Contact: Karlyn Haas
Prescott College Advancement Office
928/778-2090 ext. 4503
khaas@prescott.edu

The house on 1006 Heap Street does not stand out among its neighbors. The tan and green two-story Southwestern house aesthetically blends into its lot but is not bold or outlandish. The inside is no different. Living room, kitchen, dining space, bedrooms, bathrooms, study. All of the key ingredients to a single-family home.

But the 2,000 square foot stucco house on 1006 Heap Street is different; the fact that no one can tell is what makes it so extraordinary.

This is the house that Brad built. It is a house where rainwater is collected and filtered and used for all household purposes. It is a house that utilizes solar electricity and solar water heating. It is a house that is built with certified sustainably harvested and local 'leftover' wood and utilizes cast earth and strawbale construction. It is a house that uses constructed wetlands as a wastewater treatment system and is equipped with energy efficient appliances. It is a house where an average family could live comfortably without ever knowing they were being environmentally friendly.

And that was just the point.

"I set out to build a self-sufficient, environmentally friendly house," said Brad Tito, a Prescott College student studying sustainable development. "I wanted it to be the type of place where the average U.S. citizen could live. This size house is comparable to the average new home built today. It contains the amenities you'd expect but delivers services in an environmentally friendly way. A person doesn't have to compromise his or her life-style in a way he or she might in another structure."

Brad began the research for his house in 1998 through three independent studies in design, codes and planning, and construction, utilizing experts in the local community. He then partnered with James Lazok, an independent contractor with 20 years of experience, to shape his ideas into reality.

"Having lived all my life in Prescott, I was excited to see someone try to instigate a new thought process in the community. It's the cutting edge in where we should go with the future of building," Lazok said. "As a contractor, I learned a lot more about sustainable harvested wood, ecologically integrated architecture and sustainable land use planning. I'm now a lot more conscientious of the environment and the effect we have on environment in the building process."

The "Mercury House," as it is called, was designed with a variety of principles in mind, Brad said. "We wanted to minimize site disturbance and destruction by viewing the natural features of the land as design opportunities, not as an obstacle to development. We wanted to maximize the use of local resources as alternatives to non-local resources, create self-sufficiency, mimic natural systems while providing for the needs of the house's occupants and design alternative systems to exceed the expectations of the house's occupants in terms of convenience, performance and cost of operation. All of the materials in the house were selected based on their environmental impact, cost and general appropriateness in their application."

The structure itself is approximately 25 percent strawbale construction and was the first strawbale house to be approved by the city of Prescott. Cast earth walls, which are three times stronger than adobe, were used in the passive solar sun-room and cast earth plaster was applied to the bedroom and great room walls to provide a natural aesthetic and eliminate the need for sheetrock texture and paint.

Standing right outside the front door, no one would suspect a 4,000 gallon fiberglass tank is beneath his or her feet.

"There's lots of ecological impacts from extracting groundwater, even as a single-family home, so this house uses a water catchment system as an alternative," Brad explained. "Water is filtered through gravel, pumped into the house and goes through an ultraviolet filter (for bacteria), a carbon filter (for taste) and a sediment filter."

Out on the back porch, which is made from TimberTeck, a material made from recycled plastic bags and sawdust, Brad points out his constructed wetlands, which will treat up to 150 gallons per person of sewage per day.

"Wastewater treatment is a very energy intensive process. Nature can provide the process and this system mimics natural processes," Brad said. "The wetlands plants' roots create the optimum environment for bacteria, which break down pathogens and pollutants. The wetlands create habitat for birds and animals and it's a beautiful landscape feature. The effluent from the system is of drinking water quality when it percolates back into the soil."

Inside, locally harvested Ponderosa pine, which had been cut down for the development of the Hassayampa Golf Course, has been used for flooring, the staircase, and for some doors and ceilings. National Forest Stewardship Council certified sustainably harvested Douglas fir wood was used for all of the wall frames.

The house is also within the top five percent of insulated homes, which substantially reduces energy use. Brad and contractor James Lazok utilized an energy efficient framing technique, cellulose insulation made from recycled Arizona Republic newspapers in the walls, and triple paned and argon gas filled windows, among other materials. In the living room, and upstairs in one of the bedrooms sit a gas and wood stove, respectively, that will be used to heat the house in winter, if necessary. Because of the insulation used, Brad said, one log per day should heat the entire house.

Upstairs, a door from the master bedroom leads to a small balcony outside. The solar water heater, built into the roof, is barely noticeable.

More than just living in an environmentally friendly house, Brad lives the life-style of a conservationist. He and his girlfriend, Emily, use approximately 35 gallons of water per day, reduce waste, recycle, compost and use alternative transportation (the house is a convenient 1.5 miles from downtown Prescott).

Brad also shares what he has learned by opening his house to anyone interested. He has given tours to many Prescott College classes, Sharlot Hall museum, the Solar Energy Commission (in Phoenix) and is part of the National Solar Home Tour.

His neighbors have been particularly impressed. "All of my neighbors have been really interested in the house and bring their family by especially to see what I do with my sewage," Brad said. "People identify with the ideas of self-sufficiency."
And his goal of self-sufficiency has been achieved. "The house is virtually free to operate. A family could live here and be perfectly comfortable without using utilities. The initial cost is 15 to 20 percent higher, but the systems pay for themselves between 10 and 15 years," he explained.

Mercury House has been an ongoing educational process that has helped Brad become a self-directed and independent learner. "I have personalized my learning by living in it. Every decision made on this house was quite deliberate. In making these decisions, however, I realized that the implementation of sustainable developments required much more work than simply an environmental perspective. I needed to understand how people work, how structures work, how governments work, how utility infrastructures work."

"I learned I must evaluate available resources and manage their use in an efficient and responsible way. This process was fundamentally interdisciplinary, experiential and highly demanding. The design and construction of my house involved moving from the conception of the idea to the completion of the house. Now that I have completed the project, and my undergraduate education is coming to completion, I look to the future and all that I still have to learn. I am excited to continually grow and find my place in the world."

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