Project Details
- Project Name
- Zero-Energy Asheville Home
- Location
- NC
- Architect
- Samsel Architects
- Project Types
- Single Family
- Size
- 2,094 sq. feet
- Team
-
Samsel Architects
Standing Stone Builders
Vandemusser Design
- Project Status
- Built
- Style
- Modern
Duncan McPherson, AIA, designed the Craven Gap Residence to achieve net-zero performance with standard, budget-friendly materials.
He got far more than he bargained for.
The International Living Future Institute verifies that the home exceeded the goal: The home is net-positive, generating an energy surplus over 12 months with the smallest photovoltaic array of any Zero Energy Certified project ever certified.
No Straw Bales
To every designer, developer, owner, code official, and engineer who says net-zero performance requires exceptional means and methods, this 2,094-square-foot, three-bedroom home on a 5-acre wooded tract just outside Asheville, N.C., stands as a stirring rebuttal.
“No straw bale wall construction or anything unusual. The owner challenged us to build a net-zero home with standard construction methods and materials,” says McPherson, principal of Samsel Architects and lead architect on the project. “He didn’t want to be someone’s guinea pig.”
Small Solar Array, Big Result
The Samsel team specified polished concrete slabs for thermal mass to support passive solar warming. Roof overhangs were sized and angled to maximize year-round shading or exposure. The envelope and mechanicals are standard-issue. The net effect is a HERS rating of just 50. About a year after completion, the owners installed a modest 5-kilowatt roof-mounted photovoltaic system that they figured would bring them close to energy self-sufficiency.
An energy meter running in reverse turned out to be a happy bonus.
Clean, Crisp Aesthetic
Aesthetics played a major role in the design requirements as well. “This design, like all our designs, is very site specific,” McPherson says. “This property is very beautiful, with a south-facing slope. We take the owners’ lifestyle, values, and the property to shape the design of the building. In this case, a distinctly modern form cut into the mountainside was very much in keeping with what the owners were looking for.”
To achieve a sleek, engineered exterior, McPherson selected fiber cement siding with 2x6 framed walls with closed-cell foamed-in-place insulation. The owners’ desire for a low-maintenance building suggested the clean, crisp, modern look of fiber cement cladding.
360-Degree Solution
Detailing a variety of unique inside and outside corner conditions and transitions was a major decision point. “The GC brought a particular trim manufacturer to our attention and suggested we use them. It turns out we were familiar with manufacturer: Tamlyn,” McPherson says.
What made Tamlyn trim products particularly helpful are “the ton of profiles they offer,” McPherson says. “No matter how unique the situation, they had a profile.”
K.I.S.S. Philosophy
That broad and deep palette is a confidence-booster for designers, says McPherson. “You can tell Tamlyn thought-through how fiber cement panels come together and how best to facilitate that. They have a solution for every condition.”
Trim specification may be a modest matter in the project’s overall scope. But it does highlight the team’s rigorous insistence on a K.I.S.S. philosophy.
“There are a lot of goals and desires to coordinate. We synthesize them, figure them out—how we can deliver the greatest good for the client. That’s why you hire an architect,” McPherson smiles.
To learn how Tamlyn trim products can enhance the value of your next project, visit https://www.tamlyn.com/XT/index.html.
Lead Architect Duncan McPherson, AIA
Architect Samsel Architects
General Contractor Standing Stone Builders
MEP Engineer Vandermusser Design