Tour Info
MREA Tour of area homes and businesses:
Friday, Oct. 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Super 8 of Monroe: Wis. 69 and Sixth Street, Monroe.
Saturday, Oct. 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Hankley House: N7968 Gould Road, Blanchardville.
• Blecker House: 7295 East Cates Road, Belleville.
• Inn Serendipity B&B and Farm: 7843 County P, Browntown.
Other Wisconsin sites on the tour can be found at www.the-mrea.org/solartour.php
MONROE - The 54-unit Super 8 hotel in Monroe and the two-bedroom home of Chip and Heidi Hankley of rural Blanchardville have a lot in common.
They both use a variety of renewable energy technology and green building practices.
The free Midwest Renewable Energy Association 2008 Wisconsin Solar Tour showcases both of these sites Oct. 3 and 4.
On Friday, visitors to the Super 8 of Monroe will learn how 14 solar panels heat a swimming pool and domestic hot water. Eight of the 4-foot-by-10-foot panels supply about 80 percent of the heat needed to keep the pool at a balmy 83 degrees. The other six panels heat the water for 11 guest rooms, and any excess hot water is used by the hotel's laundry room.
Dehumidifying the pool room also creates heat, which is reclaimed to heat the whirlpool water.
"We're going to see our hot water costs go down, even though we added 11 new rooms," said Art Bartsch, co-owner with his wife Barbara and Richard and Jane Thoman.
The Super 8, and the couples' AmericInn hotel, both have earned the Travel Green Wisconsin certificate for reducing their environmental footprint through eco-friendly practices. The Wisconsin Environmental Initiative certifies the applicants.
To achieve the certificate, applicants must earn at least 30 points from a checklist covering a wide range of green practices. Super 8 earned 92 points - scoring 31 points in the energy efficiency, conservation and management section alone.
Super 8 guest rooms use a motion-detecting energy management system that adjusts heat and air conditioning when guests are not in the room. Carpets are made of recycled material, and a meeting room is equipped with an energy recovery ventilation system that prewarms fresh incoming air with the exhausted warm air.
"All those things add up, and we really scored high," Bartsch said.
The Hankleys also use a energy recovery ventilation system and solar panels for their home. The goal for their home energy use is to become 100 percent renewable.
Heidi Hankley calls her solar energy water heater "no work." Two solar panels supply about 50 to 75 percent of the family's yearly needs, and has an automatic backup electric heater.
The Hankley home faces south to capture the sun's rays.
"Passive solar design is a no-brainer," Hankley said. "(People are) so locked into facing the street."
A masonry heater heats the entire home.
"I'm surprised this became the focal point of our day," Hankley said about the heater in the basement.
But the heater looks like a fashionable enclosed brick fireplace with a glass door and is safe enough for the couple's children to play near. The bricks do not get hot enough to burn.
A fast, hot fire heats up the masonry, which then radiates heat from the base to the upper-floor chimney for most of the day. But Hankley has to close the flue to conserve heat, which otherwise would be lost through the chimney.
"We're really rockin' with two fires a day," Hankley said. Last winter, the family used three cords of wood.
To conserve heat, the Hankleys built a timber frame and straw clay home.
Clay was mixed with water to a "salad dressing consistency." Borax was added to ward off mold. Straw was then tossed with the clay mixture and packed between sheets of plywood 12 inches apart. The plywood was removed, and the straw allowed to cure for about three months. The outside walls then were sealed with an earthen plaster of clay, sand and straw to prevent cracking. Inside walls are finished with a lime plaster.
Most of the timber frame, brick, doors and kitchen cabinets are reclaimed materials.
Mike Yaker of Wood Joiners timber framing was invaluable for finding much of the timber used in the home, as well as some of the doors, Hankley said.
The children's room has a set of reclaimed French doors mounted on a barn door rail, allowing light to filter into the hallway.
Some materials were located at the Habitat ReStore. The kitchen cabinets were reclaimed from a friend's old kitchen, and the wide wooden planked flooring is from an old barn that was being torn down. Hankley made and installed the ceramic tiles that create the kitchen splash board above the counters.
"I've never tiled before in my life," she said with a laugh.
For what little energy they need to purchase, the Hankleys opt to buy renewable power at 2 cents extra per kilowatt from Alliant Energy's Second Nature program.
"That's how we feel we can make a difference in the world," Hankley said. "We want to reduce energy consumption and the conflicts it creates in the world.
"And we're trying to be as self-sufficient as possible."
They both use a variety of renewable energy technology and green building practices.
The free Midwest Renewable Energy Association 2008 Wisconsin Solar Tour showcases both of these sites Oct. 3 and 4.
On Friday, visitors to the Super 8 of Monroe will learn how 14 solar panels heat a swimming pool and domestic hot water. Eight of the 4-foot-by-10-foot panels supply about 80 percent of the heat needed to keep the pool at a balmy 83 degrees. The other six panels heat the water for 11 guest rooms, and any excess hot water is used by the hotel's laundry room.
Dehumidifying the pool room also creates heat, which is reclaimed to heat the whirlpool water.
"We're going to see our hot water costs go down, even though we added 11 new rooms," said Art Bartsch, co-owner with his wife Barbara and Richard and Jane Thoman.
The Super 8, and the couples' AmericInn hotel, both have earned the Travel Green Wisconsin certificate for reducing their environmental footprint through eco-friendly practices. The Wisconsin Environmental Initiative certifies the applicants.
To achieve the certificate, applicants must earn at least 30 points from a checklist covering a wide range of green practices. Super 8 earned 92 points - scoring 31 points in the energy efficiency, conservation and management section alone.
Super 8 guest rooms use a motion-detecting energy management system that adjusts heat and air conditioning when guests are not in the room. Carpets are made of recycled material, and a meeting room is equipped with an energy recovery ventilation system that prewarms fresh incoming air with the exhausted warm air.
"All those things add up, and we really scored high," Bartsch said.
The Hankleys also use a energy recovery ventilation system and solar panels for their home. The goal for their home energy use is to become 100 percent renewable.
Heidi Hankley calls her solar energy water heater "no work." Two solar panels supply about 50 to 75 percent of the family's yearly needs, and has an automatic backup electric heater.
The Hankley home faces south to capture the sun's rays.
"Passive solar design is a no-brainer," Hankley said. "(People are) so locked into facing the street."
A masonry heater heats the entire home.
"I'm surprised this became the focal point of our day," Hankley said about the heater in the basement.
But the heater looks like a fashionable enclosed brick fireplace with a glass door and is safe enough for the couple's children to play near. The bricks do not get hot enough to burn.
A fast, hot fire heats up the masonry, which then radiates heat from the base to the upper-floor chimney for most of the day. But Hankley has to close the flue to conserve heat, which otherwise would be lost through the chimney.
"We're really rockin' with two fires a day," Hankley said. Last winter, the family used three cords of wood.
To conserve heat, the Hankleys built a timber frame and straw clay home.
Clay was mixed with water to a "salad dressing consistency." Borax was added to ward off mold. Straw was then tossed with the clay mixture and packed between sheets of plywood 12 inches apart. The plywood was removed, and the straw allowed to cure for about three months. The outside walls then were sealed with an earthen plaster of clay, sand and straw to prevent cracking. Inside walls are finished with a lime plaster.
Most of the timber frame, brick, doors and kitchen cabinets are reclaimed materials.
Mike Yaker of Wood Joiners timber framing was invaluable for finding much of the timber used in the home, as well as some of the doors, Hankley said.
The children's room has a set of reclaimed French doors mounted on a barn door rail, allowing light to filter into the hallway.
Some materials were located at the Habitat ReStore. The kitchen cabinets were reclaimed from a friend's old kitchen, and the wide wooden planked flooring is from an old barn that was being torn down. Hankley made and installed the ceramic tiles that create the kitchen splash board above the counters.
"I've never tiled before in my life," she said with a laugh.
For what little energy they need to purchase, the Hankleys opt to buy renewable power at 2 cents extra per kilowatt from Alliant Energy's Second Nature program.
"That's how we feel we can make a difference in the world," Hankley said. "We want to reduce energy consumption and the conflicts it creates in the world.
"And we're trying to be as self-sufficient as possible."