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House showcases green technologies

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Casa Aguila, a Ramona house built to redefine energy and water efficiency and billed as San Diego’s first passive house, was showcased in a grand opening the day before Earth Day.

Many in the building and design industries came to see the home of Pierre “Pete” Beauregard and Amy McQuillan that is built on a hilltop property overlooking San Pasqual Valley and was certified for occupancy last December. Beauregard said they have not moved in yet but are still living next door and monitoring the amount of energy produced, rainfall collected, and inside versus outside temperatures.

The property, which has three dual-axis solar trackers and a 17-foot vertical axis wind turbine, is producing three times the energy needed, he said.

Storage tanks to collect rainwater, the sole source of indoor water use, collected 30,000 gallons of water over two days during the last rainfall, said Beauregard. To camouflage the tanks, he said they painted them earth tones and covered with military netting.

Other green features include passive house certified doors and windows, liquid membrane air sealing, solar thermal energy storage and heat recovery ventilation.

“When you walk in on a really hot day without any air conditioning, it’s very comfortable,” he said.

The property is permitted to use blackwater for irrigation, which feeds the fruit trees in the food forest. Every plant is native, Beauregard said, “and most of them are edible.”

Reactions by those who see the house include hopefulness, he said, as they see what can be done in terms of energy and growing food.

Said one guest at the open house: “I think there are ideas here for the future.”

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