The siding is on, the house is closed up and the wood stove in the living room is heating the space nicely. There are stud walls up defining the bedroom and bathroom – progress!  What comes next…   First, we want to thank Michael Larson, owner of Kondos here in Ely, for creating our website. Thanks too for all our sponsors and especially to the high school students and adults who participated in the educational piece of our building project.  The teaching aspect has been the most rewarding part!   The next stage will be the study of the houses’ performance over the course of five years.  This would include monitoring yearly energy use, performance of the great European style windows from Heritage Windows in Wisconsin, insulation package and mechanicals.  What worked well and what might need improvement.   We will be sharing this information in an annual report via the Timberjay Newspaper and our website. www.ecoely.com which includes the opportunity to add additional sponsors. 

By Hannah Nixon Thrift never looked quite so good as it does on the home of Andy Hill, Ely’s own construction specialist and reduce, reuse, and recycle extraordinaire. Hill is passionate about sharing his sustainable building tactics with the Northwoods community, a purpose which he hopes will ultimately lead to decreased environmental impact as we...

By Hannah Nixon The word of the week is save, and local Andy Hill is emphatic about saving time, energy, and resources in the midst of building his new ultra-efficient retirement home located alongside Ely’s Trezona Trail. As winter draws near, saving time becomes vital for Hill. As he and his crew begin to prioritize...

By Hannah Nixon Welcome to round two of the five-part series exploring the foundations, so to speak, of sustainable building. As a recap, our featured protagonist, environmental advocate, and locale Andy Hill is walking us through the important features of energy-efficient design and using his real-time retirement home construction to demonstrate. Two weeks ago, we...

By Hannah Nixon Over a series of weeks, the Timberjay will be exploring how home builders can move forward in their projects with a sustainable initiative. Looking through the lens of a Northwoods local’s sustainable construction expertise, you can begin to construct the outline for your upcoming building, guest house, remodel, or otherwise that will,...

By Lindsey Marschka A building’s enclosure is the sweet spot to achieving a high-performance home. Andy and Paula Hill have put considerable focus on the structural envelope of their environmentally-responsible building project within the city limits of Ely. The Ely Folk School is collaborating with the Hill’s to offer people a hands-on opportunity to learn...

By Lindsey Marschka Ever been curious about living sustainably, but find yourself discouraged by all there is to learn? Between the technical jargon, tiny home movement popping up all over, and home design leaning towards the future, it’s never been more accessible to dabble in environmental living – or more intimidating. Maybe you’ve felt intrigued...