The Solution
The Hansons started by assembling the right team to achieve their home, beginning with SALA Architects and Sloot. Fortunately, Sloot has built his career around sustainable energy and could connect them to a realtor familiar with green building needs. Eventually, they found a great location in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota with great solar access that had the potential to achieve their lofty goals.
As design began on the layout of their home, it became clear that the best way to have enough panels to meet their energy needs without building a huge house – bigger than they wanted – was to separate the main part of the house from the garage creating two, perfectly angled slopped roofs.
Products Shown
A-Series Casement Window
The south slope of the roofs is 12-12 pitch which is a 45-degree angle and optimal for solar panels at this latitude. The north slopes are down to a 9-12 pitch. By using different pitches, Sloot was able to lower the ridge of the house to allow better solar access to the solar panels on the garage.
At the time of writing, the Hansons had just completed their first energy year in review and proved that they indeed produced more energy than they used – including charging their two electric cars – for an entire year.
