Greg Edwards announced the recipient of the “County Executive’s Innovative Energy Award for a Personal Residence” to Ruth Lundin and Paul Hedberg while taking a tour of their energy efficient home on Nutt Road in the Town of Busti. Accompanied by County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency staff, Mr. Edwards met with Ruth and Paul plus a number of the contractors and architects involved in the design and construction. The other participants were: Rick Syper – R & R Landscaping; Dave Lanfear – Bale on Bale Construction; Kevin Connors – Eco-Logic Studio; Greg Salva and Micah Meredith – Empire Development, Inc.; Ryan Calalesina – Solar Liberty; Dick Rose – Consulting Architect.
Mr. Edwards stated, “This beautiful and ecologically designed home is very unique. Ruth and Paul have made such a strong commitment to energy efficiency, and we thank them for building this house in our county. A few of the incredible features include: strawbale insulation, solar panels to generate electricity, solar panels for solar thermal hot water, a living roof, and a view to the south to use the sun’s energy in the home for passive radiant heat.”
Not only were state of the art energy innovations built in to the home, but many of the construction materials were recycled. All of the construction was done around the idea of reducing or eliminating storm water run-off to a near by creek. The roof on the structure is a “living roof” that reduces water run-off and insulates the home.
“It was so great to see local people making this investment using local contractors and designers and materials wherever possible. It gives us all a better awareness of what we can do to improve our environment,” noted Mr. Edwards.
Bill Daly, from CCIDA, commented, “This is a great lead up for our Energy Conference, to be held on Saturday, October 27, at the Clarion Marina and Conference Center, in Dunkirk, from 9am to 4pm. Topics will include residential energy savings, small wind energy applications, and the status of the NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk.
