The Schaller Eco-Home is a 2700 square foot single-family residence built on a 4-acre home site in rural New Hartford, Connecticut. The owners’ primary goals during design of the house were cost efficiency and zero energy use through passive and active solar design, innovative heating and cooling technologies, and energy efficient fixtures and appliances. Additionally, the owners also strived to use salvaged, recycled, or sustainable products as much as practically and economically possible. New materials used in the house were evaluated for their cradle-to-cradle design and potential.
The Schaller’s are most proud of their ability to achieve near zero energy use while keeping the budget of the house under $125 per square foot. The primary goal of the owners/designers was to demonstrate that a zero energy home should not require expensive and redundant technologies and HVAC systems or use more building materials, thus more construction waste, than a traditionally built house. Zero energy homes should be built with the ability of the homeowners to recoup their construction costs through the energy efficiency of the home. The Eco-Home was built using prefabricated materials as much as possible, reducing waste (only 1 dumpster was used during the entire construction period, mostly for drywall waste) and resulted in a very quick 4-month "barn raising".
Inspired by the many barns that dot the local New England landscape, the owners explored the inherit simplicity of these utilitarian structures. While having a natural and harmonious aesthetic, the barn approach has proven to have many advantages for passive heating and cooling. The simple "box" design is very cost efficient to build and has an open floor plan that is easy to heat and cool. The passive solar design, with southern orientation (15 degrees east of magnetic south) and strategic placement of quality windows, allows maximum heat gain and minimal heat loss. The 50' (south and north) by 30' (east and west) footprint is ideal for passive solar design and the natural slope of the roof (8:12 pitch) is perfect for solar panels. The cupola is a very important element in the design because it allows heat to escape through remote controlled windows, creating a chimney or stack effect in the summer while providing a whole house "wash" of light throughout the year.
The home site was selected to minimize the impact to the native landscape- it was located in a meadow that required the removal of only a dozen immature pine trees, many which were relocated to another site. The foundation is a heavily insulated (R-15) Superior Wall® pre-cast concrete foundation system and the shell is constructed using structural insulated panels (SIP) from Timberline Panel Company. The windows are double-paned Andersen® 400 series Low E4 (Argon-filled) High Performance with Smartglass. The house is built with a slab on grade with an insulated (R-15) three-foot thick "earth box" heat sink under the concrete slab. Hot water for domestic use and radiant space heating is provided by four thermal solar collectors (evacuated tube collectors). On days when excess hot water is produced, hot water is stored inside the earth box heat sink in radiant tubing where the large thermal mass is expected to absorb and re-radiate heat at night. Backup water heating is provided by an efficient Takagi propane on-demand water heater. An energy efficient Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system is used to prevent the presence of moist and stale air in the house. The roofing is corrugated galvanized steel and the siding is HardiePanel® vertical cement siding. The first floor uses the concrete slab as a finished floor surface and the second floor surface is finished with bamboo. Interior doors, stair treads, wainscoting, and cabinetry in the bathroom and laundry room are all salvaged materials. Fixtures and appliances are ENERGY STAR® certified and lighting consists of compact fluorescents and LEDs. The house is equipped with Smarthome™ technologies, such as motion sensor lights in the children’s bedrooms and bathrooms and switched outlets to eliminate phantom electric loads. A 7.6 KW grid-tied PV system, leased through the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) leasing program is expected to provide 100% of the electrical needs of this home. Other features include two rain collection barrels at gutter downspouts to store water for irrigation use and only native plants will be used in landscaping.
The owners have documented their experiences building their own home since May 2008 on schallerecohome.blogspot.com. They also hope to host a number of open houses to help educate anyone who is interested in building an energy efficient home. There has been an abundant amount of research conducted for this project and many insights were gained that the owners look forward to sharing. Green home building is a very simple, natural choice that is far easier and cost effective than people imagine.
Consulting:
David Jones, from Revival Homes, LLC in New Hartford, CT. provided consulting during design of the house. David is very familiar with pre-cast foundations, SIP systems, and Open Building practices, and has a gifted sensitivity to energy efficiency and green home construction. David offered assistance in the structural design of the house and helped in the design of the earthbox and solar heating system. David is a member of PATH (Partnership for Advanced Technology Housing), the National Home Builders Association, EEBA (Energy and Environmental Building Association), SIPA (Structural Insulated Panel Association) and Build Green.
General Contractor:
American Rehabs LLC, from New Milford, CT was the general contractor for this project. American Rehabs is owned and operated by David D. Nugent. David has been a licensed contractor for more then 18 years in Connecticut. His services include residential and commercial building and remodeling, property management services, rehabilitation services, design/build, and in-house drafting services.
Structural Insulated Panels (SIP):
The SIPs were manufactured and installed by Timberline Panel Company from New York.
Solar Water Heating and Radiant Heating:
Design and equipment associated with solar water heating and radiant heating was provided by Bill Northey at the Radiant Floor Company, from Vermont. Paul Martin from Sun Energy in Litchfield, CT installed the water heating system and the SunMaxx evacuated tube solar collectors.
Photovoltaic System:
The 7.6 kW solar electricity system was installed by Alteris Renewables and purchased through the CT Solar Leasing Program. The Schallers requested the use of Evergreen solar collectors made in Massachusetts, USA.
Connecticut’s Energy Efficiency Programs are funded by a charge on customer energy bills.
The Programs are designed to help customers manage their energy usage and cost.
