Loft Goes Green On Cherry Street

Lots of lofts are going up around Tulsa.  But none quite like the Tulsa Loft Project near Cherry Street.  The duplex is billed as the greenest in town.  The News On 6's Steve Berg reports the lofts are environmentally friendly and the structure doesn't look much different from normal construction.

Architect and longtime environmentalist Shelby Navarro has put all his energy into this project.

"We sort of used everything that we could possibly think of and that I knew about to put in the house to really educate people on sustainability," said Shelby Navarro.

As for the literal kind of energy, the house will conserve thanks to these foam blocks that form the walls.

"It lets very little air in and out.  It's much stronger than a framed wall.  It keeps it quieter in here," said Shelby Navarro.

On the outside, there's cedar that naturally resists insects and rot and a special alloy steel, called corten that's designed to weather naturally.

"Items that either gray with time and don't require any maintenance or they rust and protect themselves," said Shelby Navarro.

Navarro says there's nothing on the outside to paint, unless you want to.

The floors will have bamboo and cork that will look like a normal hardwood floor, but grow back much faster than traditional hardwoods.  They also went the recycling route, getting oak for parts of the house from an old barn.

"We're putting it on our stairs, 125-year-old oak.  It's so solid and beautiful.  It just blew me away that they were able to get that and mill it into that," said Shelby Navarro.

Navarro doesn't expect everyone to do what he did.  But, if they take even a few steps toward a greener house, he says it will benefit the planet.