Custom New Homes, Energy Star Homes, Zero Energy Ready Homes

House in the Woods

House in the Trees is surrounded by mature hardwoods at the edge of a protected wetlands. The house features a generously-sized, open-plan, main living space with 14ft high ceilings, including a compelling, curved curtain wall that offers spectacular views of the forest and wetlands beyond.

Type: Contemporary

Project Architect: Trillium Architects

Special Features

Natatorium below a live roof planted with native shrubs, flowers, and sedums.
Extensive use of tall undulating curtain walls interspersed with ribbons of horizontal European larch wood panels. Despite the hundreds of IGUs and wood panels, with thousands of feet of gasketing, the blower door testing demonstrated a very tight thermal envelope.
Two primary bedroom suites, one on the second floor and one on the first floor for eventual aging-in-place.
Floating stairs connecting all three floors.

Green Building Approaches

Oak, poplar, hickory, and other species of wood were harvested from the property and milled into the flooring, cabinet frames, and furniture.
Highly durable Shou Sugi Ban siding, requiring no on-going maintenance finishes.
Parklex Prodema siding panels featuring super-textured natural wood veneer on a high-density core, with no maintenance required.
European triple-glazed doors and windows with 0.14 U-values (equivalent to R-7)
European triple-glazed skylights at the top of the 25ft tall entry hall.
Roof-mounted solar PV system with 90 panels tied to three Tesla Powerwall batteries
Savant energy management system monitors the electrical loads and automatically shuts off selected electrical loads during a power outage.
Custom LED lighting with dimmable capabilities throughout.
Unique hot water heating system. In the colder months, a self-contained outdoor air-to-water heat pump with an indoor buffer tank provides hot water for the pool. It also pre-heats domestic water going to a self-contained indoor heat pump water heater that serves the house. In the warmer months, waste heat from the natatorium’s dehumidifier is transferred to the pool water, keeping it warm enough without the use of supplemental heating. This is possible due to the robust thermal envelope that was installed below the pool and in the walls and roof.
Highly efficient hot water distribution system features recirculation lines and point-of-use heater below kitchen sink
Split system air-to-air ducted heat pumps for space heating.
Independently ducted European energy recovery ventilators for high-efficiency, continuous mechanical ventilation.
Insulation products selected to minimize home’s carbon footprint and to significantly exceed building code requirements.
Roof insulation features 14” of dense-pack cellulose insulation, 2” of closed-cell spray foam, and 3-1/2” of polyisocyanurate foam board insulation above the roof sheathing.
Basement wall insulation features closed-cell spray foam (2”) with low-GWP blowing agent, plus 3.5” dense-pack cellulose insulation.
The basement and natatorium slabs are installed over 12” of foamed glass aggregate, which provides an insulation value of R-20 .