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.