By Dennis Hockman, Photography by Gordon Beall
From Chesapeake Home
The first carbon neutral house on the East Coast trumps misconceptions that green can’t be beautiful and luxurious.
Although architects, designers, builders, and progressive thinkers the world over have been considering green for decades, it has only been in recent years that green has gone mainstream. Even so, the aesthetics of green typically has been synonymous with funky spiral lightbulbs, scratchy looking fabrics, and cold institutional finishes. Well, the CharityWorks GreenHouse in McLean, Virginia proves once and for all that those days are gone.
Brainchild of CharityWorks, WEST GROUP development company Senior Vice President in charge of sustainability efforts Mark Lowham, and GreenSpur builder Mark Turner, the GreenHouse not only set forth a goal to be the first carbon neutral house on the East Coast, but also to give back by benefiting the Friendship Public Charter School, the McLean Project for the Arts, the Injured Marines Semper Fi Fund, and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
To ensure the success of the project, Lowham and Turner solicited Cunningham|Quill Architects to design a house that would showcase how energy efficient design, renewable energy systems, and a smart location can come together in a home that is both environmentally friendly and a beautiful place to live.
Starting from below the ground up, the story of this green house begins 400 feet under ground with a state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system. Other elements of green design and construction include solar hot water; structural insulated panel (SIP) construction; passive solar design; low-flow water fixtures; LED lighting; rainwater capture; native plant landscaping by John Clime and Skye Design Studio; smart house technology; a green roof system; a walkable location with proximity to the Metro and bus system; reused and recycled materials; and more. Although it has not yet been certified, the GreenHouse is expected to exceed LEED Platinum requirements, and, based on the Energy Star Yardstick, the home is more energy efficient than 99.99 percent of the homes built since 2000.
Read the full article at Chesapeake Home
