Terra Dei Homestead
The Terra Dei Homestead was designed to be an example of what people can do to conserve energy and resources. Conserving energy not only allows us to use less fossil fuels, it also reduces the amount of acid rain produced, decreases air pollution, and decreases water pollution. Many of the materials that went into the construction of the house were reused, and several products made of recycled materials are highlighted inside.
Programs at Terra Dei Homestead encourage students to consider the environmental implications of their lifestyles and explore every day solutions to ecological problems. Customized, hands-on programs may include alternative energy sources, energy efficiency, integrated pest management, and organic gardening. Many activities focus on the demonstration house at Terra Dei Homestead. It is the first straw bale house built in Pennsylvania and features a myriad of conservation technologies.
Tour of Terra Dei Homestead
Welcome to the Virtual Tour of Terra Dei Homestead !
Here are some of the various features of Terra Dei Homestead, where you will learn about the variety of energy and resource-efficient means of living that we utilize here.
You will find that living a life of less impact can be quite comfortable!
The windows on the south side of the house are used to help heat the house in the winter. During the winter, the sun is low in the sky and the windows allow the sunlight to penetrate fully into the house. As sunlight enters the house, it warms the floor, which absorbs and retains the heat. On a sunny day in January, the house can be heated from 9:30am to 5:30pm without any additional heating, even when the temperature outside is only 20 degrees.