ever built.
Prior to construction, it was necessary to
survey and construct three quarters of a mile (1200 meters) of road
across very steep
slopes to an elevation of 400 feet (122 meters) above the point of
entry to the
eight acre property. Water had to be pumped 600 vertical
feet (183 meters) to a tank on the hilltop, and power was delivered
over a 900 ft.
(275 meters) underground line up a hill so steep that I had
to dig the
trench by hand as it was too steep for mechanical equipment.
The
home has withstood hundred mile per hour winds, massive show loading
and flooding rains. In 1984 it was given an award for energy
innovation from the U.S. Department of Energy at a ceremony in
Washington and also received the Utah Governor's Award for Energy
Innovation and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
Centennial Medal. It was featured in the May, 1981 issue of
"Popular Science", other magazines, various newspaper articles and TV
coverage. It was a "green " home long before such ideas were
considered.
The
question of "why would you undertake such a project?" goes back to
Junior High when I was given a "D" in an art class for a solar home
design I created which was far less unique than this home. My
design then was considered "too fantastic" by the teacher and I
decided to someday create a unique home and do what I could to change
the creativity stifling public educational culture I found myself a
part of in
those days. (It is only marginally better now in my
opinion) It was a true "hands on" learning experience to build
this place and I only wish students now could have the same opportunity
I did. It was truly an experiment and much was learned from it
both in success stories, and in things which could have been done
better. Should I build another such home, the new one will be a
truly
marketable advanced product.
The
interior of the home was designed to offer efficient heating and
cooling from the earth sheltered design and minimal surface area of its
circular shape. The "shields" were designed to be closed much of the
time in summer, but here you see the open roof space in winter while
the house was under construction. The flower beds on the left had large
tropical plants which grew well in our cold winters at almost
1800 meters above sea level.
The
upstairs of the house was very light and airy even though most of the
house was sunken into the earth. The kitchen was an example of this
feature with light coming through the fiberglass shields when they were
closed.
This
is a view of part of the dining room and the wall separating that area
from the kitchen. In the summer, the heating load from the sun
was eliminated by passing the air from an evaporative cooler directly
into the house and then extracting the air at the outside perimeter of
the heat shields and returning it to the center of the roof at an
exhaust point.
I
received a "Technology Transfer" award from Secretary Don Hodel of the
Department of Energy in Washington D.C. for the house in 1984 as part
of the public awareness of solar energy development that was promoted
at that time.
We
had many visitors over the ten years we lived there and this was a
wintertime visit from a TV station helicopter. In general, people
didn't think we were too crazy, but they were torn between envy for the
beautiful surroundings which we loved so very much and the
difficulty of living on top of a mountain without the joy of cars
driving by all the time and police sirens in the night! The idea
of plowing three quarters of a mile of road each time it snowed was not
very attractive to us however, I admit.
The
operating principle behind Young Ideas is to investigate many
ways of completing a project before deciding on a method.
Often, with a small amount of creativity, it is possible to find a new
way to accomplish a goal often at less cost and time involved, and
which produces a superior result. This house was an example
of that approach culminating in the inspection by the head of the
local government building inspection department who said "I never
expected to see men on the moon or a house like this!" - I chose to
take that as a compliment! (On the 4th of July, the lightning rod
also doubled as a flag pole and we all saluted the flag.)
My
family lived in the home ten years
and we sold it when my children were beginning to learn to drive
since there was only a guard rail between a sometimes icy road and a
200 ft. (60 meter) vertical drop. This was unrelated to the
design of the
house, but was a problem of the location. It was a unique
experience living there! Since we sold it the various owners have
remodeled it to suit their views of perfection and only these photos
exist of its original configuration.