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Two types ofcollectors har-vest sunlight forelectricity andhot water. Butproducing powerand heat is onlypart of a zero-energy house.This design usesgreen-building

materials increative, energy-efficient ways.Photo taken at Aon floor plan.

Zero Energy

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Green building has gone from niche to mainstream over the past 10 years. Thegrass-roots efforts of architects, builders, and consumers have moved thesebuzzwords from articles in alternative publications to the front page ofThe

Wall Street Journal. With the many local, regional, and national standardsout there, though, theres plenty of variety in what definesgreen building.

Adding bike racks to a commercial

building is a green-building compo-nent that promotes behavioral changes.Other strategies, like cutting electric-light use by designing spaces with morewindows, are basic and obvious designdecisions. Even with all the guidelinesout there, green building still relies heavilyon personal choices and goals. At its core,green building means being resourcefulrather than wasteful.

An integrated design team

This house is built in Cannon Beach, Ore., on

the site of a cabin that burned down. My clientsasked me to design a small home that wouldbe healthy to live in with a dramatically reducedimpact on the environment. They also wantedtheir new home to express their love of materialsand forms found in nature. We discussed the chal-lenges and opportunities, and decided that the costsassociated with achieving a green-building certifica-tion would be offset by the long-term benefits.

Because wed be using some unfamiliar materials(Durisol block), some new construction details (a vegeta-tive roof), and a new design philosophy (green, net zero),

Infinite AppealWinner of a national green-building award,

this low-maintenance house should produce as much energy as it uAnd its built to last for generations.

BY NATHAN GOOD

OPEN PLANWITH LOTS OF L IGHT

A strong east/west alignment is an important element for capturing natural light.A centuries-old Sitka spruce forced some deviation from that ideal, however. Thefront of the house was brought forward to gain more midday and late-afternoonsunlight. An open plan with few interior walls and a band of clerestory windows

allow sunlight to penetrate deeply into the far north end of the house.

Photos taken atlettered positions.

North

First floor

Second floor

SPECS

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms:212Size: 2268 sq. ft.

Cost:N/A

Completed:2005

Location:Cannon Beach, Or

Architect:Nathan GoodBuilder:Rich Elstrom Constr

Energy consultant: Charlie SOregon Department of Ene

Sitkaspruce

Window-seat nook

Bedroom

Kitchen

Diningroom

Garage

Livingroom

Masterbedroom

Masbath

Up

Dn

EB

C

Clerestorywindows

Open tobelow

Deck

Lightshelf

Office/guestbedroom

Deckstorageunderroof

Storage

D

Dn Metal grate allowslight through.

Dn

Entry

Dn

Dn

A

0 2 4 8 ft.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2006Drawings: Don Mannes

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Cool roof, hot rocks, clean air, and free energy:Heres how it worksTo achieve net-zero energy consumption, you have to do morethan throw some solar panels on the roof. Everything has to work together as a finely

tuned system. This home incorporates a number of basic technologies in innovative way

to produce heat, hot water, and electricity.

Insulating concrete forms (ICFs) are green anddurable.Made with recycled wood chips and

portland cement, Durisol blocks integrate rock-wool insulation into the cores, which are filledwith concrete. These R-25 walls are fire-, rot-, andtermiteproof. The cost is comparable to buildingwalls with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)certified lumber. Cost: $13.30 per 8-in. by 12-in.by 24-in. block

A short basement is better than a crawlspace.By making the crawlspace part of the conditionedspace, as with a basement, the houses energyefficiency is increased dramatically. With no ventsto the outside and an insulated concrete floor, theductwork here is buffered from outside temperatures.

Vegetative roof keeps the house cool.Its also fire resistant,offers a nice view for the uphill neighbors, and cuts storm-waterrunoff. But when a roof collects rather than sheds water, it needsto be extremely tight (section drawing, left). Typical plants includeperennials such as sedum, wild strawberry, and pennisetum.For more information, see www.greeninggotham.org.Cost: $9.25 per sq. ft. (soil, drain mat, roof membrane)

Sunlight penetrates deepinto the house throughclerestory windows.

Heat pumptransfers heatfrom the closed-loop solarcollector to thewater tanks.

Excess heat fromwater is stored in tbedrock for later u

Return-air grille drawswarm air from ceiling.

Water-to-air fan-coilunit is used forspace heating.

Energy-recoveryventilator warmsincoming freshair with heatfrom outgoingstale air.

120-gal.water tanks

Drainage mat

4-in. lightweightsoil mixture

Three layers ofroof membrane

2x14 at 16 in.on center

Formaldehyde-free fiberglassinsulation

Closed-cellfoam insulation

Two layers of12-in. CDXplywood withstaggered seams

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we formed an integrated team early in thedesign process. The owners, architect, land-scape architect, interior designer, OregonDepartment of Energy (ODE) representa-tive, and contractor all collaborated, withfew boundaries between disciplines. Thisinteraction is crucial when building a housewith nontraditional materials and construc-tion details. Our builder, Rich Elstrom, gave

excellent feedback on design alternatives,costs, life-cycle assessments, ease of construc-tion, and the nuances of durable building ina coastal environment.

Before breaking ground, the design teamhosted a daylong training session on green-building philosophy and techniques for localbuilding officials, subcontractors, and otherinterested individuals. The local building offi-cial, Tim Lindsey, was key in the designsdevelopment. Tim, Rich, and I met frequentlyover the course of this project, and Tims sup-port was paramount to its overall success.

Our integrated design team helda number of meetings, occasionallyjoined by experts in energy, solartechnology, and indoor-air qual-ity. As we progressed from designto construction, Rich and projectsuperintendent Mark Ward con-tinued this collaborative approach,encouraging individual craftspeo-ple to enhance the project withtheir expertise and creativity. Indozens of instances, we celebratedthe creative contributions of the

contractors and the craftspeople.

Why is this house green?

When we were designing this house,the U.S. Green Building CouncilsLeadership in Energy and Envi-ronmental Design (LEED) pro-gram for houses still was beingdeveloped. Instead, we used theregional Earth Advantage green-building certification program toprovide the performance guide-lines that we deemed essential

(www.earthadvantage.com).We used FSC (Forest Steward-ship Council; www.fscus.org)certified lumber from The Col-lins Companies (www.collinswood.com)for the concrete formwork, interior-wallframing and roof structure, cabinetry, andincense-cedar columns. Windfallen treeswere used for the interior heavy-timber

framing, flooring, and stairway to thond floor (photo below). Some of the idoors and trim were milled from Dofir logs collected from the nearby ColRiver. Other doors were salvaged, alonhardware, appliances, and bath fixtur

The house is one of the first in the Northwest to use Durisol insulatincrete forms (ICFs) for exterior walls

.durisolbuild.com). Durisol blocks arewith recycled wood chips, portland cand rock-wool insulation. The holloware filled with concrete to strengthwall. To reduce the environmental iof concrete, we used a high fly-ash m(25% in the foundations and 35% in thconcrete cores). Fly ash is a waste bypfrom coal-fired power plants and is antive replacement for portland cement,requires substantial energy to produce

We selected interior-finish matpaints, stains, and sealants that wou

A heat pump like youve neverseen before.The sun heats water forhousehold use and space heating.Energy-recovery ventilators transferheat from the water to a forced-airsystem. When the two 120-gal. watertanks in the basement are full and fullyheated (165F), hot water is pumped

into 380-ft.-deep cores in the basaltbedrock to store the heat until winter.During cooler months, the heat isrecovered for domestic water andspace heating. Cost: $11,000

Electricity is on the house.Literally.The 5.9kw photovoltaicpower plant is connected to thepublic utilitys grid. The electricmeter spins backward on manydays. Cost: $29,000

Functional form. Douglas-fir stair trewind around a windfallen incense-cetrunk. The treads are supported on rods sunk into a beech limb that wasvaged from a nearby building projeclarge rock was left over from the stofireplace. Photo taken at B on floor p

Solar collector

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off-gas volatile organic compounds (Vand urea-formaldehyde. The only Pthe house is the underground conduthe sheathing of the electrical wiring.

The path to net zeroMost net-zero definitions describe that produce as much electricity aconsume, but that thinking doesntin heating oil, natural gas, or propanwanted to go a step farther and build athat is truly net zero: no use of fossil futheir associated emissions. I call such acarbon neutral.

Despite the moderate climate aloOregon coast, our carbon-neutral required a high-performance buenvelope with insulation values su

tially higher than the R-21 walls anroof required by the Oregon EnergyThe design team tracked down andnated energy-wasting details, with CStephens of the ODE giving us feethroughout the design and constrprocesses. Charlie and the ODE plan duce a detailed case study documentihouses energy-performance results afirst year of occupancy. The report is uled for publication in late summer that www.oregon.gov/energy.

Form follows functionThe houses simple design is compotwo gently curved overlapping roofupper roof is vegetative, a choice wefor a number of reasons. The lightwsoil and flowering plants help to minthe impact of 80 in. to 90 in. of annuafall on the municipal storm-sewer sAlso, the green roof is fire resistant, isinsulated, and should last well over 50Additionally, the lush roof softens theneighbors view.

The lower roof serves as a platform

5.9kw photovoltaic (PV) system anates shelter for the south-facing patio Bands of clerestory windows set betwetwo roofs provide daylight to interior(top photo, facing page). The PV syconnected to the local utilitys electricwhich means that the electric meter acan spin backward if the house is genemore electricity than is being used. E

Big beams and fine cabinetry. Windfallen trees yielded the lumberfor timber-frame construction. The cherry wood used in the island,the cabinets, and the hutch is from FSC-certified sustainable forests.Photo taken at C on floor plan.

We celebrated the creative contributio

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Trust of Oregon financial incentives andState of Oregon tax incentives enabled us tosave approximately 55% on the total installedcost of the PV system.

Windows are a key ingredientMost of the houses windows face south tocapture the spectacular view of the Oregoncoastline and to optimize daylight, whichreduces the need for electric lighting. Thehigh clerestory windows, interior lightshelves, and a raised ceiling in the great roomprovide excellent natural lighting, even onovercast days. To minimize heat loss throughwindows, we chose high-performance argon-filled glazing with a low u-factor (less than0.32). Operable windows placed strategicallythroughout the house facilitate cross ventila-

tion and improve indoor-air quality.

A short basement can boostenergy efficiency

Crawlspaces provide excellent flexibility forelectrical wiring, plumbing, and ductwork,but venting them (required by Oregon resi-dential codes) results in significant energylosses. By eliminating vents to the outdoors,installing a concrete floor, and providinga moderate amount of conditioned air, weincreased the energy efficiency of the build-ing envelope. The shift in name fromcrawl-

space toshort basement was not just a matterof semantics; it was the difference betweenvents and no vents.

Because of this houses high-performancethermal envelope, space-heating loads arevery low. Energy for the space-heating sys-tem and domestic hot water is provided bya combination of solar-thermal collectors,a ground-source heat-pump system, andenergy-recovery ventilators (ERVs) (drawingpp. 104-105).

Located on a south-facing slope below thehouse, the thermal collectors gather solar

energy to heat water in a circulating loop.A heat exchanger transfers the heat fromthe loop to two 120-gal. storage tanks in thebasement. These tanks provide hot waterfor the house. When the water-storage tanksare charged fully, excess heat is stored inthe basalt-rock formations under the housefor later extraction by a ground-source heatpump. Without the bedrock-storage loop, we

could have reduced the solar-thermal systemby two-thirds.

Space heat is delivered by a forced-air sys-

tem using the three ERVs, which retrieveheat from the water tanks. The ERVs are thebackbone of an indoor-air-quality strategy.

More than 60 sensors in the house are con-nected to an automated control system thatallows the ODE and Oregon Institute ofTechnology students to track the housesenergy usage remotely.

How green is it?

Of all our green-building goals, the mostchallenging was our aim for a zero-energyhouse. We submitted the design to a third-

party auditor, who calculated the HERS rat-ing (home energy rating system) to be 94.0.This rating is 58% more efficient than theOregon Energy Code requires. We alsoattained Earth Advantages platinum-levelgreen-building certification and were award-ed the National Association of Home Build-ers Custom Green Home of the Year awardfor 2005. Early data suggest that the house ison track to reach its goal of generating moreenergy than it consumes on an annual basis.During August 2005, the home delivered173kwh more to its electric-utility provider

than it consumed, and for September, theelectric bill was less than $10. The designteam hopes this project will help to facilitatea new generation of green-built homes.

Nathan Good lives in Salem, Ore. His

Web site is www.nathangoodarchitect

.com. Photos by Daniel S. Morrison,

except where noted.

Pebble-beach bath. The interior desig

specified two types of flooring, but it wthe installer who conceived of integratthe two while watching waves wash ovsand during his lunch break at the beacPhoto taken at E on floor plan.

Natural daylighting is accomplished tha band of clerestory windows. A light-creflective ceiling and open floor plan alight to penetrate deep into the housePhoto taken at D on floor plan.

the contractors and the craftspeople.

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