Camela and Wes Speer’s new house in Lorton will be environmentally friendly, energy efficient and unlike anything else around. It will also be one of the most carbon-neutral homes in Virginia.

But they won’t have to move far from their current home, just next door on land they already owned on the corner of Hooes and Ox roads.

"Our house was built in 1939 and needed either renovations or additions, so we decided to build a new one, the way we wanted it." said Camela Speer. "We also felt strongly about doing something for the environment." So with the help of an architect, they designed a solar, geothermal home.

"We wanted to show people you don't have to be a millionaire to build environmentally correctly," said Camela Speer, the spokesman for the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton. Her husband is a Food and Nutrition Services coordinator for Fairfax County Public Schools. Married 17 years, they have two children, son Slayton, 12, and daughter Keighan, 10.

"We’re average people," she said. "Builders should already be incorporating systems like ours into their construction. If everyone does their part, we can save the planet."

For the Speers, however, first came five years of design work and a long journey through the county permit process. But groundbreaking was Tuesday, Aug. 18, and site work began the next day.

"We’re very excited," said Camela Speer. "It’s been a long time coming." The Speers expect the house to cost about $600,000 to build, with all its special features making its actual value around $900,000.

"There’ll be a geothermal, ground loop of pipes that runs from the ground through the house, heating and cooling as it goes," said Camela Speer. "The first floor is radiant, in-floor heat; the water running beneath the floors in tubing heats the house. The ground temperature heats and cools the water, too. There’s no gas or oil hookup, so there’s no carbon footprint."

Solar panels on the roof will have maximum southern exposure during the day to receive the most sunlight. Extended rooflines on that side will shade the house during the heat of the day, allowing in the sun when it’s lower in the sky. The basement will also be insulated.

"Geothermal is a little more expensive than a new HVAC [heating and air conditioning] system, but we’ll recoup it with lower electric bills," said Camela Speer. "We’ll give back energy during the day and will use energy at night. But we should break even and may even receive a check from the energy company, at the end of the year, for unused energy."

The National Association of Homebuilders has different levels of energy-rating and renewable-resources certifications, and this home has received an emerald rating, which is the top certification.

"It’ll be a model of resource-efficiency, indoor-air quality and sustainability," said the builder Arjay West, principal of West Properties of Falls Church. "Emerald is the highest score, and we’re very proud of that. I’m passionate about this, really fired up."

The home will feature a modern design with a stone and Hardy Plank exterior and should take less than nine months to construct. The two-story, more than 3,000-square-foot interior will have four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a family room and an unfinished basement. Although the house will not have a dining room, the kitchen will contain a breakfast nook.

The home will feature an open floor plan, plus indoor and outdoor fireplaces and, eventually, a covered patio. "We love entertaining outdoors, as often as possible," said Camela Speer.

At last week’s groundbreaking ceremony, the Rev. Lyn Youll Marshall of Pohick Episcopal Church said a blessing. "This is part of the Speers’ giving back to the community, and stewardship, taking care of what they’ve been given," she said. "They’re [saving it] for future generations."

Marshall asked for God’s blessings and safety "on all who work on this site, on Wes and Camela’s family and friends, and on the building, itself." She then sprinkled holy water on the land.

Wes Speer thanked Vulcan Materials Co. for donating 500 tons of aggregate stone to the project and said how little energy it would take to operate his new house. "It’s as close to a carbon-neutral house as you can get," he said. "And it’ll be for everyone’s benefit."

Afterward, West discussed some of the home’s finer points. "To me, the greatest engineering feat on this project is geothermal," he said. "Our goal is to get close to zero energy. In a typical home, heating and cooling the space and the water uses 50-75 percent of the home’s total energy usage. But we’re doing it under the ground with pipes so it may only cost one-third or one-half to power that remaining 25 percent."

At night, LED (light-emitting diode) and CFL (compact fluorescent) lights will further shrink that percentage, during the day, lots of skylights and windows plus energy-star-rated appliances — such as the refrigerator and freezer — will do their part.

"We’re not asking people to camp," said West. "We want people to live their lives; we just want it to cost less for them to do. And the Speers will get a tax deduction for their energy-saving measures and the solar and geothermal [elements]. We’re going to hold up their energy bill at the end of this [project] and show everyone."

Actually, West is just as excited about the house as the Speers, especially after recently building a 15,000-square-foot mansion. "The family had four kids and had to install an intercom system to call them to dinner," he said. "I thought, ‘There’s got to be something better.’ I like to build right-sized homes for normal families."

He’s studied green building for seven years and said the Speers’ home will be "a synthesis of the things I’ve been practicing, the last five years. It’s high-performance building. For example, there’ll be cork flooring, which is the most-sustainable surface and is great to walk on. We’ll also create an insulation envelope around the house that’s an air seal [for optimum energy efficiency], and we’ve trained our folks to do this."

Pointing to the Caterpillar backhoe parked on the site, a joyful Camela Speer said, "It’s starting to feel real."

"It’ll feel really real, tomorrow about 8 a.m., when that thing fires up," West said.