Fabulous Green Home Tour!

Thanks to all the folks that came out to the Happy Meadows Courtyard House over the past two weekends!  It was undoubtedly the most well attended tour ever.  It says a lot about the beautiful, modern design by architect Arielle Schechter, and the abundance of green, energy efficient features packed into the net zero house.

The biggest thanks go out to the gracious homeowners who allowed hundreds of people to explore their house and grounds for 20 hours over the last two weekends.  

Finally, thanks to the Home Builders' Association of Durham, Orange Chatham for organizing and marketing this event.  It is important for both the public and the builders for everyone to get a chance to get together and meet.  I, as a builder, feel so fortunate to have an opportunity to meet prospective clients face to face and demonstrate what makes my company unique.  

Looking forward to having a couple of net zero homes on the tour next year!

Three Net-Zero Homes about to be Underway Simultaneously!

The Harris-Staller job is rolling.  We should be under roof by the end of the week after many days of delay looking for a dry day to pour our super insulated slab.  The plans are a contemporary take on the craftsman style by Jay Fulkerson, architect. 

After six weeks of waiting for the plan review process, the Murphy-Dunn modern net zero home will be under way this week!  The modern home which optimizes the view of the beautiful natural surroundings was designed by Arielle Schechter, architect.  

The Hunter-Dorrance net zero home is in the permit process.  The home is a contemporary farmhouse design that utilizes beams from the site that were very locally milled.  In a month, all three should be under way simultaneously.   Plans by Jay Fulkerson, architect.

All three of these jobs will employ the "JayPhire Wall" which is the result of collaboration between Newphire and architect Jay Fulkerson.  Jay and I have been brainstorming for years to come up with a wall assembly that meets Passive House performance as inexpensively as possible.  The JayPhire Wall delivers.  Call or email for details.

We feel very fortunate to have such fabulous clients that are interested in what we do.  The cool thing is that folks that come to us have typically already imbibed the energy efficiency Kool Aid- no arm twisting necessary.  

Looking forward to a fabulous 2015!

Harris-Staller Net Zero home permitted and ready for some dry weather!

We have the building permit in hand, have the permit box up and the temporary power pole in the works.  Now we just need some dry weather...  The house is a contemporary take on the Craftsman style by Jay Fulkerson, architect.  The house applies all of the principles of Passive House, but the homeowners are going to forego certification and put that money into more PV panels.  The house will go through third party verification as part of the National Association of Home Builders' Green Builders' Standard.  We are hopeful that this will be another house with a negative HERS score.  

New Website Up and Running

We just updated our website as of 2-28-15 and will be posting photos and commentary in this blog section.  2015 should be an exciting year.  We will be working on three or four net zero homes!   We feel so fortunate to have clients that are into being on the cutting edge!

 I will be seeking Passive House Plus certification on my personal home and will be trying to make it net zero as well.  Get in touch with us to learn more about how we are constantly evolving and adapting our wall and roof assemblies to deliver high performance at a price that makes sense.