Roof-mounted solar photovoltaic panels will provide all of the energy needed to power the California wine region’s first gold level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified home and prefabricated winery facility.

Tony Sarich is the co-founder of American Modular Systems, which has been manufacturing Gen7, an affordable line of high-performance green classrooms, according to a press release.

When Sarich, a grape grower and wine lover, decided to build a home in California’s wine region, he was determined to make it as green as it could be, said Gen7 spokeswoman Maggie Hartley. The LEED building standards served as an excellent guideline for building the facility, she said.

“He was able to incorporate a lot of the green building principles we’ve learned through Gen7,” Hartley said.

The manufactured 3,000-square-foot winery was delivered and installed on site at the end of last week. It’s 90 percent completed and will be finished with green features while the first Gold-certified LEED home in the Lodi Wine Region is constructed on Sarich’s 50 acres.

Roof-mounted solar panels provide enough energy to power the winery, the natural well and future house, Hartley said. To keep the space cool, a super-tight building envelope uses 100 percent recycled blue jean insulation with an R-value of 50 on the roof and walls. Innovative smart lighting features LED lights throughout, coupled with natural daylight harvesting to reduce energy usage by 65 percent.

"We learned a tremendous amount about sustainable design when developing Gen7," Sarich was quoted in the release. "Our goal was to create a healthy, energy-efficient learning environment, using the cleanest materials and the latest technology to provide a complete green solution. I want to apply what we've learned to my own home, creating an eco-friendly winery and living space that can be an inspiration to others."

Both the winery and home are being constructed from recycled and recyclable materials, according to the press release.

Sarich selected Sharp solar panels for the project, Hartley said. The 1.8-megawatt solar array helps to establish Sarich’s facility as one of the greenest in the region.

Pictured: One example of a Gen7 school, courtesy of American Modular Systems.