Usually, when we talk about "building your own home," we mean hiring an architect and a contractor for the project. But Sally Kinnear and Peter Wright were determined to build their home with their own hands — and to incorporate as many eco-friendly upgrades as they could to create a "passive home," House Beautiful reported.
Passive homes, like this one in Texas, are those that generate as much energy as they use. They achieve that through careful climate control and insulation, energy-efficient fixtures, and the installation of clean energy technology to generate electricity.
Kinnear and Wright used solar panels for the task.
"Our fuel bills are neutral — we have solar panels, our own water source and water supply, and all the heating is from a ground-source heat pump," Wright told House Beautiful. "Electricity is the only thing we have from the grid — no post, rubbish collection, water, sewage, gas or telephone line. And because of the solar panels, we get back about what we spend on electricity."
To supply the house with water, the couple installed a spring and rainwater collection system, as well as a natural swimming pond. Covered indoor and outdoor living spaces around the edge of the home take advantage of the sunlight.
The couple did run into some limitations while building their house, which is made from larch wood. They weren't able to add a second story. However, that suited them when it came to the design.
"We wanted the house to hunker into the hill," Kinnear told House Beautiful.
The couple had rejected loftier designs that incorporated more glass, saying they felt "superimposed" on the beautiful natural hillside where they were building.
Instead, they took this simple approach, using salvaged materials for much of the interior. For example, the mudroom was made with leftover pallets from the project, and the main living space uses reclaimed 1950s terrazzo tile.
The entire project took the couple about 18 months, and while it was difficult, Kinnear sees it as the path forward.
"There's so much good, sustainable, clean technology out there, and it really works," she told House Beautiful. "More people should be doing this."
If you want to start small, you can try shopping secondhand for your furnishings, as Wright and Kinnear did.
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