Recycled living : Family nears completion of what could be state’s most eco-friendly home
Posted on Friday, May 30, 2008
Mark Stanley may share the same last name with one of the country's most prolific tool manufacturers, but until three years ago, he didn't even know how to hold a hammer correctly. Those who happen upon the house he's constructing on the eastern edge of Rogers may suggest he still doesn't know what he's doing.
Step inside, though, and it's very possible that opinion may start to change.
What Mark and Kristine Stanley - with the help of a few licensed professionals, family and friends - are constructing in the quiet valley at 13755 Dream Valley Road is different. It's so different, in fact, you're not going to find another like it in the entire state. You'd have to drive to Durant, Okla., to find another and as far as New Mexico or Colorado to find more than one in proximity.
It started with the construction of a straw-bale house three years ago, then a cozy, two-level earth-bag dome for the Stanleys' two young boys to play in. Then the Stanleys decided to use a stack of downed trees they collected from the nearby Prairie Creek Country Club to build an enclosed walkway that will connect to what's evolving into the most eye-opening part of the project to date: a tire-bale house.
If reading or hearing those words makes you shake your head, you're not alone. The few people who do travel the winding Dream Valley Road to get to their own homes found themselves doing double takes for several months as the tirebale house started to go up. After all, from the road it appeared as though the Stanleys' lot had become a growing trash pile.
A few months later, the more than 15, 000 compacted rubber tires used to form the walls are being covered with cement, and the home is beginning to take shape. Whether or not you have reservations about the core of any structure being old tires, the fact is the Stanleys are nearing completion on what may be the most eco-friendly home in Arkansas.
It all started when Mark Stanley, a physical therapist, who with his wife owns and operates Home Instead Senior Care, popped the Lord of the Rings trilogy into the DVD player.
"I was watching one of the movies and saw the hobbit house," Stanley said. "I thought it looked so cool. I went online and started surfing around and came across some interesting concepts. The more I researched, the more I became hooked. I started learning about sustainability and that there were other ways of building and living, where you could be almost completely energy efficient and live the way we were intended to live. When you walk up to my house, it basically looks like the hobbit house. I'm just bigger than your average hobbit."
The tire-bale portion of the home - which will finish out a combined 4, 000-squarefoot, three-year project - utilized tire bales weighing in at approximately a ton each. Plastic soda bottles were used to fill the spaces between the bales before they were encased in cement. Empty aluminum cans were mixed into the cement in the few portions of the home that did not have tire bales at the core. And the best part of all, according to Stanley, is that the thousands of tires he used were free.
"I called the Benton County Solid Waste District, and they were immediately interested in what we were doing," Stanley said. "They normally have to pay to have all of the old tires that show up at the recycling facility transported to Oklahoma. So they agreed to provide me with all the tire bales I needed. By doing so, they saved the cost of hiring someone to transport them, and I didn't have to pay for them, either."
The sustainable details extend far beyond the tire bales. The Stanleys' home, which they figure will be completed sometime this fall, is engineered in such a way that sunlight can be collected and turned into electricity. Large cisterns have been installed to collect rainwater from the roof during storms. That system will filter and provide enough water for showers, dishes, drinking, cooking and more. And when any member of the Stanley family is taking a shower, the drain is routed directly into two large indoor planting areas, where fruit trees and other vegetation will grow.
"When you shower here, you're watering the plants, " Stanley said. "We're making the most of the water. The idea is to reduce waste and conserve energy. It's really just about living better and more responsibly. There are going to be a lot of plants inside because they provide a lot of things you just can't artificially generate. We're not meant to live in environments with forced air everywhere."
A large wall of windows running the length of one side of the house will provide all the sunlight the plants and the rest of the home needs to function. The home has been designed, in many ways, to function like a cave. The interior walls absorb heat during the day, keeping the living space cool. When the sun goes down, that heat is released, keeping the structure warm.
"I like doing unique things and things that have a real impact," Kristine Stanley said. "This fits the bill. It's exciting, and our kids are going to grow up living like this. This will be normal to them."
As far as permitting goes, there were a few stumbling blocks. When the Stanleys built the straw-bale house - covered with cement, just as the tire bales have been - the county required no permits. But by the time ground was broken on the tire-bale portion, the rules had changed and the Stanleys were required to receive permits from the county and the state.
"The state told us we're the only home project that's ever sought approval to be a disposal site for tires," Kristine Stanley said. "A lot of people have dumped tires illegally over the years. We're actually putting them to good use."
The biggest hang-up with the entire project has been financing. The Stanleys explained that while working through the permitting process was fairly easy, they were unable to find a lending company willing to provide the cash to build such a home. When the home is completed, they will be able to secure a mortgage to cover what they've paid out. Until then, they're paying out of pocket.
"Originally, there were people who started doing these homes out west because they didn't want a mortgage," Mark Stanley said. "They wanted to save money and build with cash. And they didn't want to be on the grid, paying gas and water and other bills. Think about how the economy is going and all the energy concerns out there. I think there's a lot of added incentive to do something like this today. Imagine a whole community like this. It's not out of the realm of possibility."
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