Timber, adobe and straw bale construction in Pagosa Springs photo courtesy Kevin Weiser and Jennifer Martin

As owners who are also very hands-on with the construction of their environmentally conscious home, Pagosans Kevin Weiser and Jennifer Martin have valuable experiences to share with others in our community that are considering building "green." When I first visited the jobsite during the construction phase, their hard work—truly labors of love—was obvious as I was given a tour of the framed but incomplete structure on a remote piece of property with stunning views. As we talked on a particularly cold afternoon, we sat close by the wood stove, winter jackets zipped tight, and it became apparent they knew what they were getting into from day one, and were happy to answer any questions I had.

Suzanne Matthiessen: Why did you decide to build a "green" home?

Jennifer Martin: I think it's just how both of us have lived. We specifically chose to build an "off the grid" house that would have to be solar, and not participate in all the consumerism and the wrecking of the planet. This is all reflective of our personal world, I guess.

Kevin Weiser: Basically, the long-term energy value of green building is what you have to be after.

SM: So when you bought this property it was without any intention of ever "tapping in?"

KW: Yeah, I was hoping that power never comes up here. My neighbors have talked about [running power to their properties] and they've gotten prices and it blew them away—and I was like, "cool!" As long as they don't [run the power line] past me, then I'll be all right.
I told Jennifer and Kevin what solar energy expert David Conrad told me about how La Plata used to rebate homeowners back the money they had to invest to bring power to their property, but no longer do so. Both of them nodded, and said that was a factor in investing in a solar power system.

KW: They charge you to use their power, so why do I want to pay them so I can keep paying them?

JM: And since we have so much sun here, it makes sense to use [solar].

KW: The water situation in Pagosa is very similar. It's cheaper for me to fill up my tanks than it is to get water pumped to the house. The up-front cost is too high. I think if everybody hauled their water, everyone's consumption would be a lot more conscious.
Kevin purchased the property back in the mid-90s, and finally had the opportunity to build in 2004. I asked that once the decision to build was made, how they began the process.

JM: We first drew out on graph paper what we wanted our house to look like. We both knew we wanted straw bale right off. Kevin worked for Earthblock, and had built adobe houses, so we knew we wanted to have an adobe wall, and we liked the insulating factor of straw bale. We felt that with a hot and cold environment, straw bale would be better for our area. From there, we knew a friend of ours that did timber framing. We didn't want to do a load bearing straw bale because of problems that has and we knew the building department would never go for that. So we decided on a timber house with the straw infilling the walls. We knew the structure would be really solid.

SM: When you went to get your building permit, did you run into problems?

JM: No, they took a little longer, but we didn't really have any problems with it. We had our plans stamped by an engineer.

KW: It was a process. From the time it went from just talking about it on graph paper, to us having large-scale prints of different ratios of 1/4 – 1" scale, and the revisions took time.

JM: That part took a year. Nine months.

KW: Six to eight months, until we got the permit. The building department didn't have any questions we couldn't answer. We broke ground May 1, 2004.

JM: The only major hang-up we had was financing. And we knew that was going to be a problem, so we started in January 2004, talking to banks, bringing them all of our information, we were completely up front with them, and told them right away this was an owner/builder straw bale house. A lot of people said no right away. Some said, "We'll do straw bale, but not off the grid." Or, "We'll do solar owner/builder, but not straw bale."

SM: What were their reasons for that?

KW: Resale.

SM: Oh right, if they have to foreclose.

KW: Yeah. So they see solar, and say, "Our resale client market goes down 10%. Straw bale? Oh, just dropped another 10%. Or even twenty." And then they say, "Well our potential market of who would buy this place would only be 5%."

JM: Yeah, even though we own the property, and we have really good credit, and the debt-to-income ratio they wanted to see, with all of that still, there were two many "non-conforming" things. One lender said, straw bale sure, but then when it came close to closing they said, "Oh it's solar too?" even though we'd told them, and it wouldn't go through.

KW: We could have hid the fact it was straw bale, and plastered it and they wouldn't know, but why would you want to hide the fact you have an (insulation) R-value of 50, which the straw bale gives you? To me the value of your house should not only be valued as a dollar, but as a long-term dollar. You can't just put a dollar price just as what you'd sell it on the market. Depending on what you use, you could have a little bit different value because of the wood you use, or the floor—everything you use should be considered when looking at the value of a house.

Timber framing and straw bales. Photo courtesy of Kevin Weiser and Jennifer Martin

JM: I think that more people are starting to do it though. Now Pagosa has straw/clay houses, we have adobe houses, we have straw bale houses, so I think more and more people are starting to do it [build green]. At least it wasn't like the banks didn't know what we were talking about.

SM: A bit of history in Pagosa with this sort of building helps.

JM: Yeah. But if we lived in Aspen, we could have gotten our solar funded.

SM: So within the state of Colorado, there are pockets of incentives, but there's nothing here in Pagosa.

KW: No. But we felt that why not start a trend in terms of solar electricity? If people who still live in the cities or wherever are supplementing their power with solar panels, they can now sell power back to the companies if they produce enough.

SM: Did you end up finding a local lender?

JM: We went through a family member at first. But we do have a local lender now after that happened. Wells Fargo came through.

SM: Did you have a dollar figure that you believed it was going to cost, or were there a lot of variables that you weren't sure of?

KW: We had it pretty narrowed down, but there are always your overruns. That is a variable, depending on a) who your laborers are, and b) this year, cost of materials. You can keep a control on the cost of laborers, but materials are materials.

JM: We didn't know there was going to be a war. But we did do a whole budget in the planning process. 

Kevin and Jennifer and friends celebrate the raising of the timber frame structure. The exterior walls were later filled in with either adobe or straw bales. Photo courtesy Kevin Weiser and Jennifer Martin

SM: Looking from where you are now in the building process, from what you thought it was going to cost, how close are you?

JM: We'll still be within what we got our loan from the bank for. But we were hoping to come in a lot under that.

KW: With sweat equity being part of it. I haven't added it up exactly, but family and friends put in time. It's definitely rewarding building your own home.

SM: When you got your financing, then you brought Frank Freer of Lower Piedra Design in?

JM: We planned on keeping him through the end of the timber framing.

KW: I did the foundation with a friend, poured the slab and got it ready for the timber frame, which we'd contracted with Frank to do. We got the wood from Chama, brought it to Arboles, which seems a bit redundant, but with the weather patterns last summer and the rain, if we'd brought it here, we'd probably have just begun framing in November! So the timber frames took about two months, with three—four guys working on it. And then we raised it here in about four hours with about twenty-five people and the crane, put the roof on, and began putting up the straw bales, as it is very important to keep them dry. Then we put up the adobe wall on the south end for the solar.

JM: We were pretty good about planning ahead for things. We also had very little waste.

KW: Yeah, that's important for keeping the project on track and within budget as much as possible. We'd hoped to do more over the summer when we had friends and family to help, but when it got colder we had to pay guys to help get the roof on, so that's where some of our costs went up. Some banks only give you six—nine months to build, and by building an alternative home they don't realize it's got more labor and takes a little bit longer. I saw a big [conventionally-built] house go up in seven days. It blew me away. And I just wondered, "How is that thing fastened to the ground?" I know we've got a bunch of straw bales and the '"Big Bad Wolf" might blow it down, but he's gonna have to bring an army of wolves, because this place is pretty solid.

SM: We've discusses the exterior of the home, so now I'd like to ask what you're doing with the interior to keep it environmentally sound?

JM: We used a German-made product called Bio-Shield on all the wood to stain and seal, which we purchased in Santa Fe. It's basically linseed with essential oils. We did an adobe floor, which is the same thing we are putting on our walls, and we'll seal that the same way. We're going to try not to use any drywall for the interior walls. We're looking at straw board or wheat board.

KW: We're of course concerned about the environmental impact, but also the longevity aspect, and the value over the years. You place clay/straw/sand on your walls an inch to two inches thick, and in fifty years it's gonna be an inch to an inch and five-eighths. It's still going to be a mass on the walls.

JM: We chose to do a clay plaster both inside and outside, not do the synthetic stucco that a lot of places are doing now, so that it's a natural, breathable wall. We'll mix in natural pigments into the clay plaster. And we'll be using tile and stone.

SM: Are you using both wind and solar power?

JM: Just solar right now. We might add wind.

SM: What has been the most challenging part of the project?

JM: I guess for me just trying to stay patient and just let it happen on its own schedule. We haven't tried to rush anything, but I'd like to see it done now. We've been working every day for the last eight months and we're still not in it yet! So that's the hardest part–the time factor.

SM: Do you think for the "average person" that the sweat equity factor is a huge part of the affordability of a green home and something you'd recommend?

KW: With sweat equity its tough, because there's different levels of skills. So that's what comes into play: what skills do you bring to the table with you to the jobsite, how you use those skills, and can you learn other skills? I'd learned the timber framing skills, I learned how to build adobe homes and thought, "You sure can build an affordable home this way"—but you need a lot of skills.

JM: And a lot of tools.

KW: Yes, that's how I judged my laborers—what skills they had and what tools they could bring.

JM: And I'm not a skilled laborer at all, so there were only certain things I could do, but I've learned a lot too, and have done things I'd never thought of doing.

SM: What would you suggest to anyone who is in the "thinking about doing this" position?

KW: Go participate on somebody else's project. Get your hands in it. Stacking straw bales isn't fun, and I'm not making it glorious because it's dirty work. Ask questions. Educate yourself on different labor saving techniques. Know what it takes to build a house, even if you aren't hands-on.

SM: What books did you find to be the most helpful?

JM: Serious Straw Bale: A Home Construction Guide for All Climates was the most user-friendly.

KW: Tedd Benson's books on timber framing as well. We read a lot of books though, and compared how each person approached certain situations. There's 101 ways you can do things, but it comes down to how you can work the most efficiently, most cost effectively, and how to build things that will have longevity.

SM: How many of the materials were you able to find within a relatively short distance in order to reduce the environmental impact of shipping, and thereby, energy costs?

KW: Almost everything. The insulated panels for the ceiling came from Washington, so that's the only thing from far away. All the wood was local. The dirt for the blocks came from Ignacio. But the rest came from a 250-mile radius maximum. Chama is right there. Alamosa isn't that far away.

SM: What else would you like people to know about building a green home in Pagosa?

JM: It's a lot of work, but it's really worth it. You're building a house that is going to be here for generations, and the satisfaction of knowing you've built a home that is energy-wise and earth friendly is very special.

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