ecohome guy

We told you in a previous post about Eden House that the green roof wouldn't be limited to vegetation. As promised, the home now has a brand new Apricus solar thermal panel installed. Technically it's wall-mounted, but high enough to be part of the roof line. Architect David Butler also made sure the panel does double-duty as an awning over one of the windows, so it blocks the sun's summer azimuth and prevents solar gain inside the house.

The Apricus system uses evacuated tube technology mounted in an array on the southfacing wall to capture much of the day's sun as it tracks across the sky. The tubes have a liquid in them that is heated by the sun and transferred to the water heater in a continuous loop. In this fashion a significant portion of the home's energy requirements for hot water heating is off-set -- typically in the 50% - 80% range.

After HVAC, water heaters are the second largest consumers of energy in the home. And since sunshine is still free, the owners can enjoy protection from future energy shortages and/or price hikes.

Here's some pics of the installation with more views of the vegetative roof at no extra cost.

Green roofs are becoming a common feature of our listings. Jennifer Spivey and I just sold two homes last month that were the first new residential units in Atlanta to have a vegetative roof installed. LEEDing Edge in Old Fourth Ward also has a partial green roof incorporated into a roof terrace with city views.

Our newest listing sporting a green roof is Eden House on Moreland Avenue [FMLS #3922206]. Eden House is a modern green ecohome designed by architect David Butler with many sustainable features we will tell you about in upcoming posts. None of the home's features make a more dramatic statement than the extensive vegetated roof. The roof over the first floor area has a variety of sedums and succulants planted in 2 - 3 inches of growing medium on top of a rubberized membrane. Rainwater from the second floor roof is captured in two rain barrels that are equipped to drip irrigate the roof plants.

Dual rainbarrels for drip irrigation of green roof

This green roof will:

• Reduce heating and cooling loads on the home
• Increase the roof life span
• Reduce stormwater run-off
• Filter pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air

Just got an email from David saying they are installing something else today that makes this a green roof, technology-wise. A panel made up of evacuated tubes similar to long thermos bottles are being mounted to catch the sun's heat and transfer it to the hot water heater. This solar thermal system will supply most of the home's hot water needs. More on that later!

Installing the green roof

Eden house green roof gets watered after installation