This construction project was one of the most successful owner/builder projects that Cascade Sun Works has been involved in. The house was finished from ground breaking to move-in in less than six months. The owners moved to Central Oregon from the Seattle area upon retirement after years of vacationing here. Their driving factor was the weather.

Rastra Block construction was used throughout this 3,500 ft² two level home. The Rastra Block was erected by Jim Close of Bend.

Heating of the house is through radiant floor heating on the ground floor and hydronic baseboard heating on the second story. KVC Mechanical/Advanced Heating of Bend was the heating contractor.

Solar hot water was used for both domestic hot water as well as radiant floor heating. Cascade Sun Works of Redmond was the solar contractor. The DayStar Thermal Solar System built in Bend was used for the solar heat and storage requirements. Three collectors were mounted on the southerly facing garage roof supplying up to 120,000 btu’s per day of energy for use in heating the dwelling as well as hot water for domestic use. The DayStar DayFlow Control and Distribution Unit supplies the intelligence for the solar hot water control. This unit is a fully integrated system incorporating heat exchange between the solar collectors and the potable water system, pumping, control and service functions all conveniently mounted in a small package by the hot water storage tanks. 150 gallons of hot water storage is supplied for the system.