This is Part 3 of 3 in the Houston Solar Home Tour 2007 Series.
The 5th and final home that we made it to was quite a hike to Rosharon but it was worth it! We got a little lost and I got to see the Brazos River for the first time which was neat.
This home was the first that I have seen with an Energy Star "cool roof" that is light in color and has highly reflective granules on it. It was also the first home that I have seen with Structural Insulated Panels and it was designed Passive Solar. There is a whole crew of contractors working on this home, and doing a fantastic job!
The stained concrete floors were shining as we walked inside and right away we noticed the extensive covered patios along the back of the home. The homeowners chose a water based No VOC paint to help with indoor air quality and also have a 15 SEER a/c system and 
advance air filtration system. There will also be a Rainwater Harvesting system for landscaping. There will be a solar hot water heater with a tankless back up and the one item that I found fascinating, the countertops and interior doors are reused from homes that were demolished! Kudos for that! The homeowners are considering a wind generation system in the future.
It was a very relaxing evening as I visited with some people with the Houston Renewable Energy Group and with Newpoint Energy. We had a great discussion while we enjoyed the relaxing, quiet atmosphere.
I would also like to Thank the homeowner's for a fantastic Chili Picnic! Thank You!
Thank you also to all of the other homeowners that allowed everyone through their homes to learn about Renewable Energy and Green Building. It is much appreciated!
Thank you also to the volunteers from the Houston Renewable Energy Group that spent their day helping with information and greeting everyone.
Here are some of the other contractors involved with websites that I could find:
If you would like to view Part's 1 and 2, the links are below:
Stephanie - thanks for the wonderful post! we need to see more homes made that save energy and resources! I know there are special paints that you can paint on a roof to help save energy - they have been around for years! the problem is education of the masses - the media should focus more on educating people on these topics rather than screaming about how bad the housing industry is!
I love reading your posts! they are always so informative!!!
Stephanie,
I thought stained concrete floors would be ugly until I saw some done and they were actually very pretty. I appreciate you sharing your tour of Houston solar homes with us.
Thanks Barbara Jo, I agree that it needs education to the masses. I'm trying to do my part. :) If we all did just a little.
Hi Katerina, I would love to have concrete floors. They are so gorgeous!!!! Yes, I did place this on my outside blog. :) Thanks a bunch!!
Hi Rita, Thanks for taking the tour with me. :) The stained concrete floors are amazing!
Stephanie~
SEE what happens when I head off to Ireland and then finally get caught up on my reading! Absolutely fabulous stuff! I have flagged this post to be featured at LOCALSIM.COM...saying "REALLY timely and a fabulous example of what posts at LOCALISM.COM should be!"
Thank you so much for this post and for the enrgy you put into your work...and for then creating an opportunity for SO many others ...