This month's Studio issue looks at David Zimmerman's Taos studio, which was built off the power grid and uses a passive solar design. The building's architect, Ken Anderson of Edge Architects in Taos, a firm specializing in sustainable design, says you don't need to build your studio from scratch in order to save energy.   His company has performed many renovations that help homeowners and business people conserve resources and lower their utility bills.
    Anderson gave PDN some of his tips for renovating a home or business to save energy and cut utility costs.

Insulate your envelope.  "The general concept," Anderson says, "is to keep the heat your paying for inside your building." In a typical frame house, the space between the frame is a cavity that has to be filled with insulation—electrical outlets, window frames and other cuts in the walls produce drafts. In contrast, the outside walls of Zimmerman's studio are made of 12-inch thick, concrete-filled rasta blocks for exterior walls; these provide twice the insulation required under local building codes.   To insulate the roof of Zimmerman's studio, the builders used 11-inches of Icynene, a spray foam that fills gaps better than fiberglass, Anderson says.
    How do you add insulation to your own home? Anderson says, "It depends on what you have got to work with. "We've done projects where we've built frame walls on the inside of the house to add more  insulation inside that cavity; we've done projects where we've added rigid insulation to the outside of the building and put stucco or siding over it."

Know where south is. "That's where most of the sun is coming from," Anderson says, and maximize the sunlight that comes into your home or office, you  can lower your heating costs in the winter. "We've done projects where we've added some kind of green house or a sun room on the south side of the building, so we can get that to heat up and then allow that heat to transfer to the rest of the building." By building these spaces with overhangs, awnings or light shelves mounted on the inside  walls, it's possible to block the sunlight in summer, when the sun is highest in the sky and you want to keep the space cool. Investing in shades, particularly those made with reflective material,   can help cut air conditioning costs.

Go even a little bit solar.   You may not be able to match the 18 solar panels powering Zimmerman's computers, printers, refrigerators and more but, "It's very easy to do a grid-tie system with photo voltaic tiles," Anderson says. "Basically, even though you're connected to the [power company] grid, by adding solar panels, you can often get enough electricity during the day, depending on the size of your building, to completely offset your electric bill. Or, in some cases, you can get your electric meter spinning backwards." Solar panels are a big investment up front,  but one that pays for itself in the long-term. "Typically for smaller residential systems, it's typically a ten-year pay back."

Catch water and save it. More and more cities are requiring some plan for harvesting rain and snow water in any new construction; in some areas, there are tax incentives for adding rain-collection systems to an older home.  Anderson notes, "We encourage all our projects have some type of rainwater harvesting. There's no reason if you own building why you shouldn't be harvesting rainwater." In addition, there are ways to cut down on water consumption. Zimmerman chose to install dual-flush toilets in his studio, home and guest house; Anderson has also designed homes that use composting toilets, which use no water at all.  Anderson, who is based in the American Southwest, says, "You have to know where your water is coming from, and how you're using and wasting it."
 
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