top of page
This site was designed with the
.com
website builder. Create your website today.Start Now
2 Huntsville Green homes were featured along with a commercial site.  We met at each house/site & see up-close real houses using Green Energy and the latest conservation features for the average homeowner.

Some

photos

by

Doug

Smoot

Permaculture is a holistic approach to landscape design and human culture. It is an attempt to integrate several disciplines, including biology, ecology, geography, agriculture, architecture, appropriate technology, gardening and community building. 

ASA Solar Tour of Homes 2015
on Oct 3

due to the

light drizzle weather, many photos are from the previous year. 

Michele Sneed house

Michele is a Perm Culturist. Perm Culture is a way of living where you give more back to the earth than you take.  She researched this home and its construction for years. Michele explained :

See the

YouTube video

on the 
Gallery,

Video webpage

   ~ construction finished in 2008, 1400 sf of living space

   ~ using 2" x 6" studs in the outside walls (instead of the conventional 2 x 4's) adds insulated buffering
      space from the outside weather  (The six inch-thick walls are sprayed full of soy-based foam
      insulation.)

   ~ inside walls are insulated with used denim

   ~ roof is insulated with 12" foam

   ~ a Geothermal Heating & Cooling System saves energy and lasts 30 years

   ~ Solar Hot Water System with electric backup & 80 gal. reservoir (with Solar Collectors to heat water          on her roof) saves energy & money

   ~ 9 KW Solar Array -  42 PV polysilicon panels are manufactured by Kyocera 

                                     -  25 year warranty

                                     -  Michele says "panels have been flawless, however the utility meter has been

                                        replaced 3 times"

                                     -  TVA buys back the electricity generated from the system that's not used by her

                                        house at 12 cents over retail. 

                                     -  pay-back time was 6 years, now it makes her money
      The electricity produced is more than the house requires to operate, so the Utility company sends
      monthly checks to her.

   ~ gutters collect rainwater and divert it to an underground pipe which empties into her pond.  This
      fish-fertilized water is used for watering plants during the growing season.  Normally it would be
      wasted.

   ~ to avoid indoor air pollution (which can be 3 times greater than outside air)  all floors are hard wood
      or tile, all paints used contained no or very low volatile chemicals and no particle board was used in
      cabinets or construction to avoid urea formaldehyde exposure.

   ~ normal winter Thermostat setting remain between 65-67 degrees and between 75-78 degrees in the
      summer.

   ~ "live roof" on the chicken house is now becoming popular in Japan

Nexus Redstone Energy Park

This is a working live demonstration of 4 applications of solar technology

 

It is located at the  NE corner of Memorial Pkwy & Airport Rd

Redstone Energy

Park

  • Facebook Classic
  • YouTube Classic

generation capacity of 135 kW of power, featured here is

 

  1. Rooftop solar - demonstrated on the ground so you can walk around it

  2. Ground-mounted on rack in fixed angle - to maximize the absorption of the sun

  3. Stem-mounted panel that tracks the sun - from morning until sunset & season to season

  4. Parking lot cover with electric vehicle charging station - shading the car while it collects the sun & electric fuel pumps that charge the car while parked

due to the

light drizzle weather, many photos are from the previous year. 

Brandon Hunt's house

Brandon is the ASA Treasurer.  See more about him on the Officers page. 

Featured at his house is

  1. a Solar Farm (20 PV panels) in his backyard, Brandon says the Solar Farm generates about half of the electricity he uses. 

  2. a solar hot water heater,

  3. a Solatube which functions as a Sky Light by day and LED hall light (motion-activated) by night (or in thick clouds)  It can concentrate & bend sunlight around constuction obstacles in the attic

bottom of page