Jerry Day cuts polystyrene insulating panels to fit the exterior walls of Bruce Carpenter's home in Medford. (Mail Tribune / Jim Craven)

You won't be able to see the old cars in the home Bruce Carpenter is having built in Medford.

But they will be there, perhaps even your father's Oldsmobile.

"About 80 percent of the framing for this building is made out of old cars," Carpenter said, later adding, "We didn't cut down any trees for this."

Carpenter, 78, is what he describes as the "instigator" in building a 1,545-square-foot home out of steel studs created from recycled dead cars that once littered backyards. His supplier told him that about 80 percent of the 10,000 pounds of steel used in the home and garage came from melted down old cars, Carpenter said.

"We have four or five old cars that have gone into building this," Carpenter said, figuring an average car weighs around 1,800 pounds.

The galvanized steel frame house is wrapped in a reflective radiant barrier and solid insulation, producing what the builders say is up to a 40 percent lower energy cost. Standard sheetrock will cover the interior.

The environmentally-friendly house is being constructed by Built By Heydon Oregon LLC.

"I believe in saving energy and recycling material when we can," added Carpenter, a real estate broker. "I'm not a fanatic. It just seems the way to go, recycling steel and saving trees."

It seems like a great idea to Carpenter's grandson Nick Torrano, 21, a junior at Southern Oregon University where he is majoring in business. Torrano is one of half a dozen people working on the model home.

"I've been in the building trade for a little while, mainly working with wood," Torrano said. "We have a real problem with how much waste we put into the environment. And it's going up by 6 percent every year since 1994."

He knows because he recently did a college report on it, he explained.

"This is a really good way of reducing the pressure on the environment," he said. "This is all recyclable."

In addition to permanently parking old cars, the house will be extremely energy efficient, his grandfather said.

The steel frame construction is wrapped by LP TechShield radiant barrier sheathing that is coated with a thin layer of aluminum, dramatically reducing the transmission of heat, he said.

A four-inch layer of Polystyrene insulation covers the outside of the house which is then coated with stucco.

"It's an envelope, is what it is," Carpenter explained. "It's completely energy efficient. The only thing that will burn in this house is the furniture. And termites won't bore into the house."

Along with the three-bedroom, two-bath home and garage being built, an additional dwelling unit in the form of a two-bedroom wood frame home is also on the lot. The steel-frame home and new garage, along with the existing dwelling, is on the market for $475,000.

The cost of the building is about $125 per square foot without the land, Carpenter said.

The technique represents the broad variety of home building currently being employed in the region, observed Mike Neely, president of the Home Builders Association of Jackson County. Employed by Ken Krumdick Inc. in Ashland, Neely has been in the construction trade since 1972.

"But it's not particularly common," he said. "In my personal opinion, I think one reason you don't see it as much is because of the cost. You see this more with custom homes."

Homes built by wood are generally cheaper, he said, although other building techniques, including insulated concrete forms, are now being employed, he said.

Larry Rubus, the contractor for the recycled steel frame house, likes the project.

"It's good to be working with stuff that is straight and true," said Rubus, a builder with more than 30 years' experience. "And you aren't going to get the dry rot and black mold that can be a problem."

Longtime construction worker John Beauregard of Medford agreed. He was hanging drywall on the steel frame, using heavier gauge drywall screws.

"You don't get any twisting in the studs," he said of the steel framing. "Everything is straight. It's a lot easier to hang drywall when it's straight. Same thing with casing and moldings."

Carpenter, who was reared in a small town in Idaho, says the house is not only energy efficient and ecologically friendly but building it produces little waste. He pointed to a nearby 30-gallon garbage can filled with scrap metal.

"Our entire scrap pile for the framing is in there," he said.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or at pfattig@mailtribune.com