Our key challenge was to design and build a high performance home (performance defined as energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and construction durability) in a community with strict architectural controls while maintaining affordability.
With this challenge in mind, we focused on a tight envelope, 21st century insulation, and passive solar strategies. The home is insulated with dense-pack cellulose in the walls and Icynene open-cell foam at the roof plane, with extensive air sealing. The results of our blower door and duct blaster test results were outstanding, and our overall HERS rating was 49.
The home’s lot has 175 feet of southern exposure, so we “stretched” the house along this axis to maximize daylighting. For a large portion of this exposure, we were able to provide a deep overhang to block direct summer sun while admitting winter sun. Where overhangs where not possible, we utilized low-E windows to reduce solar heat gain.
We workd with an open plan so that every square foot of the home was utilized, generating a relatively small footprint while preserving the budget for some nicer touches, like visible rafter tails and tongue and groove porch ceilings.