Former host of PBS’ This Old House Steve Thomas, speaks on sustainability and historic preservation as the opening speaker at Restore Jacksonville Saturday, May 5.
After 14 years on This Old House, Steve knows a thing or two about older homes. Steve helped catapult This Old House to the top of PBS’s list of most-watched ongoing series of all time. Steve was honored with a 1997-98 Daytime Emmy Award and a total of nine nominations for “Outstanding Service Show Host.” His enthusiasm for fixing up old houses was influenced by his father, whom he described as a “true weekend warrior” fearless and always ready to take on any project.” Steve’s first project on his own was to renovate a run down 1920s residence in Olympia, Washington. He then continued working in the field in the Pacific Northwest until moving to Massachusetts in 1980, where he self-renovated, eco-friendly 1836 colonial revival in a seaport town north of Boston. Presently, Steve winters in Santa Fe, NM with his wife, Evy, and their two standard poodles, Emma and Marley. He spends summers on an island off mid-coast Maine in a green, energy-efficient cottage and barn, which he recently renovated.
Steve Thomas has expanded his expertise in the home renovation area to incorporate green practices. A former spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency’s program Home Performance with Energy Star, Steve consults on residential building and renovation across the United States and has encouraged sustainable building and energy conservation technologies in new and old houses for more than 20 years. Currently, he is a spokesman for Habitat for Humanity, promoting their REStore concept. View videos and photos from Habitat for Humanity featuring Steve.
A Home Built to Last is a Green Home
Steve envisions renovation as five bubbles: Energy, Workmanship, Materials, Health, and Design.
ENERGY. The most prominent bubble is energy, because that’s what we spend the biggest part of our budgets on month to month. Energy in is all the inputs required to keep the building running—electricity, gas, heating oil, water. Steve says, “The more you conserve, the less you use, and the more you improve the building envelope in terms of insulation, air sealing, window quality, even shading with trees, overhangs and the basic siting of the building, the more you can save on heating and cooling. ‘Energy in’ is also about harnessing power from the wind, sun or geothermal sources. Additionally, the energy bubble addresses savings from compact fluorescents, Energy Star appliances and so forth.”
WORKMANSHIP. Its is all about building it right. The old builders (and lots of new green builders) understand the importance of all those little details, from rain screen walls to how the windows are flashed, in the overall performance and longevity of the building. A house constructed in a quality way will last a century. A building constructed poorly will last a fraction of that time.
MATERIALS. The materials bubble is a pretty big category, ranging from chain of custody issues to manufacturing issues to durability issues.
HEALTH. Its important to address issues from indoor air quality, to materials that are low-VOC and will not off-gas.
DESIGN. According to Steve, “If you don’t love your house, then there was no point in building it.” Historic homes have good design elements – character – that make their inhabitants feel “at home.”
Watch Steve as he explains the 5 Bubbles on the CBS Early Show.