SYCAMORE | Lesley Rigg and David Goldblum have decided to practice what they preach.

The wife and husband are bio-geographers at NIU and the owners of an environmentally-friendly home.

Their Sycamore abode is part of a housing complex and would probably be indistinguishable to neighbors just strolling by.

But inside, the house boasts a new geothermal heat system as the primary means by which to conserve energy. The system looks like a normal furnace, but can save homeowners hundreds of dollars every year. The geothermal system provides heating, cooling and hot water, the latter of which is a by-product of the system.

A geothermal heat pump generally costs $2,500 per ton of capacity and a normal-sized home would use a three-ton unit, costing roughly $7,500, according to consumerenergy.org. However, the pair found the benefits were evident within days of installation.

“We just moved in,” Goldblum said. “On the hot summer days the total expense comes out to about $3 a day with electricity.”

Instead of heating the whole house with the system, the Rigg-Goldblum home relies on the heat of the sun. The south-facing wall is covered by 270 square feet of windows.

Accompanying this vast amount of glass is an energy-efficient fan that creates airflow throughout the main room.

There is also a thermal mass tile floor that absorbs the sun’s heat throughout the day and then provides warmth throughout the night.

The carpeting in the house is made entirely of pop bottles.

“It is marketed as stain-resistant and is 100 percent post-consumer product,” Rigg said. “You could pour a bottle of bleach on the carpet and it wouldn’t show.”

To decrease the amount of water used, the toilets were replaced with Japanese-designed commodes.

“There are two flush options,” Goldblum said. “One is low [in flow], using only .9 gallons and the other option uses 1.6 gallons. It’s extra money, but we get it back [when paying a lower amount in bills].”

While the professors are reducing their carbon footprint, or what they leave behind in garbage, they are also gaining a tax rebate. Because they have so many environmentally friendly additions within their house, they are eligible for money back from the government during tax season.

There are other options the family is considering for decoration. One option is thermal paint containing ceramic powder that acts as an insulator and radiates absorbed heat back into the room. They are also interested in purchasing a backsplash for their kitchen made of recycled glass tile.

“We’re putting our money where our mouth is,” Rigg said. “We teach and preach, but there are budgets to stay in.”

Katie Trusk is a City Reporter for the Northern Star.