Energy Efficient Eco Home with a Spectacular Contemporary Design

Modern Eco Home Design in Ridgefield

This eco home design in Ridgefield, Connecticut is just one example of the things you can do when it comes to building a home that is energy efficient and modern. The homeowners of this eco-friendly home design had lived in Ridgefield, Connecticut for several years. When they became empty nesters, the couple decided to build a new home design in the same town that would easily accommodate their new lifestyle and their desire to live in an energy efficient eco-building. The couple purchased an older ranch-style home close to town, located up on a hill with a scenic view.

Collaboration with BPC Green Builders and Trillium Architects

The couple turned to BPC Green Builders to help them achieve the eco goal. BPC Green Builders introduced them to Elizabeth DiSalvo of Trillium Architects, a local business that specializes in eco homes. They came up with a spectacular contemporary home design for the home that would utilize the existing foundation of the home, saving the couple money and reducing the new building materials that were required to build the new home design. BPC Green Builders and Trillium worked together to create the details for their thermal envelope, and renewable energy system mechanical system, that resulted in a net zero eco-building. This eco-friendly home has several certifications to include Zero Energy Ready Home Certified, Indoor Air Quality Plus Certified, Achieved Net Zero Energy use, and Energy Star Certified. The contemporary eco-friendly home has 3,200 square feet of space.

Special Features and Green Building Approaches

Some of the special features in this eco-friendly home include an open concept living/dining/kitchen area, main living space with a raised 14-foot ceiling, raised rear deck spanning the full width of the house, and additional areas with sloped cathedral ceilings. Other features in the eco-building include a fully finished walk-out basement and propane fireplace in main living area. Some of the green building approaches include a house roof that is oriented to solar south for a PV system, home energy Rating Scored (HERS) score of -1, denoting net-zero performance. The existing basement slab was covered with a vapor barrier and then insulated with 4 inches of EPS foam board, the existing concrete block foundation walls were insulated with 2 inches of 2-pound spray foam. Then a two by four wall was framed to the interior and insulated with 3.5 inches of dense-pack cellulose. The exterior walls were sheathed with ZIP R-sheathing (OSB mated to a 1" sheet of polyisocyanurate rigid foam board insulation,) to help reduce thermal bridging.

Advanced Insulation and Energy Efficiency

The exterior walls were framed with two by 6's at 24-inch spacing, insulated with 5.5 inches of 1/2 pound SPF (R-26 exterior wall assembly, including ZIP-R sheathing). The eco-building has 14-inch I-joist rafters (for reduced thermal bridging) filled with 3 inches of 2-pound spray foam insulation and 11 inches of dense-pack cellulose (R-60). The wall and roof sheathing were air-sealed with European acrylic flashing tapes. The eco-building has European triple-glazed windows with u-values of 0.26 which is roughly R-4. Fiber cement siding was installed over the drainable weather-resistive barrier. All these features together make this contemporary home design an eco building their owners can be proud to live in for years to come.