Green Remodeling Case Study – Quality Rather Than Quantity
CASE STUDY: GREEN RENOVATION WITH SMALL ADDITION – FOCUS ON QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY
The owner of this upper Northwest DC single family home had been renting it out to a group of recent college graduates and decided it was time to return to this wonderful DC neighborhood.
[When they grow a little older, the tenants will surely reminisce about this, their first adult abode: the front door was missing both handle and lock so they used the side door; the kitchen functioned mostly for beer storage; one of the tenants lived in a large closet and the two other rooms were little bigger. The home was dark, drafty and without any insulation. The sole bathroom needed bleach and a sledgehammer.]
After hiring an architect who proposed tearing down the house and building new, Landis Construction, a Design/Build firm, was retained to redesign the home. A renovation suited the client’s budget. The project focused on quality of space rather than quantity. Her goals include a much more energy efficient home with comfortable and more open spaces tailored to her personal lifestyle. From the outset, her wish list included a geo-thermal heating and cooling system.
[see below as-built/demo plan]
After our first round of schematic design, the already modest (15’x22’) addition shortened from almost 15 feet to 8 feet so that the budget would accommodate the geothermal heating system. Because of the thoughtfulness of the design of the interior space, the 8 additional feet was sufficient for the homeowners needs. The 150 square which the homeowner lopped off of the initial design also represents space she doesn’t need pay to heat and cool or clean.
During the design process, we looked not just at the potential new space, but at underutilized space in the home. At the first floor a wall between the existing kitchen and dining room was removed to open the floor plan. The existing front door had opened into the center of the house. To create a more defined entry area and living room, we relocated the door to the side and reworked the windows at the front façade. Brick was carefully toothed in to make the door location look original.
At the second floor the bedrooms and existing bathroom were reconfigured to create a guest bedroom and a larger master bedroom with a substantial closet with laundry center and larger master bathroom. The homeowner chose a unique Japanese style seated soaking tub which we integrated with a shower area.
The project had numerous Green features including:
• A new Geo-thermal heat pump system with one vertical well in the rear yard.
• Ductwork sealed with mastic and carefully sized using Manual J & D calculations.
• Icynene foam insulation throughout including the attic rafters, exterior walls and band boards.
• At least 40% of debris (by weight) was recycled by our roll off dumpster provider, Environmental Alternatives (EAI).
• The eaves on the south face of the house were deepened over the windows to provide shade from summer sun.
• A new attic fan was installed to pull air through the house during temperate months. By installing an attic fan in the ceiling of the first floor (rather than in an exterior wall) and using an attic window to allow air to escape, we avoided interrupting the attic’s thermal envelope.
• Ceiling fans in bedrooms and common areas.
• We built custom kitchen counters with Forbo Marmoleum with a wood edge detail. (Marmoleum is a resilient and completely natural product made from Linseed oil.)
• Fusiotherm water piping throughout the house.
• New Pella energy star clad wood windows throughout the home.
• Low VOC paints, caulks and adhesives. Bon-Kemi low VOC polyurethane on all floors.
• Compact Fluorescent lighting.
• Energy Star appliances.
• Low flow plumbing fixtures.
• IKEA cabinets – no added formaldehyde boxes and low VOC finish.
• Energy star exhaust fans in the bathrooms on timer switches.
• An integrated vegetable steamer at the kitchen sink provides energy efficient, healthy meals.
Like many projects, the design process carefully balanced budget with the owner’s many objectives and wishes. As noted above, the addition was made a bit smaller than during the first round of design. The original selection of tile flooring in the kitchen and addition was replaced with oak flooring to match the rest of the house. IKEA cabinetry was selected for their green features and their aesthetic, but also to accommodate the budget.
The end result is a home without any feeling of compromise, at once cozy and commodious, but generously proportioned, energy efficient and healthy. The homeowner is very happy with her home. She enjoys hosting a dinner club now and loves the praise she receives.
She is also delighted with her decision not to tear down the house and add it to a landfill, as her previous architect had suggested. As is often the case, the greenest innovation was to do little rather than much.
To see photographs of this project cut and paste the following link into your browser:
http://www.landisconstruction.com/our_portfolio/g_05.htm
