Green Home - Building An Eco-House
From Jim Barcus, The Kansas City Star
Rick Robson is green at home, at work and everywhere in between.
He and his wife, Kelley Parker, spent three years building their passive solar home outside Parkville. The 2,500 square-foot, all-electric home has an average monthly energy bill of $67. Their highest energy bill ever was $94.
"Everybody thought we were nutty to talk as long as we did to build a house, then we tell them what our utility bills are and their jaws drop," Parker says, "We smile at each other every day and say, "Do we live here?" We're tickled every day that this is ours."
It took three years to build the house because the couple had to research the correct windows, their ground source heat pump and the structural insulated panels. The energy-efficient panels are manufactured in a factory and custom designed for homes. Robson described them as fitting together like Legos.
Robson's job is also "green". An environmental scientist for Hallmark Cards Inc., Robson is in charge for sustainability and green issues. One big change is a food waste composting program. The company composts 150 tons of food waste each year, he says. He gives credit to the many volunteers at Hallmark who work on that and other green initiatives.
The environment has been a passion of his for many years. He was involved in environmental building during the housing slump of the 1980s, but interest in green subsided when oil prices dropped, he says.
This time he believes green is here to stay. "It's coming back and it's coming back a lot stronger," he says.
Parker and Robson like to talk about their green home and their green lifestyle. Their home is an example to other people interested in energy-efficient building.
"It's in our blood," Parker says. "It isn't something we have to think about."