direct sunlight through a Solar Staircase^TM and acted as a short term (read overnight) heat store. When the upper heat store was sufficiently satisfied, excess heat was mechanically moved to the lower heat store.

The low heat store made up of 55 gallon drums of water acted as long term heat storage (winter) but more importantly acted as a summer cool store. During the summer months, relatively cool night air was introduced through an earth tube to cool the water mass. During a hot summer day this cooled air was distributed to the living space as a sort of air conditioning.

Although this approach was fairly successful, it had drawbacks in that the variable speed fans were difficult to control, the cool store lost its

effectiveness in late summer months, and concerns over contaminants (algae, radon, etc.) being introduced to the living environment could lead to health problems.

From 1984 to 1989, Carl built numerous houses that used various techniques for air sealing as well as incorporating some variations of passive solar heating. One house of note was a house built in 1986. This house built in Sudbury MA, was the first of three Energy Crafted Homes (ECH) that were built.

The ECH program (now the Energy Star Program) was instituted in 1984 to reduce energy use in residential structures. Mandated by government agencies and implemented by local