Troy Harvey adds that the home is also first-class from an engineering perspective. “We have temperature sensors inside and outside the house, as well as in each of the 5,000-gallon solar storage tanks. The controller determines where the heat in the radiant floor system needs to go and uses high-Efficiency pumps to distribute the heat evenly.”
Garrett says that “about 90% of the home’s heat and hot water demand is satisfied by the passive solar. It’s designed so that even on the coldest, -11 degree day of winter, the home will never go below about 58 degrees.”
“The design is intended to change with the owners,” notes Lacroix. “For example, there’s a wing for the kids, with two bedrooms and a playroom, and that space is designed so that later it can be made into an apartment. The whole house is very open and flexible.”
The builder notes that the unusual metal siding on some elevations also serves a practical purpose.
“The siding is prefinished steel, he says, “and behind it are tubes that pick up solar heat from behind the siding. We didn’t want to waste any potential source of heating.”
Many other details made the difference in reducing the home’s final energy demands. For example, the builder insulated every run of hot water pipes throughout the home and attached a heat recovery system to the wastewater drain in the master bath.
In addition, the baths are fitted with a recirculation system (to provide instant hot water) but instead of the typical systems that run continuously, this one kicks on when an occupancy sensor notices that someone has entered the bath.
Not shown in the photos is a separate outbuilding (affectionately called “The Man Cave”) that shares the same level of super-efficient construction. It serves as storage for heavy equipment and a PV energy plant, with enough roof-mounted panels to produce 6.9 kW of grid-tied electricity.
“It easily powers the whole house,” Strong says, and we sell the excess back to the utility during the day, so it balances out.”
PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
> For a complete product list of this project, scan the bar code below. Or go to
www.greenbuildermag.com and click on the Green Products tab.
FABRAL METAL ROOFING
Standing seam metal roofing from Fabral qualifies for a $1,500 federal tax credit because it meets criteria for energy-saving, highly reflective roofs. The product has a long-lasting Galvalume finish and is available in several colors.
www.fabral.com
17
GreenBuilder 12.2010
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