Good question. We bought this house in Arvada, Colorado on New Years Eve 2011. It is earth sheltered on the north and has passive solar windows and a trombe wall to the south. The garage protects the house on the western windward side which is also the hottest.
There are three bedrooms, a family room, utility room, kitchen and living room with two full and one three quarter bath in the master bedroom. Two bedrooms and a bath have a crawlspace under them and are about 3 feet higher than the rest of the house which is slab on grade. It is our retirement project and another step on our journey towards living our homesteading lifestyle.
Satellite View
Passive solar windows at work.
Sun streaming into living room
Since we are working towards sharing our research with the world (Hello world!), partnering with the premier rating agency for Green Building seemed like a perfect fit for this earth bermed, passive solar 80’s home. The original owners were most likely owner builders like we are and we were instantly drawn to the home and its construction.
After quite a bit of Internet reading about LEED, I signed up for a LEED Green Rater course with Energy Logic, which is in Berthoud, Co, about 2 hours from Arvada.
Energy Logic Logo
Energy Logic is a Colorado LEED provider and we have contracted with them to rate our project. That was the first step towards achieving a certified LEED for Homes gut remodel!