Homes blend eco-friendliness, unique design

There’s been quite a buzz around town lately about energy and water conservation practices, and for years so-called green building has been a hit.

However a few homes in Truckee were built eco-friendly, not just to save heat and money, but because they’re just plain interesting.

One with the Earth

Sue and Jeff Cauhape have been living in their Tahoe Donner, earth berm home for 12 years. The couple maintains that, despite being for-the-most-part covered in dirt, their home is very bright and inviting.

“It’s not dark inside at all; we were surprised by how much light there was,” Sue Cauhape said. “We tried to sell it for two years, but I don’t think a lot of people get the concept. It’s odd, but we’ve been very comfortable here.”

Comfort inside the home can be attributed to its thermal mass — the walls absorb and retain heat, so the house requires neither heater nor air conditioner.

“We use only three or four cords of wood in the winter,” Sue Cauhape said. “And the winter sun comes deep into the house and heats the wood and tile flooring, creating passive radiant heating.”

The couple said they bought the house simply because they liked the concept.

The home originally had a living roof, but there were weaknesses in the construction and it eventually began to leak. Living roofs, those built with soils, grasses and other plant life, reduce storm-water runoff and keep summer temperatures in check. The couple said they will attempt to construct a new one this summer.

Rock the House

As a home builder, Mike Darrow has seen his share of mundane design, but he’s also had his hands in some eye-catching concepts — one of which is his own Donner Lake residence.

Built around a massive egg-shaped granite boulder, the home of Darrow and his wife Kristine DeBerg looks unassuming from the outside, but on the inside the 30 x 20 x 20-foot rock is more than just a center piece.

Once up to temperature, the stone acts as a little oven.

“Once it’s up to temperature, it maintains; its almost like storage,” Darrow said.

The same goes for cooling in the summer. The house sits primarily in the shade, so the rock stays chilled in the cool earth.

“I guess when you [build houses] for a living, you want something cool,” Darrow said. “There’s even old climbing hardware in it because people bouldered on it for years.”

Windy sitting

Rick Solinsky’s home produces so much energy that nine months out of the year he has to pay the Truckee Donner Public Utility District $9 a month to take it from him.

“I pay them through the buy-back program,” Solinsky explained. “I create more power than I use, so my bill is $9, which they call an administrative fee.”

Where is all that energy coming from?

A 25 kilowatt wind turbine and a 5 kilowatt solar system.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted,” Solinsky said.

Solinsky’s home sits in a windy spot between Olympic Heights and Glenshire, where the wind rips daily through the Truckee River canyon at a steady 10 to 15 mph. The property also receives a healthy dose of afternoon sun.

“If it’s blowing and shining, I’m cranking,” Solinsky said.

The wind turbine cost a pretty penny because the design is ultra-efficient and had to be imported from Scotland, so the system will never pay for itself, but Solinsky said that’s not the point.

“Some people spend that kind of money to buy a ski boat that they only use four times a year. But I bought this to use 365 days a year and it makes me feel good,” he said. “Plus, it gives me a little notoriety. You wouldn’t be [interested] if I bought a ski boat.”