A Change in the Wind (continued)
What the Pros Know
"A geothermal heating-and-cooling system works by using the temperature of the earth, which is 55 degrees year-round underground, to pull heat up in the winter and dump it back in the summer," explains project manager and architect Greg Gibson. The Wis Tavern would require very deep wells to get enough below-grade surface area to entirely heat and cool the building—and installing the wells would require a gigantic rig to break bedrock, logistically not an option. "So we rethought the program and decided to use a smaller rig that could drill down to bedrock—65 feet—but we could fit only 15 wells into the basement. The mechanical engineer suggested they wouldn't produce enough power to sufficiently heat or cool the place, but we've been through both cycles [summer and winter], and so far the system has done fine," says Gibson. Moral of the story: Don't take no for an answer.
Inside, "they didn't want the place to be too polished or stuffy," explains Wilkinson, "so they used an intentional mix of high and low." Proletariat yet attractive materials such as brick, plywood, drywall and fir reclaimed from the building's original joists are balanced with posh elements such as lustrous Free Play kitchen and bathroom cabinets from environmental front-runner Valcucine (a carbon-neutral company). Sleek contemporary furnishings blend two vibes. "I'm a minimalist," says Frank, "and Lisa likes midcentury modern, but we're both big fans of Ligne Roset, so we started there."
The Mauceris are now turning their attention back to business and hope to bring the same eco-friendly approach to the music industry, by replacing plastic jewel cases with cardboard packaging and CDs with digital downloads. "Both are cheaper and greener," says Frank. And those sound like objectives we should all try to meet.
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