This year, Wayland will celebrate not a day, not a weekend, but a whole Month of Earth… day. This is our line-up, so far. If you would like to show us your sustainable/green/organic/ecological house/garden/farm/car, email us at info@transitionwayland.org. You pick the date of your tour, any time in April. For more information, visit www.transitionwayland.org.

Friday, April 15, 7:30 PM: Screening of the thought-provoking documentary Food Chains at First Parish, 50 Cochituate Road.

Saturday, April 16: 1-4 PM: THREE OPEN HOUSES – SEE ALL THREE:

1. Wayland architect and retrofit specialist Doug Sacra will show the solar photovoltaic canopy system in his garden on 55 Glezen Lane, as well as the new attic insulating in his 1904 attic, plus the new system of ducted air to air heat pumps that serve each room so they all have individual control and are very efficient. If you have an older house and are looking to retrofit, this is the open house for you! Also featured is sustainable landscaping, replacing the worst areas where grass never grew well (boy, do we know those!).
2. Tour the brand-new Briber-Pollitt passive house on 113 Concord Road with the builder. The systems, eye for detail and efficiency of this house will wow you!
3. Get a look at an MESys Fully-automated Wood Pellet Central Heating System on 11 Simpson Rd. This Maine Energy Systems (MESys) modern wood pellet boiler heats the whole home using existing plumbing and thermostats, reducing the carbon footprint by 86% as compared to traditional oil-burning equipment. In addition to homeowners benefiting from extremely stable fuel prices, MESys boilers and furnaces are eligible for rebates up to 65% from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The homeowner, a MESys representative, and the installer, John Lataille of JPL Construction, will be on site to help answer questions.

Sunday, April 17: 12-2 PM: Electric Vehicle Brag Fest!  “Tour” a wide array of electric vehicles at the end of Forty Acres Drive, talk to the owners, take a spin in some of them. One new 100% electric VW Golf, one Smart Car, one Chevy Volt, etc.

Saturday, April 24, 2-4 PM: ANOTHER OPEN HOUSE TRIPLE BILL: SEE ALL THREE:

1. and 2. Visit Tony and Margie Lee’s solar house at 14 Brooks Road, featuring a solar photovoltaic system that was put in through Solarize 2012. The Lees will share info on their solar production, savings on electricity bills, SCREC shares, rebates and tax deductions, and you’ll see going solar is not just a good deal for the planet, but for the wallet as well. Then, to assured yourself this is not an exception, stroll on over to their neighbors, who have the same thing going on.

3. Also visit Sabine von Mering’s house at 6 Melville Place Solar: another Solarize Solar PV system, with more added later on, a newly installed heat pump, and an electric Smart Car.

Saturday, 30 April, 9 AM-2 PM: TWO SOLAR HOMES, IN WAYLAND AND CONCORD:

1. OPEN HOUSE: Tour the “Toaster House” at 17 Waltham Rd. in Wayland, designed and built by Tempietto Homes of Sudbury. It demonstrates the new aesthetic and spatial effects that high performance materials, combined with solar orientation, make available.
2. OPEN HOUSE: In conjunction, Tempietto Homes is also giving tours of their “Firefly” design now being built in Concord at 45 Arrowhead Rd. It uses the same high performance materials and systems, and shows how dynamic floor plans come from the intersection and “twist” of environmental factors and necessities, combined with manmade ones, such as street orientation and views. “Firefly” is a “net-zero” home, and offers a blueprint of how single story living can be exciting, solar, and versatile. You’ll be able to see the materials still exposed, such as “Insulated Concrete Forms” (ICFs), Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), radiant floor heat, thin-film, “triple-pane” windows, and “no maintenance” exteriors.