Their goal was to create a modern home that would perform as a demonstration project for Flynn's business, EcoDEEP. The house, which they called EcoDEEP Haus, would also showcase sustainable products and strategies to illustrate to other homeowners how simple, effective and livable they could be.

Flynn and Nelson chose the 1,700-square-foot house in Highland Park (still in St. Paul), Minnesota, primarily because of its location: close to mass transit, the Mississippi River and its walkways and parks, and local schools, churches, entertainment, retail, and restaurants. All are within “easy, CO2-free walking distances,” they wrote on their EcoDEEP Haus blog.

The roof sporting native plants continue to delight the family by attracting bees, butterflies, and birds. “I go up there every couple of weeks in the summer to pull out invasives and tree seeds,” Flynn says, noting that the allium has primarily taken over. “What’s growing up there now, to the mother nature, is quite different than the plants we used in our original plan.”

Flynn adds that “There’s no financial incentive to have the live roof, but we like it.” The roof diverts 65 percent of water from the stormwater system, and excess water goes into rain gardens and rain barrels. (Note that some cities and municipalities provide a financial incentive by giving a stormwater utility fee credit for homes that manage stormwater onsite. Check with your local utility, because often it is not well-publicized.)

As for the solar array, Flynn says the price is “astronomically lower now than when we purchased the systems. We calculated an 18-year payback for the solar panel systems, which is a little bit beyond halfway. The solar hot water is an 11-year payback, and we’re on track for that.”

Looking Toward the Future 

Flynn and Nelson have considered how efficiencies on solar arrays and PV systems have increased significantly in the last decade, while the costs have dropped dramatically. “Should we buy new systems at a fraction of the prices for better performance now? Does it make sense to get rid of the systems we have an upgrade? We haven’t run the numbers, but it’s fun to consider the possibilities,” Flynn says.

With two kids now in college, a sixth-grader still at home, and Flynn having traded his work-at-home lifestyle for a position as a Design Executive at McGough, the couple is also considering their next move—to a smaller home. Still, their relationship with a house they conceived, designed, and constructed is a close one.