Green goes the dream

Apr 11 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Sandi Kahn Shelton New Haven Register, Conn

If Curt Johnson of Branford could tell people one reassuring thing about creating a home that's environmentally friendly, he'd say, "You don't have to be rich to be green."

And then chances are, he'd smile and admit that, well, you do have to be willing to do a lot of work yourself, and be interested in learning about the way things work.

It also helps if you genuinely get excited about things like flushing your toilet with rainwater, and if you love the idea of reclaiming and reusing materials from other houses.

For Johnson, an environmental lawyer at the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, and his wife, Nancy Dittes, the challenge of building an affordable "dream green home" was empowering, he says. They spent a little over two years collaborating with architect Lindsay Suter, who is well-known for his sustainable building designs, and carpenter Jonathan Tuminski, from the Center for Green Building, designing and creating a home that is a model of efficiency.

The house, located on the Farm River in Branford, has 2,000 square feet and features passive solar design, solar electricity, rainwater flush toilets, passive ventilation -- and plenty of salvaged materials (early 1900s hardwood floors, as well as faucets, mirrors, bathroom vanities and all interior doors) that lend it character and also helped keep costs down.

"We did a lot of the work ourselves, along with family and friends," says Dittes, who often served as the project manager.

Johnson says that to some people it might sound crazy to be so involved with the inner workings of the house and to live in such a way that you're constantly aware of nature's cycles (perhaps inconvenienced by them). But he finds it exhilarating.

"The tomato that you grow yourself is always sweeter," he says. "If you have a pump that pumps rainwater so you can flush the toilet, that makes you aware of the water cycle. Is that a bad thing? I like being in touch with this. I like things that require thought and attention."

Dittes first discovered the property while she and her older son were canoeing one day on the Farm River. "We saw this burned-out building and a For Sale sign there," she says. "So we got out and walked around. The view was wonderful. I knew I wanted to live there."

She and Johnson met with Suter, who worked with them to design just the house they wanted -- "both aesthetically pleasing and very high-functioning," as Johnson put it.

Some of the things were simple and used passive and renewable energy. For example, the house is angled to take in winter sun and to shade out the summer sun. A tile floor in the south-facing entryway collects heat from sun coming through a full-glass door. A small wood stove provides most of the heat, and small pipes run hot water under the floors of the second floor to provide radiant floor heating.

Transom windows above the bedroom doors help provide circulation from the river breezes. Photo-voltaic panels on the roof actually generate more electricity than the family of four requires.

The house is so air-tight that a blower door test for Energy Star rated it as 43 percent tighter than if the house had been built merely to code. "The company said it was one of the tightest buildings they'd ever tested," says Dittes.

The house is open for tours at 12 p.m., 1:30 and 3 p.m., rain or shine, on Saturday, sponsored by People's Action for Clean Energy in conjunction with The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. The architect, builder and solar installers will be available for questions. Tickets are $15 per person and tours are limited to 20 people. For tickets or more information, go to www.pace-cleanenergy.org and click on "Events" or call 860-693-4813.