News About Sierra Homes
"Practical and energy efficient: Rainwater harvesting, deep overhangs among design details that led to an LEED silver rating for Hunt home."
From San Antonio Express News
Hunt--When Bernadell Larson Thompson and Stu Thompson first set out to build a sustainable house, few people understood their desire for an environmentally friendly, healthy home.
Now, everyone wants a tour.
"Two years ago, we were considered way out there," Thompson said. "Now, it's really neat that people are coming to us and asking, "How did you do this?"
The couple's 2,200-square-foot energy-efficient home is among the first in the San Antonio area to be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes program, or LEED for Homes, which is considered the greenest of the nation's green building programs.
The home, on 4 acres along the Guadalupe River, depends entirely on a rainwater-harvesting system for its water. Rain runs off of the metal roof and into a 10,000-gallon tank and a 5,000-gallon tank for storage.
The walls and roof of the home were built using structural insulated panels, known as SIPs, which essentially turn the house into an ice chest for energy savings thanks to a thick layer of polystyrene sandwiched between two pieces of engineered-wood board.
Deep roof overhangs protect the house from the heat of the sun - a technique that used to be common in Texas in the days before central air and heat.
"I wasn't totally wanting to save the environment," Thompson said. It's just that this is a very practical way to build. A number of things on this building are what they used to do. It's old technology that just makes sense."
The home recently received a LEED silver rating. LEED uses third-party testing and requires a slew of paperwork to rank homes as certified, silver, gold or platinum.