Montana Dream Homes 2015

Montana

Dream Homes

By Design

Bring your imagination to life

Perfect fit Living in tiny spaces

Montana Dream Homes

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Table of

Monta na

Dream

By Des ign

Bring your

imaginatio

n to life

PUBLISHER

contents

Homes

Perfect

Living in tin

4 6 10 14

fit

y spaces

Mark Heintzelman

ADVERSTISING DIRECTOR Jeff Avgeris PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Rachel Crisp Philips GRAPHIC DESIGN

Krista Ness

No part of the publication may be reprinted without permission. ©2015 Lee Enterprises, all rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

10915 Saddleback Lane

Missoula - Incredible, highly sought after setting with privacy and panoramic views of the Big Flat area and Clark Fork River on 11+ acres. Beautifully designed 6,800+sf home, with 6+ bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, has a distinctive floor plan.

$1,250,000

4571 Heaven’s Gate

Missoula - Custom Farviews area 4bd/4.5ba home situated on a flat 2 acre parcel with panoramic valley and mountain views.

Surrounded by higher end homes on large lots and a ranch with conservation easement prohibiting development.

$995,000

30939 Station Creek Way

Polson - Stunning east shore Flathead Lake home with incredible custom details throughout. 4+ bedrooms and sleeping lofts as well as an open floor plan with incredible upgrades. Easy access to Polson and Bigfork, situated on a lush, private lot with panoramic views and.

$1,965,000

Housing market on the mend Living in tiny spaces Designers bring your plan to life Solar energy on the rise

22900 Damaskes Way

Rollins - West shore Flathead Lake, panoramic views of Wild Horse Island and mountain ranges.

Timber frame 2bd/1.5ba home on park-like setting on 1.1acs. Flat, easy entry pebble beach, dock, and boat lift. Separate outbuilding and room for additional structure.

$895,000

(406) 880.8679 463 Spanish Peaks Drive

Missoula - Amazing 2-story 4bd/4ba home with panoramic valley and mountain views. Chef’s kitchen with breakfast nook and adjacent oversized family room. Formal living and dining. Grand entry with sweeping staircase. Incredible indoor and outdoor entertaining areas.

$825,000

14301 Caddisfly Court

Rock Creek - Incredible quality throughout this custom 4bd/3.5ba home just 20 minutes East of downtown Missoula. Main floor master, spa-like bathroom. Walkoutlower level family, workout, and wine room, storage and guest space. Access to 20 ac common area.

$729,900

tory@lambrosera.com

1290 Thunders Trail

Potomac - This custom Potomac Valley retreat, with end of road privacy, embodies Montana living at its best. Nestled on a 20 park-like acre parcel with abundant wildlife, this elegant 3bd/3ba home has amazing architectural details.

$720,000

DiSTinCTive PRoPERTIES

Montana Dream Homes

406.239.5930

Rod-jan@eralambros.com Rogersmissoula.com

2950 St Thomas, Missoula • $1,450,000 Luxurious French Country home on 1 acre, unobstructed views of Missoula valley and mountains. Over 8900 sq ft of finished living area, private 1040 sq ft nanny/guest quarters

Introducing Six Mile Meadows, Huson • Luxury Homes Starting at $900,000

A new era of custom homes with technologically advanced modern designs yet exudes an inviting, warm ambiance with the use of natural wood, stone and rustic materials.

Built by Gooden Construction and NC Design

Four 20-acre home sites, each home strategically situated out of view from the others.

Stunning views, private, easy access. Good producing wells already in.

For complete information, please visit www.sixmilemeadows.com

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Montana Dream Homes

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TYLER WILSON/Missoulian

a n a t n o M n r e t s e W e h t in e c n la a rb

t e k r a m g n i s u o H Searching fo

PETER FRIESEN for the Missoulian

W

estern Montana’s housing market took a step toward “normal” in the first half of 2015, after a slump last year.

The market in general was on the rise in the early part of the decade, though the tough

winter hurt the market in 2014. But 2015 is back on the track to recovery.

There’s not necessarily a standard for a “normal” residential real estate market, though there are ideal balances. Recovery, according to Mike Nugent, president of the Missoula Organization of Realtors, is tricky.

“We would like a market where there’s a balance between buyer and seller,” Nugent said.

But this can fluctuate constantly, and right

now in Missoula, sellers have it good, especially at lower price points, though interest rates are low, Nugent said, giving buyers some advantage.

The median home price in Missoula rose for the sixth straight year in the first half of 2015 to $239,250, though fewer buyers can afford that median price.

The Housing Affordability Index (HAI) shows a bleak picture for some Missoulians.

Montana Dream Homes Generally speaking, homeowners should only spend 25 percent to 30 percent of their monthly income on housing.

Almost a third of Missoulians spent over 35 percent of their monthly income on housing in 2013. It was more than a third in 2008.

However, Missoula is a little lower than the national average. In 2012, 35 percent of Americans were spending over the recommended amount for housing.

The median family income needed to purchase a medianpriced home in Missoula dropped slightly from 2013, but is up significantly from 2012.

In 2012, the median income that would buy a median-priced home (using a standard 20 percent down payment) was $47,064. In 2014, that number was $52,949.

If the Housing Affordability Index is bleak for homeowners, it’s worse for renters. In 2013, almost half of all renters in Missoula spent over 35 percent of their monthly income on housing costs. Another 11 percent spent over 30 percent of their income.

That means almost 60 percent of renters in Missoula spent more than the highest recommended amount of their monthly income on housing.

This closely correlates with an increase in rent prices from 2012 to 2014.

In almost every category of rental units (houses, duplexes, studios, etc.), rent costs went up.

The largest increases came from four-plus bedroom houses, which averaged around $1,100 in 2012 and in 2014 averaged almost $1,500.

Most units went up only a

couple hundred dollars a month, a seemingly small increase, but sizable for a recent graduate with a pile of debt to pay off.

Nugent said the situation for renters will only get better as the economy improves. Renters will make more money and will spend a smaller percentage of their income on housing, and more rentals will be built as well.

“With more units, affordability will creep back,” Nugent said.

The most important thing is for Missoulians to not be intimidated by the market, Nugent said. Interest rates are low and a monthly mortgage payment could be cheaper than monthly rent.

Housing sales in Missoula are holding steady in 2015.

Through July 2015, 706 homes had been sold in the Missoula urban area, and Nugent predicted year-end sales would be similar to 2014. 2013 had the highest number of annual sales since 2006, with 1,322. 2014 dropped to 1,265 homes sold.

Sellers are enjoying an increase in median prices of homes sold in Missoula. The median price from the first half of 2015 was $239,250, compared to $225,000 in 2014, which was an all-time high.

This is the fifth year in a row that saw median home prices increase, and 2015 is seeing the highest median price in almost 10 years.

“For those sellers, there is no better time to get your home on the Missoula market,” Nugent said in a recent press release.

Home sales in 2014 were strongest in the $200,001 to $275,000 price range and 59 percent of all sales were in the $100,000 to $250,000 range, above the national average of 44 percent.

In 2013, sales were about tied

between the $150,000 to $200,000 range and $200,001 to $275,000.

This shows a larger trend in Missoula toward buying lowerpriced homes (under $300,000), which puts the market in short supply.

“We see lots of competition and not very many days on market for those homes,” Nugent said.

Missoula County’s numbers are very similar to the city, with some expected differences. The average days a house spent on the market is slightly higher, usually due to rural property sales, and the median cost of a home is slightly lower.

Ravalli County is also seeing a healthier market, with the median price of a home reaching $224,000 in the first six months of 2015, up from $208,000 in the same period of 2014.

There have been 249 sales in the first half of 2015, which Darwin Ernst, real estate agent and appraiser for the Bitterroot Valley Board of Realtors, said puts 2015 on track to pass 2014 sales numbers.

“The crystal ball used to predict the housing market here in the Bitterroot Valley is much less cloudy than in the recent past,” Ernst said in an email.

Foreclosures can affect these numbers, though, Ernst said.

By decreasing the number of foreclosures, the median statistic increases, making it appear as though housing prices rose.

In Missoula County, foreclosures dropped 42 percent from 2013 to 2014 and made up a significantly smaller portion of the total number of sales in the county compared to the last five years, which could slightly affect the median.

Ravalli County has also shown a large drop in foreclosures in the

5 last two years, though the number held steady at 30 foreclosures in the first six months of 2014 and 2015. That’s almost half as many as in 2013, 57, and more than half as many as in 2012, 67.

Foreclosure numbers weren’t available from Lake and Flathead counties.

Lake County shows growth as well, despite a dip in 2013-14 numbers. Their data is compiled From Aug. 1 to July 31 the next year, covering two calendar years.

In the second half of 2014 and the first half of 2015, 283 units were sold, with a median price of $218,000.

This is a marked uptick from 2013-14, when only 249 units were sold at a median price of $195,600.

From Jan. 1 to Aug. 11 of 2015, Flathead County saw 970 units sold at a median sale price of $234,000. They were consistent with other counties in the area in 2014, with a dip in units sold and a median price rise from 2013.

Kalispell, the largest city in Flathead County, didn’t have a dip in numbers for 2014, setting it apart from almost every other region. Their units sold and median sale prices rose steadily from 2012 to 2015.

Derek Close, director of technology for Northwest Montana Association of Realtors, said there’s no explanation for the difference.

In the MOR’s 2015 housing report, part of the conclusion accurately describes Missoula’s and the surrounding counties’ housing markets.

“The data still reveal a number of challenges for buyers, sellers and renters. It is clear that the economy is rebounding, the market is stronger.”

6

T

he micro home movement is filled with dedicated followers who believe in the idea that people don’t need as many possessions or as much space as they’ve grown accustomed to.

Micro homes can range in size from 80 square feet to 400 square feet, though depending on who you ask, homes up to 1,000 square feet are included. Here are three people who’ve lived, built and led the way in the tiny home movement in Missoula.

When they take the chance, humans find it easy to adapt, especially when they don’t have an alternative. Charles Finn, owner and founder of A Room of One’s Own, a commission-based micro cabin construction company, knows how to adapt.

“Whether it’s climate or where we live or how we live,” Finn said, “in general, humans are great adapters.”

The hardest part of moving into a 96-squarefoot home, Finn said, is paring down and deciding what to keep in such a tiny space.

“Need is a tricky word,” Finn said. People don’t “need” a chair or table, they can sit on the bed, he added. But the idea is to decide what is necessary for each specific person.

“What’s going to make it a comfortable and enjoyable place to spend time?” Finn asked.

Montana Dream Homes

the

Art of living small PETER FRIESEN for the Missoulian

In his cabin, Finn has a writing desk and a rocking chair in front of the fire.

Bookshelves and a bed fill out the space. He’s held a dinner party with five or six other people crammed into the cabin, which he said was the most intimate, great time he’s had.

Finn estimated he’s built five cabins on commission

and around nine in total.

His cabin, including the loft, is around 130 square feet. Most of the other cabins he’s built are 96 square feet, or about 8 feet by 12 feet.

The cost of Finn’s handmade cabins can vary depending on materials available (only reclaimed wood is used).

An 8-by-12-foot cabin costs around $18,000 and adding a loft would be around $4,000 more. They are outfitted with a wood stove, bed, shelves, a sink with a gray water catch and a copy of Thoreau’s “Walden.”

The first cabin Finn built was finished in 2002, and soon afterwards he built a

larger one to accommodate the addition of his wife.

Now Finn lives in a standard-sized home in Seattle for most of the year.

But he still visits as often as possible and considers the cabin his favorite place in the world.

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be than in my cabin in Montana,” Finn said. “It’s like a breath of fresh air, really.”

Montainers, the shipping-container homes that filled the Internet with buzz over the last couple of years, are made right here in Missoula and Bonner.

Patrick Collins, cofounder of Montainer Inc. and a University of Montana graduate, started the company to bring this European construction style to the Pacific Northwest.

“Our solution is kind of a comprehensive, all-inone package,” Collins said.

The 192-square-foot containers are outfitted with a kitchen, bathroom, bed and washer/dryer combo. They are built completely to code and can be permitted anywhere, Collins said, making the containers one of the easiest ways to obtain a micro home.

Included in the $65,000 price tag is delivery and installation within 500 miles of Missoula. Customers have the option of adding additional containers to their home for $20,000 to

Montana Dream Homes

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“Our solution is kind of a comprehensive, all-in-one package.”

– Patrick Collins, Montainer co-founder

$30,000 apiece.

Most of Montainer’s customers use the homes for cabins, vacation properties or backyard cottages, Collins said, not a primary home. But he would like to reach as many customers as possible.

Collins himself lives in a 250-square-foot

apartment in Missoula and is a “big believer in simple, efficient living.”

There are many draws of the container homes, Collins said.

Some customers appreciate that the containers are recycled and much of the construction is energy efficient. Some find it

convenient that they can order a home and have it delivered, complete, to their chosen location without having to lift a finger.

And many just want to simplify their lives while they’re in their Montainer.

“Our mission is to make a Montainer home available to anyone,” Collins said.

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Montana Dream Homes

“We used every last inch of space in there. And we

Two kids, two parents and two dogs all living in 282 square feet isn’t exactly a winning proposition. But Jennifer Savage and her husband Seth Quackenbush not only made it work for two years, they made it a family experience.

In 2013, Quackenbush was looking for a change after owning his own carpentry business for 14 years. He and Savage decided when their youngest daughter Lucille was in kindergarten he would go back to school to get his master’s degree in social work.

Savage works for the UM Foundation writing grants and raising money for Montana Public Radio and PBS. Hers would be the sole income for the family

while Quackenbush was in school, so they decided to downsize to the tiny home in their backyard.

“How can we do this and do it in a way that creates as little debt as possible? So living without a mortgage was the way,” Savage said.

They dubbed the home “282” and got to work moving in.

Their two children, Lucille, then 5, and Eliza, then 7, went to visit their grandparents, and Savage and Quackenbush got to work paring down their possessions and renting out the main house to another family.

The garage at a farmhouse in Arlee the family owned became storage space for mattresses, beds, books and anything else

they couldn’t part with. Everything else was sold, given away, trashed or moved into 282.

“We used every last inch of space in there,” Savage said. “And we got rid of a mountain of stuff before we moved in.”

Among the possessions they brought to 282 were clothes, camping and skiing gear, a small amount of kitchen utensils, appliances and a few essentials. Saving space was a necessity, but Savage said there were a couple things the family couldn’t leave out.

Quackenbush built hooks into the outside of 282 to hang his outdoor gear and they built a shelf inside to house their books.

The only door in the house closed off the bathroom, a 5-by-6-foot room that Savage

Montana Dream Homes

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got rid of a mountain of stuff before we moved in.”

– Jennifer Savage

TOM BAUER/Missoulian

said was “actually quite functional.”

Everything else was in one large room- the kitchen, a queen bed, shelves and a hide-abed couch.

Their clothes were kept in containers under the bed and Quackenbush’s clothes were kept on shelves built into the outside of the house.

“We did have to be organized,” Savage said.

“It’s really like a game of Tetris.”

All of this tiny living, rather than introducing more stresses and problems, gave the family a new outlook on life.

Savage said she learned that all of her typical “thinking through life” had to happen at different times than she was used to. Her

daily run took the brunt of those thought processes.

Eliza and Lucille, who Savage said “felt like they were camping for two years,” shared the hide-a-bed couch and as they grew older, enjoyed sharing a small bed less and less.

But now that they’ve moved back into their main house, they sleep in the same bed almost every night.

“They’re sort of tangled up like vines,” Savage said of their relationship.

The family grew closer, not just out of the necessity that a small space requires, but because they learned to grow together.

Any conflict or conversation was dealt with immediately; the small space just didn’t let

problems fester.

After Quackenbush graduated this spring, they were able to move back into their main house over the summer.

Savage said the experience has changed many aspects of their lives. She was forced to ponder her attachment to physical things.

“The entire two years of living there was a constant plucking of stuff,” Savage said.

Now, all that the family owns is in their house. No extra storage or boxes in their parents’ garage. Savage just gets rid of stuff if she doesn’t use it.

“At the end of the day, it was a pretty great experience,” Savage said. “We’re pretty tight as a family unit because of it.”

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Montana Dream Homes

TOM BAUER, Missoulian

Interior designer translates your

vision into reality

Montana Dream Homes PETER FRIESEN for the Missoulian

T

he project began with a client who wanted to repaint her house.

Then Becky Broeder, their interior designer, suggested that if the client wanted any other work done, it would be best to get it finished before painting.

That was a year and a half ago.

Now, the house is completely gutted and construction isn’t scheduled to be finished until Christmas.

Sometimes, that’s how Becky Broeder’s job works out.

Broeder, owner and sole employee of Broeder Design, founded her company five years ago in Missoula, not entirely on purpose.

“I feel like my company sort of started itself,” Broeder said.

After many years of school and creating relationships with contractors, designers and builders in Missoula, she got her first big client and Broeder Design was suddenly off the ground.

Today she’s the president of the Intermountain Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers, which covers Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming and has designed for Paws Up Ranch and Jaker’s Bar & Grill.

All these accomplishments started with a double major in English literature and film from Montana State University.

After an aborted attempt at another degree at the University of Montana, Broeder moved to Arizona to ride her bicycle full time.

She lived down the street from an art school in Tucson, the Arts Center Design College, and enrolled in their bachelor’s

degree program. After two and a half years, she decided to transfer to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco to get a master’s degree in interior architecture and design.

While earning her degree, she worked a retail job at a furniture design store. The job gave her hands-on experience, while her classes were mostly theoretical. Combined with her past education, a more complete interior design education formed.

Her art school and design school experiences taught her about color and placement, her retail job gave her real-world experience working with fabrics and budgets, and her film degree taught her important lighting techniques, an essential part of designing a room.

“Lighting is everything. It’s how we see the world,” Broeder said.

When she started Broeder Design, she learned more about the human element in interior design.

On certain projects Broeder will lead the team, including a contractor and several specialty builders, keeping everyone on track and the design in focus, not to mention the clients.

Broeder’s relationship with her clients is of utmost importance to the process of designing. She always interviews her clients when they hire her, to learn what their needs and goals are, and works to make sure communication is clear and trust is established.

“People watch HGTV and think they can have a kitchen in a month,” Broeder said, adding that it’s important that she and the client are on the same page.

11

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Montana Dream Homes

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from all local sources if possible.

For this home, she hired local woodcrafters, masons, contractors and suppliers.

In the master bedroom, a local mason cut tile for a huge walkin shower and a stone fireplace.

Sliding doors were made locally with reclaimed wood. A cast-iron bathtub from a local supplier will be installed in the master bathroom.

On this project, Broeder shared responsibilities with a general contractor, Joe Jensen, owner of Confluence Construction.

Between Broeder managing design decisions and Jensen managing the budget and schedule, all the clients’ needs are taken care of.

When the clients (who requested anonymity) came to her, they only wanted to repaint.

Broeder gave them a standard caution.

“If you’re going to make any changes, you should do it before you paint, because then you’ll just have to paint again,” Broeder said.

That started a domino effect when the clients decided maybe the bedrooms should be updated, then the bathrooms, then the kitchen, then the entire house was torn up.

Broeder’s conversations and relationship with these clients gave her essential knowledge to design their home. One of the clients is from Sweetgrass, which inspired Broeder to use prairie colors in much of the design, basing paint and fabric choices off of grass, sky and snow.

The same client has a stressful, busy job, Broeder said, so she worked to make the master bedroom a serene space, one where the client can feel comfortable and unwind.

“It’s just been a really fun relationship,” Broeder said. “I don’t know if I’ve had a client that I haven’t had that relationship with.”

Broeder works with and buys

TOM BAUER, Missoulian

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Confluence Construction and Broeder Design have worked together for around eight years, Jensen estimated. He said the relationship between designer and general contractor is one that can make a job difficult or very easy.

He compared the relationship to that of the producer and director of a movie. The director has an artistic vision and the producer makes sure the right people carry it out.

“She’s telling me what goes

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Montana Dream Homes where and we’re figuring out the best way to make her vision come to life,” Jensen said.

A good designer can keep things moving along with the clients and can make smaller decisions for them, Jensen said.

It’s not uncommon for a designer to push their ideas on a client, Jensen said, but he thinks Broeder truly understands her client’s needs and puts them first.

“She has a real feel for the design,” Jensen said. “It produces a really nice finished product.”

Broeder said she always wants the design completely decided on before construction starts, so that the process is more efficient.

By operating in a predictable manner, Jensen said, the designer helps work get done easier and helps crews know exactly what they’re doing.

“In a lot of ways it makes the job run more smoothly,” Jensen said.

Broeder shares an office with two general contractors, who she can ask for advice or get answers for more practical questions she or a client has.

“It’s a great collaborative environment, creatively,” Broeder said.

Most of the projects Broeder works on are residential.

These are more intimate, the kinds of projects where an early interview and a good relationship are key components of the job.

Broeder said in these jobs she’s finely-tuned to the needs and tastes of the clients.

Retail, hospitality and restaurant jobs, which make up the rest of her work, require a good working relationship as well, though Broeder said these projects aim towards achieving a sort of mass appeal.

Commercial spaces require her

13 designers make so many decisions about what brands of faucets, showerheads or light fixtures are used, they can influence how many homes or offices are remodeled using energy-efficient materials.

Broeder said clients can end up saving money by receiving discounts through her connections and by Broeder making sure decisions and the project itself move efficiently.

TOM BAUER, Missoulian

to create an environment where customers are happy and want to spend money, employees are happy in a nice work environment and management is happy, usually when the first two groups’ needs are met.

Important to Broeder in every design is creating a space that promotes healthy living. This can range from working with locallysourced materials and contractors to laying out space to let in natural light and reduce stress.

“Good design is huge for health and wellness,” Broeder said. “[It’s] absolutely not a luxury item.”

“I think the people who find me and hire me see the importance in that.”

In a 2012 interview for the U.S. Green Building Council, Randy Fiser, CEO of ASID, commented on the benefits of using sustainable products in design.

“One of the most important aspects of sustainability is health – health of the indoor environment, of the occupants, of the materials.

Interior designers offer specialized knowledge of interiors materials

and FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) that promote good indoor air quality, are toxin-free, and are water/energy-efficient.”

He added that since interior

The contractor and designer, Broeder said, do this for a living, but for many clients, especially the ones who rebuild their entire homes, it’s a once-in-alifetime project.

It’s important to her to not lose sight of that fact.

“I’m really honored that people allow me to participate in their homes,” Broeder explained. “It’s amazing. I love it.”

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Montana Dream Homes

14

Solar energy

increasingly affordable for Montana homeowners Diana Maneta Montana Renewable Energy Association “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”

– Thomas Edison, 1931

H

umans have been taking advantage of solar energy for thousands of years.

The ancient Chinese and ancient Greeks built their homes to let in the sun’s warmth in the winter while keeping it out in summer – what we call ‘passive solar design’ today. Solar photovoltaics, or the conversion of sunlight to electricity, were discovered in the 1800s, and the silicon solar cell – the basis of today’s solar electric industry – was developed in 1954. At the time, the New York Times called the invention “the beginning of a new era, leading eventually to the realization of one of mankind’s most cherished dreams – the harnessing of the almost limitless energy of the sun for the uses of civilization.”

Today we are in the midst of another great step forward for solar energy. This time, it’s about cost.

The wholesale cost of solar panels

Montana Renewable Energy Association

has dropped at an astounding rate, from more than $75 per watt in 1977 to less than $1 per watt today. In 42 of the 50 largest cities in the U.S., rooftop solar is now cheaper than buying power from the electric utility. So it’s not surprising that solar is one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the U.S., and the number of solar jobs is growing at 10 times the national average employment rate.

Here in Montana, too, solar is more affordable than ever. The installed cost of a solar array,

including all equipment and labor, has dropped by half in just the last five years.

But dropping cost isn’t the only development underway in the solar and clean energy industries. Elon Musk’s unveiling of the new Tesla PowerWall battery in May made headlines around the world, and for good reason: energy storage has the potential to revolutionize the electric power industry. Dan Brandborg of Missoula-based SBS Solar says “Electrical storage will change the power industry

on parallel with how refrigeration changed the food industry.” On a large scale, cost-effective energy storage has the potential to greatly accelerate wind and solar energy development while making the electric grid more efficient. For homeowners, energy storage coupled with solar can provide backup power during grid outages and even open up the possibility of off-the-grid living.

Another innovation is underway here in Montana: the Flathead Electric Cooperative (FEC)’s Solar Utility Network, the first community solar project in the state. FEC members have the option to buy one of the 356 solar panels that make up a new 100 kilowatt solar array, which is currently being installed by a Montana company using a Montana-made solar racking system. FEC members who buy into the project will receive credit on their monthly electric bills based on the array’s solar production. The benefit of community solar projects like this one is that they push down solar costs by taking advantage of economies of scale, while also opening up the solar market to anyone who wants to participate, including renters and people with shady rooftops. That’s crucial, since studies have found that more than 50 percent of US homes aren’t appropriate for solar for one reason or another.

These clean energy developments – and many others – will be showcased at the Montana Renewable Energy Association’s 5th annual Clean Energy Fair, Saturday, Sept. 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Caras Park in Missoula.

The Clean Energy Fair will include a full schedule of free, educational workshops on clean energy topics. A workshop on batteries and energy storage,

Montana Dream Homes presented by Dan Brandborg of SBS Solar, will cover the Tesla PowerWall battery and other energy storage technologies for home and vehicle use. A workshop on Montana solar innovations will include Ross Holter of Flathead Electric Cooperative discussing the FEC Solar Utility Network, in addition to Curt Pohl of NorthWestern Energy discussing that utility’s new solar and battery “micro-grid” project near Deer Lodge. Other workshop topics will include solar electricity, solar heating, small wind generators, conservation and efficiency, financing and incentives, off-grid living, financing and incentives, and how to choose a solar contractor.

In addition to educational workshops, the Clean Energy Fair will include an electric car show featuring the Tesla, Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, and Toyota Prius. Montana renewable energy businesses will be on hand to showcase their offerings and answer questions. For kids, activities will include model solar car races, solar oven construction, and a bouncy castle.

Fair attendees can enter a drawing to win an X-Treme electric bicycle valued at $1,000.

For more information about the Clean Energy Fair, visit www.montanarenewables.org.

Montana Renewable Energy Association

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The Montana Clean Energy Fair!

A fun and educational family-friendly event, showcasing renewable energy and what it can do for you!

15

Saturday

September 19, 2015

$950,000

9 AM to 4 PM

406.214.9405

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* Exhibits by Montana clean energy businesses * Workshops on solar, wind, and more * Electric car show * Model solar car races * Food vendors * Chance to win electric bicycle

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ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

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Brought ght to you y by: y

Zoned Commercial or Residential, this property ty includes 5+ bedrooms and 6 1/2 baths, with over 5,800 sq. ft. of living space. At one time the Sellers hosted many guests who simply wanted to experience the true Montana lifestyle. High-end finishes are evident throughout this exquisite, lodge-like property. Floor to ceiling (33 foot) windows capture the essence of the Clark Fork River and amazing mountain views just a stone's throw away. Close to the Hiawatha Trail, rafting outfitters next door, numerous hiking trails, Alberton Gorge white-water rafting, Trestle Creek golf course, horseback riding and boarding, and so much more. Great fishing and abundant wildlife! Call 406-370-1010 for your personal property tour! One of a kind - Must see! MLS # 20154641 g g tin tin is is Ne w

Caras Park — Downtown Missoula

www.montanarenewables.org Sponsors:

$549,900

821 Parkview Way, MISSOULA, MT Executive Home W/ Views!

Heated Outdoor Pool!

Over 4500 Sq Ft + Wine Room!

4 Bedroom / 3.5 Baths!

Mls # 20155353

$498,000

2773 Bonner Mountain, Bonner, MT 20+ Acres of Privacy! Views!

Multiple heat sources by design!

26 x 32 Insulated shop!

3+ garage/ barn / meadow!

MLS # 20154812

SUSAN LIANE REALTOR / BROKER (406) 370-1010

Montana Dream Homes

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Find Your

$575,000

Julie Gardner

Montana Dream Home www.JulieGardnerProperties.com

Realtor, J.D., MPA ERA Lambros Real Estate

(406) 532-9233 jgardner@ERALambros.com