Q + A with Peter Maher about his Yarmouth solar and geothermal home

Peter Maher, an engineer and principal at Sevee and Maher Engineers, was renovating a home with Slocum Custom Builders in 2009 when he decided to attend a geothermal conference. With the help of friends, he then laid the pipes for his own geothermal heating and cooling system. The heat pumps pull warmth from the earth’s crust in winter and return the heat in summer, and the 8.8-kilowatt solar array installed by ReVision Energy grabs energy from the sun—and the Mahers enjoy the benefits.

Photo courtesy Slocum Custom Builders.

Q: Was the geothermal difficult or expensive to install?
A: It took about a week to lay the 6,400 feet of pipe at a depth of eight feet. Gagnon Heating and Air Conditioning connected the pipes to two ground-source heat pumps and the radiant floor heating. The system cost about $3,000 to $4,000 more than a conventional furnace, but with no annual fuel bills, so it paid for itself in less than two years.

Photo courtesy Slocum Custom Builders.

Q: Have the systems performed well?
A: Yes. Total energy costs for the 4,500-square-foot house are only about $1,500 a year. That’s propane for on-demand hot water and the gas range in the kitchen, as well as electricity not covered by the PV [photovoltaics].

Before renovations. Photo courtesy Slocum Custom Builders.

Q: Anything you’d do differently?
A: The cost of solar has dropped 22 percent a year since 2008, which makes me think we should have waited, but I guess enough people had to pay the higher prices for them to come down.

Photo courtesy Slocum Custom Builders.

Q: What’s next?
A: We have room on the roof, so we’ll see what prices do in the next few years and add enough solar panels to get the house to net zero.

Learn more at Slocum Custom Builders, ReVision Energy, and Gagnon Heating and Air Conditioning.

Q+A with Karen Boffa and Dan O’Shea of Falmouth Elementary

Falmouth's new elementary is setting the standard for school energy efficiency. Designed by Oak Point Associates and built by Shaw Brothers Construction in 2011, it features passive solar siting, abundant natural light and lighting that adjusts for need, solar thermal hot water, 10,000-plus feet of green roofs with gardens, porous pavement to manage runoff, rainwater capture for toilets, and a wood-chip heating system that also serves the middle and high schools. We asked the principal and director of finance which features they like best.

Falmouth Elementary School

Q: What stands out about the school's efficient features?
A: We especially like the radiant floor heating and efficient lighting; the wood-fired boiler is consistently warm and efficient; and conservation is huge from the solar thermal panels that heat the water. There’s also the rainwater collection for toilets.

Q: Was there anything important learned during construction?
A: Despite the sun shelves on the exterior of the building, we found the winter sun was still reflecting on the whiteboards on one of the walls, so we installed shades on the upper windows of the southern side, and that fixed the issue.

Q: What are the heating costs per year?
A: This 145,000-square-foot building costs approximately $50,000 to heat, and that may go down next year by about $10,000, when all three schools are on the same heating loop and wood-chip heating is extended to reduce oil, a total savings of about $150,000 annually.

Q: What happens at the school over summer?
A: The school is used for extended school services and professional development for teachers and is accessed by Falmouth Community Programs for summer activities. The gardens are especially lovely then, too.

Learn more at falmouthschools.org.

Q+A with David and Anne Daniel, owners of the Lean Too House in Brunswick

Architect David Matero designed the Lean Too House as an energy-efficient and affordable 2,000 square-foot spec home, with a projected LEED Gold certification, for a small development in Brunswick. We asked the Daniels about their experience as the first Lean Too homeowners.

Photo courtesy David Matero

Q: What do you like most about your home’s efficient features?
 A: We like the many high-efficiency windows, especially the corner windows that are so unique. When we Skype with our family they always comment on how bright it looks in the house, even on a cold winter day. When we come home after being away, the house is still at 60 degrees thanks to the passive solar gain and well insulated R-38 walls and R-60 roof. Within 5-7 minutes of turning up the heat, it’s at temperature and stays there for some time. In the summer months, the Douglas Fir sun shades over the windows keep it cool, even when it’s 90 degrees outside, so we don’t need A/C.

Q: What helpful things did you learn during the construction process?
A: The home is so top quality in the design that we felt compelled to go with higher end, energy-efficient appliances and finishes, so we could have used more allowances than we had initially. We also found that snow slides off the metal roof and hits the sun shades in winter, so they put snow stops on the roof and that really helped.

Photo courtesy David Matero

Q: What’s next?
A: We plan to add a sunroom/hot tub room as the house was designed for easy additions, and it’s sited and set up for solar panels whenever we’re ready.

Learn more at davidmatero.com and share your thoughts here.

Q+A with found-object artist Louise Philbrick

Louise Philbrick is a South Portland artist known for her creative use of found objects, from old pianos to objects in nature. Her work has been exhibited at many galleries in Maine and across the county, and she's currently at work on a series of commissions.

Courtesy Louise Philbrick

Q: How and why did you begin using found objects in your art vs. buying new?
A: Finances were a consideration in art school, but I've always been drawn to objects that visually demonstrate the rigors of their history. A friend rebuilding his front steps gave me the old stair treads instead of taking them to the dump. The toe-nail scratches of a dog eager to get outside and the wear of 20 years of people coming and going aren't features one can request when purchasing new. And there never seems to be a shortage of these types of objects available for the taking, if I keep my eyes open.

Courtesy Louise Philbrick

Q: Why musical instruments?
A: Music is a huge part of my life and I'm fascinated by the craftsmanship of old instruments. There were close to 325,000 pianos manufactured at the turn of the 19th century that are now reaching the end of their "useful lives." People don’t have the space to keep them around as beautiful objects so they are literally dumping them into the ground. There are so many ways to repurpose them and as many reasons we should. I think we need to redefine the term "useful life."

Courtesy Louise Philbrick

Q: Do you reuse items for other purposes than art?
A: Right now I'm turning the head of an old cranberry rake into a mail and key rack for the entry to my sister's house.

Courtesy Louise Philbrick

See louisephilbrick.com for more info and share your thoughts here.

Q+A with Robin Moody about the vegetated roof on his home at Pemaquid Pond

Designed by Chris Briley of Green Design Studios, this wood, stone, and glass home features a tight building envelope and energy recovery ventilator (ERV), passive solar siting, 90-tube solar thermal array that provides all hot water and contributes to the radiant heat, and a notable 2,600 square-foot vegetated roof. We checked in especially to see how the roof has been performing.

Photo by Trent Bell

Q: What have you enjoyed most about your roof?
A: We like the fact that rainwater is partly absorbed and released by the roof over time, so excess runoff doesn't pollute the nearby lake, and that it's a natural insulator in winter and respires in summer to keep the interior cool. We also find the roof beautiful, even in winter when everything is brown, and we love when it flowers at different times of the year—sometimes the flowers are yellow and sometimes pink.

Photo by Trent Bell

Q: Was it complicated to install?
A: The builders and engineers know how to build for weight, and the roof is sealed with the same materials as any roof. The fast-draining, low-nutrient, drought-resistant alpine sedum arrived on a truck from Xero Flor in slabs that were simply laid out like a suburban lawn.

Photo by Trent Bell

Q: Have you had do any maintenance?
A: We did water it in its first year, but haven't had to since. I'm told the root system is so dense that weeds and other plants can't thrive, though I have seen the occasional infiltrator. Some parts of the roof where the sun is restricted look a little thin, and may need replanting with time, but we’ve had no leakage or problems with the weight.

Photo by Trent Bell

For more info see architectureforlife.com and xeroflora.com.