Can you heat a home with a hair dryer? You will find the answer at a free-to-the-public program hosted by the Shoreline League of Democratic Women (SLDW) on Sunday, March 30. Their special guest speaker Douglas Mcdonald of MyCodePlus.com is a Passive House expert and developer, and builds Code Plus homes.
The event will be held at 1:30 p.m., at the Guilford Free Library, 67 Park Street, on the green in Guilford, CT. Mcdonald’s presentation, “What’s So Special about a Passive House?” will cover the core concepts of a passive house, which is extremely insulated and virtually airtight. The design of these homes results in a 90 percent reduction of energy use and minimal bills.
Mcdonald created and lives in one of the first retrofitted passive house in the country, but there are many newly built passive houses in the United States and overseas. There will be a Q & A session at the end of the program.
Developed by Germany’s Passivhaus Institute, the Passive House standard has the most rigorous requirements for green building construction. Mcdonald will share his unique perspective of someone who actually lives in a 3,800-square-foot Passive House. His home was originally built in 1936 by Frank Lloyd Wright protege Barry Bryne, then transformed by Mcdonald into a super energy-efficient dwelling in 2010.
His projects have appeared on the cover of the New York Times Real Estate and selected for the Fine Homebuilding Reader Choice Award. Mcdonald has made guest appearances on The History Channel, where many of his innovative renovation ideas have been featured. With his team of LEED architects and engineers, he applies his unique and world class approach to creating iconic country homes utilizing the best building standards from around the world, including the Passive House standard, at a price comparable to conventional construction.
The Shoreline League of Democratic Women (http://www.sldw.org) is a chapter of the Connecticut Federation of Democratic Women (CFDW), which is a chapter of the National Federation of Democratic Women. The Shoreline League of Democratic Women continues to seek membership from women who live in Clinton, Madison, Guilford, Branford, Killingworth, Old Saybrook, Essex, Westbrook, Chester, Deep River, Old Lyme, and Lyme. SLDW Meetings are held monthly from September through May.
The Shoreline League of Democratic Women is dedicated to educating its members about political and social issues important to women of all ages in Connecticut’s Second District. Women in the local district are encouraged to join the SLDW and participate in the organization’s valuable work in the community. Members can be involved in any capacity, whether it is 30 minutes a month, or 30 minutes a year.
As a part of the SLDW educational charter, members will be notified of important pending state and national legislation. For more information on the Shoreline League of Democratic Women, send email to [email protected] or contact Kathleen Skoczen at 860-669-7034 or Belinda Jones at 860-399-1147. Visit their web site at http://www.sldw.org.