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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 6, 2005 Solar power on Beach Tour showcases renewable energy innovations in city By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Edith Forrester of Ashland pets her dog before watering her plants in her backyard. Forrester has a rainwater collection system that allows her to collect the rain water and use it for watering. Photos by Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings When most people first hear about solar water-heating systems that can be installed on roofs, they like the notion of using the sun’s energy but blanch at the vision of a bulky tank squatting atop their house. But Ashland residents Alex and Edith Forrester heat their water through two slim panels that lie flat against the roof and look almost exactly like solar panels. Water warmed by the rays of the sun circulates down to a basement tank. A backup gas boiler helps boost the water temperature during cloudy weather. The Forresters are welcoming people to their Beach Street home on Saturday as part of the third annual Ashland Green & Solar Home Tour of four houses. They will answer questions about the myriad steps they took to use renewable energy, improve their indoor air quality and use environmentally friendly building practices and materials when they remodeled their home. Although Alex Forrester has a background in architecture, he said people with no technical training can do the same with their houses. “All we did was get interested in it and ask questions. Anybody who wanted to do any of this would find it’s easy to do,” he said, waving at the couple’s house as he stood amidst a colorful profusion of insect- and wildlife-friendly plants and flowers in the couple’s lawn-free, low water-use front yard. He noted that there is a wealth of knowledgeable people in the area who can help homeowners, and many building materials are available locally. “It doesn’t have to be through-the-roof expensive,” Edith Forrester added. “We were definitely on a budget.” The couple began with a tiny home that had started out as a barn and then been moved to Beach Street in the 1940s. The house was a mere 600 square feet, plus a ramshackle shed. With the remodel and expansion completed in 2003, it now measures 1,500 square feet and has a 300-square-foot shop. The solar water-heating panels rest on a copper-colored metal roof that sheds rainwater into a 1,550-gallon holding tank next to the hot-water tank. The rainwater travels through two filters and a small, flat box where ultraviolet rays kill any viruses or bacteria. The Forresters have a rainwater tap in the kitchen and another in the master bedroom. They use the rainwater for drinking and cooking, while city water serves their other needs. Once the rainwater tank is filled, the overflow is carried to a seasonal creek running across the couple’s property. The Forresters' residence on Beach Street is part of a solar tour Saturday. The Forresters’ residence is equipped with solar water- heating panels and radiant heaters. Residents who lack a seasonal creek but want to use rainwater for drinking or irrigation should connect to the city’s stormwater system to handle the overflow, according to city of Ashland Conservation Analyst Larry Giardina. Using roof water runoff not only reduces household water bills, the practice helps increase the capacity of the city’s stormdrain system and lessens the severity of flood events, he said. The Forresters’ roof has substantial overhangs that help keep the house cool in the summer, while vine-covered trellises at the south and west windows provide additional shade. “The vines are hops and will die down in the winter to let the light in,” Edith Forrester explained. Instead of wood siding, the couple used Hardiplank siding made from cement and wood waste. The Hardiplank, combined with the metal roof, makes the house more fire resistant, Alex Forrester said. The framing studs for the original house were made from rough-cut 2-by-6-inch old-growth lumber. To match the size of the studs, the Forresters had a local millwright cut wood from large local trees that had to be cut because they posed a falling hazard. They saved the existing old-growth flooring, but added Forest Stewardship Council-certified flooring cut from small-diameter trees in the new sections of the house. The basement gas boiler heats water that circulates through radiant heating panels to warm the house in the winter, eliminating the need for a forced-air heating system that can harbor mold, dust and mites. A foil lining above the vaulted ceiling reflects back heat. The Forresters used paint and wood finish that is nontoxic to humans and the environment. “It keeps the people who manufacture it healthy. It keeps the people who paint the house healthy. And we keep ourselves healthy,” Alex Forrester said. “If we gradually get more and more building materials that are healthy, everyone wins.” There is no preregistration for the Ashland Green & Solar Home Tour, which is sponsored by the city of Ashland and Home Power Magazine. Two buses with a combined capacity of 90 people will leave at 9 a.m. from the Ashland Civic Center, 1175 E. Main St. Participants should bring a sack lunch. The tour will end at approximately 2 p.m. In addition to learning about solar and wind electric, solar hot water, solar space heat, rainwater harvest and storage and water conservation systems, participants can hear about financial incentive programs — including city, state and federal tax credits — to implement them. “The tour is a great opportunity to hear from people who have actually applied these technologies, and how they are to live with,” Giardina said. The Ashland tour is one of hundreds of events planned throughout the state and across the country to raise awareness about energy conservation and clean, renewable energy during October, which is Energy Awareness Month. For more information, call the city of Ashland Conservation Division at 552-2065. 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