Very few people are physically able to build a home on their own, even if they are employed in a building trade. Fewer still, if any, decide to do so beginning construction at age 82. But that is exactly what Jerry Young, with the help of his wife, Dorothy, accomplished in Collinsville.
If that is not impressive enough, Jerry constructed their home to be so energy efficient it has earned accolades from Advanced Green Consulting, a firm doing home and business energy audits in Collinsville.
The Youngs purchased their lot because of the southern exposure, which is important for an exceptionally energy efficient home. They designed the home, and Jerry built it over 10 years beginning at age 82. The small, fenced area in front of the home is a solar collector, which feeds warm air into nine conduits that collect and transfer summer heat to the earth below and behind the home, where it is stored until the winter season.
“I was in my 40s when I became interested in ‘earth sheltering,’ and the absence of conventional heating and air conditioning systems,’†Jerry remembers. “Years later my wife died, Dorothy and I married and we began a five-year search for a suitable south-facing building site with a 15% slope. That angle is necessary to take advantage of the heat from the winter sun when it is low in the sky, as well as best suitable for a partially earth-sheltered home.
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“When we found the perfect lot only eight blocks from downtown Collinsville, we thought we had died and gone to heaven. I immediately purchased a track loader and began to shape the hillside for our home.â€
A first-floor bedroom in Dorothy and Jerry Young’s home shows how windows in the residence face south and are recessed 12 inches from the exterior to minimize heat loss from “wind washing,†which is when wind blowing along an exterior wall pulls hot or cold air away from a home.
Jerry built the stairway to the second floor, which leads to a walkway connecting an office, bedroom and bathroom.
Far beyond building their home into the side of a hill, the residence has a remarkable number of energy-efficient features. The entry foyer is a 10-foot-by-20-foot “air lock†that keeps cold or warm air securely trapped inside the living area when the front door is opened.
A 15-foot-high concrete wall at the back of the home, and which is entirely below grade, is separated from the inside living area by a 5-foot indoor corridor, providing another shield from temperature fluctuations in the ground that can affect interior heating and cooling.
All windows in the home face south and are recessed 12 inches from the exterior to minimize heat loss from “wind washing,†which is when wind blowing along an exterior wall pulls hot or cold air away from a home. There is an additional 5 inches of wall space on the inside of the windows, making each outside wall an insulated barrier 17 inches thick.
The detrimental effect of summer heat is further diminished due to an overhang on the roof, which stops summer sunlight from directly shining into the windows and disrupting the interior air temperature. Doubled pane glass windows were used along with fiberglass window frames, which are more energy efficient than vinyl window frames. “They are made from sand, the earth’s most abundant natural resource, rather than petroleum,†Jerry says.
Additionally, most windows crank open and shut, creating a tighter seal than a sliding window.
In his research, Jerry discovered that rice hulls are superior insulation and that they do not compress over time, leaving uninsulated space. He hired a semi-truck to pick up almost 850 pounds of hulls from Arkansas, and friends helped blow them into the ceiling and walls.
To monitor air temperature inside the home and document how all Young’s plans are working, multiple thermometers are spread throughout the residence at various levels, including one at the peak of the cathedral ceiling, which must be read with binoculars. “Results show a remarkable steady indoor ‘feel good’ temperature throughout the year of 69 to 74 degrees,†Jerry says.
The kitchen features repurposed cabinets found on eBay.Â
Behind the home, an exceptionally small solar array for a 3,000 square-foot home generates the minimal amount of electricity needed. The total bill for 2024 was $105.
Jerry did not just focus entirely on energy efficiency. For the structural element of the house and to be consistent with sustainability, he used reclaimed lumber and bricks he sourced by demolishing barns and homes.
Only four pieces of furniture are original to the Youngs’ former home. The rest was found at secondhand stores or donated by members of their families. Repurposed cabinets were purchased on Facebook.
The 3,000 square foot home itself features an open-floor plan with two bedrooms and one and ½ baths. On the second-floor there is a third bedroom and full bath, as well as an office and walkway extending the length of the home featuring an overhead view of the living area below.
Jerry built the stairway to the second floor with the help of a son-in-law, milling raw hackberry lumber with a beautiful wood grain for the stair treads.
Outside the home, Young bulldozed the land so that all rainwater falling on the property drains into several rain gardens that collect precipitation, which then seeps into the water table and prevents erosion.
Dorothy, a founding member of the Southwestern Illinois chapter of Wild Ones which promotes native landscaping, planted the hillsides with native perennial flowers and ground cover.
“It took us 10 years,†Jerry says, having just completed the home in 2025 at age 92. “To me, undertaking a big project like this is like going to college. Completion is the goal, but the focus must be on the day-to-day minutia and view the process as a journey, not a destination.â€
Dorothy planted the hillsides with native perennial flowers and ground cover.
What Jerry has accomplished was documented by Stan Clark of Advanced Green Consulting, which conducts “blower door tests†to measure the amount of air that leaks out of a home in an hour and is replaced with outside air. “The normal rate is a reading of between 5 and 9 air changes per hour,†he wrote in a report. “The final test result for the Youngs’ home was 1.105, which is the tightest home I have ever tested since I started doing energy audits in 1996.â€
Satisfied with what he has accomplished, Jerry has turned his attention to making furniture and is looking forward to starting with a dining room table for their home. It will, of course, be made from reclaimed lumber.
Dorothy and Jerry Young stand in their garden that features native landscaping, perennial flowers and ground cover outside their energy efficient home in Collinsville.
The three-season screened porch in front of the home faces south.
The puzzle parlor off the living room in Dorothy and Jerry Young’s home.
