Green Builder Brings Work Home – Literally

When builder Peter Robie decided to build a new, energy efficient house on his family’s rolling North Hampton property, he didn’t have to stray far for inspiration.

Together with Ethan Korpi, Robie runs EcoSound Builders, a company specializing in high performance homes as well as green-conscious design and materials.

After initially focusing on the Lakes and White Mountain regions of New Hampshire, in 2008 Eco Sound launched their Southern branch, which primarily services clients in and around the New Hampshire-Maine Seacoast.

Driving out to tour the build site, I was fairly certain that Robie’s new abode would serve as a kind of reflective template for EcoSound’s long-honed approach. What I couldn’t have know was how thoroughly out of the water those expectations would be shot.

I pulled up to the house around 2:30 on a cloudy Friday afternoon, driving past the homes of Robie’s sister and mother before taking a right – some 200 yards in front of the house belonging to his brother – into the gravel driveway.

From a distance, the home and nearby barn looked mostly complete, with the latter’s exposed Tyvek building wrap being the lone exception.

The project began close to a year ago with the construction of the barn-garage to the left of the central build site. Here, Robie and Korpi were able to store the materials and equipment necessary for the roughly 2,900 square foot home.

The first thing you notice is the attractive, classic red cedar shingle siding, which gives the home an immediate New England feel. Below, insulated concrete foam (ICF) helps provide an energy-efficient base for the rest of the home.

Meanwhile, custom-colored aluminum-clad windows provide both durability and – by virtue of never needing another coat of paint – waste reduction.

Inside, beautifully classic post-and-beam details accentuate the home’s more modern layout – essentially two overlaid rectangles, providing a unique sense of openness – while a century-old sliding barn door, antique clock, and blackboard-clad pantry door add a touch of recycled playfulness.

As with almost all of EcoSound’s contracted projects, Robie chose Minutemen Painters – fellow Green Alliance members – to paint both the interior and exterior of the home.

And that’s not all: Three more Green Alliance Business Partners (ReVision Energy, SEA Solar Store, and Greenovations) were commissioned to install a super efficient boiler and heat recovery ventilator (HRV), and Rais woodstove, respectively – all three of which are showcased in the home’s unfinished, walk-out basement.

For Robie, commissioning the help of Green Alliance businesses was nothing if not a natural fit: EcoSound themselves have been members since early this past spring.

“Obviously a lot of the Green Alliance businesses that we used are members because they think a lot like we do,” Robie says. “What we do fits with the GA, so being able to work with some of the other businesses was a no-brainer.”

Still, it wasn’t until the arrival of energy auditor Paul Button that the Robie home’s many green features were given a more concrete vindication. Button, owner of the Manchester-based Energy Audits Unlimited, conducted what’s known as a “blower door test.” Using a giant red canvas sheet with a large central fan locked into the front door frame and made air-tight, Button is able to lower the pressure inside the house to better monitor how – and where – air is coming into the building.

The results? For Button, they were unprecedented.

“They were the single best numbers I’ve ever seen,” he says.

The home is so tight, in fact, that the Robie’s installed an advanced HRV system to assure that stale air and kitchen odors don’t linger. Still, Button says that shouldn’t be an issue.

“The saying is ‘build it tight, ventilate it right,’” he says. “Peter knew from the start that he could build something he could heat with a candle. Now that have the proper ventilator in place, that seems possible.”

While the Robie’s still have a ways to go before their dream home is completed – a matching solar domestic hot water and PV system (from ReVision Energy), as well as some interior detailing are all part of the short or long-term picture – It’s safe to say EcoSound has managed to render their uniquely green approach into a sterling monument to efficiency.

“When we first started, we wanted to come as close to net zero as we could,” says Robie. “Whether that’s tomorrow or five years from now, we’re not sure, but the goal is to get there eventually.”

For more info on EcoSound Builders, go to www.ecosoundbuilders.com
To learn more about Green Alliance, visit www.greenalliance.biz