Technology makes house environmentally sound

By Taryn Plumb
Turley Publications Reporter

STURBRIDGE - Nestled along the shore of Big Alum Pond, you get a glimpse of the future.
There, tucked along a dead-end dirt road with dips and hollows puddled with recent rain, is a home that will soon be almost entirely self-sufficient.
When the newly constructed house is completed within the next several weeks, its owners will have just an electric bill to pay. That'll be it for their energy costs.
“The living conditions here will be very controlled,” said Andrew Crane of Chicopee-based A. Crane Construction, which is building the 4,000-square-foot structure on the site of a former cottage on Big Alum.
The demand for green is undeniable: Over the next five years, the market for homes built in a green or sustainable fashion is expected to rise by 900 percent, according to www.ecorate.com.
All told, that will bring the burgeoning industry from $2 billion to more than $200 billion.
The efficiently-built Sturbridge home is ahead of the wave – it's been in active construction for about a year now. Its two-story structure is composed of various recycled and composite building materials, and it runs on a network of energy-efficient systems.
“All these systems work together,” Crane said as he stood in the house's naturally-lit great room, with a cathedral ceiling and sliding doors leading out to a deck overlooking the pond. (The house's owners preferred to have their identities kept private.)
For starters, the house has heat-recovery ventilation, which cycles in pre-cooled or pre-heated fresh air, then reclaims any air that might otherwise have been lost. This provides climate control, and also saves energy by reducing the amount of lost air, which in turn cuts down on requirements for heating and cooling. “Every room captures the air and reuses it,” Crane said.
A geothermal system is also at work: It draws water from a well dug 680 feet, taking advantage of the earth's temperature – rather than oil or propane – to help heat and cool the home. Similarly, the house is equipped with a radiant heat system, which makes use of tubes below the floors to conduct heat.
There are also efficient windows, Energy Star appliances and gas fireplaces, and the house makes use of passive solar technology, which maximizes sunlight through both the placement of windows and the placement of the home.
Smaller things will aim to reduce energy loss, as well, including wrapped ductwork and protected outdoor plugs.
Meanwhile, composite decking (a combination of wood and plastic fibers) replaces pressure-treated wood; the same goes for vinyl molding and trim pieces.
Spray-foam insulation, meanwhile, is an inventive material that resembles the consistency of whipped cream – used in place of regular insulation, it is hosed onto walls, expands, hardens, and then is cut with a giant saw.
“It fills every nook and cranny,” Crane said, adding that it ultimately creates an air barrier. “It takes up 100 percent of the space in the wall cavity.”
But beyond the materials, being green is a practice, too. For instance, all the house's living spaces are located on the first floor, so the second floor can be sectionalized and heated or cooled only when necessary. And during building, “waste was kept to an absolute minimum,” Crane said.
A certified green builder, he has “absolutely” seen much more interest in the trade. In the past two or three years, he's worked on three green residential and commercial buildings.
“Everybody's interested in it,” he said.
However, he cautioned, “It comes at a steep cost.”
In that case, people should analytically weigh construction costs against the price of fuel and available government rebates and tax credits.
“It doesn't come without sacrifice, because there's a lot to think about,” he said.
Because of that, it can also be much more time-intensive, and it usually requires regular meetings between the builder and homeowner.
“It is a partnership, for sure,” Crane said.