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Building a ‘green’ house
Carrie Zaenglein’s straw bale-insulated house is only the second of its kind in Western New York. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI
Carrie Zaenglein always wanted to build an ecologically responsible home. She just didn’t think she’d ever have the chance. But when a fire destroyed her Depew-area house, she decided to make a lifestyle change that would dramatically reduce her environmental footprint.
Inspired by an article she read in the UB Reporter about the straw greenhouse built on Buffalo’s West Side, Zaenglein, an office manager in the Office of Information Resources in the UB School of Dental Medicine, reached out to the greenhouse builder, Kevin Conners, an adjunct instructor in the School of Architecture and Planning, for help.
Together, Connors and Zaenglein drew up plans to build her new 1,300-square-foot house, less than half the size of her old home. “I didn’t need that much space—it didn’t make sense—especially in this economy,” Zaenglein explains.
Designed to naturally utilize the sun’s summer and winter angles, the new house will have solar panels and a passive solar-heating system, and will be insulated naturally with straw bales plastered between the walls, making the house fireproof and weatherproof.
Zaenglein’s goal is to have a zero-energy house. That means that during the summer, she will make more energy than she uses, making her electricity grid meter run backward. She will earn credit she can borrow against during the winter when she’s not making as much energy.
Zaenglein also is incorporating salvaged materials from her old house and used materials from Buffalo ReUse and Habitat ReStore into the new design. “We are trying to balance affordability versus the ecological impact,” she says.
The cost of Zaenglein’s “green” house is comparable to using traditional building materials. Although some materials cost more initially, she will pay less for her utility bills and she also will receive additional tax incentives because her home is Energy Star compliant.
Zaenglein’s house is only the second of its kind in Western New York. And with straw bales scattered across her driveway, the building of her green house hasn’t gone unnoticed by her neighbors and passers-by. But she welcomes the opportunity to inform those interested about this more environmentally friendly alternative to modern home-building.
“Some people think it’s crazy,” she says. “It’s not like it’s the three little pigs’ house. It’s totally new to people, but it’s actually a very old building practice.”
She credits a former co-worker, Janice Cochran, a registered dietician in Wellness Education Services, for getting her involved in environmental causes initially through vegetarianism. “She helped me understand how eating meat impacts the environment,” Zaenglein explains. From vegetarianism, she got involved in recycling and began reading more about environmental issues. “To me, once I know something I have to do something. I can’t just keep it in my head,” she says.
The house will be completed this winter. After it’s finished, it won’t look much different from others in the neighborhood—except that Zaenglein’s home will have a white-plaster exterior instead of vinyl.
Zaenglein believes her house is a perfect example of what any of us can do to reduce our energy consumption on a personal level. “It’s about what people can do, what’s possible for the environment and for their ecological footprint,” she adds.
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