Where conservation begins

BY GEORGE MYERS JR.
Staff Writer

07/12/2008

UNITY -- One of the state's most unusual homes will be move-in ready by August.

The experimental Unity Home, at Unity College, will serve as an object lesson in environmental sustainability -- classes will be held in the house, the structure's movable walls will be tested and adapted and its insulation marveled over by ecologists and architects.

But wait. A family inside will also scramble their breakfast eggs, play board games, wash their shorts and live as any Mainer does, but perhaps as more conscientious stewards of their environment.

"We want it to be a learning experience for us, and the college and for anyone who wants to live well on the earth," said Unity College President Mitchell Thomashow, one of the home's two future residents.

Thomashow and his wife, Cindy, soon will live the experiment daily.

"On a personal level," Thomashow said Friday, "what I'm most looking forward to is organizing my books. That's really fun for me."

But the larger intent, he said, is to use Unity House "to build relationships and community. That's an important priority."

The house has its own work cut out for it: It is intended to demonstrate that it's possible to construct a home that uses no energy other than what it can generate, and therefore to revolutionize the way homes are built. Inside the plain-looking home are marvels:

• Structural components will last for hundreds of years.

• Parts of the building's wiring or mechanical systems can be easily replaced when they age or become outmoded.

• Because large central supports provide much of the structural strength, the exterior walls incorporate fewer wooden supports and more insulation, and interior spaces can be easily reconfigured.

• Interior walls can be easily moved with hand tools to suit the changing needs of a homeowner or to convert a large space into smaller bedrooms for weekend guests, which at times will include the Thomashows' two adult children.

"From a public perspective," the college president said, "we're eager to explore what it's like to live in a place like this. And we're excited to see what winter brings for us." He said a successful winter means a "self-contained one," meaning that the Thomashows would be able to derive all the energy they need from the sun.

Unity College hopes the house will draw attention to its environmental missions and spur the building of more homes like it nationally.

"We have to do something in order to build better homes," said Hans Porschitz, spokesman for the Bensonwood Company. The New Hampshire-based company is one of the founders of the "Open Prototype" design used within the Unity House.

Porschitz offered a tour of the house as it rapidly came together in Lego-block leaps in early June, showing off the new technology and innovative thinking behind the home's green label.

The 1,900-square-foot house cost about $380,000 to build -- roughly $200 per square foot, plus additional costs for site development, furnishing and landscape work, said Thomashow. The structure and its upkeep aren't part of the college's operating budget, he said.

The upfront cost for the building, or down payment, was subsidized by Unity College's plant and building fund. The monthly payment on the house is equivalent to the president's housing allowance. Thomashow declined to say what that amount is, but noted that it's "quite a bit less" than what college presidents are paid for their allowances in New England's larger towns and cities.

Thomashow said he and his wife are looking forward to hosting community functions in their home, mixing the philanthropic functions that are required of his post with board-game and musical-instrument nights.

"All the comforts of home," as the phrase goes, will mean something different to the Thomashows.

"You've got limitations," he said. "A house that focuses on high-performance will have a concrete slab for a floor, and there are only certain colors you can paint that. It will be artful and functional."

Even the plastic material used to wrap the components is recycled.

With the high price of heating oil and gasoline causing an environmental awakening of sorts, Bensonwood spokesman Rick Reynolds said the home is attracting a lot of interest.

"They want to buy a Unity or one similar to it," said Reynolds. "The more people buy them, the cheaper they will get."