Built for an orthopedic surgeon in Ohio, the home is built into a hillside on East Gros Ventre Butte and uses sod roofs and lumber from sustainable tree farms to mimic the surrounding landscape as much as possible.

The architecture firm that designed Aman 10 has used sod roofs for over 20 years. Back then, such a feature was looked at differently by the public than it is now:

“We used to call it the crackpot factor because people thought we were out of our minds to put sod roofs on homes—now they call it sustainability,” says Blake.

Speaking of a sustainable home, let’s talk about the home’s geothermal heating and coolingsystem.

Eco Friendly Heating and Cooling

But what about indoor comfort? That can be a bit of a challenge in an area like Wyoming, which experiences temperature extremes.

The Aman 10 resort home, with great insulation, a solid building envelope and triple-glazed windows, uses a geothermal system (also known as a ground-source heat pump system) to provide the best in heating and cooling. The geothermal system can heat and cool comfortably and very efficiently because of how geothermal works.

Using the stable temperature of the earth, geothermal systems don’t have to work as hard as traditional heaters and air conditioners to provide heat when the temperature is 15ºF in the winter, or provide cooling when it is 95° outdoors in the summer. Read more about geothermal here.

Geothermal heat pumps can also provide radiant underfloor heating, which warms the floor in your home during the winter, making a home even more comfortable. Radiant floor heatingcan also melt the snow or ice off sidewalks, driveways and walk ways.

In addition, the Teton County government is offering good incentives for energy efficient buildings, which means the building permit for Aman 10 was basically free.

Aman 10 is one of a dozen Amagani homes built to date. To read more about the home or see pictures, click here.