recent projects
Southern Living Idea House - Whisper Mountain, NC
A rustic, farmhouse-style home with complementary outbuildings including a detached garage, cistern "pump house" and more, this project proves that in the hands of the right designers and builders, timeless looks and cutting-edge efficiency can be beautiful complements. The Green Idea home will be one of the first LEED (Leadership in energy and environmental design) Certified Homes in North Carolina, and a gold-certified HealthyBuilt Home as well.
The house is respectfully sited, with minimal disturbance, on an unparalleled view lot, oriented to harness the sun's energy. An 1,800-watt photovoltaic solar array will produce clean, renewable power while a combination of solar hot water panels and an on-demand, tank-less water heater provides hot water. These solar panels will also feed a heat-exchanger in the forced-air heating system, further reducing the energy costs. Passive solar design also adds to the home's energy-efficiency.
The exterior walls of the home are built by the EcoBuilders' partner, Deltec Homes, the only Zero-Energy homes manufacturer in the nation. These walls are built to EcoBuilder standards, including insulated headers and insulated corners. Deltec's subsidiary DelKote applies BluWood, a mold and mildew inhibiting borate treatment. By using panelized walls, EcoBuilders achieved greater construction quality and integrity while generating 78% less construction waste than would have resulted by building walls on-site.
Exterior siding includes site-harvested lumber, milled and cured locally, and stonework. The building envelope is insulated with agri-based, open-cell foam insulation, and thoroughly sealed, including housewrap that provides an unbroken drainage plane to shield the structure. Low- and non-Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paints and sealants will protect the home.
To assure fresh air in such a tightly-sealed structure, automatically controlled fresh air is introduced by an enthalpy (heat content) recovery ventilator (ERV) and filtered by a high- efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. The high-performance windows include low-emmissivity, argon filled panes. Ultra-high efficiency heating and cooling systems with tight ducting, high-volume venting and EnergyStar appliances and fixtures will reduce the home's carbon footprint and electric bill.
Just how efficient is the Green Idea home? With its EnergyStar Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index of 52, the house saves 48% of the energy consumed by a comparable, conventional house. This translates to energy bill savings of $129 per month, carbon dioxide emission reductions of 22,461 pounds per year; sulfur dioxide reductions of 131 pounds per year; nitrogen oxide reductions of 90 pounds per year, and a total energy consumption reduction of 169.3 million BTUs per year
What's more, the comfort systems in the Green Idea House are not only energy and resource efficient, they also provide the homeowner with better indoor air quality, moisture control, and a quieter home.
To lower water consumption, harvested rain water will supply toilets and a rain water-fed cistern will also provide water for the landscape irrigation. These systems and the use of drought-tolerant, native-species landscaping will reduce water usage by more than 50%.
Along with rain water harvesting, runoff will be minimized by permeable materials in the landscaping and driveway. A living green roof will extend the outdoor living space of the garage apartment while further reducing run-off.
We have gone on at length about the green features of the Green Idea home because they are extensive, outstanding—and in many cases, invisible. But we will let the beauty of the Southern Living Idea Home at Whisper Mountain, and the beauty of its setting, speak for themselves.
