A ‘green’ house south of Spokane

I hope everyone’s holidays were merry and bright. I’d meant to mention a couple of Christmas books for green-minded folks, but those 12 Days of Crafting must have zapped me of all my bloggy juice. In case you’re already planning for next year, check out:

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas , by Anna Getty

and

A Greener Christmas , by Sheherazade Goldsmith

Moving on to the New Year …

Good friends of ours hosted a New Year’s Day lunch yesterday at the house they just finished building off Highway 195. It’s gorgeous, and it’s green.

The home is built with an ICF wall system, meaning, basically, that the exterior walls of the house have a concrete core wrapped in insulating foam making the house extremely energy efficient. The walls are also quite thick, much like the walls of a strawbale house.

ICF walls are also a fire retardant (again, much like strawbale) and are rot, mildew and termite resistant.

The floors of our friends’ house is concrete, with radiant heating underneath. The result: the best of both worlds. The house has a clean, modern, airy look with the coziness and warmth of a little cottage. And during the summer, those concrete floors will help keep the house cool without the need for air conditioning.

The house has other green features, like dual-flushing toilets (press one button when you need a little water, press the other when you need some more).

Our friends completed most of the construction themselves, and the results are impressive. You can see more pictures of the home here . I apologize that I don’t have an exterior shot of the house. Trust me, it’s lovely and I’ll bring my camera next time I visit to capture that.

Does anyone know of other ICF homes in the Spokane area? I don’t recall any on the tour of green homes during Sustainable September, but perhaps more are under construction now.