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WIN ANENVI HOME ENERGY MONITOR.See page 6

for details

12®

Our annual Green Home of the Year award winners show how sophisticated design concepts and energy-saving technologies

combine to create residential masterpieces.

10% offCover Price!

The Green Design Guide

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35Team Approach06Best Traditional Neighborhood Design

DESIGN TIP:Many “old” ideas, such as passive solar, passive ventilation, and using thermal mass, are relevant today. This house uses a stone fireplace as a masonry heater.

DESIGN TIP:Keep these five concepts in mind during the project: green desires, financial limits, aesthetic tastes, family requirements, and lifestyle preferences.

DESIGN TIP:It’s been said many times, but projects that include all the team members at the start end up with more creative ideas and a smoother process.

B rian McCormick, owner of McCormick Carpentry, spent his career as a remodeler. When the chance to build a new home presented itself, he jumped. “I’ve learned that a lot of things I’ve been doing as

a remodeler were green. And a lot of things that are green and we weren’t doing made sense in terms of resource sav-ings and health.”

He claims he got the job to build this 4,059-square-foot home because he had just finished earning his NAHB Certified Green Builder designation. “We got the job because we were ‘green,’” he admits, but now that he stands behind his

A home of many firsts.

> Project Name: Saratoga Dream Green, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

> Builder: McCormick Carpentry

> Architect: Phinney Design Group

> Photographer: Mike Sylvia Photography

BENJAMIN OBDYKE HOME SLICKERThe unique, vertically channeled, three-dimensional matrix of Home Slicker provides a continuous space for drainage and drying, a thermal break, and pressure equalization—eliminating the threat of trapped moisture. www.benjaminobdyke.com

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SMART LIGHTSAll the lighting in the project is fluorescent or compact fluorescent. No recessed lighting was used, which reduces potential air leaks.

THOROUGHLY GREENThe team spec’d Energy Star-qualified appliances, locally sourced cabinets, and composting and recycling spaces.

STONE AGEThis hand-chiseled locally harvested stone fireplace can heat 2,300 square feet with its secondary burn chamber, which allows heat to radiate out via the thick stone throughout the day.

UNDER FOOTThe floors are locally sourced red birch.

The cupola and open stairway design facilitate ventilation (far left). Many rooms boast reclaimed windows (left). Interior wood trims, and wall and ceiling coverings are locally sourced.

BENOTHERM CELLULOSE INSULATIONBeno-Therm is made from recycled paper fibers. Boric components are also included in its composition for fire resistance. The product lowers the air leakage, infiltrating in the smallest interspaces, producing a homogeneous cushion without joints. www.benolec.com

The charming exterior boasts cedar siding, high-efficiency wood windows, composite trim, and a recycled, site-fabricated standing seam metal roof with an Energy Star color.

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VIESSMANN VITODEN 200 GAS-FIRED BOILER A high-quality and reliable wall-mounted condensing boiler up to 95.2% AFUE. The newly developed Inox-Radial heat exchanger surface of high-alloy stainless steel and the modulating MatriX-compact gas burner make for maximum energy usage with minimum emissions and small space requirements. www.viessmann.ca

first house, which also happens to be a national award winner, it was clearly a perfect avenue to take. McCormick thinks that a team approach to the project is largely the key to its success.

“The aspect of using an entire design team from the beginning—the architect, homeowner, contractor, and HERS rate—is what made this work.”

McCormick, like a lot of fledgling green builders, points out how green is largely a case of learning more about how the house works as a system and how products go together to make an energy-efficient home.

The home garnered a HERS rating of 27 and earned both LEED Platinum and NAHB Emerald certifications, making it the first home in New York State and one of the first in the country to achieve both certifications.

McCormick now educates homeowners on why they should build green. “I had homeowners who didn’t want green. Once I explained all the benefits of it they got excited. … It’s not all about solar panels and grass roofs or drastic measures. It’s the whole house and how it works together and how it affects the people who live in it.”

The team considered siting and orientation for passive solar and passive ventilation. The south-facing three-season room was designed with a slab floor and windows to maximize passive thermal gain.

Throughout the interior of the house, the builder used Benjamin Moore Ben Series low-VOC paint, low-VOC caulks, and Masonite Safe and Sound MDF interior doors.

FIRST FLOOR SECOND FLOOR THIRD FLOOR

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS > For a complete product list of this project,

scan the bar code below. Or go to www.greenbuildermag.com and click on the Green Products tab.