This home aims for net zero with sleek, pollinator-friendly design in Bloomington
Rebecca and Alec Sampson’s Bloomington kitchen became baking central in August.
With the State Fair just around the corner, brownies, cinnamon rolls, cookies and bars were cooling on nearly every surface. The sink was piled with mixing bowls.
“Alec and I entered 14 categories this year,” Rebecca said. “We’ve won lots of second- through fifth-place ribbons, but we’re still on the hunt for blue!”
Cranking up the oven in August isn’t for the fainthearted, but the Sampsons do so with a clear conscience.
Their new house runs on its own steam — all the electricity, cooling and heating are generated from solar panels and a geothermal heat pump system. In summer, the solar panels produce more than they need and the couple sell the energy back to the grid.
“Alec tracks it on his phone,” Rebecca said.
Their eco-friendly house is a 2024-2025 Home of the Month winner, a partnership between the Star Tribune and the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects that honors residential architecture.