This year’s most outstanding green home is not only dazzling to behold, but it’s also heated and powered almost entirely by the sun.
> Project Name: Sungazing House, Park City, Utah
> Builder: Garrett Strong, Tall Pines Construction
> Architect: Jean-Yves Lacroix
> Environmental Engineer: Heliocentric
> Photographer: Jacob Kauppila
Timeless. That’s one word you might use to describe this striking home set against the wide open vistas of Park City, Utah. Yet the home, unique as it is, somehow suits its harsh environment. That’s no accident. French-born, Geneva-trained architect Jean-Yves Lacroix borrowed from the best European concepts to design a home that could be made with pre-cut components (SIPs), one that would capture the site’s stunning views to both North and South while demanding little external energy or water.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Lacroix says. “Where I was trained in Europe, building is very expensive, so you have to be extremely efficient. But this home was not based on any certain style or local architecture. Instead, it was designed to fit the lot—to make the most of the setting in contemporary style.”
Builder Garrett Strong, assisted by engineer Troy Harvey, took Lacroix’s floorplan design to the next level, selecting materials, mechanicals, and finishes that would maximize the home’s passive solar potential, reduce maintenance, and enhance its good looks.
“We actually went for both the LEED Platinum and the NAHB Emerald certifications,” Strong recalls. “The two programs often overlapped. We thought the subs might be nervous about such a challenge, but when we held an initial meeting with all of them, they asked each other questions that proved invaluable, such as, ‘Where do penetrations hit the roof?’ and that sort of stuff .”
“But the design really extends to the whole lot,” the builder continues. “We wanted to make sure the cut and feel of the driveway was right—and to minimize excavation and impact on the 10-acre site. We re-vegetated everything after construction.
“The owners wanted a beautiful house,” he adds, “but they also wanted to educate the public—to demonstrate that a home can be this efficient and aesthetically pleasing--so that you want to live there.”
Constructed with foot-thick SIPs, the walls have an R-value of about 48. The roof has an additional 4” of insulating foam, bringing it to an R-68.
PREMIER SIPS
Premier Building Systems assembles its own structural insulated panels and manufactures its own EPS foam. The company’s SIPS, available in various thicknesses, can be custom curved (as shown) or cantilevered out as massive overhangs, as seen in the Sungazing House.
www.pbssips.com
SERIOUS WINDOWS
This company takes window R-value seriously. Its top-shelf fiberglass framed windows can achieve an R-value of up to 11.1 They are more expensive than vinyl, but they’re also eight times as strong and do not have PVC’s environmental drawbacks.
www.seriouswindows.com
OVERHANGS
Strategic overhangs prevent excessive heat gain during summer months.
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GreenBuilder 12.2010
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