2010 Art Hop & aiaVT Home Tours

Even though we will not be an Art Hop stop this year, we will be out hopping on Sept 10th and 11th.  Hope you are planning to go to this year's Art Hop too.  Be sure to check out the newly renovated Maltex Building on Pine Street, a recently completed TruexCullins' Workplace Studio project.  For more information  visit  http://www.seaba.com/.

And after you've taken in all the art and culture the Art Hop has to offer, explore some local residential architecture during aiaVT's 2010 Home Tours, also on September 11th.  Titled Innovation & Tradition, this year's tours feature six homes designed by local architects, including a South Farm House designed by TruexCullins. For more information visit http://www.aiavt.org/.

Lee Grutchfield's "I Believe" from Sunday's Burlington Free Press

I Believe: 'We are on the cusp of a new era in building, and here in Vermont we are leading the way'

By Lee Grutchfield, Special to the Free Press • Sunday, February 7, 2010

The idea of the self-perpetuating machine, an engine that can produce more energy than it uses, is as old as the wheel. From Galileo to Star Trek, we humans have dreamed and written of it. As architects, we are reminded of this idea when we see the houses that we are now capable of building: houses that can create their own clean energy — all that they need — light-filled homes that are comfortable, beautiful and healthy places to live.

Existing technologies and commonsense building practices allow us to build super-insulated walls and roofs, and to create renewable energy on site — and these capabilities are being used and improved upon daily. We believe that we are on the cusp of a new era of building, and here in Vermont we are leading the way.

One example of this is the South Farm development in Hinesburg, a neighborhood of six homes designed to create most of, and in some cases all of the energy they need. We would like to share with you some of the basic ideas, technologies and design practices used at South Farm, so that you too may share in this new era of building. (Photo by Glenn Russell)

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Energy Use in a Net Zero Home

posted by Lee Grutchfield, AIA

When I am talking to people about the idea of a “net-zero” home, I will sometimes say that we are now able to build houses that use no energy.  In reality, it is more appropriate to say that the houses create as much energy as they use over the course of the year. This is done by harvesting the sun’s energy, through the use of photovoltaic and solar hot water systems, as well as passive solar heat gained through south facing glass.  Often the next question will be, “How much energy can I use, and still have a net zero house?”

While there is no set answer to that question, I thought I would share a case study from a recently completed home in the South Farms development in Hinesburg, Vermont.  The house has approximately 1,800 square feet of heated living space, and utilizes a geothermal well for primary heat, with wood stove back up.

Energy use projection in kWhrs/yr: 

Refridgerator 383
Dishwasher 82

Microwave 50
Clothes Washer 153
Clothes Dryer 104
TV 50
Computer 20
Stereo 20
Lights 250
Garage Door Opener 50
Water Well Pump 100
Heat Recovery Ventilation 220
Central Vac 60
Domestic Hot Water 400
Phantom loads 100
Heat Pump 1,800

Total Load 3,842 kWhrs/yr

Energy production from PV panels generate 4,352 watts, which will give a total gain of 4,787 kWhrs/yr.

In this scenario the local power company will owe the owner $179.00 at the end of the year for excess power that is fed into the utility grid.