know the site's natural features — from its 

 topography and how a heavy rain drains, to 

 its dominant trees and the way the sun moves 

 across the landscape through the seasons. 



Working with nature's boundaries 

 makes sense. For example, the transition 

 zone between the live oak-dominated upper 

 dune and the hickory-dominated bottom dune 

 seemed to create the perfect location for their 

 foundation and driveway. Besides requiring the 

 least land disturbance, it opened up the south- 

 facing dune line. 



"Due south is the cornerstone of site 

 planning," says White. "It's essential for both 

 active and passive solar." 



Nature boosts the efficiency of the house 

 in many ways, including the sun-filled rooms 

 provided by passive solar. The foundation is 

 nestled into the side of the sand dune — its 

 year-round moderate temperature helps heat 

 and cool the house. The roofline of the three- 

 story house is even with the top of the live oak 

 tree canopy, which buffers winds and shades 

 the house from summer sun. 



WASTE NOT, WANT NOT 



Saver used his mechanical know-how 

 to develop the backbone of the household's 

 innovative rainwater reuse system — a high- 

 tech adaptation of cisterns used in bygone days. 



A dedicated gutter and downspout 

 channels rainwater off the roof, through a filter 

 and into an outdoor 2,100-gallon storage tank 

 for use in toilets and landscape irrigation. 



For personal consumption and other 

 household water needs, the system is more 

 complex. Gutters and down spouts also route 

 rainwater from the roof, through two filter 

 systems, and into two, 2,100-gallon tanks in 

 the garage/basement area. A final pass through 

 an ultraviolet purification system, and sweet- 

 tasting water is delivered to sink taps. 



The filtered water also feeds two, 

 80-gallon tanks located in the laundry room 

 — otherwise known as Command Central. It's 

 here that rainwater reuse and renewable solar 

 energy technologies meet. 



Simply put, in a compactly engineered 

 system, an antifreeze solution flows through 

 a closed system from the roof-mounted solar 

 panels to heat coils in the tanks. And, presto, 

 hot treated rainwater on demand for sinks, tubs, 



showers and laundry. 



In addition, solar-heated water is pumped 

 to a unique radiant heating system. The water 

 circulates through tubing installed beneath 

 floors throughout the house to provide a 

 healthy, evenly distributed, ductless heat source. 

 Like traditional systems, it is controlled by a 

 two-zone thermostat system. 



They have planned for "what-if ' 

 contingencies, such as a drought. Saver 

 installed a back-up system to enable them to tap 

 into city water during dry spells. So far, that has 

 not happened. In fact, shortly after moving into 

 their home in August, they recorded two, frog- 

 strangling rainfalls, each more than six inches. 



Still, they are not taking the abundance 

 of rain for granted. The tanks can store two 

 months worth of water, but the couple is 

 carefully monitoring daily water use to develop 

 a consumption "track record." Rainfall is 



CLOCKWISE FROM TOP OF THIS PAGE: The tree-top deck wraps around the main living level. • 

 The house was constructed from top to bottom and from inside out with environmentally friendly 

 materials. • Nancy White and Dennis Saver welcome guests into their 'clean and green' home. 

 • Dennis Saver, left, explains to Walter Clark how renewable solar energy and reusable rainwater 

 converge in a compactly engineered system. 



12 WINTER 2005 



