This community of 15 homes is one of Oregon's oldest solar projects and first co-housing communities. All the homes in this development are designed for solar using an attached sunspace. Homes sit on a south facing hillside, but due to site layout issues, the homes have their narrow side facing south. The homes have additional south facing high (clerestory) windows throughout that bring additional sunlight to the back of the home and assist natural convection to provide ventilation. The stepped design encourages breezes to flow throughout the home. Built to standards that exceeded the residential energy code in 1979 the houses remain energy efficient today. All of the homes are similar in design with the sun room with the wall of windows facing south to maximize natural heating and light. This 2,500 sq. ft. home has a brick floor in the sun room to help store the heat from the sun for release at night. Back-up heat is from a wood stove and electric. Each home steps up the hill towards the north encouraging breezes to flow through the home and both beautifully and efficiently fit the sloped land.

Additional benefits of community living are the shared community garden, pedestrian-only interior which is off-limits to cars and the shared community room with a guest space and crafts room. This home usually uses only 1 ½ cords of wood a year for the back-up heating.

System Details

System Type:
Passive solar design
Sun room with brick floors
Natural ventilation

House:
Built in 1979, 2,500 square feet

Architects:

William Church, John Maslen