Model house will show sustainable design, techniques

A green house will sprout as soon as next year on the grounds of the former Washington State University research station in Hazel Dell.

It will use a quarter of the water and a quarter of the energy of a typical home.

Envisioned as a partnership between Clark County and Habitat for Humanity, the house at the county’s 80-acre Heritage Farm property is intended to demonstrate green building techniques. It’s also the first pilot project under a new county ordinance intended to encourage sustainable forms of development.

“We’re trying to stimulate the market by allowing folks to work in a different way with the county and building codes,” said Pete DuBois, the county’s sustainability coordinator. “To prime the pump, the county has committed to taking the leap.”

DuBois expects construction will cost $120,000, although Habitat for Humanity will provide half the total through in-kind donations and labor.

“We’re looking at probably matching that,” he said.

He said the county has already committed $25,000 from part of a state Department of Ecology grant to pay for the project design. The rest of the county’s contribution will come from a solid waste enterprise fund, DuBois said.

The project will be a valuable learning experience, said Kristina Aitchison, executive director of Habitat’s Evergreen chapter.

The international organization taps into the sweat equity of volunteers to provide safe and affordable housing for low-income people. Aitchison said the Vancouver chapter expects the Clark County project will show volunteers how to apply green techniques to other projects.

Those future homeowners, in turn, will reap the benefits of lower energy and water bills.

“We’re trying to have the best of both worlds,” Aitchison said. “It’s an affordable home to build, but also an affordable home to operate and live in.”

In May, county commissioners adopted a set of voluntary green building standards.

The code spells out specific ideas for homes that are energy-, water- and resource-efficient, but offers a range of options, so it’s not an all-or-nothing plan. Homes have to accumulate a certain number of points to be certified green.

In some cases, the government stands in the way of builders who are trying to do the right thing.

The county and city of Vancouver recently combed through building codes to identify barriers to sustainable forms of development.

One example: Minimum driveway requirements keep vehicles off city streets, but these concrete parking pads eliminate space for gray-water drip irrigation or rainwater harvesting systems — especially on smaller lots.

Likewise, some codes include height restrictions that affect solar panels mounted on roofs.

The county pilot project will put theory into action.

“We want people to see what it is we’re actually talking about,” said Gordy Euler, a county planner.

The house will ultimately be occupied by a tenant who will agree to provide a security presence on the 80-acre site along Northeast 78th Street. The tenant will also do small-scale farming on two acres surrounding the house, and be willing to throw open the doors to the public for occasional open house events.

Vancouver architect Timothy Buckley is designing the 1,555-square-foot house.

He also worked on the design of an ultra-green house envisioned for a Felida subdivision two years ago, which, until it fizzled with the economic recession, was intended to generate as much energy as it consumes and capture and reuse all of its own water.

Buckley said the Hazel Dell house will include plenty of sustainable features but without the steep incremental cost required to achieve net-zero energy and water consumption.

“That was one of the elements that bothered me,” Buckley said. “It wasn’t affordable.”

Stephanie Rice of The Columbian contributed to this report.