Crowe Home

When we decided to build an addition into our front yard to make more space in our home for our growing family, we knew we had an opportunity to center sustainability in the process. Tom is the co-founder of a local solar company–Cascade Solar– and Dineen is a leader in a local climate organization–350PDX– so working towards solutions to the climate crisis is a lifelong priority in our family. Through this addition project, we added 750 square feet of space to our home. A project of this scale allowed us to take a look at all the ways we could reuse materials and increase our energy production and efficiency. When the old attic and walls of our home were demolished to make room for the new, we saved all of the original doug fir framing, planed them down, and used them as the flooring of our new front porch. We also restored our old fir flooring in our living room and wove in reclaimed fir into the addition. There was no need to buy new material when this perfectly good, hundreds-year old wood was available to reuse! We also took advantage of all of the incredible building material reuse stores in Portland (Rebuilding Center, ReClaim NW, Good Wood and Lovett Deconstruction) throughout this project for various elements, from light fixtures to stained glass windows to sink faucet hardware. 

Energy efficiency was a key priority from early-on in the design. We installed all permanent weatherization of doors and windows, changed every light fixture to LEDs, and air sealed and insulated knowing that these methods are some of the most cost-effective ways to increase efficiency, as well as the comfort of the home. 

Once our standing seam metal roof was finished, we immediately installed 9.22 kW of rooftop solar. This connects to a FranklinWH aPower2 15 kWh battery, allowing us to have our home become off-grid in the chance of a power outage. A Level II electric vehicle charger allows us to charge our EV with this solar. A 2 ton heat pump allows us to heat and cool our home with solar as well. 

We worked with Eric Gamer Design and Westward Builders on this project and highly recommend these local services if folks are considering a similar project. Going net zero is possible and exciting!

Contact: Tom Crowe; tom@cascadesolar.net