University Daily Kansan, August 19, 1982
Page 5
This earth-berned, passive-solar home, built by Gifford Knapp, was built approximately 25 feet into a hillside outside Desoto, where earth-berned homes have recently become popular.
Solar house cuts utility costs
By KATHLEEN FEIST
Staff Reporter
The odds of building an $80,000 two-story home that operates on less than $74 a month in utilities have been defied by a food-processing engineer who built it.
Gifford Knapp, who designed and built his own home, lives in an earth-bermed passive-solar house which has averaged a utility bill cost of less than $70 per month since he and his wife Everly first moved in it in 1979.
The house at 838 Terrace on Clear Creek Road, has a wooden sign posted outside the driveway designating it "Tomorrow's Home Today." Knapp with hashtag a lot of skepticism as to whether the house would live up to the label.
"Basically we went to the people, and they said it couldn't be done."
BUT KNAPP PROVED them wrong.
BUT KNAPP PROVED them wrong. in 1978 the Knaps borrowed a bulldozer and dug a 20-foot burrow into the south side of the hill that would soon collapse, leaving native rock that they later used as pillars and wall retainers.
The three bedroom home, with its tall stone pillars, massive panes of glass, and long, stained beams, was erected by other professionals without ever straying from Knapp's engineering and architectural designs, he said.
Upon completion, it became the second house in the nation to conserve water.
method. The first house was built in Minneapolis, Minn.
THE HOUSE WAS built to maintain a 72-degree temperature year round as a result of the earth-sheltering and passive solar systems, Knapp said.
The house's ability to capture heat in the winter and cool temperatures in the summer rests on passive solar technology. Passive solar relies only on the sun's rays without any outside means of obtaining it.
Windows were placed at certain angles toward the sun which would maximize the amount of sunshine the house received and the amount it received in the summer.
Knapp placed more than 300 different sizes and shapes of jugs filled with water inside the stone pillars inside the house.
KNAPP SAID the stone was heated by the sun in the morning that in turn heated the jugs of water. The stone then retained the morning temperatures throughout the day, emitting heat to the house.
The house also operates with a man-made earth tunnel that carries air from the shaded valley more than 100 feet away to the inside of the house. Knapp said that in the summer the air that came through the tunnel was cool and dry, but warm because of the temperature lag in the tunnel during these periods.
FOR THE OUTSIDE, Knapp used such things as white gravel on the roofs outside the bedrooms for heating and lighting, and crown vetch, or highway weeds, on the roof to prevent erosion and to insulate the home. Currently, Knapp is building a hydro-electric system in a lake near his house.
Within the house is a wood stove for ventilation and heat, a small garden and pool area for humidity during the winter, and sun roofs dug into the three feet of earth on the top of the roof for ventilation and lighting. Knapp said.
To Knapp, that goal is $60 a month in utilities.
"Our goal is to be 10 percent of or 90 percent less than a conventional diet."
"A conventional home of this size can cost $600 per month," Knapp said, referring to a statement made by his loan agency.
Knapp's house now uses about $66 worth of utilities that is mostly caused by electricity used in his workshop, he said.
BUT THE HOME still has remained a wonder to tourists and potential builders of earth-sheltered passive solar homes, most of whom have seen it featured in Mother Earth, Better Homes and Gardens, and other magazine and newspaper articles, Knapp said.
The Knapps entertained several hundred sight-seers with a trip through their home, he said. Tours are $5 per person and $10 per family.
The Knapps also are busy answering more than 5,000 letters from readers who think the home is "fantastic," Knaps said.
"They've gone to see engineers and they've gone to see architects, and they've been told it can't be done," he said. "We've had their dream home in the magazine."
Area is for the birds, experts say
Lawrence birdwatchers are a lucky bunch. Kansas' mid-continental position makes this area a prime spot for some excellent birdwatching, according to "A Directory to the Birds of Kansas," by Richard F. Johnston.
By KATE DUFFY
Staff Reporter
Over the years, nearly half of all North American species have been extinct.
Although, many species are here for only a couple of months during the fall and spring migratory seasons, birdwatchers can always find something exciting to look at, said David Sebel,rence graduate student in ornithology.
"Summer can be more interesting for birdwatchers," he said, "if you're in the south."
AND THERE are plenty of places in and around Lawrence where both seasoned and novice birdwatchers can get their binoculars out.
"My favorite lately has been Lone Star Lake," Seibel id. "And last year before the lake was filled it was an because of the mud flats out thurs."
Other good areas include the Baldwin Woods south of Lawrence, anywhere along the Kaw River and near Clinton Reservoir.
"After Clinton Lake was built," Seibel said, "we noticed more shore birds and water birds landing in the Lawrence area."
SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN studying birds' migratory patterns for years. Some think birds originally began to migrate to move away from the slowly creeping glaciers that covered the northern North America thousands of years ago.
Shore birds and water birds, including pelicans, gulls, cranes and loops, traditionally nest near lakes and oceans.
But there was not enough food in their new homes either, so they traveled back and forth between the two feeding stations to see how yearly pattern they still have today.
There is a lot of speculation about birds' amazing abilities to choose their landing places, but Seibel said most people don't notice them and their eyesight to locate resting spots.
"They can see the lake or river's reflections, and so they know to head there."
MANY SMALLER BIRDS飞 at night to avoid predators, such as hawks, making their landing even more difficult.
"But they generally choose to fly on starlit nights," Seibel said.
Some scientists think that some birds use star patterns and the earth's magnetic force to keep them on their flight's track.
"It's like they have an internal compass." Seibel said.
Woodland birds look for forested areas and will wait until they reach one
before landing. Seibel said that New York City's Central Park's trees could be "dripping with warblers during the spring and fall."
BUT LAWRENCE has so many trees, you won't see that many birds in it.
Ruth Faulta, a library assistant, has been an avid birdwatcher for the past 50 years. A member of the local chapter of the National Audubon Society, she is a regular at the society's monthly field trips.
She agreed with Seibel that the migratory birdwatching season was interesting, but she said she thought that the new location would visit to Lawrence was more even so.
"When they come here in the spring their plumage is one color, and when they return in the fall, it's another." Faugh said.
FAUHL SAID THAT birdwatching was a very affordable hobby.
"The nice thing about it is the price." she said. "All you need is a pair of binoculars and you can do it wherever you are."
Every December, the society sponsors a bird count which lasts about 24 hours, involves teams enumerating all birds in a 15-mile area circle. Foah said, we see in a 15-mile area circle, Foah said,
Faulhi said some of her favorite bird haunts were the Douglas County State Lake, the Baldwin Woods and the Wakarusa River area.
"That count can be both miserable and frustrating if it's really cold," he said.
Collectibles abound in nearby shops
By JANE CIGARD Staff Reporter
Whether searching for inexpensive items to furnish an apartment or simply browsing to enjoy antiques and collectibles, there are flea markets and antique shops in nearby towns to explore.
Halfway between Lawrence and Ottawa on U.S Highway 59 is a dilapidated-looking row of 10 cabins that no longer open their doors to weary travelers.
Ana Hey, Baldwin, purchased The Cabins, once known as the Dyer Cabin site, a motel in the 1930s and '40s. She converted it into a flea market six years
"It just sort of evolved into a flea market," she said.
HEY RENTS THE cabins to five or six people.
Don Jacobs, a retired businessman from Olathe, rents two of the cabins.
"I've collected for about 20 years." Jacobs said. "I really enjoy it. I got interested in it and started buying stuff. My wife started buying stuff."
Jacobs has some items for sale from his family's farm in Morris County, south of Junction City. Old kerosene lamps he said he remembered from his childhood rest on top of old tables and chairs. A barley binder fork that belonged to his great-grandfather dates back to the 1800s, he said.
THE FLEA MARKET at The Cabins originally began with sellers specializing in different areas, Hey said. One woman made and sold quilts, one sold dolls and another specialized in wood-working.
"Collecting junk over the years has left most of the people with a variety of
The *Cabina* 'flea market' is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.
Other flea markets in Ottawa are the Ottawa Flea Market, 100 W. lst St., open
every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and the Tecumseh Street Flea Market, which begins at 5 p.m. every Wednesday from May through October in the parking lot across from the Old Depot Museum;
ANTIQUE SHOPS in Ottawa include the Collector's Korner, 501 N. Main, Main Street Antiques, 636 N. Main and Out Back Antiques, 534 N. Main.
In Perry the Perry Flea Market on
U. Highway 24 is open from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
In Kansas City, Mo., the Westport Flea Market, 817 Westport Road, Kansas City, Mo., is open from 10 a.m. to p. s.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Waldo Park Mall is open from 7th to 77th Street, Kansas City, Mo., is open from 10 a.m. to p. s.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The State Line Antique and Art Center, 45th and State Line, Kansas City Kan. has many antique shops and art galleries within a three-block area. Most stores are open daily except Sunday.