EcoHouse House and Garden Features
EcoHouse is a work in progress. We are always adding and developing new features that exemplify good ideas for sustainable living. Many of the developments on the property came about through collaborative efforts. EcoHouse continues this legacy by offering hands-on workshops where novices get to work with experts to build new features.
House Features
The EcoHouse structure is a modest home in an urban neighborhood that exhibits simple environmental approaches of global importance. The house showcases features that can be readily applied to any residence.
The house incorporates ecologically friendly materials and methods that reduce resource use, come from renewable resources, have minimal impacts in their manufacture, avoid toxic chemicals, do not off-gas harmful compounds, and can be reused or reclaimed at the end of their useful life. It contains such environmentally preferable products as natural linoleum floors, wood floors from a demolished house, salvaged cabinets, bamboo for the kitchen countertops and wood from sustainable forests.
Of primary importance is reducing our need for non-renewable energy sources. We completely insulated the house with cellulose, replaced lighting fixtures with low energy yet attractive fluorescents, installed high efficiency appliances, and replaced the hot water heater with a “flash” or instantaneous water heater that only heats water as it is being used. A solar water heater on the roof pre-heats water so the flash heater has to use less gas to get the water to the desired temperature.
The home’s photovoltaic installation provides all of the home’s electricity, and is especially appreciated on the sunniest, hottest days, when it supplies energy back into the grid.
Thanks to our partnership with EBMUD, EcoHouse showcases water-efficient appliances, sink and shower aerators, and a low-flow toilet. Waste water from the shower, sink, and washing machine is piped to the greywater system outside and re-used in the garden.
When building the garden shed, UC students employed a medley of building techniques, including straw bale, rammed earth trombe wall for passive heating, and salvaged lumber insulated with light clay-straw. The garden shed houses equipment for our photovoltaic system, while its living roof and natural building materials blend beautifully with our permaculture demonstration gardens. The water captured from the roof drains into a salvaged tub that serves as the ducks’ bath.
Sign up to tour EcoHouse and view these and other eco-features up close! Email ecohouse@ecologycenter.org.
Gardening Features
Our regularly scheduled gardening workshops demonstrate ecologically sound methods for growing food, mushrooms, medicinal herbs, raw materials, and native habitat.
The front garden features native and drought tolerant plants such as California buckeye, sticky monkey flower, ceanothus, mock orange, yarrow, native currants, cow parsnip, native grasses, manzanita, bulrushes, and cattails.
The backyard contains fruit trees such as espalier apple, asian pear, cherry, plum, avocado, almond, loquat, pear, nectarine, orange, prune, apricot, and strawberry guava. Other trees include Paulownia-Sapphire dragon, Coastal live oak, Ginko biloba, California buckeye. The backyard also features perennials such as several varieties of berries, grapes, chayote, strawberries, and sun chokes. Mushrooms such as Oyster, Turkey tails, Shiitake, and several wild varieties can be found.
The backyard also contains Berkeley’s and California’s first permitted graywater system and contructed wetlands. There is also an aquaculture pond, drip irrigation system, and rainwater catchment system on display.
Register for an EcoHouse tour or gardening class by emailing ecohouse@ecologycenter.org.
