The EarthWays Home

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Description

The EarthWays Home is a renovated, 4,500 square-foot house in St. Louis, Missouri that serves as an environmental education and demonstration facility. It is designed to challenge students and other visitors to evaluate the environmental impact of their everyday decisions, and to educate them about how they might change their own use of energy and resources. 

The three-story house, built in 1885, employs composting and recycling systems, energy-efficient appliances and lighting, water conservation, a geothermal heating and cooling system, a natural gas pulse jet furnace, a photovoltaic system and environmentally-sound building techniques and materials.

"We [used] only products that are available to the public today because we want them to know they can make these types of changes to their own homes," says Alex Bornstein, co-director of the project. "That's why it was important to renovate an old house instead of building a new one. We are, in essence, recycling a house."

Daily tours offer a variety of workshops and classes. Students can see how a municipal water-purification system works, and they can build their own mini-cities, attaching water and sewer lines to each building. Information is provided about the life cycle process of water flowing into and out of the St. Louis watershed. Ultimately, visitors to the home learn how they can reduce the energy and resource consumption in a typical home by 50% to 80% by applying specific technology and engaging in small lifestyle changes.

Both verbal and written evaluations of the home are provided by visitors to ensure that the home continues to challenge, teach, and display the latest technologies.

Program Highlights

Recycled Content

• The carpet padding is made from 46 used tires.
• The carpeting is made from 1,800 plastic soda bottles.
• Glass from car windshields was used to make the tiling found in the kitchen and bathroom.

• The landscape of the house was designed for energy efficiency, uses indigenous plants, integrated pest control systems, planting for minimum water use (xeriscaping) and soil improvement strategies.

• Photovoltaic solar panels in the garden convert sunlight to electricity, which is used to power many of the home's kitchen appliances.

• The second floor of the home serves as office space for the EarthWays organization. Visitors to the second floor learn about office waste reduction, recycling, and energy efficiency. The office space uses two different types of lighting systems for maximum efficiency.

• The building's insulation is made from more than 3,000 recycled newspapers that have been treated with a nontoxic flame retardant.

• A trio of electric meters monitors the amount of energy used in the home and produced by the home's photovoltaic panels.

• A geothermal heating and cooling system, with pipes buried 200 feet below ground, takes advantage of the earth's constant temperature of 58 degrees, providing cooling in the summer and heating in the winter.
• A gas jet furnace, which produces a rapid succession of small explosions, rather than a continuous flame, cuts natural gas consumption by up to 50% compared to a conventional gas furnace.

• No mahogany plywood was used in the renovations, as this is a product that must be taken from endangered rain forests.
• No formaldehyde glue was used.
• No fiberglass was used in the ductwork or in any other part of the renovation.
• Low-flow fixtures were installed on all sinks and showers to cut water use as much as 50%.
• Water from the washing machine is used to water the garden.

Vital Statistics

Program Management/Partnerships: The EarthWays Home is managed by EarthWays, a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental protection and public awareness. EarthWays has established partnerships with local school districts and art and theater groups, and has relied upon the financial generosity of foundations, corporations and individuals in completing this project.

Budget: $500,000 total renovation cost.

Community Served: School-age children (K-12) in the St. Louis area who visit the house on a daily basis. Secondarily, homeowners and the building industry -- architects, developers, contractors, and waste haulers -- who wish to renovate existing structures.

Measures of Success:

• The EarthWays home has received a grant to fund more than 2,000 fifth graders to engage in a recycling program at the facility.
• More than 3,100 people have toured the facility since its opening.