Our vision

Anybody who has talked to me in the past 7 years has heard a lot--maybe too much!--about our Olson Lake House project. For everyone else, here's a quick introduction to our vision and our decision to undertake this challenging project.

Tom and I knew we wanted to return to Minnesota for retirement and I loved the location of the home where I grew up. I also knew that the original house, a cinder block structure built in 1957, with no insulation in the walls, minimal insulation in the attic, heat ducts in the uninsulated attic space, and the entry into the house from the garage through the master bedroom, had so many things wrong with it that it would not be a good candidate for remodeling or a deep energy retrofit.

I have had a long-time deep interest in energy and the environment. The GreenBuild Conference in Chicago led to my taking classes in sustainable design from Boston Architectural College, where I became acutely aware of the seriousness of issues around global warming and the role our use of energy plays in it. My goal for the classes was to learn enough so that I could be an informed, active participant in the design of our new home. I was fortunate to be able to use the proposed home as the basis for the class project in most of my courses, immediately applying what I was learning and making the coursework very real. I don’t believe a house can be sustainably built unless it is tight, durable, energy efficient, treads lightly on the environment, and is free of toxic materials. The construction and operation of buildings are responsible for nearly 50% of our energy use. Energy has been my primary focus, but all aspects of sustainability are important to me.

Our vision for this home encapsulates the following salient features:

It is designed for aging in place, with all the needed amenities available on one floor and is adaptable to our changing needs.
It provides a healthy environment, uses materials that have a minimal environmental impact, are non-toxic, both in their production and in their use.
It uses materials that are local to the greatest extent possible, providing local jobs, keeping the money in local economy, and minimizing energy used in transportation.
It is durable, requiring a minimal amount of maintenance.
It is comfortable.
It is energy efficient. Since energy is a major focus of mine, one goal has been to get it as close to net zero energy as possible, meaning that the house will produce as much energy as it consumes.
One of my goals from the beginning has been to use the house as an educational tool, to raise awareness, to show others how to build (and live) sustainably, and that doing so can be done at little increase in cost over traditional building practices.