They rushed over from soccer practice, dropped homework and headed over to the construction site that will soon be the Weber family’s renovated Norkirk home.
But instead of gossiping about the latest developments on “American Idol,” around a dozen teens from local junior high schools stood in rapt attention as the Webers spoke about solar voltaic energy, green roofing and radiant heating. Welcome to The Next Generation’s latest meeting.
“All these things we’re talking about — we have to change our ways,” homeowner Robert Weber said. “And you guys, you’ll be leading the charge.”
The club is the brainchild of Kate Bebee and Meghan Demeter, who started it in 2006 after seeing the Al Gore documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” The club has been abuzz for months after a Discovery Channel film crew visited the Weber home. A daughter of the Webers, Callie, is a member of the The Next Generation (or TNG for short).
“It was really, like, awkward,” she said. “They wanted us to say all this stuff about the house while they filmed us tying our shoes … to show we’re normal.”
Among its activities this year, the group hosted an after-school presentation of the “Inconvenient Truth” and helped with the Earth Day removal of Cotton Hill’s invasive plants. Last week, it finally visited 12-year-old Callie Weber’s under-construction home. The hope was to learn about green renovations and how their own day-to-day lives at home have an impact on the environment.
After working in the project management business for years, Robert Weber refocused as a consultant in sustainable building. One of his first projects, in 2005, was renovating his own home to reduce water use and energy needs. Using the latest materials and techniques in sustainable design, he’s spent around $650,000 to nearly rebuild the house. But Weber said the present-day investment in the historic property — once owned by the Van Aalst family, for whom a nearby park is named — is worth it in the long run.
“I see a radically changing future in the price of energy and resources,” Weber said. “A lot of us would love it if the status quo stayed, but a lot of things are going to change and soon.”
The house, say architects from local firm Page & Beard, is a model of holistic design that incorporates both high quality materials and an environmentally friendly conservation concept.
“It’s a great example of how the builder and the owner can go through the building process,” said Galen Page, the home’s principal architect.
Page and his colleague Lee Beard reviewed dozens of ways the home is designed to take advantage of natural efficiencies, such as existing tree cover, home positioning, rainwater storage for dry summers and even “greenroofs,” which use a layer of soil and plants to insulate the home and reduce runoff. During renovation work, Weber discovered the old insulation: dozens of issues of the Seattle Times, including a July 14, 1927, issue with the headlines, “Hidden City in Black Hills Mystery intrigues Coolidge.”
“That’s why we were so cold for 10 years!” his wife, Vivian Weber chirped.
The youth wandered around the half finished home, checking out a cut-away of the triple-paned windows and the 3,100 gallon cisterns nestled along the back of the home.
“When I get my own house, I’d like to go even further,” Demeter said.
Looking back at the club’s beginnings, Bebee and Demeter, both 14, say they are surprised at how little people their age know about warming.
“Before I saw it I didn’t even know what global warming was,” Bebee said.
Nicola Scutt, a friend from their soccer team, helped the club start their own Web site and filled it full of information on global warming and tips to conserve energy. The club’s name represents the responsibility they all feel to change the way they live, Bebee said.
“It’s up to our generation,” she said.
The Weber home will feature in several episodes of “Renovation Nation,” a program set to launch on the Discovery Network’s new channel, Planet Green.
Planet Green is scheduled to feature the Weber house in the second and fifth episodes of “Renovation Nation,” airing at 6 p.m. on June 5 and June 10. Hosted by “This Old House” handyman Steve Thomas, the show highlights homeowners from across the nation who have taken the green renovation plunge.
