Project Description

This is a four bedroom, two full and one half-bath home located in the northern Hudson Valley on a 32 acre wooded property.  The homeowners were seeking to relocate to a slightly rural location as well as to build a new home to a very high level of sustainability. 

Type: New Construction, Custom Green Home

Project Architect: Trillium Architects

Special Features:

  • Finished and fully conditioned basement and attic
  • Root cellar in basement, thermally isolated from finished area
  • Free-standing garage, workshop, and barn structure
  • Random-width red and white oak floors milled from trees on the property

Green Building Approaches:

  • Rear of house is perfectly aligned to solar south to capture winter heat and year-round electricity
  • East, south, and west-facing windows capture about half of the energy required for space heating
  • 11.4kw PV panels generate more energy than the annual operating needs
  • 8” of EPS rigid foam board insulation under the slab
  • 3” of continuous closed-cell (low GWP) spray foam applied to basement walls
  • 3-1/2” of Roxul mineral wool between 2×4 studs on interior face of basement walls
  • 2×4 double wall framing to practically eliminate thermal bridging
  • 3” of closed-cell spray foam applied to interior face of exterior wall sheathing
  • 9” of dense-pack cellulose insulation completes exterior wall insulation
  • 4” closed-cell spray foam applied to interior face of exterior roof sheathing
  • 12” of dense-pack cellulose insulation completes roof insulation
  • Acrylic sheathing tapes used to achieve exceptional air-tightness of 0.43ACH50 (prelim blower door)
  • European triple-glazed aluminum-clad wood windows with u-values of 0.13 (roughly R-8)
  • Small ducted air-source heat pump system heats and cools the entire house
  • Heat pump water heater extracts heat from interior air
  • Energy recovery ventilation system has separate small diameter duct distribution system
  • Fiber cement siding installed over a ¾” drainage plane
  • Exterior trim manufactured primarily from recycled fly ash and rated for ground contact
  • 100% LED lighting
  • Low-flow water fixtures throughout
  • Rainwater harvested for flushing toilets
  • Oak flooring milled from trees felled from site
  • FSC certified fir flooring for front and side porches

Thinking about building a green home?

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