Once again, the Energy Committees of Craftsbury, Glover and Greensboro are hosting a tour of a new, energy efficient home on Sat., 5/4, at 10 AM at 935 King Farm Rd., Craftsbury Common. This is the fourth in a series of six consecutive Saturday morning tours of new and weatherized homes. Each tour focuses on energy efficient building contractors, architects, and the homes that they have built or weatherized. For the dates and background of all tours, go to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hJwhVOHW1P2omTob_YigW2hFj10uU9wSijpbaa_ziGU/edit

In this 1300 sq. ft., one level home, Patrick Kane, from E. Hardwick was the architect and Montpelier Construction was the builder. The goals of the design and construction were to make the house easy to maintain, comfortable, affordable to build and operate, with a focus of being environmentally friendly. This Efficiency VT. certified High Performance Home has many passive solar elements in the design with large R-8 Marvin triple pane windows facing south as well as some Passive House principles such as super insulation, air tightness and Lunos fresh air heat recovery ventilation. With the limited Southern exposure, two high performance triple pane skylights add nicely to the light distribution inside the house.

The energy modeling for air tightness, insulation, and solar gain predict that this home will use the equivalent of ¾ of a cord of wood per year to heat, while being very cool in the summer. The electric baseboard primary heat, heat pump water heater, electric induction stove, and condensing dryer, combined with the ground-mounted solar array, provide for a net-zero home. Wood heat with a wood stove is the backup heat.

Part of the emphasis on low environmental impact involved sourcing lumber locally for the siding, framing and flooring. Other applications included using low VOC paints and stains, cellulose insulation wherever possible, and having a flat roof design that lends to a low visual impact on the hillside environment where the home sits.

Patrick Kane designs and promotes using regional materials, high energy efficiency standards and green technologies to maximize long-term affordability and aesthetic impact. Montpelier Construction has been building energy efficient homes since 1998 and is committed to sustainable building practices and supports the use of local products and materials whenever possible. Both will be on hand on Saturday to answer questions that you might have.

For more information, or to be on their presentation notification list, contact CraftsburyEnergyCommittee@gmail.com