The Eccleston Residence is an ongoing labor of love by the owner-builders Bobby and Cheryl Eccleston. Building the home themselves, with the help of Barden Homes, resulted in significant savings which left some room in the budget for the sustainable features you'll be learning about here.

The walls of this home were built with Fox Block Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) with an above-code R-value of 22.

The insulation across the exterior and interior of these walls prevents thermal bridging- the transfer of heat energy through building materials to the outside.

Spray foam insulation in the ceiling completed this well-insulated building envelope.

The water and home heating system is fully integrated with the solar thermal collection system.

The core of the solar thermal system is the HTP Versa Hydro Solar Hot water system, which can use natural gas as a backup when the solar doesn't meet the home’s heating needs. This system has close to 98% efficiency.

However, the primary backup to the solar thermal system is not natural gas combustion, but this wood-burning stove, which has an EPA rating of 96% burn efficiency. The owners burn ponderosa pine collected by the local tree felling companies, so it’s all free, plentiful, and local. The use of the wood stove allows the solar thermal system to be used primarily for water heating, resulting in a low use of natural gas, less than 50 therms a month, even in winter.

Leveraging the tax credit for their solar thermal installation, the Ecclestons installed solar PV the following year.

A solar tube upstairs to provide daylighting to this room.

Energy Star-certified appliances use up to 20% less energy than their conventional counterparts, reducing the energy load on the Ecclestons' solar PV system.

This home also has a passive gray water system- no electricity needed! The gray water from the second floor is temporarily held in this small cistern and then used to water the non-edible landscaping. It is best to only hold gray water for up to a day because it will turn septic and start to smell over time, making a smaller tank the best approach.

The state gray water rule requires that all gray water systems have a 3-way diverter valve so gray water can be directed to the sewer or on-site wastewater system when not being used for irrigation.

While gray water use for edible plants is forbidden by code, rainwater can be used for that purpose! The Eccleston's have rainwater cisterns on both sides of the house to reduce the use of potable water for irrigation.

The more rainwater storage you have the better advantage you can take of each storm! The Ecclestons have just under 2000 gallons of rainwater collection capacity.

Check out this ultra-high-efficiency toilet- only 0.8 gallons per flush! That is half of what a toilet meeting the federal standard uses.

When building a tight home like this one, it is important to consider ventilation. Mechanical ventilation ensures a healthy number of air changes per hour and this Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) will deliver it in an energy-efficient way.

A unique feature of this home is the pureWash laundry ozonation system which uses ozone created from oxygen in the air to clean the laundry instead of detergents.

This ICF house is getting close to net energy zero with its high efficiency appliances and lighting and solar PV and thermal systems!