Faculty member’s home grabs green attention

Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 12:39 AM

Big Thunder, the home of a faculty member at the University of Nevada, Reno, uses solar panels and recycled water, among other things, to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Sagebiel said the home produces almost as much energy as it uses. Photo courtesy of John Sagebiel

Few Americans have experienced living “off grid,” or without city power or plumbing. For John Sagebiel, living off grid has been a work in progress since 2001.

Sagebiel, the environmental affairs, health and safety manager for the University of Nevada, Reno and his wife Mary Cablk, an associate research professor at the Desert Research Institute, completed a home in 2003 that uses almost no electricity. In August, Sagebiel was featured in a Christian Science Monitor article for the energy-saving abode he calls “Big Thunder.”

Attention has been drawn to the house because of its innovative design, which in several ways saves water and electricity. The home’s eco-friendly elements include the usage of graywater — already used in the shower or sink — for irrigation, an electricity-generating photovoltaic system and a solar thermal system. The house’s solar thermal system uses the sun to heat water in the house through panels on the roof.

Sagebiel said he is most often questioned about the cost of constructing the home, which is located in southwest Reno. But he said the real question is what he saves by living there.

“This is a way to get a triple bottom line, not only environmentally, but economically and socially as well,” Sagebiel said. “Economically, it’s paid off for me. Environmentally, it’s lower impact. And socially, I’m investing in my community.”

Local architect Don Clark of Cathexes, Inc. persuaded the couple to think not only about those factors, but what its design meant to them. Sagebiel’s decision to invest in Nevada-based contractors was grounded in a desire to contribute to the local economy, he said.

“If you look more broadly at the larger impact of what it is you’re doing, it’s going to be cheaper to invest locally and is economically better for your community,” he said.

The house receives an abundance of sunlight because of its location on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The excess energy is credited and stored for use in the winter. In the summer, more energy is generated than used, and some excess is given to other homes in the area. Over the course of a year, Big Thunder’s net energy use is close to zero, Sagebiel said.

Kate Schnieder, a 21-year-old psychology major who spent time as an intern with Earthship Biotecture, a sustainable home initiative headquartered in New Mexico, said homes like Big Thunder use innovation to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

“(These homes) are about taking advantage of the natural landscape,” she said. “We used a lot of glass on the walls so that the sun can reach the insulated back walls.”

The water pressure is based on gravity and uses calculated angles for the roof to collect water into its many gutters.

The house has drawn the attention of many interest groups and has been covered in the Reno Gazette-Journal and Channel 4 News.

Sagebiel also programmed a website for his house with pictures of the construction, explanations of the photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, a blog and detailed descriptions of the architecture and design.

After having enough time to get to know his home, Sagebiel said he is happy with the results.

“The best thing I can say is that after living in that house seven years I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said. “I wouldn’t move a wall. It’s just…right.”

Coree J. Hogan can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.