Author: Sonja O'Claire, Built Green Program Manager

Morning Keynote

Our morning keynote, Roger Ballentine, President of Green Strategies Inc encouraged us to keep doing the work we are doing. He shared insight into the transition to a greener economy and explained that the market will continue to change to value climate solutions. He reminded us of this simple yet powerful message, that despite backlash from professionals, politicians, and sometimes the public, that “The most durable, money-making, value-creating strategy is still at the overlap of profit, planet, and people.” With his words attendees set out for a day of learning from each other and working together to do exactly that.

Session Highlights and Takeaways

This year we had four session tracks, along with the concurrent Built Green Project Basics programming. Conference tracks included Adapting Policy, Code Academy, Innovative Approaches, and Decarbonizing Case Studies. There was too much content to share it all here, but we’ve curated some session highlights to give you a taste.

Washington State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon, Dave Osaki of WA Department of Commerce, and Ryan Donohue of Habitat for Humanity SKKC participated in an engaging panel discussion on the numerous land use updates that passed to support more Middle housing options for Washington residents. Rep. Fitzgibbon shared legislative context and detailed the broad-based and cross-sector support and advocacy efforts that led to all the middle housing initiatives being passed in the 2022-2023 session. He described the intersection of housing, transit, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Dave Osaki gave practical advice on work Dept. of Commerce is doing to help implement all the middle housing policies enacted. He supplied the numerous middle housing resources developed by their team to help jurisdictions navigate the changes, apply for grants, and access communications training. Ryan Donohue cataloged the benefits and opportunities that the middle housing policies bring to both market-rate and affordable housing builders by, “enabling more housing, in more places, for more people.” The middle housing policies provide more tools for builders and opportunities to build in the right places. Rep. Fitzgibbon closed the panel by expressing that this legislative session took a big step in the right direction, and it should be celebrated, but there is much more work to be done to be successful in meeting both housing and climate change needs in our region. We must work together and continue to advocate for those necessary changes.

Monica Guevara from Emerald Cities Collaborative hosted a panel discussion with James Metoyer, EnerCity Collaborative and Chris Young, CYC Mechanical where they dispensed valuable insights about including and supporting people of color in the just transition to a green economy. They spoke about the importance of facilitating ownership for diverse communities in the construction industry as well as fostering connection and growth to support people of color gaining knowledge and valuable skills as they enter this workforce. The session resulted in meaningful connections between audience members interested in hiring a more diverse workforce and setting them up for success in their careers. “Equity is a journey,” said Monica Guevara in her closing remarks. It is important to keep going no matter where you are starting from; even small steps toward a more equitable business make a difference.

Mason Rolph, of Olympia Community Solar, spoke about their non-profit’s mission to halt the ongoing harm from climate change impacting frontline communities through residential solar installations. Mason shared that the main hurdles that prevents frontline communities from accessing the benefits of residential solar PV are infrastructure barriers, like multifamily and shaded buildings, upfront costs, and regulatory complications. By focusing their installation work on community solar projects they aim to overcome those barriers to the benefit of those who otherwise would not be able to put solar directly on their own roof. He invited those who are interested to visit their website to find more information on how to join their coalition building, stakeholder engagement, or community outreach efforts to advocate for less restrictive solar policy.

In an information-packed session from Talia Dreicer of TC Legend Homes, attendees were encouraged to look at embodied carbon within residential projects with the same emphasis that we currently place on operational efficiency choices. Talia presented her findings on tracking and reducing embodied carbon in multiple TC Legend Homes projects. She stressed the importance of working to create a baseline of embodied carbon for projects, which they do with the BEAM estimator from Builders for Climate Action, and then establishing emissions reduction goals from there. Talia pointed out that pursuing 5-Star certification should not be the only reason builders start the process of tracking and reducing their embodied carbon. By utilizing BEAM and seeing the embodied carbon of individual materials, TC Legend Homes discovered materials that they did not know existed. This information led them to make simple swap outs that resulted in significant embodied carbon reductions in their certified Built Green 5-Star projects. There is a huge opportunity for rapid reductions from simple material changes that the BEAM tool presents when used to compare options.

For contemporary indigenous housing in the PNW, it is essential to develop architecture that is highly responsive to the environment and engages the community it serves. Daniel Glenn, from 7 Directions Architects, presented four case studies of indigenous housing projects that did exactly that. Their firm designs with the tribal idea of the seven generations: three generations of our ancestors, our present generation, and three generations of our descendants. Some aspects of indigenous centered design are having a clustered community or village space to allow for gathering, longhouse inspired multigenerational housing, site analysis to allow for homes to be best suited to their specific climate and place, and including tribal traditions such as building canoes in the formation of the space. Another important step is training tribal members in construction so they can continue with this work in the future. This was an inspiring presentation that featured beautiful and interesting housing projects that serve an essential community in our area.

Practical Applications to Meet and Exceed the 2021 WSEC

Greg Lasher, of BetterBuilt NW, cataloged some of the problems that he has seen through his career as an energy rater when he conducts his testing that are caused by inefficient design. He stressed that integrated design can cost-effectively prevent expensive mistakes and necessary changes later in the build process to meet code or Built Green requirements. HVAC, plumbing, sustainability criteria, and occupant comfort should be considered early in the design process to reap the most rewards. To avoid installation mistakes or ineffective practices trades contractors need to be involved in the design process or charettes so they understand the intent of design or can help see vulnerabilities. Integrated design shifts the amount of design effort towards the beginning of the project prior to when construction documents are created to avoid costly redesigns and in-the-field fixes.

Greg identified the top 2021 WSEC credits to target with design to maximum cost-effectiveness:

1. Heat Pump Water Heater (2 credits)
2. HVAC Ducts Inside (0.5 credit)
3. Compact Water Design (0.5 credit)
4. Waste Water Heat Recovery (0.5 credit)
5. Continuous Exterior Insulation (Base Code or 1.0 credit)

Alex Boetzel, of BetterBuilt NW, further emphasized that designing and building with high performance building techniques from the start is more cost effective for the builder and homeowner, than installing highly efficient, and more expensive, equipment that requires replacement in less than two decades. The new 2021 WSEC includes base code requires continuous exterior insulation that dramatically increases the performance and airtightness of the building’s thermal envelope and increases comfort. Alex explained that an exterior insulation system provides a thermal break, integrates with the air barrier installation, improves the overall wall U/R Value, mitigates condensation risks, and reduces sound transmission compared to standard wall framing assemblies for the life of the building. There are major design considerations and details that need to be considered to avoid unnecessary cost increases. He detailed resources like the upcoming 2021 WSEC Cookbook and WSU Energy Program's trainings and Code Compliance Calculator tools that builders can use to help make the code compliance process easier.

Gary Klein, of Gary Klein and Associates, gave two very interactive and illuminating breakout sessions dedicated to energy efficient, compact plumbing design. He laid out how the antiquated calculations and assumptions, from the 19th century, are still used to design plumbing systems in homes and buildings and do not account for our modern low-flow fixtures. This results in plumbing systems that fail to deliver the four key things people want from their hot water – it’s safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and they don’t have to wait for it. Through life-sized and volunteer-participated demonstrations Gary showed the common flaws in conventional plumbing design that leads to higher energy and water bills and complaints about long wait times and lack of water pressure. For hot water to be delivered to a tap it requires two times the volume in the pipe, including the cold water sitting in the pipe and the hot water that comes from the water heater. All the hot water that flows into the pipe that is not used represents wasted energy and money.

During the building’s operation annual water bill savings can be $1000-$3,600. These changes also decrease energy use from hot water by 20-30% by reducing the energy lost from hot water that never reaches the tap. The forthcoming 2021 WSEC will have energy efficiency credits related to compact plumbing design that lowers upfront costs of building homes. Implementing this innovative approach will be a win-win for builders and homeowners.

Built Green Project Basics was a specialty programming that was designed for those getting started with green building or high-performance building techniques. Cybil Tribie, of BEE Consulting, gave an overview of the Built Green certification and verification process and the benefits for projects that achieve certification. Josh Salinger, of Birdsmouth Design-Build, provided three sessions covering building science 101 content related to thermal envelope performance, HVAC installation details, and air sealing. You can look forward to offering a new variety of Built Green Project Basics topics being covered in future years of the conference.

Throughout the day conference attendees connected with each other to share stories and ideas and engaged with vendors, suppliers, and service providers in our Sponsors Expo to learn about how they could further enhance their Built Green projects. At lunch Sonja O’Claire, the Built Green Program Manager, presented the winners of the 2023 Built Green Hammer Awards. Then after a long day of learning, attendees enjoyed a mixer where they could continue their conversations, share ideas, and connect with each other over drinks.

We hope everyone who came to the conference learned something new, connected with friends, and walked away feeling inspired. We look forward to seeing you next year!

Award Category: Builder, Custom or Small Speculative, less than 10 homes

Winner: TC Legend Homes

Award Category: Builder, Small Production, 10 to 100 homes

Winner: Green Canopy NODE

Award Category: Builder, Large Production, over 100 homes

Winner: Greencity Development

Award Category: Builder, Small Multifamily, less than 50 units

Winner: Habitat for Humanity SKKC

Project: Capitol View Condos

Award Category: Builder, Medium Multifamily, 50 to 150 Units

Winner: Blueprint Capital Services

Project: Clay Apartments

Award Category: Builder, Large Multifamily, over 150 Units

Winner: Kamiak Real Estate LLC

Project: Goldfinch Elder’s Housing and Denny Apartments

Award Category: Builder, Remodel

Winner: Dwell Development LLC

Project: Lakehouse 2.0 Renovation

Award Category: Built Green Advocate Private Sector

Winner: O’Brien360

Description: Alistair Jackson, David Reddy, and the whole team at O’Brien360 have been instrumental in guiding and assisting Built Green to hone its checklists through multiple WSEC updates. Providing hours of consultative services and being active participants on Built Green’s technical advisory panel. Additionally, they have been long-time advocates of the program, offering council to some of our public stakeholders who were updating and developing new green building incentives in their cities, to ensure all certification programs were fairly represented.

Award Category: Built Green Advocate Public Sector

Winner: David Barnes, City of Kirkland

Description: As a long-standing Senior Planner in the City of Kirkland, co-chair of the King County Cities Climate Collaborative, member of the Regional Code Collaboration, and a member of the Built Green Executive Committee, David has been an integral part of increasing sustainable development in the Puget Sound region. In the past year, he has advocated on Built Green’s behalf, and included Built Green in the process of developing Kirkland’s new High Performance Green Building Standards and programs. Creating the first green remodel incentive program in the state. He routinely shares with other jurisdictions his experience and advocates for adoption of Built Green incentives to support lower impact development in King and Snohomish Counties.

Award Category: Built Green Pioneer

Winner: Jess Harris, City of Seattle

Description: Jess has been with the City of Seattle for over 20 years and is SDCI’s green building expert. As the City of Seattle’s Green Building Program Manager, he’s directed the creation of one of the region's first green building incentive programs, Priority Green, and later the Living Building Pilot program. He has been a vital partner in the development and adoption of Built Green in Seattle’s housing market. Since 2019, he has been on the Built Green Executive Committee and has previously been awarded two Built Green Hammer awards for public sector advocacy.

Award Category: Built Green Pioneer

Winner: Sean Conta, Targa Homes

Description: A former passive house rater and Built Green verifier, Sean became a builder in 2018. Targa’s team of two focuses on high-performance home building in the custom homes market. From the get-go they implemented high-performance building science techniques to minimize operational emissions in their homes. All of Sean’s projects are 5-star certified and have scored an average of 671 points on their Built Green checklists. In the last couple years, Sean has been an early adopter in measuring and reducing the embodied material emissions of Targa’s homes and was a pilot tester during development of the BEAM Estimator tool. His homes have been featured in numerous Built Green Case Studies and they earned a Built Green Hammer Project of the Year award in 2021.

Award Category: Project of the Year

Winner: Dwell Development LLC

Project: Lakehouse 2.0 Development

Description: The Lakehouse 2.0 Development by Dwell Development. This project features the above awarded 5-star Net Zero Energy (NZE) certified historical remodel and NZE-Ready DADU, and a newly constructed NZE-Ready 5-star certified home with an attached ADU. To learn more about this development, read the full Built Green case study.

Congratulations to all our 2023 Built Green Hammer Award Winners!! We can’t wait to see what exciting projects we get to review next year.

Author: Sonja O'Claire, Built Green Program Manager

With a multitude of housing laws passed, impending energy code changes, every city steeped in updating their comprehensive plans, and Built Green relaunching its Remodel certification, 2023 was rightly named the “Year of Housing” in Washington. This year’s speakers and sessions were curated to highlight market-based climate solutions that balance advantageous economic opportunities with tackling the environmental and social imperatives of climate change.

Opening Keynote

Educational Breakout Sessions

Get technical in all things 2021 WSEC in our Code Academy track and two Innovative Approaches sessions on plumbing design presented by Gary Klein. These six sessions will cover critical changes expected from the 2021 WSEC in the crucial code credit areas of HVAC, thermal envelope, and energy efficient plumbing design. Learn how to cost effectively meet, and exceed, the 2021 WSEC from our expert speakers. Additionally, check out Green Canopy NODE’s innovative panelized construction practices that helped the Grow Community in Bainbridge achieve compact 5-star level performance under the 2018 WSEC.

It was a BIG year for the advancement of middle housing across our state. Hear from our Middle Housing panel, featuring WA Representative Joe Fitzgibbon, Dave Osaki, and Ryan Donohue, what is next for middle housing implementation. Attend this session to learn how local comprehensive plans and zoning will be affected and their potential for reducing environmental impact and increasing housing choice. Other sessions in the Adapting Policy track include discussions on overcoming the policy barriers to solar energy, Kirkland’s new High Performance Building programs, and Seattle’s proposed embodied carbon building codes.

In our Decarbonizing Case Studies track features four sessions dedicated to reducing carbon emissions from our built environment. Sessions offered by Nathan Coons, Anthony and Abbey Maschmedt will focus on Built Green certified remodeled homes that reduced their operational carbon emissions, while maintaining the home’s character and enhancing it to serve future generations. Continuing the conversation on embodied carbon emissions, Talia Dreicer’s session will demonstrate how embodied carbon calculations are becoming a standard part of TC Legend Home’s design conversations as they strive for net zero carbon homes. Daniel Glenn’s session will feature four case studies on tribal lands in the Pacific Northwest that provide affordable, low-energy housing that reflect and celebrate the tribal cultures of the residents.

See details on the full conference agenda and sessions.

Built Green Project Basics

This 4-part specialty track is specifically designed for on-site supervisors, project managers, and city inspectors to give a practical overview of the Built Green certification program, incorporating effective air control layers, and the implications of HVAC on airtight homes. Josh Salinger with Birdsmouth Design-Build and Cybil Tribie with BEE Consulting will cover the basics of managing a Built Green project from a site supervisor’s perspective and critical building science construction details related to ensuring air-tight building envelopes and efficient HVAC performance. Not only is this track included in a full conference ticket, but it is also available at a deeply discounted single-track price.

It's More Than Just Educational

Throughout the day you’ll be able to network with other attendees, sponsors, and speakers about the sessions and gain professional connections. Explore our Sponsors Expo where our sponsors will showcase the latest green products, celebrate Built Green Hammer Award winners, and attend an Ask-Me-Anything session with our keynote speaker.

Bring Your E-Waste for Recycling!

Our presenting sponsor, DTG Recycle, will also be collecting small electronics for e-waste recycling at the conference. Plan to look through your drawers and desks to take advantage of this complimentary perk of attendance! Accepted e-waste items: cell phones, laptops, tablets, wires/cables/AC chargers, routers, and small portable devices. NO leaking or cracked items.

Don't miss out on any of the action! Follow Built Green on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for conference updates. Use the hashtag #BuiltGreen2023 to share your excitement about this year’s conference.

For complete conference details and to register, visit builtgreenconference.net.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Just north of the entrance to Seward Park, directly across from the water’s edge resides The Lake House. Built in 1919, the historical home was designed by renowned California-raised architect, Edwin Ivey, in the Spanish Eclectic style reminiscent of the homes found in Pasadena. A street-to-street lot, prime location, and a magical facade sparked the interest of the founders of Dwell Development (Dwell), Abbey and Anthony Maschmedt. For them, it was love at first sight. Their challenge was taking the sustainability practices they employ in new homes and implementing them in a home over a century old. It was a challenge they fully embraced when they devised their plan for The Lake House 2.0.

Dwell set out to do something extraordinary with this amazing parcel located on Lake Washington Boulevard South. Their job was to solve the puzzle of taking advantage of a unique development opportunity while maintaining the original integrity of the existing home—with a little over 20,000 square feet there were endless possibilities.

Fortunately, the existing home sat on the front portion of the lot with a massive grass front yard facing the lake. Behind the house, there was an existing carriage garage, that was originally intended for a vehicle and a caretaker. Beyond the garage was a large, landscaped yard that fronted 57th Avenue South. The site being street to street, provided room for development and design.

In most cases, similarly zoned sites would see the existing house demolished, then subdivided to create 3 new approximately 7,000-square-foot parcels, with 3 new single-family homes built. However, the Lake House was architecturally significant, and while it would take a lot of work to modernize it for another century of use, the Maschmedts knew that preservation had to be the goal. Then again part of modernization is also using resources more wisely, and land and housing are finite resources. So they had to also re-envision the site to maximize such valuable resources. Ultimately, they decided to preserve the Lake House with a new DADU and office, then subdividing it into two parcels to build a new single family home with an accessory dwelling unit. This increased the housing capacity of the site to 4 housing units.

Curve balls are expected when planning a project like this, but the Covid-19 pandemic presented unique challenges when it came to design decisions. During the pandemic Seattle Parks, which owns Lake Washington Boulevard, had decided to shut down the boulevard regularly to accommodate pedestrians, bikes, and strollers. Continual access from the back of the Lake House needed to be maintained, because there was a looming threat of a permanent shutdown of the boulevard to cars.

The biggest obstacle of the project would be updating the existing single-family home. Though Dwell is well-versed in sustainable new construction, historical restoration was not on their resume yet. They needed to balance preserving the amazing home, saving it from the landfill and maintaining its original charm and character, while updating and modernizing it to assure it met all the expected energy efficiency of a Dwell Development home. Ultimately, the goal was for The Lake House 2.0 to be Dwell’s first Net Zero Energy renovation.

Inclusive of the down-to-the-studs renovation of the existing home, the existing carriage garage was demolished and replaced with their first Net Zero Energy DADU. The DADU includes a 2-car garage that is accessed off of 57th Avenue South and serves as the new Dwell Development office headquarters. In addition, another first for Dwell, a Net Zero Energy Ready 5-Star Built Green single-family home with a legal AADU was built on the remaining portion of the parcel in the rear overlooking the main house and the lake.

Dwell applied all their standard, tried and true, sustainable systems and practices to the project. The existing house was stripped down to the studs, and a 1,500 sq ft addition was added to the back. Originally built with no insulation, they knew that proper insulation would be critical. After removing all the plaster and lathe, they added blown-in cellulose insulation. The exterior was also clad in a rain-screen Portland Cement Stucco, a cladding very unusual for the Northwest. The new stucco on the addition would need to match perfectly to blend old and new. No stone was left unturned in preservation. Existing millwork, windows, light fixtures, and doors were removed, stored, and eventually returned to their rooms. Their goal was to avoid waste and reuse as much of it as possible.

Heating and cooling and air quality are essential to a sustainable home. Anthony and Abbey called on trusted manufacturers, because they knew they couldn’t do it all alone. Partnerships were essential to the project. Mitsubishi and Panasonic lent Dwell their HVAC and fresh air consultants to design a new type of state-of-the-art heating/cooling and fresh air system. They also donated all the equipment towards this never-used-before system. The HVAC system features an ERV integrated into the ducted heat pump air handler to provide triple filtration and air scrubbing, maintaining premium fresh air and thermal comfort throughout the home.

The Lake House and its DADU is designed for a 16kW solar PV array that provides it a net positive energy balance. The solar PV will not only power the home and DADU, but also the swimming pool and an electric vehicle. The single family home is solar PV ready and includes two level II charging outlets for EVs.

The final results are something Dwell Development is very proud of. A feather in their cap and a homage to sustainability. Having completed a 5-Star Net Zero Energy Certified Built Green renovation, a 5-Star Net Zero Energy Certified Built DADU, and a 5-Star Built Green Net Zero Energy Ready Single-Family Residence with AADU simultaneously in one project, Anthony and Abbey Maschmedt of Dwell Development believe anything is possible when you set your mind to it. Lake House 2.0 is ready to roll into the next one hundred years.

Freehand Studio Architects engaged with the homeowner to create a multigenerational site for their family with the addition of this backyard cottage. The design features a bedroom and bathroom on each floor, as well as flex space and 2nd story deck. The soaring double height great room provides an airy, light-filled atrium which belies the 1000 SF floor area.

Lowering the Upfront Material Emissions

Using the BEAM tool, Targa set out from the beginning to use low embodied carbon materials wherever possible, and ultimately achieved a 30% reduction in material carbon emissions. The home is framed with reclaimed lumber provided by Sledge Seattle—a company that deconstructs homes that are otherwise slated for demolition. The centuries old Fir that comes out of these homes is dense, dry, and ready to serve another 100+ years. BEAM was utilized to show the team that using blown-in cellulose cavity insulation and cork exterior insulation makes a major impact on lowering the total kg CO2e for the project compared to the typical fiberglass and foam. Other notable decisions include using LP SmartSide lap siding (an engineered wood product) instead of the typical Hardie plank, as well as generally substituting wood based products for foam and plastic wherever feasible.

Exterior cork insulation

Dark color of reclaimed fir

While framing the home, the team was continually stunned by the tight grain of the reclaimed old growth Fir. The team could not let any of it go to waste, so the lead carpenter Matt Kull fabricated a custom end-grain butcher block countertop out of framing lumber. This centrally located focal point provides a visible connection to the invisible bones of the home.

Supplying Fresh Air in an Air-Tight Home

Superior Indoor Air Quality was a priority for architect and builder and the first step towards this is airtight construction. Starting with a fully taped sub-slab vapor barrier, the air barrier then wraps under the bottom plates which are sealed with sill seal foam and Contega HF flexible adhesive caulk. The bottom of wall is also sealed to the concrete stem wall using Siga tape for a belt & suspenders approach at this critical joint. Zip System sheathing with taped seams on the walls and roof form the primary air barrier above grade. The unvented roof is framed using a unique over-roof assembly (also known as “Monopoly Framing”) where rafter tails are applied on top of the structural roof sheathing after the roof sheathing and roof/wall joints are air sealed with tape. Rigid foam is then installed on top of the roof sheathing providing continuous insulation that keeps the sheathing above dewpoint at all temperatures. This high performance assembly avoids spray foam and is a much more durable and forgiving design.

The high glazing ratio can be a detriment to energy efficiency, so the team chose Vetta windows to mitigate this. These European made triple pane tilt/turn windows are made from FSC wood and clad in an aluminum exterior. Although the team found these to have a large carbon footprint, the beauty and fantastic durability were offsetting factors.

The team runs a preliminary blower door test just before insulation to identify and address any problem areas. This home scored a final blower door score of 0.02 CFM/SF shell (0.35 ACH50) placing it well below the PHIUS passive house air tightness standard. With extreme air tightness comes a necessity for ventilation and this home uses a Zehnder Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) running continuously to provide fresh filtered air and exhaust stale air. Low-emitting interior finishes are the final piece in a healthy IAQ home.

High Performance Systems and Fixtures

Heating and Cooling are primarily from two ductless minisplits, with backup bedroom heat from Ducoterra radiant panels on the ceiling. Hot water is made by a SanCO2 split system heat pump water heater. This unit uses CO2 refrigerant (much friendlier to the atmosphere) and runs at an astounding efficiency to quietly provide hot water year-round without electric resistance. A heat pump clothes dryer is also an efficiency upgrade and doesn’t require a penetration through the wall for exhaust. An induction cooktop and LED lighting round out the specs for the all-electric home.

To provide energy usage feedback to the occupants Targa installed a Leviton Smart LoadCenter electrical panel which reports usage for each individual circuit in the home to a smartphone app. Paired with the homes 3.6kW Solar PV array, occupants will be able to live as close to net zero as possible.

Low flow plumbing fixtures were chosen throughout including ultra-efficient Niagara 0.8 gallon per flush toilets. The team also chose to infiltrate rainwater on site using a drywell which wasn’t required by the city. Fireclay tile, Valinge engineered wood flooring, and Paperstone countertops were chosen as sustainable, functional, and attractive finishes.

In the shadow of a mature tree canopy, Model Remodel’s contemporary home combines Northwest living with Mediterranean pattern and colors. This Built Green 4-Star certified home recently was awarded a 2023 REX Award for Green Remodel. The 1950s home was fully remodeled, including a 2nd story addition for a primary suite. Integration of indoor spaces with the natural environment was a key element to its redesign. The open floor plan with generous windows and glass doors creates a front-to-back view through the entire home, and easy access to its extensive outdoor activity spaces. Abundant with natural light and worldly décor, this playful remodel of a classic midcentury modern property made air sealing, eco-conscious materials, and green certification a priority.

Achieving an improvement of 29.3% over Washington’s 2015 energy code, an airtightness blower door score of 2.94 ACH, and a 4-Star Built Green rating, the home is comfortable all year round. The ductless multi split system in the bedrooms provides efficient heating and cooling using ceiling mounted cassettes, making it so you hardly know the system is there. A combination of rigid foam board and caulked foam were used to achieve such an airtight tight seal of the older home. Spot ERVs provide fresh air, while recovering temperature and moisture. A centrally located ducted system provides optimal comfort in the vaulted-ceiling open floorplan of the home. In-floor heat radiant heat in the bathroom floor tile offer additional comfort.

Above-code fiberglass windows and doors provide tons of natural light, eliminating the need for electrical lighting during daytime hours. LED lighting is used at night. A beautiful nano door and pocket window in the kitchen can be easily opened for an indoor-outdoor living environment. Low-VOC finishes on the flooring and shelving, plus no-VOC interior paint, keep air quality excellent.

Increasing the functionality of the home’s existing living space two rooms were redesigned into flexible multifunctional spaces. One area has a built-in murphy bed that can be pulled down for overnight guests, and another room features a sliding partition wall that can separate one room into two functional spaces.

One of the most obvious décor choices in the home is the Mediterranean-style patterned tile, which was salvaged from previous jobs and used here for multiple backsplashes and bathrooms. Cork flooring was used in multifunctional rooms to enhance comfort and warmth. It’s the patterned tile and flooring that bring color and vibrancy to a neutral paint palette. Lighting, cabinet hardware and décor are all sourced from the homeowners’ worldly travels, giving the home unique personality. Large 55 foot glulam beams effortlessly transition between indoor and outdoor evoking the tall trees on the property. Additionally, reusing the existing concrete foundation and basement, and fireplace, preserved and reduced embodied carbon emissions that would have been emitted had the home been torn down, rather than remodeled. A recycled content metal roof protects this home for the next century of its lifecycle.

Before/In Progress

After