Ching home near Nederland. Photo by Michele Melio.
High above Boulder and close to Nederland is a near zero home where people come to enjoy a massage or play and record music in Greg Ching’s home. His home offers tranquility through his Watsu aquatic therapy and it is almost exclusively running off renewable energy.
Ching has some background in electrical engineering but is a computer salesman and a part time massage therapist by trade. He and his wife bought the home in 1996 and it was originally built in 1976. He wanted a home that was environmentally friendly and would eventually run strictly off of renewable energy.
In 1999 Ching bought his first PV (photo voltaic) panel array. He was concerned about its durability and decided to purchase a plastic PV array (other PV panels are just as durable), which is a 2.0 kilowatt (kW) system and believes it will last at least 50 years. In 2003 he added another PV array of 3.9 kW and the latest this year which is 9.9 kW. The home also has a battery backup. His home is grid tied. However since the home is in a fairly remote area, power outages are much more frequent, so the battery backup automatically provides electricity during outages without a break in electrical output.
Ching admits that in retrospect he should have focused on energy efficiency in the home before adding on all the PV and recommends that everyone focus on efficiency. While the home is well insulated to record music, Ching realized that it needed to be insulated to conserve energy and improve efficiency with his renewable array. He just recently had cellulose insulation injected into the walls of his home. He even lowered the ceiling of the home three inches to place extra blown insulation to keep heat from escaping through the roof. This required removing all the paneling on the ceiling and putting it all back into place. Much as Lance Wright had indicated, green retrofits are a bit more time consuming and expensive to make energy efficient and air tight. However Ching is determined to retrofit the home into a net zero home and he is well on his way.
Ching also decided to install radiant floor heating provided by the solar thermal panels he has on his home. The tubing contains hot water mixed with glycol (anti-freeze) to circulate through his flooring. Since the home had a basement, he didn’t have to rip up the flooring in order to install the tubing. He did expand the basement to provide additional space for storage and ventilation ducts for the geothermal system. He also added insulation made from old blue jeans in the floors. He added thermal foam and bubble wrap with foil to insulate pipes and vents. This not only increases energy efficiency in the home but provides a sound barrier from the furnace and air conditioning units.
Recently Ching added a geothermal ground source heat pump with four wells 290 feet deep to his renewable energy system. He admits that geothermal ground source heat pumps are expensive, but he believes they will pay off in the long run. He hasn’t begun using it, but wants to supplement the geothermal with the solar thermal and PV electric systems. He has a furnace, which currently runs off propane. Eventually the propane will be used only as a back up energy resource. The home also has two wood burning stoves and in order to reduce Ching’s carbon usage he believes the geothermal hydro and air systems will eliminate the need to burn wood. The geothermal is also used to keep his exterior front steps from building up snow and ice in the winter. This feature will decrease shoveling and potential falls from ice buildup.
Ching has begun to incorporate some energy efficient features in his home. One of the most unique energy efficiency features is the beautifully quilted Mylar window shades. Ching added that they (he and his wife) added the decorative features after one of their dogs decided to ruthlessly attack the innocent blinds during the Ching's absence. The Mylar blocks out the sun and provides extra insulation to the living area.
Other efficiency measures found were the LED track lighting in the living room. The bulbs were purchased at Costco for $10.99 a piece. Ching added that the household uses only 5-15 gallons of water a day per person. Their water comes from a well and the home has an elaborate water filtration system, which includes a magnetic water softener.
Ching mentioned that the home will have additional insulation placed onto the exterior with foam and Hardie panels. He said that these panels are fire proof and woodpecker proof and look like wood panels (see image on the pool house).
However the gem of Ching’s property is his pool house where he treats clients to Watsu aquatic therapy and other massage therapies. The building is made from SIPs (structural insulated panels) with Hardie panels on the exterior and bamboo covering the walls and ceiling on the interior. The floor is made of decorative concrete, which looks much like stone or slate flooring. The construction of the building had zero waste.
The pool is heated by solar thermal and propane is used as a backup. Ching hopes to incorporate his geothermal heat pump as a new backup for the pool. The pool is a warm 95 degrees Fahrenheit and Ching provides soothing music and a relaxing atmosphere to his clients. The building is lit almost exclusively from day lighting features (windows and solar tubes).
A couple of the high tech and conservation features were found in the bathroom. When someone enters the bathroom a motion detector turns a switch that begins to heat shower water. The room included a R.V. toilet that uses only one pint of water per flush.
The pool house has its set of solar thermal panels and Ching uses no chemicals to treat his pool. This may interest pool owners to know that Ching treats his pool only with muriatic acid (also known as hydrochloric acid) for checking pH and salt. Yes, his pool is a salt water pool. He says his clients come out of the water feeling silky and refreshed. This system requires less maintenance than standard fresh water pools.
While energy efficiency should be a priority in any home, it’s a must when building or retrofitting a truly green home. This includes insulation, lighting, heating and cooling features, and appliances. Ching says that the solar thermal has paid for itself and believes that his home will be net zero and carbon neutral once it becomes better insulated. Plus, he only pays $8.00 a month on his Xcel bill. He, like John Avenson, is waiting for nanotechnology to improve efficiency and renewable energy resources to enhance their renewable systems even further.
To learn more about Ching’s massage therapy services, please go to: http://www.amaquatics.net/
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