"I Care About the Environment and I Want a Home that is Energy Efficient"

The DePrez Carriage House
If you own an undeveloped piece of high mountain property... and if you want to build an 'energy efficient' and to the greatest extent possible a self-sustaining home, you would want to know about T. W. Beck Architects, Estes Park.

For example - take the DePrez Carriage House project.  The lot for this project is located more than a mile from the nearest source of electrical power.  Because of the dramatic mountain setting, cost to 'connect' to the regional power authority were prohibitive.  Further, the owner wanted to utilize solar power and a many 'green building' concepts as possible.

If you are able to take the time to look at the digital picture we provide here on this site, you will see that the roof solar panel was incorporated into the home's orientation and design plan.  The home is able to operate on stored solar power but features a propane generator backup system.  Other features include the use of wind turbine and power storage for the home.

One of the areas of 'business concentration' for Thomas W. Beck has been in the use of a wide variety of 'earth-friendly' building concepts.  If you are interested in Designing a project that utilizes these technologies - you might consider adding T. W. Beck Architects to your planning processes.

Read more about this project below.

More on the DePrez Barn/Carriage House

(Small Projects, Construction Costs Less Than $300,000)

The Deprez barn/carriage house is located on a large parcel of mixed coniferous forest east of Estes Park.  It is one of two outbuildings that complement a 5800 square-foot primary residence (the other is a utility building housing the photovoltaic array, battery bank, and generator that power the main building). 

Utility, multi-functionality, and cost-efficiency were keywords in the design criteria.  The building is sited on the downhill side of a gravel access road, which traverses a south-facing hill of open meadows and scattered stands of ponderosa pine.  This placement (and the use of pine-green asphalt shingles with cedar siding and cedar shingle accents in natural tones) achieves a low-profile, discreet ambience in harmony with the forest environment while still providing three stories of usable space. 

The lower level, accessed through two sliding doors on the downhill (southern) aspect of the structure, is a fully-functional horse barn.  It features a concrete-floored tack room, individual stalls for four horses, plenty of storage for winter feed and miscellaneous equipment, and a hay chute from the garage level above for easy off-loading of bales.  The garage floor/barn ceiling is a structural concrete slab that decreases the possibility of fire spreading from flammables stored in the garage (and also offers exceptional energy efficiency).  The single steel girder used to bear the floor’s load minimizes the number of posts to interfere with the movement of animals (and people) below. 

The garage level provides four parking bays to accommodate the caretaker’s and/or guests’ vehicles, as well as the owner’s snowplow and tractor.  All four garage doors are accessible from the road with virtually no grade change, an important safety feature on the north side of a building situated in a high-altitude environment of long winters and occasionally heavy accumulations of snow and ice. 

The upper level serves as a guest house/caretaker’s quarters.  It is accessed by stairs on the east side that lead to a small deck featuring Trex decking material.  The attic-style design of this level keeps the building profile down, while two large dormers increase the usable area in the living room and create a bathroom space. 

The DePrez barn/carriage house is totally off-the-grid; self-sufficient except for propane deliveries.  The gas-fired boiler heats water for domestic use and in-floor radiant heat on the upper levels.  Electricity comes from a 1440-watt photovoltaic array.  The architect specified energy-efficient appliances (including a propane refrigerator) and low-voltage lighting to minimize electrical consumption.  The backup generator has been needed only once in two winters of occupation (the owners lived on the upper level during construction of the main residence). 

Maximizing passive solar heating was accomplished by specifying concrete floors and placing large (but energy-efficient) windows on the southern exposure of all three levels. 

Attic trusses were used on the upper level to reduce construction costs, with multiple trusses carrying the loads on the sides of the dormers to open up the spaces and let in plenty of light and warmth. 

Construction costs (design and build) for the DePrez barn/carriage house were about $175,000, making this multi-function structure a true bargain by almost any measure.

"Local Architect Leads the Way to Sustainable Living"

Energy efficiency, recycling and green building are no longer concepts advocated only by those that were once referred to as “tree huggers.”  With a growing awareness of our relationship to the environment and an awakening to the fact that our quality of life and economy are directly impacted by that relationship, “going green” is now the topic of choice from public kindergartens to Oprah shows. 

But for Estes Park architect, Thomas Beck, green living has been a way of life for years.  His 5,800-square-foot home, completed in 2002, is totally off the grid.  “Green building” has evolved into concepts such as “high performance homes” and “sustainable development,” stimulating the growth of state-of-the-art technologies that transform those concepts into reality.

Beck’s home harnesses energy from both sun and wind, which are plentiful atop the remote 40+-acre tract that he and his wife, Anne DePrez, chose as the site for their Colorado home.  Renewable energy powers the entire home and a detached garage/barn – from energy-efficient lights and appliances to a solar-heated, indoor lap pool which also serves as water storage in case of wildfire.

A generator shed houses 32 large batteries that store 1500 watts (or 1.5 kw) of solar energy captured by photovoltaic panels on the shed’s roof, plus 1000 watts (1.0 kw) from small, integrated PV cell “shingles” which make up one section of the roof of the main house.  (The generator shed was actually constructed first, in spring of 2001, to facilitate a solar-powered job site.)  Evacuated tube, thermal collectors -- which are unobtrusively placed on the property below the grade of the house – accumulate more of the energy doled out by Old Sol.  Two 500-watt wind turbines driven by our Rocky Mountain “breezes,” supplement the solar power.  The turbines are affixed to a bridge which leads from the home’s deck, across a ravine, to a rocky ridge which serves as a road noise buffer as well as a wind break for the wood-heated hot tub that is nestled amidst its boulders. 

The home is thoughtfully integrated into its natural setting and its interior is equally in tune with the environment.  Huge triple-pane, Low E, “Pella” windows draw in breathtaking views of Rocky Mountain National Park and the Estes Valley.  Blue-green bathroom tile is made from recycled windshield glass.  Century-old train trestles, salvaged from the Great Salt Lake area, were granted new life as timber framing in the spectacular great room.  Floors are of slate, stamped and colored concrete, or wood.  Where synthetic carpet might have been used a soft underfoot is provided instead by hand-woven, Tibetan, wool, throw rugs.  Fifteen separate zones of in-floor heat are controlled by DC-powered pumps that use only 10 watts each, which were developed by NASA and are manufactured by Ivan Labs.  And the intricately-carved front door, designed by Beck to symbolize the “tree of life,” as well as interior doors, a staircase and table are crafted of standing dead hardwood from his and his wife’s families’ farms. 

Also a healthy home, harmful chemicals and materials were kept to a minimum.  Wheatstraw board was used for countertop substrates instead of particle board which contains high levels of formaldehyde.  Instead of traditional insulation the exterior wall and roof insulation is sprayed foam that contains no formaldehyde.  Interior wall insulation, made from shredded blue jeans, is not only highly efficient for moderating temperature but is a great sound-proofing material as well.

Beck is an avid outdoorsman so his appreciation for the environment comes naturally.  But as a University of Colorado freshman he attended his first solar-energy conference which, he says, sparked a realization that oil and gas are not infinite and ignited his interest in solar energy.  He has developed extensive expertise in green building -- alternative energy systems and sustainable development – and it is the premise on which his Estes Park architectural firm is founded.         

The cost for Beck’s alternative energy system was about $57,000.  But to bring power lines to the site of his home would have cost at least $82,000 in addition to the loss of a multitude of trees in clearing a path for the lines.  He estimates that his choice to use alternative rather than conventional materials increased his building costs by five to ten percent.  But other than propane for cooking and supplemental heat, he has no utility bills and his home makes a minimal impact on the environment -- a true example of sustainable living.

Beck shared that “One of my dreams and passions was always to live in a home in the mountains that is completely self-sufficient.”  And he adds, “One of the big misperceptions out there is that you can’t get enough power from sun and wind to live on.  I obviously proved that wrong.”