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

Hudson Valley Colonial

2017 DOE Housing Innovation Award Winner

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