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SIERRA VISTA — Gail Griffin’s new home is red, white and blue.
But mostly it’s green.
The terra-cotta roof tiles, cream-colored walls and blue rain gutters may not be unusual at first sight but they do a lot to save water and energy.
“I wanted a place I could afford to stay in,” said Griffin, a real estate broker and chairwoman of the Cochise County Republican Committee.
  
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Since buying the property in Ramsey Canyon years ago, Griffin has wanted to incorporate green building concepts and water conservation. To put her plan into action, she worked with architect Brian Lockhart.
She and her husband, Bill Waynick, have made use of energy-efficient appliances since moving to the new home, but there’s more green technology at work here.
Wonder walls and a warm view
Beneath the paint and plaster are blocks of Rastra, a strong and highly insulating mixture of 85 percent recycled Styrofoam and concrete.
In addition to being a great insulator, the 12-inch-thick walls are fireproof, soundproof and mold-proof, and supposedly can even withstand high-magnitude earthquakes, though that may not be a concern in Ramsey Canyon.
In the winter the sun’s heat will be absorbed by the walls and released as the temperatures cool, helping to save a bit on the heating bill, said Griffin, who is also a former state legislator.
They’ll also have some heating help from the fireplace.
When Griffin told Lockhart she wanted a big fireplace, he asked whether she would rather have an efficient one. Griffin went with the efficient choice: a Rumford fireplace. It isn’t big, but it isn’t wimpy either, Lockhart said.
“It just roars,” he said.
The Rumford fireplace, designed in 1790s, isn’t a new concept, but it is growing in popularity once again. The tall, shallow fireplace is designed to radiate more heat than traditional fireplaces.
But the simplest way to heat a home is having a southern view, Lockhart said. Luckily for Griffin, her southern vantage point offered a spectacular mountain view.
The view doesn’t just look nice. The windows allow in free heat from the sun.
The property also has city views to the east that couldn’t be passed up, but those windows were made smaller.
“So not to lose heat in those directions,” Lockhart said.
And at least having well-insulated windows and south-facing roof, if not windows, are some of the best ways to cut down on electricity and gas use in a home, he said.
Catching the rain
Smart water use is an issue Griffin advocates for, so she didn’t want to see a drop of it go to waste at her own home.
The couple uses a gray-water system, which allows them to water plants with the water from their showers and sinks.
Griffin also wanted to put the rain on her property to use.
Trenches and wheat wattles help direct the flow of water to plants. They slow the rain flowing downhill to prevent erosion and allow the water to soak into the ground.
“Diverting water into your existing land use is something everybody can do,” she said.
It has already made a big difference to the vegetation this monsoon.
“We got an inch (of rain) the other day. Everything is greening up,” she said last month.
The rain that hits the roof also gets used. Four 200-gallon collection barrels collect the water from the rain gutters.
Benefiting from the rain are the trees, grasses and cactuses that are a part of the natural landscape, but she’s planted a few others, including Lantana flowers.
“Once they’re established, they take very little water, if any,” Griffin said.
So far, it all appeals to the deer and peacocks that take refuge in the yard.
“We’re gonna get a bird book,” she said. “There’s just so much life out here,”
Room to grow greener
The home is also outfitted with a passive solar hot water heater on the roof, which she plans to add eventually. It could save energy and money in the long run, but like other aspects of being green, it can be more expensive upfront.
But they are already seeing a difference on their utility bills, which total less than $100 a month for the 2,600-square-foot home.
Griffin also is planning to increase her rainwater storage capacity to make the most out of the free resource. They’ve gotten enough rain in downpours to overflow the barrels.
“This year is our trial year to see what we need to use and save.”
HERALD/REVIEW reporter Laura Ory can be reached at 515-4683 or by e-mail at laura.ory@svherald.com.
On the Net
• Hereford Natural Conservation Resource District: www.herefordnrcd.org
• Rastra: www.rastra.com
• Rumford Fireplaces: www.rumford.com/
• Water Wise Web site: http://ag.arizona.edu/cochise/waterwise/
to d huntley wrote on Aug 20, 2008 10:51 PM: