2011 Winner

Camden Friends Meetinghouse

The winner of NESEA’s annual Zero Net Energy Building Award offers not only energy efficiency, but ideally also comfort, affordability, reliability, and elegance. Congratulations to everyone involved in this project.

Location: Camden, DE
Architect:Re:Vision Architecture, Mike Cronomiz, designer and project manager
Scott Kelly, principal in charge
Contractor: Camden, DEBoss Enterprises Inc.

High quality and integrated design in a community gathering space

The judges awarded first place to this Quaker Meeting House based largely on its high quality and integrated design. The Meeting and Social Hall sits adjacent to an historic 1805 Meeting House and serves as a community gathering space designed to complement the elegant simplicity of the historic Meeting House. After the first year, the new building’s solar collectors generated almost enough energy for both buildings combined. If the social hall were left to power itself, it would provide 150% of the power it consumed, making it a net positive building. In accepting the award, architect Scott Kelly indicated that he would use the cash grant to deploy solar panels on his firm’s office building.

Text from Zero Net Energy Award application:

The Camden Friends Meeting and Social Hall sits adjacent an historic 1805 Meeting House and serves the congregation as a community gathering space designed to complement the elegant simplicity and durability of the historic Meeting House. Spaces within the multi-function annex include a large social hall, catering kitchen, archival display, community outreach rooms, and restroom facilities.

To preserve the Meeting House as the crown jewel of the site, the new annex roofline steps down in a gesture of humility; lowering as it approaches the historic meeting house and outdoor worship space. A glass core at the main entrance to the annex allows visitors to see through the new annex to the historic Meeting House when approaching the building from the rear parking lot. The clean lines of the annex, which was clad with a rain screen of salvaged cypress, and metal roof, allow the Annex to float behind the historic meeting house without upstaging it.

The building’s form and layout are designed to take advantage of passive heating, cooling, and lighting. This passive design includes a tightly sealed thermal envelope with superior insulation. The exterior wall construction is of 2×6 wood studs, bio based foam insulation, with an additional layer of insulation applied to the exterior sheathing. A rain screen keeps the water on the outside of the building and reduces the risk of condensation on the interior. The roof is constructed of structurally insulated panels (SIPS) with an average R value of 48.

Through careful design and detailing, the building starts with a low energy load. Supplemental heat is provided by a closed-loop ground source heat pump system and power by a 12Kw photovoltaic array. After the first year, the new building’s solar collectors generated almost enough energy for both buildings, leaving only 188 kW provided by the local utility company for the entire complex. If the social hall was left to power itself, it would provide 150% of the power it consumed, making it a net positive building. Equally exciting, the building exceeded its predicted energy model in both energy reduction as well as water consumption through careful operations. In terms of water, a 2,000 gallon cistern collects rainwater and stores if for use in flushing toilets and irrigation.

By design, the building is intended to have the warmth and comfort of a home. At the same time, it needs to stand up to the intensive use that comes from accommodating large groups. In this way, the building straddles the residential and commercial sectors. While the 2,864 sf building is institutional in its use, its materiality, systems, and construction methods are all applicable on both the residential and commercial scale. Camden shows that net-positive buildings are feasible for homeowners, businesses, and non-profits who have this goal.”

Click here to see the poster submitted with the Camden Friends Meeting House application.

2011 Runners-up

More models of efficiency

Any building that meets the rigorous criteria to even be considered for NESEA’s annual Zero Net Energy Building Award deserves a shout-out. These runners-up, too, are showing us the way to a sustainable built environment. They have won our admiration, if not our prize.

Knox/Thompson Residence Charlotte, VT
Livermore Home deep energy retrofit Gloucester, MA
Moomaw House Williamstown, MA
The Putney School Field House Putney, VT
Shepler Residence New Paltz, NY

Knox/Thompson Residence

Location: Charlotte, VT
Owners: Katherine Knox and James Brian Thompson, Faith and Lark Thompson
Architect: Bill Hutchins, Helicon Works
Builder: Jim Huntington, New England House Wrights
Energy consultant/installer: Kirk Herander, Vermont Solar Engineering

An off-grid farmhouse inspired by NESEA’s Green Buildings Open House

It was our intention when we started this project to create a Vermont country farmhouse. We purchased the 45 acre parcel of land the house is located on in 2001. The land previously was a large farm and our parcel was segmented into two portions, approximately 35 acres of meadow and 10 acres of woodland. We built our house in the northwest corner of the meadow for a number of reasons. We could take advantage of the woodland to our north. This serves as a wind block for the cold northwest winds that happen in Vermont in the winter months. In addition there is a hill located just 300 feet from the house site and is the highest point on our land which is an ideal spot for a wind generator. To our south, east, and west we enjoy a lovely pastoral view of the rolling terrain. We also enjoy views of Camels Hump mountain, Mt. Philo, and portions of the Adirondacks.

As a consequence of building in this spot, we were at least a half mile from the nearest utility. The picture above is taken from the road and estimates to bring utilities that far off the beaten path were eye opening to say the least. Subsequently we investigated using renewable energy to provide electricity for our home. We did research on using renewable energy and the cost associated with those. We went on the “Solar Tour” that year and discovered that people did live off electricity generated by their own system. Using both PV and a wind generator to generate electricity would seem to be the best arrangement for this northern climate. We made our decision to go with renewable energy to power our home, we would use a wood stove for heat, and propane for cooking, heating our water, and other items.

Project Design: Initial plans and architectural design for the house was completed by Bill Hutchins of Helicon Works. His ideas consist of simple building forms that are beautifully composed. Thin clap-board siding is used with trim to define windows, doors, and entrances. The informal entry to the house consists of a Mud Room and serves as a link between the garage and house. An open floor plan on the first floor consists of a farmhouse kitchen, and a main living space that form a nurturing center of the house. The woodstove is positioned in the center of the main living space and provides warmth in the colder months. The house is positioned along the east west axis with a total of twenty windows that face south. The house can thought of as a sundial, with each room receiving it’s appropriate light. This enables us to use the light from the sun for most of our lighting during the daylight hours. Our PV array is fixed to the garage roof and points 194 degrees south. We consider the house to be well insulated and it takes advantage of passive solar gain. The highest efficiency lighting and appliances were used throughout our house. The house has been Certified Energy Star Rated 5 Star by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation.”

Click here to see the poster submitted with the Knox/Thompson Residence application.

Livermore Home deep energy retrofit

COME SEE US ON OCTOBER 13TH DURING GREEN BUILDINGS OPEN HOUSE: Click HERE!

Location: Gloucester, MA
Project designer/owner: John Livermore
Engineer: Marc Rosenbaum, PE
Lead Carpenter: Caleb Ewing
Project assistant: Bill Hallaren

Taking personal responsibility for climate change—on $50,000

The motivation for taking action to reduce our family’s carbon footprint was the understanding that carbon emissions need to be reduced by about 90% by 2030 in order to stabilize the earth’s climate, and the realization that I needed to take personal responsibility for reducing our family’s emissions. Also, I’d been in the energy efficiency business for over 20 years and felt it was time to walk the talk, taking everything I’d learned about building science over the years and applying it toward retrofitting my own house.

The purpose of performing the deep energy retrofit and renewable energy installations on the Livermore residence was to demonstrate what can be done to reduce the carbon footprint of a suburban homeowner on a budget of approximately $50,000. The overall goal was to reduce the home’s carbon footprint by 100%, and in doing so to help others by changing the current paradigm of what is possible.

The retrofit strategy has struck a balance between three key objectives:

1. Make it affordable
2. Make it feasible (use off-the-shelf technologies)
3. Make it repeatable

The house, located in Gloucester, Massachusetts, was built in 1972 and had poor energy specifications, including: Extreme air leakage (3,400cfm50), R-19 in attic, R-13 in walls, single-pane windows. Our retrofit philosophy was to reduce the building loads dramatically and then use solar energy systems to provide as much renewable energy as possible.

Key design features of the retrofit project include:

• Larsen truss wall framing system to allow installation of 5 inches of closed-cell foam (R-30).
• Gable roof extensions.
• Innovative chimney insulation system.
• Innovative basement floor and foundation wall insulation system.
• Dramatic air leakage reduction (to 500cfm50).
• R-76 attic insulation with radiant barrier.
• Triple-pane, low-E, argon, foam-filled fiberglass frame windows.
• 4.3 kilowatt photovoltaic system provides 186% of annual electricity needs.
• 3-panel solar hot water system provides over 70% of annual hot water needs.

Other energy features of house include:

• All LED and CFL lighting
• All Energy Star appliances
• Small Danish woodstove heats the entire house
• 1.125 GPM showerhead
• High-performance bath fan with 24-hour programmable controller

During the project, the Livermore house turned into a laboratory for carbon reduction strategies. The most significant behavioral modification has been hanging up clothes to dry, which has allowed dryer use to be eliminated and has resulted in approximately a 15% reduction in annual electricity usage.

The non-energy benefits of the project have been numerous and significant, including:

• Higher comfort levels
• Fewer colds and viruses
• More durable home

The house has participated in the NESEA Green Buildings tour each year since 2009.

For more information, visit www.OnThePathToSustainability.com“

Click here to see the poster submitted with the Livermore Deep Energy Retrofit application.

Moomaw House

Location: Williamstown MA
Owners: Bill and Margot Moomaw
Architect: Coldham & Hartman Architects
Engineer: Marc Rosenbaum, PE

Vernacular, low-impact building for the 21st century

The Moomaws desired first and foremost to make minimal impact on the natural ecosystem of their 14 acres, which contained fields, woods, and a one-acre pond that was home to wildlife and migrating species. They wanted a house for the 21^st century that resonated with the natural site, and was compatible with vernacular building. The roof angles, the barn-red garage and shed, the rock walls fashioned of stones from excavation, clapboards, and trim were conscious decisions to blend with the 19^thcentury agrarian tradition.

Initially they specified a highly energy efficient design using as much renewable energy and as little fossil fuel as possible. From their design team, architect Coldham and engineer Rosenbaum, they learned it would be possible, but a stretch, to achieve zero-net energy in their climate zone (7500-8000 heating degree days). During the design phase the team modeled various options for insulation, windows and energy consumption. Their contractor, Steve Haskins, embraced the concept and gave meticulous attention to insulation and air sealing.

Bill was enthusiastic about pursuing ZNE, but his wife Margot was more dubious, fearing they would compromise aesthetics to achieve the energy goal. After 2 years planning, 15 months construction, and two years of monitoring and modifying systems, they are pleased to achieve net-zero energy in a home that is beautiful and eminently livable. The 2200 square foot house was designed so the owners could work from home and accommodate numerous visitors. The couple hopes to live there for the remainder of their days. The first floor master bedroom and bathroom are wheel chair accessible. Adjacent to the main house and connected by a screen porch is a 460 square foot guesthouse for family and friends.

A long south façade provides passive solar heating. Half of the triple pane, argon-filled low E windows (U=.19) with high solar heat gain glass face south. In summer the roof overhang shades these windows. Only 15% of the glass is on the north side of the house, with the remainder divided between east and west. The location of windows optimizes day lighting.

The house utilizes a grid-connected 7.3-kilowatt PV array. Heat and hot water are provided by a 2.8-ton ground source heat pump that draws on the earth’s stored heat through 1350′ of horizontal loops. Radiant floor heating provides an exceptional degree of comfort. The house has a heat recovery ventilation system, and a Powerpipe to capture heat from shower drain water. The house is cooled in summer by natural ventilation and ceiling fans (no AC). Application specific artificial lighting is supplied by a combination of fluorescent, CFL and xenon/halogen on dimmer switches. Appliances were selected for low energy consumption (exceeding Energy Star standards). Renewable electricity is purchased from the grid as needed.

To the extent possible, materials were sourced from within 500 miles, and were chosen for recycled content (cellulose, TREX), durability (Hardiboard, standing seam metal roof, fiberglass framed windows), low environmental impact (PEX and ABS pipe, low VOC paints, native plants). New England hardwoods were chosen for flooring, kitchen cabinets, and built-ins (cherry harvested on the property). Siding for the garage and shed is local pine from managed woodlots. Upon completion, the house merited LEED Gold certification.

Click here to see the poster submitted with the Moomaw residence application.

The Putney School Field House

Location: Putney, VT
Architects: Maclay Architects

Showing students that sustainability is possible—and beautiful

This is not just a gym…We want this to be a place where our students can learn about being environmentally responsible, so that later in life, when they are making choices, they can say, ‘It’s possible. Our gym at school did it this way’.”- Randy Smith, Putney School

The Putney School is a progressive, college preparatory school located in rural southern Vermont. In addition to classroom buildings, the campus includes a working 500-acre farm. The School’s vision for a field house was one that would support a long tradition of excellence in sports programs and serve as a central gathering space for students, while meeting aggressive sustainability goals.

The two-story building features an on-site 36.8-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system, energy-efficient lighting with daylight and occupancy sensors, composting toilets, natural lighting, and earth- and human-friendly materials throughout. The first floor features a gym, a rock climbing wall, ski-waxing room, mechanical room and storage. The second floor, which serves as the central gathering space, includes bleachers that overlook the gym space, offices, locker rooms, and flex space for wellness and strength conditioning activities.

The team assessed five options consistent with the overall vision, including a Base Building Model, a High-Performance model, a Micro-load model, Carbon-neutral building; and a Net-Zero building model. The construction and operating costs for each were carefully studied, with estimates ranging from $3.5 to $5 million. Projected first year energy costs ranged from $22,500 / year to $1,200 / year. Estimated total CO2 emissions ranged from 130,000 LBs/year to 0LBs/year The net-zero option gained final approval, demonstrating how upfront investments in a super-insulated envelope, renewable energy and advanced systems create long-term predictability in future energy costs.

Super-insulation was installed and extensive air sealing was completed on the facility. To reduce heating energy use by 77% compared to the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 baseline building (Appendix G.), the following high insulation levels were used: R-60 roof, R-45 walls above grade, R-20 slabs, R-20 foundation walls below grade and R-5 windows. We achieved a very low tested air leakage rate of 0.065 cfm/sq ft. of building shell at 50 pascals test pressure (0.065 cfm-50/sq.ft. shell) or 1,625cfm-50 total air leakage rate. We attribute the low air leakage to careful envelope design and execution.

Mechanical systems considered for the building included both ground-source and air-source heat pumps. The selected optimal system was an air source heat pump, as cost was the determining factor. To achieve the zero energy goal, investment in renewable energy sources was also required. To maximize performance and obtain long-term value, 36.8 kW of solar tracking collectors were installed to the north of the Field House.

Construction on the Putney School Field House began in 2007 and was completed in October 2010. The 17,500 square foot Field House is New England’s first net-zero athletic building and anticipates LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Click here to see the poster submitted with the Putney School Fieldhouse application.

Shepler Residence

Location: New Paltz, New York
Owner: David Shepler
Builder: Greenhill Contracting

A plan for a 25-home net-zero community gets started

My home at 18 Cooper St. in New Paltz, New York, is the first of seven zero-energy (ZE) homes built by Greenhill Contracting in an attempt to create a 25-home ZE community (called Green Acres – www.greenacresnewpaltz.com). What sets this home apart from individual custom ZE homes built elsewhere is the proven repeatability of the model and a desire to maintain comfort along with performance. The other four occupied Green Acres homes have either already achieved ZE or are well on their way (5 of 7 are currently occupied). The success of my home-surpassing its ZE goal-is proving the repeatable approach to ZE construction with off-the-shelf technologies including PV, geothermal heating and cooling, and a high-performance envelope anchored by insulated concrete forms.

Envelope – All walls of the three-floor home, from foundation to roof, are built with insulated concrete forms (R-21 boosted by thermal mass effects). The slab is fully insulated with double-stacked R-20 rigid foam. The roof completes the tightly sealed envelope with 14″ of open-cell foam (R-50). The 3,237 sqft home includes a walk-out basement with generous natural light, superior insulation and ventilation.

Geothermal Heating and Cooling – A ground source heat pump (GSHP) provides all the heating and cooling needs of my home, requiring far less electricity than more conventional systems. My WaterFurnace GSHP uses a closed loop installed in a 499-ft vertical well.

Photovoltaic System (PV) – Although the home was sized to achieve ZE with an 8 kW system, I chose to install a full 10 kW in order to have extra capacity to accommodate an all-electric vehicle in the future. The SunPower system uses two 5 kW inverters installed in the mechanical room in the basement.

Windows, Light, and Appliances – I had a personal desire to maximize the natural light in the house without compromising the ZE pursuit. All windows are triple-paned, krypton-filled rated at U-value 0.22 or better. The true-solar-south facing side receives the largest share of windows to take advantage of passive solar effects, while the north side has the fewest. Rarely must a bulb be turned on during daytime due to the abundance of natural light. The kitchen uses nothing but LED lighting and the rest of the home uses CFLs. All appliances in the home (including a second full refrigerator and electric induction stove for a live-in tenant) are high performance, Energy Star approved, and the entertainment center is switched at the wall to eliminate phantom loads.

Other Notes – Although I installed a modern woodstove for aesthetic reasons, I have not used it, allowing me to fully evaluate the home without it. My living habits are typical: I use the dryer for my laundry and keep the home comfortable (69˚F winter, 75˚F summer). My LEED-Silver home has many comfort features: granite countertops, floating stairs, deep sills, under-lit cable rails, high-end cabinets, dual-flush toilets, radiant-heat floors in master bath, and vaulted ceiling.”

Click here to read an article from Solar Today about this project.

Click here to see the poster submitted with the Shepler residence application.

2010 Winner

Montague Urban Homestead

The winner of NESEA’s annual Zero Net Energy Building Award offers not only energy efficiency, but ideally also comfort, affordability, reliability, and elegance. Congratulations to everyone involved in this project.

Location: Montague, MA
Owner/designer: Doug Stephens and Tina Clarke
Contractor: Bick Corsa

 

 

 

 

2010 Runners-up

More models of efficiency

Any building that meets the rigorous criteria to even be considered for NESEA’s annual Zero Net Energy Building Award deserves a shout-out. These runners-up, too, are showing us the way to a sustainable built environment. They won our admiration, if not our prize.

Location: Northampton, MA
Owner: Caroline Hagadorn
Architect: Kraus-Fitch Architects