Builders and architects are trying to broaden the market for net-zero, and learn some lessons along the way.
Can spending less add up to zero? Builders have learned that if they have big enough budgets, it’s not hard to create custom homes that produce as much energy as they consume over a year.
But what does it take to make net-zero affordable?
Some architects and developers have begun tackling these questions by teaming up with modular home builders, combining the cost-cutting efficiency of prefab construction with high-performance energy practices. This approach is still new and evolving. But just as in stick-built construction, assembling the right mix of components at the right price and meeting buyer expectations are key challenges.
Views of the sun room and an upstairs bedroom give a sense of the interior finish available for the Great Diamond modular-zero house.
Also worth asking: Is net-zero worth the extra money, or does near-zero often make more sense?
These considerations are front and center in Portland, Maine, where a trio of modular, near-zero homes are set to rise this year on Peaks Island, a year-round, coastal community in Casco Bay.
The factory-made houses will replicate the charm of the New England-style cottages that are common on the Maine coast. But in contrast to the drafty originals, these homes are designed to use one-third as much energy as a standard new house. The homes will be offered through a local affordable-housing group and will be designated as workforce housing. They will feature an energy package designed for Maine’s cold winters: airtight construction, triple-glazed windows, heat recovery ventilation, and foot-thick, double-stud walls, crammed with dense-pack cellulose to R-40.
Overhead, there’s an R-60 roof. Outside, south-facing windows will help warm the house in cold weather; roof overhangs will help block sunlight in the summer. The on-site cost of these homes will be roughly $185,000.
Adding 5 kW of solar electric and solar hot water panels-–-the energy production needed to achieve net-zero-–-would add $20,000, before tax credits. That’s just not in the budget now for this affordable housing project, but the homes will be plumbed and wired so that solar hot water and/or electric could be added later.
These energy-sipping prefabs will be the first of a Modular Zero Collection designed by Kaplan Thompson Architects of Portland, Maine, and are being created by the state’s leading modular home builder, Keiser Industries, LLC of Oxford, Maine. The idea sprang from a LEED Platinum, net-zero office-studio that Kaplan designed a few years ago in Rockport, Maine. The BrightBuilt Barn was custom-made and expensive. But it led Phil Kaplan, a principal at the architectural firm, to think about how to make a production line of affordable and stylish net-zero homes.
Offering Options
The line has three options. The smallest model, the Chebeague, is 960-sq. ft. and includes two bedrooms and bathrooms. The Peaks is 1,200-sq. ft, with three bedrooms and two bedrooms.
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