Maple Grove Energy Efficient Home Ready for Weekend Open House

Last December, Tom and Terry Pelligrino moved into the house of their dreams. But their Cedar Pond Estates residence isn’t a typical home.

Geothermal heating, a Thermomass foundation system, and special insulation are components that make the Pelligrino’s house one of the most energy efficient homes in Maple Grove. In addition to saving roughly $3,000 a year in energy costs, thanks to the Maple Grove Net Zero Energy Challenge, the Pelligrino’s are also $12,000 richer.

The Maple Grove's Net Zero Energy Challenge came from an idea that originated in Connecticut. After Maple Grove received $60,000 in rebates due to energy efficient upgrades, in the spring of 2009, the Maple Grove Community Development and Administration Departments decided to use the money to encourage residents to build homes in an energy-saving way.  

“We created a sliding award based on the [Home Energy Rating System],” Peter Vickerman explained in city council documents. “A score of zero would qualify for $20,000. A score of 40, the max score allowed in our program, would qualify for $12,000.”

The Pelligrinos stumbled upon the challenge on the city’s website last summer. Because they were already building an energy efficient home, applying for the contest was a no-brainer.

Thanks to the money they received from the challenge, the Pelligrinos can pay off some of the costs incurred by energy efficient building.

“Building a home the way we did costs more upfront,” Tom Pelligrino said. “But it pays off in the long run.”

Terry Pelligrino said that their passion for energy efficient living began five years ago.

“When we decided that we were going to sell our house, I started doing a lot of research on energy construction methods,” she said. “We don’t like the idea of being dependent of foreign oil and we don’t like increasing energy costs. We wanted this to be our home for the long haul.”

Energy consultants from Building Knowledge and builders from Parent Custom Homes teamed up with the Pelligrinos to create their perfect home.

“We would not have been able to build this home without the energy consultants,” Tom Pelligrino said. “There were so many times during the constructions process that we needed advice. We were doing things that builders had never done before.”

Now, the Pelligrinos want to show their one-of-a-kind home to the community.

From noon to 6 p.m. on March 16, 17 and 31, and on April 1, their home will be open to the public.

“We really want people to get on the bandwagon,” Terry Pelligrino said, referring to green construction. “Anyone can do it. We’re excited to be able to use our home to help spread the word about energy efficient construction.”