Del. Jon Cardin’s new Worthington Valley residence, which dates to 1871, is thoroughly “green.”

It has geothermal heating and cooling, solar panels on the roof and recycled wood, tile and brick on the floors and walls.

While the delegate, who represents most of northwest Baltimore County, had not initially intended to invest so much in the house — originally a 700-square-foot schoolhouse — “as the project grew and my ambitions grew and my knowledge base grew, and the housing market flailed and then collapsed, I decided this was going to be my dream house,” he said.

As construction proceeded for 18 months, Cardin also heard from a friend that “Renovation Nation,” a show on Discovery Channel’s Planet Green network, which highlights eco-friendly buildings, was looking to highlight houses in the Baltimore-Washington area.

“Jon Cardin’s home is a unique project we haven’t covered on the show before and we like to feature a wide variety of renovations,” said Allan Butler, the show’s executive producer.

Cardin suggested his house for the show, and the network agreed to film the house April 18 and 20 as workers put on the finishing touches.

While the outside of the house, originally the old Gill School, retains its historic look, the inside has been dramatically expanded and revamped.

The one-room schoolhouse was converted into a three-bedroom house in 1933 by a former student who purchased it.

Since Cardin bought it in 2006, he has also added a large living room to the back, with a wall of triple-pane, energy-efficient windows looking out over the field in the backyard.

The rest of the house sports energy-efficient appliances and materials reclaimed from other work sites at every turn. His floor is recycled Australian cypress, while parts of walls, doors and even the shower stall are made with reclaimed tile and brick.

“Potentially, everything I could use that’s overstock (material), I did,” Cardin said.

All the paints, finishes and stains are environmentally friendly. The original dirt cellar is now a wine cellar.
Less visible is the house’s heating and cooling system, which uses a geothermal heat pump as well as 14 solar panels lining the roof.

The panels and geothermal system, along with the high-efficiency appliances, cost him about $50,000, but Cardin said he expects to get an estimated $10,000 back in federal and state tax incentives for the work.

He also gets a Baltimore Gas and Electric credit each time he uses less than 3.2 kilowatts an hour of electricity. He said he expects the energy-efficiency savings to catch up with his initial investment in less than 10 years.

While work on the house took twice as long as he expected and getting contractors to install the eco-friendly features was a challenge, Cardin said the idea of making his home as “green” as possible was a natural, as he has long promoted environmentally friendly policies in the General Assembly.

“This is what I have been advancing for forever, and now I actually get to show people that my money is where my mouth is,” he said, adding that he hopes to serve as an example for other homeowners.

“I am trying to model behavior for everybody.”    

Project Green can be seen on Comcast channel 113 or Verizon channel 168 in Baltimore County.

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