LaRoe Residence | Swanson Residence LaRoe Residence Its Solar; its Green; its Energy Star; its Geo-thermal; its Sustainable and it started when the homeowner, Margaret LaRoe, sent me this email: "It is my hope to build an energy efficient home that fits in harmony with the woods and the community where it is located. I want a contemporary, casual style with unpretentious, simple lines. Priorities for me include: (1) as much sensible indoor-outdoor living and natural light as can be permitted in a passive solar home in this climate; (2) Open living areas with a casual, warm feeling to the eye; (3) friendly to kids, dogs, old folks, many house guests: (4) master bedroom on the first floor with morning sun. (You will notice I would like all rooms, except the laundry room to face east.)" Margaret also had a number of random considerations that were important in the designing of the house: "I would like the living area to be able to view both front and back sort of a see through approach, to the front of the house and the creek behind. I would like a casual, comfortable eating area in or adjacent to the kitchen, lovely if it could have an east exposure, but then I want everything to have an east exposure. Features hopefully can include mud room(s), pantry, front porch large enough for chairs, screen porch, wood floors, and ample storage." It is very nice to work with someone so clear and organized, Margaret also wanted this to happen in approximately 2,000 square feet of living space. We began the design phase on November 14, 2006 and finished on February 28, 2007. We ended up with 2200 square feet of living space, three bedrooms and two baths, and due to the slope of the lot we had a 2200 square foot basement with 9-foot high ceilings. After contract signing, land clearing, permits and layout we started digging the foundation on April 30, 2007. The framing of the house started on June 22, 2007 and after stumbling our way through the hottest summer on record we obtained our occupancy permit on June 12, 2008. We were very concerned with building a home that would be environmentally friendly and the best place to start is with the size of the house, less square footage means fewer materials and less heating and cooling area. Our 2200 heated square feet is 100 square feet under the recommended guideline for a three-bedroom house published in The Sun-Inspired House by Debra Rucker Coleman in 2005. This is a very good book for details and contains many energy efficient house designs. Our next area of concentration was the passive solar aspect of the house. Passive solar is certainly the most cost effective design feature you can incorporate, it is very green and very sustainable. The design of the Laroe residence is actually part of the heating and cooling system and over the years will save many kilowatt-hours of energy cost. Placing most of your windows on the south facing elevation and using the correct size depth of overhang on your eaves is as crucial an energy decision as you can make in North Carolina this is 2 feet. The idea is to maximize the winter sun entering your home and minimizing the summer sun's penetration. This is easily seen in the summer and winter solstice pictures provided. On the summer solstice picture, there are only three pieces of siding on the two front bays getting direct sun on the whole exterior of the house and the only sun exposure inside the house all day is about 25 square feet in the kitchen for about one and a half hours. The winter solstice picture shows the shadow line from the sun right at the top of the windows, allowing all of the available sunlight in when it is most needed. This picture also clearly shows the shadows of the nearest trees to the front of the house. We determined how many trees to take out in the beginning so there would be no shadows on the house when the shadows are at their longest winter solstice. This was done by setting up a transit in the entry deck area and setting it for the 30-degree winter solstice angle. The next step is adding some thermal mass to collect the heat from winter sun and provide cooling for the summer. The main area of thermal mass is acid stained concrete 4 inches thick in the dining room. Once we decided on a U-shaped house this put our thermal mass back away from the south-facing wall to make room for the entry deck and provide the indoor-outdoor connection that Margaret was looking for. The problem of direct gain for the mass was surmounted by angling the front bays 30 degrees and moving the front wall of the dining room forward to intersect with an extension of that line. This means that on the winter solstice the sun will rise and hit the west exterior corner of the dining room and as the day progresses the sun will move across the dining room wall until sunset when the last rays of the day will be hitting the east exterior corner of the dining room. On the shortest day of the year the dining room thermal mass will receive all of the sun's rays. The depth of the thermal mass into the house was determined by a 30-degree vertical angle, the winter sun's lowest height drawn through the top of the window, approximately 13 feet 6 inches. Our second area of thermal mass is the kitchen area with its thru-body ceramic tile floors on cement backer boards, this will be getting lots of direct gain in the winter. We also have a large amount of mass in our basement. The foundation walls are concrete block 9 foot 4 inches tall and much of it is 8 feet below grade. The basement floor is 4 inches of concrete. This is not conditioned space but it is very stable space temperature wise, and will help keep our conditioned space much more stable year round. The atrium is very much a part of the heating and cooling of the house also. Not only does it provide a lot of day lighting; reducing the need for artificial lighting; but also it provides venting for hot air and the bringing in of cool air by two remote control awning windows (supplemented with the two ceiling fans if needed). You can change the temperature and air in your house pretty quickly with this system and you will be creating a cooling breeze on your skin. During the winter there will be direct heat gain and this heat can be circulated down using the ceiling fans. The atrium was designed to minimize the amount of direct sun gain in the living room to protect the rugs from fading. This was achieved by moving the top of the awning windows closer to the eaves. The deepest penetration of the sun on the living room floor should be fourteen inches on the north wall. During the house construction we had many discussions about the costs of and choices involving green products and energy star features. The most obvious choices for energy star were: windows and doors, insulation package, appliances, light fixtures with CFL bulbs and the hot water heater. The foundation waterproofing is a green product water-based with no mineral spirits or petroleum distillates, most of our cedar siding is F.S.C. approved and architectural roof shingles were added for longevity. The biggest choice we made was installing the geo-thermal heat pump. We were lucky enough to have a good well and this allowed us to use a water source heat pump rather than the ground source pump which is a lot more expensive due to the amount of digging involved. According to the U.S. Department of Energy a geo-thermal unit can save from 30% to 70% on your heating and cooling bill. Other benefits of our geo-thermal water-furnace is that it preheats the hot water, does not have any outdoors units and is very quiet. Almost everyone who goes through the house comments on the arches between the kitchen and atrium area and from the bedroom hall to the atrium. The arches were Margaret's idea; they bring some of the Southwestern style that she likes so much. From a design standpoint the arches bring a certain elegance and softness to a lot of straight lines and really bring the atrium down visually. I believe we have achieved most of Margaret's vision for her house with a responsible energy efficient design that will be a comforting place to live. "I was so very fortunate to meet Steven Brouillard and work with him to design and build my home in the woods of Person County. He took pride in every detail of construction, and his concern for quality inspired everyone who worked at the site. He paid respectful attention to my conflicted wishes, my budget, and my style throughout the project. I believe my home, inspired by natural light and open space, is a wonderful example of a modest, beautifully crafted, energy efficient living space. The result makes me smile every time I approach the house and see it again." Margaret LaRoe Custom Homes | Solar | Restoration | Woodworking | Techniques | About Us | Testimonials | Home Click above to see the LaRoe Residence slideshow.