Green Houses

NYC's Steven Learner Studio Takes Top Spot in Chain of Eco-Homes Competition

Mon

Oct

New York City is different. This, for many of us, is what we like about it, the "more" of it all, the fact that we have more of everything -- good, bad, indifferent -- than just about any other city in the United States. All the overage can be a bit much sometimes, but even on the worst of days -- subway delays and bummer street vibes, foul weather, kooky co-workers, unpaid bills, fill it in yourself -- many of us can barely stomach the prospect of leaving this honking, vertical, mess of a city. And yet... there's something about the idea of a house of one's own, neither above nor beneath someone else's, that unquestionably works. It's probably a stretch to say that it's that urban yearning for space that helped the New York-based Steven Learner Studio design the very cool Meadowlark House, which claimed first place in the Chain of Eco-Homes Competition. But it's no stretch to describe the home as one that could make even the most ardent New Yorker wonder what life would be like with both a front and back yard.

Highland House: New Jersey's First Gold Rating Under NAHB's Green Building Program

Tue

Aug

by Stephen Del Percio

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835 Highland Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey recently earned the Garden State's first Gold rating under the National Association of Home Builders' Green Building Program. The house also earned the Energy Star label for a litany of energy efficient design features that were installed by its custom home builder, Steve Needle of Needle Point Homes. Green design is not strange to Mr. Needle; you may remember him as the developer of The Point at Morristown, which earned the first Green Globes rating anywhere in the state of New Jersey back on Earth Day of 2008. Putting aside for a moment its size (6 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, and 7000 square feet), the French Normandy-inspired Highland House should save between 30 and 40 percent on utility costs compared to a conventional home thanks to Energy Star-rated windows and additional caulking and insulation throughout.

Dubin House: Net Zero, Carbon Neutral LEED Platinum in Southampton

Mon

Jul

by Stephen Del Percio

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On December 22, 2008, the Southampton home of Mr. and Mrs. David Dubin was destroyed in a fire. Local architect Richard Stott learned of the Dubins' plight and connected the couple to the Hamptons Green Alliance ("HGA"), a group of local professionals dedicated to building a net zero energy home in the community, but who were still searching for a suitable project. Mr. Stott approached the Dubins on behalf of HGA, and preliminary plans for the project are moving forward under the LEED for Homes rating system.

The Dubin House will seek a Platinum rating from USGBC but what's particularly interesting is that the project team plans to compare the new home's performance with data from the old one. Telemark, Inc., the project's general contractor, has devised a way of tracking the carbon impact of building materials and systems and hopes to certify the project as carbon neutral, as well as execute a design that should create a house that is net zero. The project team also includes Lee Architecture and Stott's own firm, Flynn Stott Architects, P.C., which is considering an integrated project delivery ("IPD") structure to construct the house.

Konyk Architecture's Prefab Hydra House Concept

Tue

Jun

by Stephen Del Percio

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Designed by Craig Konyk of Brooklyn-based Konyk Architecture, the Hydra House was completed some time ago for a design competition that sought a concept for a twenty-square-foot parcel of land in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Konyk's striking submission contemplates a single-room structure with bold red neoprene rubber walls that would serve as a retirement home for the senior citizen that frequents Atlantic City's casinos and other attractions. The Hydra House's bed, kitchen, storage, and even shower fold up into the side of one wall like a Murphy bed, creating one continuous interior volume of space for the retiree to enjoy in any number of ways. The house is prefabricated with a single piece of steel tubing; exterior glazing is insulated and low-e. Konyk is still attempting to pique a developer's interest in the Hydra House; the project is featured in Prefab by Bryan Burkhart and Allison Arieff.

hydra(one) (konyk)

Old Stone Highway House by Berg Design Architects in East Hampton

Mon

May

by Stephen Del Percio

1 comment

If you were fortunate enough to spend the Memorial Day holiday out in the Hamptons, one sight you might have missed is the Old Stone Highway House in East Hampton. Completed back in July of 2007 by New York City-based Berg Design Architects, the 2200-square-foot house's architectural program is a "modern interpretation of the Long Island agricultural vernacular" that simultaneously "incorporates the use of environmentally low-impact building technology."

Berg's client sought a design that both suggested a Long Island barn where the client had summered and incorporated green building principles. The result is a simple, yet sophisticated, fusion of traditional and modern architecture that is grounded in sustainable design. The house's western cedar siding and concrete block exterior emphasizes the building's angular geometry which is kept in check by finished interior surfaces.

Bates Masi + Architects' Re-Cover House: Amagansett, New York

Mon

Feb

by Stephen Del Percio

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We're still tracking what's happening with the Sag Harbor-based firm's 132 North Main Street project, but in the meantime want to point you to Bates Masi + Architects' Re-Cover House, which will be featured in the April 2009 issue of Dwell magazine. The firm actually designed the house nearly 35 years ago as a Long Island vacation home in Amagansett but recently executed a renovation and addition for a new set of owners; the project earned a 2008 AIA Peconic Chapter Merit Award for Architecture/Renovations & Additions. In order to boost the house's square footage, its original south wall and deck were removed but cyprus wall boards and cedar wood decking therefrom were preserved and recycled into new siding, stair treads, scrim material, and risers. By preserving such materials, the firm was able not only to complete the project by using very few new materials, but also preserve the original design intent of the house across both the renovated interior walls and exterior cladding, which was almost completely constructed originally from twelve-inch wide cypruss clapboards.

Kucera House: Zero-Net Energy in Gardiner, New York

Fri

Nov

by Stephen Del Percio

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Designed by architet David Kucera for himself and his wife, the 2700-square-foot Kucera House in Gardiner, New York took honorable mention in New York House magazine’s Best in Green Building Competition. Reconstructed from a vintage barn that was reassembled on site, an 8.5-kilowatt solar array and closed-loop, 285-foot deep geothermal system obviate the need for the Kuceras to draw any power off of the grid whatsoever. Both systems were installed by Hudson Valley Clean Energy.

The house was completed in August of 2007 and features extensive insulation- R26 for the walls and R40 for the roof- as well as antique hemlock flooring. The design of the house accounts for passive solar heat gain and loss; most windows are on the south side with only three small windows on the north side. The building envelope was constructed with SIPs and the house itself is Energy Star-rated. Gardiner is located about halfway between Newburgh and Kingston in Ulster County.

Prefab FitHouse 2009 by Resolution 4 Architecture Heads to Hamptons

Wed

Oct

by Stephen Del Percio

1 comment

Cooking Light magazine recently announced that its 2009 FitHouse will be located in Sagaponack, New York; its FitHouse initiative has been ongoing since 2002 and promotes healthy living through a home that features green design, construction, products, and landscaping. Next year's FitHouse will be designed by Manhattan-based Resolution 4 Architecture as a 3000-square-foot, modern, prefabricated four-bedroom home. In addition to a variety of green features, the house will also include a pool and bocce court.

Res 4 principal Joseph Tanney will supervise both design and construction phases of the project and also plans to seek an unspecified level of LEED certification for the Fithouse. According to Mr. Tanney, green building technology- particularly prefabricated construction- has become more affordable and easier to disseminate over the past few years. "More and more modern architects are attempting to do this," he noted. "This idea has really gained traction."

Evertson Hill: A “Third Generation” Green Home

Fri

Apr

by Stephen Del Percio

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Petrides Homes is a New York City-based designer and developer of residential projects that, last week, announced the completion of Evertson Hill in Millbrook, New York. The 4400-square-foot home sits on 22 acres in Smithfield Valley, just shy of 90 miles north of Manhattan, and offers 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 4 wood-burning fireplaces, and an attached barn with a 500-square-foot loft and two-car garage. Putting aside the debate over whether such a large house should be deemed sustainable, the project incorporated a number of significant green design features even though it is not pursuing any formal third-party certification.