Custom New Homes, Net Zero & Positive Energy Homes, Passive House Certified

Taft School Faculty Home

US DOE Housing & Innovation Award 2015 Grand Prize Winner

This is a four bedroom, two full and one half-bath home that was built for a Taft School faculty family, on a site that adjoins the campus. A second major goal was to build the home to be an example and tool for the students to learn about green building.

Although it takes time to establish a home’s energy profile, it is expected that this home will achieve its net zero annual energy goal.

Type: New Construction, Custom Green Home

Project Architect: Trillium Architects

Special Features

Design and exterior finishes are historically accurate for the neighborhood
Open-concept living layout
5” white oak floors
Built-in living room shelving
Custom kitchen and bathroom cabinetry
En suite master bedroom and bath
Finished and fully conditioned basement

Green Building Approaches

Rear of house faces solar south to capture winter heat
406sf of east, south, and west-facing windows capture half of the energy required for space heating
13.1kw PV panels on house and garage should provide 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
3.5” of dense-pack cellulose between 2×4 studs on interior face of basement walls
2×4 double wall framing to practically eliminate thermal bridging
2” of closed-cell spray foam applied to interior face of exterior wall sheathing
Exterior sheathing includes 1” of polyiso rigid foam insulation to further reduce thermal bridging
8.5” of dense-pack cellulose insulation completes exterior wall insulation
Attic floor is insulated with 24” of dense-pack cellulose
Acrylic sheathing tapes used to achieve exceptional air-tightness of 0.60ACH50
European triple-glazed aluminum-clad wood windows with u-values of 0.13 (roughly R-8)
Small ducted air-source heat pump heats and cools the entire house
No central heating or cooling required
Heat pump water heater extracts heat from interior air
Energy recovery ventilation has separate small diameter duct distribution system
Fiber cement siding installed over a ¾” drainage plane
Exterior trim made from recycled fly ash and rated for ground contact
100% LED lighting
Low-flow water fixtures throughout