An aerial view of the house at 3 Quentin Road in Westport. An aerial view of the house at 3 Quentin Road in Westport. Photo: Robert Benson / Contributed Photo Photo: Robert Benson / Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Westport architect proves old home can be green, too 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

NORWALK — Bruce Becker used to spend about $8,300 a year on electricity, heating, water and other costs for his antique farmhouse. Now he spends close to nothing following the additions of LED lights, electric cars, a new cooling roof and more than 60 solar panels on the roof and alongside the home.

“As an architect I’ve sort of used this house as a case study to see if it’s possible to turn an older antique house into a cutting-edge zero energy house that can be a prototype for sustainability,” Becker said. “A lot of folks assume older houses can’t be made into sustainable houses. You can have a super green house that can look like a normal house. It doesn’t have to look like a science experiment.”

In Connecticut, more fossil fuel emissions come from cars and trucks than buildings, Becker said. To combat that, he invested about $60,000 in energy-saving devices and materials for his home at 3 Quentin Road. Although $60,000 sounds like a hefty price, he estimated he saves about $10,000 a year from the investment.

With the renewables, the home’s energy rating scale moved from 253 to 19, meaning the house uses 8 percent of the energy it used before the renovations. He added two Tesla Powerwalls in his garage, which provide backup power during an outage and eliminates the need for a generator and maintenance. His Tesla app allows him to monitor the level of energy-use from house — and he can preheat and move his car out of the driveway — all with the push of a button.

“As an architect, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make buildings use as little energy as possible,” he said. “What I’ve shown is not only can we take a historic house and not only free it from fossil fuels, but we can provide a couple electric cars that aren’t dependent on foreign oil and basically generate a whole house in Westport.”

Built in 1917, the house consists of 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. Before it moved to its current location in 1960, the house was rotated 90 degrees and sat about 200 feet away, Becker said.

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He and previous owners tried to keep the 4,000-square-foot compound as close to its original structure as possible with just a few renovations to the kitchen, the front porch, bathrooms and some interior design changes, which Becker’s wife, Kraemer, oversaw.

In 2017, he replaced a dark-colored cedar roof, the cause of sweltering temperatures in the house during summer months. By adding a reflective light-colored Solaris asphalt shingle roof, he reduced cooling costs.

“A reflective roof is one of the principals for building green houses,” Becker said. “By having a white or light-colored roof, you can reduce cooling costs by 25 percent.”

Leaders of the town’s Green Task Force have their eyes on Becker following his application for a Westport Green Building Award for Achievement in Sustainable Design and Construction.

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