With construction of homes being rebuilt following wildfires in Sonoma County exempted from shelter-in-place restrictions, our project for Tony and Marie Dicolen—being built by Dan Maupin-Ahern and the Deep Green Building team—continues.  Pictured here, the project is soon to receive its metal roof, while plumbing and electrical work goes on below.  

At pace and on schedule for an early May ‘bale-raising’, albeit less of a party than typical, the setting of the bales is a significant moment when all of the walls are filled with straw bales over the course of a single day.  Straw bale homes have proven a key part of the fire resilience of many homes that survived the wildfires.

The project's porte cochere entry features cedar tree trunk columns harvested from a neighboring property. The home is projected to use nearly 20% less energy than a typical home, and with rooftop photovoltaics it will be zero net energy. The PC system will feature battery back up for further resiliency. We look forward to sharing more photos after the bales and PISE finish.

  Aerial Photgraph is courtesy of Dan Maupin-Ahern / Deep Green Building & Remodeling.