A do-it-yourself dream: NLJ's Green Home experts board takes a look at the handiwork of homeowners and builders Maria Muscarella and Toby Crawley.

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In last April's Annual Green Building issue, we brought you a special Green Home Showcase: an interview with Maria Muscarella and her family about the eco-friendly home they were building with their own hands and the helpful hands of friends and relatives. They completed their house shortly after the interview ran, so our Green Home Experts Board members decided to follow up with the couple one year later and take a look at their finished product.

The story of Maria Muscarella and Toby Crawley's eco-friendly home actually begins with an eco-friendly 390-square foot cabin. The couple began designing what would become their dream borne back in 2006 and built the small cabin to live in during the building process. Their cabin itself was built sustainably in only six weeks from salvaged wood and old pallets that were used for siding. The foundation for the house was poured in 2007, and for the 15 months of building that followed, the couple stayed in the cabin and used an outhouse, a pioneer way of life Maria admits was fun at first but became challenging during the first winter.

Both the cabin and completed home now stand on their 25 wooded acres in Leicester, NC. They chose to build their house where a house previously sat on the property before it burned clown in the early 1980s. Maria says the land wasn't in great condition: it had since become a hangout for teenagers and their four-wheelers, which had clone a number to the soil and roots of existing trees.

They harvested these and other poplar trees from the site for various elements inside the house as well as for one of the house's main features: its cordwood walls. Any needed additional wood was purchased from a local sawmill that uses local sources or was "harvested" and recycled from places like Habitat for Humanity and local recycling bins. Their friends and family also pitched in not just their time and labor but materials as well, including the oak for their custom bathroom counter. All wood flooring in the home was salvaged from the dumpster; the couple estimates at least seven or eight different types of wood make up their patchwork floor-from maple to cherry and even pear. Other materials and elements were salvaged and reused, too, including interior doors and almost all of the house's windows.

To be sure they wouldn't feel the harsh winter in their new space as they had in their cabin and outhouse, Maria and Toby opted for a wood stove as well as radiant floor heating on the home's first floor. The house was carefully sited facing south in order to collect heat from the sun, and an active solar system of two solar panels provides heating for the radiant slab system as well as domestic hot water. They used a cordwood masonry technique to create the inside and outside walls for the lower level. A sawdust and lime mortar mixture used to set the cordwood provides the insulation. The upper level of the house

I was traditionally framed with Icynene insulation. The north side of the home is earth-bermed, which also helps to regulate temperature, keeping the house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. For now, the couple is on the grid, but they hope to have gone completely solar in the future.

To conserve electricity and natural resources, Maria and Toby installed low-flow showerheads and a low-flow, dual-flush toilet, which they estimate saves 14 gallons a day. The two say their utility bills now average between $35 and $40.

All indoor and outdoor finishes used were low to no-VOC products, the majority of which came from the Asheville-based company Earthpaint. The cordwood and lime mortar in the house should help to draw moisture out of the air, Maria says, so they don't foresee a need for mechanical dehumidification.

The house's exterior sports a living roof on both the first and second stories--the couple has access to the roof from their master Bedroom. While it did cost more than a standard roof to install, this option will help restore the footprint of their home as well as reduce runoff. They also note that the living roof won't need to be resurfaced, just one of the reasons they believe their house will stand up well to the elements and daily living over the years. A onetime re-mortaring after the cordwood has finished shrinking should be all that wilt need to Be clone to the cordwood walls to help them provide good insulation for the future.

In addition to re-vegetating the property with the living roof, Maria and Toby have planted almost 20 fruit trees and shrubs since officially moving in-including berry, grape and nut trees--as a final culmination to realizing their dream. "We imagined the house, designed it, and created it ourselves. We, along with our friends, have driven every nail in it. Literally, our blood, sweat and tears are in the home. The pocket doors, the secret rooms, the handmade lamps and carvings in the walls; these are things you wouldn't find in other houses. They are our creations!" Maria exclaims.

She and Toby plan to stay in their dream home as long as possible, eventually opening their land to others in order to realize their other goal of a sustainable community. In the meantime, they're working on their next green "house": a guest cabin.

For more information about Maria and Toby's house and their DIY green building adventures, visit their blog at http://tobiascrawley.net/house/. To read their interview in our April 2008 Green Building issue, visit www.newlifejournal.com and click on the 2008 archives.

Specifications

Location

Leicester, NC

Size

1,350 square feet

Price Tag

$105,000 to build

Completed

Spring 2008

Top Green Points

Environmental

Home build on previous home site

Small footprint

Wood harvested from site

Local and salvaged wood used throughout

Additional materials salvaged, including doors and windows

Living roof

Edible landscaping

Low-toxicity

No and low-VOC paints and finishes

No need for mechanical dehumidification

Efficiency

Home sited for passive solar gain

Icynene[c], sawdust and lime mixture insulation

Low-flow showerheads

Low-flow, dual-flush toilet

Solar hot water and radiant floor heating

New Life Journal's Green Home Experts Say ...

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Clarke Snell of Think Green Building: "I really like the use of salvaged materials for interior finishes, such as the beautiful hardwood floor that they pulled out of a dumpster. The living roof was wonderful, and cordwood construction in a code building is pioneering that helps all of us. A successful owner-builder project is more than the house. It's a vision quest that produces stronger, more self-sufficient people. Maria and Toby really went for it by not only building themselves but also choosing materials with which code officials aren't familiar. Now safe on the other side, they have a unique, personal building that they built themselves. They've created a bond to a building that will help them stay put and avoid the urge to move around that afflicts our culture. Only if you stay put can you really build a homestead and start reaching toward a sustainable lifestyle."

Janeanne Narrin of ECO-STEWARD Realty: "This home is as interesting as it is unique. I applaud Maria and Toby for their creativity and thrifty ways. I am attracted to resourceful, sustainable building. And this they have attempted with zeal and success. I especially liked the atmosphere inside. From the colorful glass inserts in the very thick walls where window sills can serve as perches to the use Of rescued marble and granite, I noticed a cohesive energy that comes together beautifully, creating charm throughout the home."

Isaac Savage of Home Energy Partners: "I appreciate the use of reclaimed materials in this residence, from the cast-away granite countertops to the salvaged interior doors. I also like the idea of using the slab as their thermal storage tank. I applaud their willingness to ~ this out for a healing season instead of purchasing a hot water storage tank from the start. Their intense focus on 'green' manifested in a very beautiful home".

Jody Guokas of JAG Construction: "This is a great example of a well-executed DIY green home. I was very impressed with Maria and Toby's persistence and ability to complete this project on their own. The solar radiant floor heat with no fossil fuel backup is most impressive. Though I'm sure they will experience some cold winter nights stoking the wood stove, I'm sure most of the year their house will be toasty without the use of any fossil fuels. The green roof was the other most impressive feature of this house. It made for a very attractive space that on most houses would be the most unattractive space. If everyone in the world went about building their own home like this couple, I think we would live in a much more sustainable world. Unfortunately, not all people have the drive or the persistence to complete a project like this. I've seen a lot of DIY projects that have gone unfinished over the years, and in turn wasted materials. It's obvious that Maria and Toby did their homework and had a pretty good idea about how to build efficiently and effectively."

Michael Figura of Eco Concepts Realty: "Maria and Toby are an excellent example of people who are trying to make the transition from being dependent on city comforts to living off the land. They have a sustainably built house that uses local materials, they work from home, and they are starting to produce their Own fund!"

One Step Further ...

While the Board was impressed with the many eco-friendly features of this home, they discuss here a few areas that could have been further addressed as well as offer some guidance to those considering building their own green dream home.

Be Cautious With Cordwood

"I like cordwood, but it has its problems," says Clarke Snell. "Maria and Toby's wood is already shrinking in its joints, causing air infiltration and loss of performance. The standard solutions are to use caulk or a synthetic log chinking. My own preferepce for cordwood is a cob mortar that will be more flexible and easier to repair when shrinkage occurs. I would also consider plastering die exterior of cordwood walls to seal any leakage and protect the wood from water." Echoing Clarke's concerns about cordwood, Jody Guokas wonders how the home would perform in a blower door test.

Watch Your Wood Stove

"I would have liked to see a combustion air supply for the fireplace in this home," says Isaac Savage. "It appears that this is the main source of heat, so it's a shame that it will be sucking all of the hot air out of the house while it's operating. This suction will also cause air to infiltrate the home. If combustion air was supplied directly to the firebox, the fire could provide a nice radiant heat while allowing the home to retain its warm air."

Clarke Snell also comments on efficiency. "One disadvantage of being owner builders, especially these days when energy efficiency is so important to our collective futures, is that it's a tall order for a first-time builder to carefully design a house planned so that the sun, building envelope, and mechanical systems work together, each doing their part to create interior comfort efficiently."

Carefully Create Community

"Maria and Toby have a good idea to grow a community of families in their area so that they can live in the country within a community and not have to drive into town to have the benefits of a neighborhood," says Michael Figura. "An important aspect for them and others to consider when creating a community in the country is to ensure that homes are clustered in a compact development pattern so that the land is preserved for farming and forest. Another consideration for creating a community in the county is to ensure that people who live in the community have goals fur being self-sufficient and not driving into town frequently."