Aarolets

The Aarolets remodel and retrofit was a labor of love and care. Heather Aarons and Greg Letschert did most of the work themselves, in consultation with Tom Elsass of Ezra Builders. They opened up the interior of this 1980's home to create a more spacious-feeling, modern, energy-efficient living space.
They started with a complete energy audit to identify potential heat loss concerns. Energy audits are a great idea for anyone wanting to improve the energy efficiency of their home. They are available from Cozy Home, a local business, for $99 through a partnership with APS. Click here for more information.
The home has an efficient Jotul wood stove that is the primary source of heat. Heating with wood is a good use of cleared ponderosa that would otherwise be burned in slash piles, putting that carbon output to good use.
An additional source of heat in the home is this efficient Envi electric wall heater. Moving toward electrification of your home is a good strategy for reducing carbon impacts even if you don't have solar, as electric companies continue to move to incorporate more renewables.
The old single-paned windows were replaced with above-code windows. This replacement also made the home more air-tight, reducing operational energy use.
Ceiling fans are a great way to make a home feel more cool, and they use considerably less energy than other mechanical means of cooling.
This home remodel was a great example of care in material use and selection. Great effort was taken in saving materials from the initial structure and reusing them. Many items were donated to the ReStore for further reuse.
According to Builders for Climate Action, material selection is the most impactful intervention that can be made at the individual building level with regards to climate change. This is true in part because of timing. The manufacturing of materials is an upfront carbon impact, and NOW is the time we need to reduce carbon outputs into the atmosphere if we're going to prevent more catastrophic impacts due to tipping points. Click here to see the full Builders for Climate Action white paper.
This Cali bamboo flooring is a great choice for low climate impact. Bamboo is fast-growing, this was sustainably harvested, and the carbon in the plant is now sequestered in the house, out of the carbon cycle and the atmosphere.
This home retrofit project also had a goal of water conservation. Toilets account for about 24% of indoor water usage, so this super low-flow Niagra Stealth toilet is making a difference! It uses half the volume of water of that of a standard 1.6 gallon per flush model and it is universally approved of by homeowners who have them!
An Energy Star washing machine uses 25% less energy and 33% less water than standard models. Using less water results in less energy use as well because it takes energy to collect, treat and distribute water.
This is a pile of the segregated wood waste for later reuse. Owner-builders are often more successful at reducing construction waste, which makes up 40% of the City of Flagstaff landfill, because they can take the time to segregate materials and put them to other use.