CITY’S OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY AND ENNVIRONMENT ENDORSES FIRST NET-ZERO HOUSE IN SOMERVILLE
Revolutionary Design Signals New Direction in Sustainable and Green Building
Sustainability and Environment (OSE) announced their support today for a
recently renovated two-family house as a model of Net-Zero Energy building for
the city. "Net Zero Energy building" is
a new construction practice where buildings are designed to produce as much
energy as they consume, and this renovated home, owned by Chungha Cha of Susterra
Partners in Korea and located at 13 Elmwood St. is the first Net-Zero home in
the City. It is also the first building
in Somerville to attain a Tier 3 rating from the Environmental Protection
Agency's Energy Star program and conforms to EPA Federal Indoor airPLUS certification
for indoor air quality through its ventilation and insulation building
technique. OSE encourages others constructing residential units in the City to learn
from the environmentally conscious techniques used in this revolutionary design
for this home.
The home, a spacious two-family
double-decker a short distance from Davis Square, utilized "green" construction
techniques in areas such as insulation, heating and cooling, ventilation and
structural reinforcement to minimize the building carbon footprint while still
maintaining a spacious living-area. It also produces all electricity and heat
through two different kinds of state-of-the-art solar panels, which are applied
in an innovative design of having the electricity-producing photovoltaic panels
set atop the heat-producing thermal for maximum spatial efficiency.
"This is a model of how we in the City
of Somerville would hope to see building and renovation projects continue,
particularly since it expands upon services we currently offer through OSE,
such as assistance in green building and renovation through the Residential
Energy Efficiency Program, which provides financial assistance and support -
free of charge - to homeowners trying to find cost-saving methods to increase
energy efficiency," said OSE Director David Lutes. "Net-Zero Energy Buildings are the way the
construction industry should be heading in and I commend the developer for
their leadership in this area."
Lutes praised architecture firm
Amacher and Associates for their work in designing the home. Amacher and
Associates is a full-service architecture firm with over 25 years of experience.
They specialize in green-building techniques and are led by veteran architect
Franziska Amacher.
"Our goal was to reconfigure the
layout to match with a modern lifestyle," Amacher. "This reconfiguration helped
create a spacious layout within a small floor area, while many implementing cutting-edge
materials and amenities in the name of sustainability. All materials are either low or no VOC
(volatile organic chemicals), including paints, floor sealers, caulking, glues,
cabinets. There are no combustion gases. No fossil fuels such as gas is used in
the building. We have neither a chimney,
gas stoves nor gas dryers and not even a closed combustion heating system. It is truly a sustainable home, and a beacon
for future projects in the City of Somerville and the region.
While only the first Net-Zero Energy
building completed here in Somerville both Amacher and Lutes hope that this
will be the first of many environmentally-conscientious homes here in the City.
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