Five alternative energy sources capturing sun and wind power have made the home of Ralph and Leah Semrock one of a kind.
The Semrocks described the adventure of building their house Tuesday at the Franciscan Earth Literacy Center. The program was part of a renewable education series running monthly through February in preparation for construction of a straw bale house on the Sisters of St. Francis grounds in the spring.
The project, named "Little Portion Green," is designed to teach people how to use "green" alternatives in construction.
Coordinator Sister Jane Frances Omlor, a Tiffin native, spent 26 years in West Virginia before returning to her hometown.
"I did a lot of the alternative-type building and living," she told people attending the program. "And we're going to do it here in Tiffin, Ohio."
Omlor said many people who helped with the Spencer, W.Va., project traveled there from Tiffin to help.
She and other project leaders met in Elyria earlier Tuesday with the architect and engineer.
"I tell you it was mind boggling," she said. "They are up on the latest technology on green building, heating and cooling. This is going to be one heck of a project."
The winter education programs are phase one of the project.
In addition to Tuesday's presentation, a talk is planned Dec. 9 on solar energy and Jan. 13 on wind energy. The final segment Feb. 10 is to outline plans for the local house.
"In early spring we'll be gathering materials and volunteers," Omlor said. "We want a lot of you to be hands-on learning."
During the first program, Semrock described construction of the house "Solterra" near Curtice in Ottawa County.
An engineering instructor at Owens Community College, he said he met his wife on the Internet six years ago and they have been working on the house ever since.
Before he started, Semrock said he researched alternative energy for 25 years.
"I wanted to build my dream house with as many forms as possible so I could be as energy independent as possible," he said.
He designed the house himself using computer-aided design and then Leah, a graphic designer, took over.
"She took a lot of my engineering and made art out of it," he said.
It's earth sheltered, which means ground covers the entire house, as opposed to earth-bermed, where it goes to roof level.
He said they looked to find financing for 18 months.
"Banks do not like it," he said. " It doesn't fit the standard, inefficient way of buildng. We're so very far behind Europe."
One of the energy sources is a 1.5 kilowatt wind turbine and the other is a 2.8 kilowatt Photovoltaic solar cell.
"Wind is great when it blows," he said. "The sun comes out every day unless the world is coming to an end."
He said the wind turbine sometimes outproduces the Photovoltaic system.
"They complement each other, which is the whole idea," he said. "I smile all day when it's windy and it's sunny."
In addition, the house uses five Sunearth solar collectors to store the sun's energy, a geothermal water furnace to provide cooling in summer and a backup heat source in winter, solar glass on the south and east sides of the house with overhangs to block the sun in the summer.
Another innovation is a concrete Trombe wall that heats to more than 100 degrees on sunny days and naturally releases the heat into the house at night.
"The Pueblo Indians did this 10,000 years ago, but we have forgotten," he said.
The ground built up around the house shelters it from the weather.
Constructed mainly of well-insulated concrete, the three-story house uses 33,000 pounds of rebar and weighs 500,000 pounds.
"It's not going anywhere. It's like a bunker," he said. "It's like living in a Thermos bottle."
Semrock said the 2,000-square-foot house cost $450,000 to build and is appraised at $330,000. Because it was an experiment, he said they received $81,000 in donated materials from companies throughout the United States, as well as grants from several sources to help with the cost.
Most of the work was done by the two of them.
"There isn't a house like this anywhere in the country," he said.
Semrock said another goal for the house was to have little or no maintenance and look good. Groundcover and plants cover the roof.
"We wanted this house to look good as well as be functional," he said. "It works as well as it looks."
He offered advice to anyone planning to make their home more energy efficient.
The first step should be sealing it from outside air.
"It should be a very tight energy-efficient envelope," he said. "Caulk windows, check outlets, do everything you can to tighten up your home."
He highly recommended radiant floor heat for anyone considering remodeling.
"We walk around in the wintertime in our bare feet on concrete," he said.
On the Net:
www.solterra.info
