STORY BY BENJAMIN LERNER
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
materials , such as dense-packed cellulose and recyclable products . Alan left Badger and Associates due to the housing market crash in 2009 , and he and Nancy founded Sustainable Design several months later . Today , they work together as a dynamic husband-and-wife team . Alan works as Sustainable Design ’ s Principal Architect , and Nancy works as their Senior Designer .
Over the following years , The Benoits have worked on a number of innovative and inspiring sustainable housing projects , all of which incorporate state-of-the-art energy efficient technologies and ecologically-mindful design elements . “ Whenever you ’ re designing a home with sustainability in mind , the number one priority is energy efficiency in terms of its design and construction ,” says Alan . “ It ’ s also important to make use of renewable energy such as solar power . In addition , you want to use sustainably-sourced materials whenever possible , and you want to make sure that the home is integrated into the landscape .” Alan explains that whenever construction work is done for a home , ( whether in the context of a renovation project or a build project ) it can often have a significant impact on the surrounding environment . “ You can either restore the environment to the way it was before , or you can build it back better ,” notes Alan . “ Our aim is to go above and beyond to have a positive impact on the local ecosystem and environment in every way possible .”
According to Alan , the Net Positive Craftsman house serves as a shining manifestation of all of the foundational principles of sustainable design . “ Every aspect of the house is designed to maximize energy efficiency and minimize environmental impact .” The house is built into a southward-facing hillside , with three stories of large glass windows that allow natural sunlight to heat the home in the colder months . “ The house is deceptively small from the front ,” says Alan . “ You only see one story as you approach , but if you come around the back , you will see two additional stories built into the hillside . We were incredibly fortunate that the property we built on naturally sloped southward . It allowed us to build it in a way that took advantage of passive solar heating .”
The Net Positive Craftsman house also makes use of natural passive shading techniques to increase energy efficiency . “ If you go out on a hot summer day and you stand underneath a tree , you automatically feel cooler in the shade because you ’ re out of the sun ,” says Alan . “ The same principle also applies to houses . We took advantage of the deciduous trees in the forest around the Net Positive Craftsman house , and we also made sure to incorporate architectural features in the home such as eave overhangs , porches , and decks , which can also be used to create artificial shade .”
Alan says that given Vermont ’ s cold winter climate , it was important to ensure that the home was properly insulated and thermally broken . Alan elaborates : “ All of the features that touch both the inside and outside of a home , such as wooden studs and doors , play an active part in the transference of heat . If the temperature outside of a home is -20 ° F and the optimal inside temperature is 70 ° F , you have to create a buffer between the cold outside and warm inside in order to keep it energy efficient . You can do that through a number of insulation techniques , but it ’ s also important to design a wall that is both air tight and vaper open so that condensation doesn ’ t get trapped and cause mold , rot or other damage to the home .”
To that end , every part of the Net Positive Craftsman house from its basement to its roof is entirely shielded by multiple layers of continuous exterior insulation . “ When a roof and a wall connect , the roof often gets thinner at the convergence point ,” says Alan . “ Keeping that in mind , we designed the Net Positive Craftsman house ’ s roof with a feature known as a ‘ raised heel truss ,’ which raises the roof higher where it meets the wall . This allows us to place insulation at critical places where a lot of energy is lost , and it greatly improves the energy efficiency of the house .”
To prevent gradual water damage in the walls of the home , the Benoits designed an airtight vapor-open wall assembly system to allow moisture to freely travel from one side to another without becoming trapped in the walls . “ The temperature inside and outside of the house determines which way the vapor moves through the wall assembly ,” says Alan . “ As long as you keep the walls ‘ vapor-open ,’ the vapor can dry in two directions . If the house gets wet on the inside , it allows it to dry on the outside , and vice versa . We accomplish this by putting vapor-open materials beyond the airtight layer , plywood sheathing on the exterior side , and also behind the sheetrock on the interior . In the past , homes were often built with plastic in the walls or with foam on the outer layers of the building . Doing so creates a vapor barrier that traps moisture inside of the wall cavity . As a result , moisture is pushed into the walls for a large part of the year . By getting rid of the foam and plastic and replacing it with vapor-open materials , we ’ re able to build homes that dry even in the wintertime .”
The energy efficiency of the Net Positive Craftsman home is further enhanced by a ground-source heat pump ( which transfers natural heat from the ground into the house ) and on-site solar panels , which create enough renewable energy to make the home fully “ Net Positive .” In order for a home or commercial building to be considered “ Net Positive ,” it has to create more energy than it uses . Alan and Nancy say that they are very thankful that
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