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Green home sweet home
MASHPEE – A local house, heated with a sophisticated, computerized boiler, insulated with special foam and powered partly by 32 solar panels, is a nationally recognized example of sustainable and green living.
But for its builder, Mark Harding, the big house at 25 Devon St. is not only an eco-friendly home but a way to honor his family’s Wampanoag heritage.
“Being a steward of the Earth, ... sustainability (is) really part of the fabric of who we are,” said Harding, 49, a general contractor and treasurer of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe. Tomorrow, Harding will hold tours of his house and will talk sustainable living with community members.
Harding, who lives in the house with his wife, Paula Peters, a former Cape Cod Times reporter, two teenage daughters and stepmother, said he modeled part of the home after a traditional Wampanoag longhouse, where multiple families or generations would eat, sleep and socialize.
The kitchen, dining room and couches surrounding the fireplace – and 50-inch flat screen television – are all in one long room.
Also in a longhouse, grandparents would live side by side with the kids, allowing important social and educational interaction between them, an idea that Harding duplicated in his design.
Harding finished building the house two years ago. He declined to give the total cost but said that building green costs about 5 to 10 percent more than a standard construction project.
In April, the home received a prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the....
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