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PARK CITY -- A Park City couple is about to move into a brand-new house, and they don't expect to ever pay a utility bill. Their home is so energy-efficient it's the first in Utah to qualify for top honors in the LEED Platinum category. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
The new home is built to very exacting standards, and it uses, believe it or not, lots of antifreeze.
Construction workers are finishing up a few details on Kevin and Svetlana O'Meara's 3,700-square-foot new home in North Snyderville Basin in Park City. It cost $1.8 million but the couple expects no utility bills.
One reason: a 300-pound front door.
"This is 6 inches thick, stuffed with polyurethane foam to give it about an R-25 rating," Kevin O'Meara said.
There's foam 8 inches thick under the entire house. Walls have 12 inches of foam and the roof has 16.
U.S. Green Building Council
Big, south-facing windows let winter sun in; summer sun is shaded by an overhang. Window panes are four layers of glass and plastic.
A special plumbing system is filled with a non-toxic form of antifreeze. It circulates through walls to capture excess heat.
Heat from the roof is also stored in two backyard water tanks. The antifreeze plumbing distributes heat where and when it's needed.
"We should be able to completely meet all our heating needs with sunshine," Kevin O"Meara said.
A rainwater collection system will store cold water in another backyard tank.
"We can cool our floors with the cold water that's in the rainwater tank," he said.
But even if you don't have $1.8 million to pour into a house, there are principles here that can be used in anybody's home.
First, with the right tools you can make your home nearly airtight.
A fresh-air exchange system prevents heat loss. Solar energy provides electricity so that on the hottest days, there may be extra juice to sell to the power company.
"If I look at what the cost of energy's going to be 30 years from now, it's a pretty easy bet it's going to be a lot more," Kevin O'Meara said. "I'll be on a fixed income, I'll be retired, and I won't have any utility bills. That's something to look forward to."
There will be an open house Thursday for public officials and the media. The O'Meara house will be open to the public the next three weekends as part of the Park City Showcase of Homes.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
