This home will be on the 2009 Greenbuilt Tour of New Mexico, sponsored by the New Mexico Chapter of the United States Green Building Council, to be held May 16th and 17th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.  For more information and how to obtain tickets, please go to www.greenbuilttour.net .

This is the dream home of the client.  The home is a true Northern New Mexico style farm house and one of the challanges in construction was to remain true to that style and have the finished product still appear to be "rustic" and not too finished.

This was an infill project where the existing structure was an approximately ninety-year old adobe that could not be properly salvaged or rehabilitated.  The existing home was demolished and recycled to the greatest extent possible.  The new home blends beautifully with the existing and surrounding neighborhood and homes.

The exterior walls of the home are constructed of Rammed Earth and are twenty-four inches thick.  The interior floors are exposed concrete, only the interior partition walls are sheetrocked, the ceilings are all exposed wood that is structural to the roof, we used a refinished claw-foot tub that is approximately 100 years old, some of the windows from the previous home have been reused, adobes from the previous home were used to fill in holes and raise the pad elevation of the new home, and low-impact materials were used wherever possible in construction.

The construction method of the home precludes the need for the use of exterior stucco or interior plaster or drywall on the interior side of the exterior walls. 

The home has excellent solar orientation on the lot, has a reflective galvanized roof, compacted earth walls, double pane wood and aluminum windows, has a hot water recirculation pump with a timer, has deep front and rear porches and a two-foot deep eave all the way around it.  Energy Star appliances and fixtures were used.  All lights in the home use compact flourescent bulbs.

The home uses low-flow toilets and fixtures, aerators on faucets, a timed hot water recirculation pump, gutters and downspouts and rain catchment barrels.

The home makes limited use of paint, oils were used in place of stains, there is no carpet in the home, the home has excellent air circulation and ventilation and the home will require minimal use of artificial heating and cooling methods due to the nature of the construction.