Earth Day Invite: Wayland Residents Prove 'You're Never Too Old to Get Greener'

Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of articles contributed by Transition Wayland and the Wayland Green Team inviting residents to an Earth Day weekend with Open Houses all over town. Each week until then, you'll learn about another event at a different location. The fourth house in this series is at 281 Concord Road.

The house was an ordinary small Garrison Colonial house, 60 years old with terrible drafts and thriving termites - not exactly the comfy condo that seemed sensible to empty-nesters Jean Milburn and Roger Wiegand. But the two-acre lot had an open pasture ringed by forest, a southern exposure, and a century-old barn with a jaunty weather vane. The land was flooded with sunlight and seemed perfect for passive and active solar home design.

Perhaps, they thought, this could be their place to age greenfully in Wayland, so they bought it. “Accused of lunacy by fellow empty-nesters,” said Milburn, “we named it Full Moon Farm.”

They were fortunate to engage the services of Wayland architect Bill Sterling to design a one-story addition for the house that would make it suitable for one-floor green living by older folks. Sterling built his first energy efficient house in Wayland in 1978.

The new addition Sterling designed faces south and supports Solarize solar panels that provide half of the electricity. Its many windows flood the main living spaces with natural light. The HVAC system is highly efficient and includes an energy recovery system. It was constructed from E-SIPS, Energy-Smart Insulated Panel Systems, built in a high-tech factory in New Hampshire owned by Davis Frame. There the walls are constructed with minimal waste, sheathed and insulated, before being shipped to the building site.

The addition was installed by Jason Hammer of Caddis Construction, an active practitioner of green building techniques. He also did the Deep Energy Retrofit of the existing house. To overcome the poor insulation provided by the old 2x4 construction and rock wool, he stripped the building's entire exterior and encased it in two-inch-thick insulating foam board, filling the walls with cellulose. He also put in high-performance fiberglass windows and new siding.

Wayland resident and Interior Designer Tica De Moor gave advice about adaptive design for aging-in-place.

The barn, which celebrated its 102nd birthday this year, received a thorough inspection, a new roof, new windows and doors, insulation and treatment for powderpost beetles. It has been used as a general farm barn, a horse barn, and a garage in the past. Now it looks little changed from the exterior and the lower-level horse stalls have been preserved. It will serve as a wood-working shop for Wiegand's hobbies and could function as a barn again for a future owner.

“My dream has been to have a workshop as nice as the one owned by Norm Abrams of 'This Old House.' I may have succeeded,” grinned Wiegand.

When asked if they would open their house to the Earth Day Tour, Milburn said, “Yes, we are eager to have visitors. We’ve learned that you’re never too old to get greener. We are in our 60s and still learning how to live better on Mother Earth. We’re especially interested in having local folks see what a Deep Energy Retrofit on an older house can do to make it draft-free and energy efficient.”

Earth Day 2013 is organized by Transition Wayland and the Wayland Schools PTO Green Team (www.waylandgreenteam.org). You can find more information about Earth Day 2013, as well as a map and schedule of the Open Houses, by visiting www.transitionwayland.org. If you would like to host your own Open House, let us know at info@transitionwayland.org.