This home in Mansfield, CT won the 2017 CT Net Zero Challenge for the Best Thermal Envelope. Inspired by New England farmhouses the form and exterior style are simple and familiar. With a living area of just over 1600SF this three bedroom home makes the most of every space simply and smartly. The home is made modern by the open south facing living space, with large windows open to rural views doing double duty providing free solar heat. 

 

Paul and Louise Lewis, the UConn biology professors who will call this home are thrilled with their new home. "With a master suite on the first floor and the south facing upstairs bedroom serving as an office we have all we need, including the ability to walk or ride our bikes to work. Every square foot works for us and we’ve been experiencing barefoot comfort on even the coldest winter days,” says Louise. 

 

The home was designed and built to provide lasting beauty, feature enduring craft, and from the start will have low energy use baked in. And with all these features, by keeping it small and simple, the budget was kept manageable. This kind of comfort is made possible by thick walls and tight construction. This means less energy is required to heat and cool the space, which is easily accomplished with a small, high efficiency mini-split heat pump. Constant fresh air from a balanced heat recovery ventilation system assures better health. Hot water is produced efficiently by a heat pump water heater.