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Project Description:
This project is a 1976 ranch-turned-Colonial at 25 Norfolk Avenue in Northampton, MA. The owners, Mary and Scott Biddle, love New England winters and respect good insulation. They also have a personal interest in energy efficiency and have both had training as energy auditors. So while they enjoyed living very sustainably in their 1200 sq ft Cape, they knew that it wouldn’t be long before their two small children would outgrow their shared bedroom. Also, Mary’s parents, who live deep in the woods of Leverett, MA, had begun to express an interest in moving to Northampton for the winter. Mary and Scott dropped the idea of doing a DER on their small Cape, found a ranch house in a nice neighborhood near by and added a second story while doing a DER, with the help of National Grid’s DER pilot program. From National Grid’s Approved Contractor List, they selected local architects Coldham & Hartman with Jamey Hasbrouck as their builder.
To meet the National Grid requirements, this project included insulating the basement to the interior (with rigid foam on the walls), insulating the existing first floor walls to the exterior (with rigid foam under new siding) and super-insulating the second story walls (rigid foam on exterior and double stud walls filled with cellulose on interior), as well as the ceiling. The ceiling of the second floor, which in this project qualifies as the roof, was filled with R-60 of packed cellulose. The attic was not included in the building envelope and the attic roof was not insulated.
The windows are triple pane Mathews Brothers from Maine. The attic received some recycled windows from the first floor. In lieu of a heat recovery ventilation system, sufficient ventilation is provided by two Panasonic Whisper Lite fans, one in the upstairs bathroom and one in the downstairs bathroom. The heating system is a 95% efficient Viessmann condensing gas boiler with an indirect hot water heater. The site is well shaded, which keeps the house cool in the summer. All lighting is highly efficient LED bulbs.
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Occupancy Type and Details:
Owner-occupied. Six full-time residents spanning three generations live in this home. The two grandparents are retired, but active, spending several days per week out of the house. The children are school-aged, attending the public school during the school year. One parent works 9-5; one is an at-home caregiver.
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Site description:
A 1/3 acre site in a neighborhood shaded with mature trees within walking distance (.75 mi.) of downtown Northampton, MA. The Manhan Rail Trail bike path is at the end of the short street and a large park is at the top of the street. There is sloping land toward our backyard. Beneath a few inches of topsoil throughout the neighborhood there is solid clay; the result of this part of the Connecticut River Valley occupying an ancient lakebed. The rain runs off the neighbors land into our backyard and pools there, which encouraged us to build a Hugel mound along the property line. This has helped prevent flooding in the spring (which happened in 2013 and 2014).
Materials:
The homeowner bought a beautiful selection of leftover hardwood flooring scraps from a local lumberyard. Local oak, ash and maple were laid upstairs and sealed with a non-toxic water-based sealer which appears to be holding up quite well. The cellulose for the project was manufactured locally, at National Fiber in Belchertown, MA. Interior paint is all non-toxic water-based. We avoid buying furniture made with formaldyhyde-treated particle board and rugs made of non-natrual fibers in order to avoid off-gassing. The landscaping includes a Hugel mound in the backyard to divert water draining from the neighbors' property during heavy storms and provides an opportunity for a green screen in lieu of a fence.
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Utility incentives:
The National Grid Deep Energy Retrofit Pilot Program provided $28,000 out of a possible $33,000.
Special architectural measures:
We limited glazing on the north side of the house to help with energy performance. We did not incorporate any complicated architectural details into the design -- we knew that the easiest structure to super-insulate was a simple box. However, in order to give the ranch-turned-colonial a nice look, we chose a 12 pitch roof for the attic. Additionally, although this is not an architectural detail, but because our architect is a smart guy who is well versed in efficiency measures, our architect recommended moving the heating system and indirect hot water tank from across the basement to the area directly beneath the two bathrooms. This improved comfort and efficiency, as the hot water now reaches the bathrooms almost immediately, and no water is wasted before taking a hot shower.
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Scope Description:
A super-insulated second story was added above a single story, L-shaped ranch house. This included 16" of dense packed cellulose in the ceiling and 10" in the walls. The second story exterior also received 1.5" of rigid foam under the siding. On the existing first floor exterior, 1.5" of rigid foam was added under new siding. Extensive air sealing was done throughout. All windows were replaced with triple pane windows. The basement walls were insulated with 2" of rigid foam and covered with 1" pine clapboards. The heating system was replaced with a condensing gas boiler and an indirect hot water tank. Heat is baseboard hot water throughout. The ventilation is exhaust only with powerful and very quiet fans running 24/7 in each of the two bathrooms (one on each floor). The site is shaded so it needs no cooling system.
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Team Members:
Jamey Hasbrouck, Builder
Honorata Wytrykowska, Engineer, Building Science Corp.
Mechanical Equipment Installation Details and Comments:
All working well for the past 4 years.