Pownal Home Tour Showcases Energy Use

Staff Reports
iBerkshires
05:20PM / Thursday, June 24, 2010

POWNAL, Vt. — The Pownal Valley Affordable Housing Committee is hosting a tour of local homes on Saturday, June 26, from 11 to 4 that shows the evolving use of passive and active energy uses.

The "How Energy Influences House Design" tour looks at five homes ranging from one of the state's oldest homes, the 1740 Moore/Wright Defoe House, to the brand-new Schell-Lambert House.

The committee was looking for an event that had to do with housing in the area, said tour coordinator Pauline Guntlow, a committee member as well as a home designer and contractor. "The idea occurred to me that there were two alternative energy homes, so we could do something with the focus of how energy affects house design."

The Schell-Lambert House, designed by Guntlow, was built in 2009 and uses a thermal-mass foundation and solar panels for heating; the Dome House, built in 1985, has never been on the grid and still uses its original photovoltaic panels and thermal-mass walls.

The oldest home also uses thermal mass - it just happens to be vertical.

"It is center-chimney construction. The first houses used vertical thermal mass," said Guntlow. Then the Quarry Hill Farm House, remodeled in 1820, took advantage of the newer Franklin Stoves for reflective heat. "Then to the (1890) Victorian when coal came into play ... Energy was thrown out the window."

Oil was first used by the Victorians mainly for kerosene but by 1930, the nation became dependent on oil, she said.

"I think people will understand more how this whole thing has evolved," said Guntlow. "The idea was to make this educational and to encourage people to use alternative energy."

The self-guided tour begins at The Studio Club on Route 7 in Pownal Center with a short video connecting the five homes by looking at how energy use affected their designs. Tour participants will be provided with a map locating the homes.

"When you look at the overall tour, we have better materials today," said Guntlow. "We have the same concept, we're just doing it differently and better."

The tour is free although donations will be appreciated. For more information, contact Guntlow at 802-823-5328.