Net Zero Development

While attending undergrad at Colorado State University, I earned my Journalism and business degree. It was at that time I read Al Gore’s book, “Earth in Balance.” That opened my eyes to a whole new world and something I felt I had to a part of. I decided to become an environmental lawyer. Since I needed a better competitive edge to get into law school, I went to graduate school at Northern Arizona University and earned a degree in Environmental Policy. As I was applying for law school, my mom suggested that maybe law school was not for me. I really needed a creative outlet and law was not going to do that. Now what? I was determined to do something that would benefit the environment and going back to architecture was the way I was going to do that. Back to school. But this time I enrolled to get my degree in Landscape Architecture. Along the way, I was persuaded to finish my Architecture degree at the same time.

Once I finished, I moved to Seattle to live with some friends and start my career as either an Architect or Landscape Architect. Somehow or another, I landed a job as a Park Planner for the City of Kent, a suburb of Seattle. I had the flexibility and support to incorporate a wide degree of sustainable measures into every project I worked on. During that time, I became a LEED-AP and eventually moved my family to Boulder, CO, where I continued to work in park planning, and where I retrofitted an old 30’s bungalow into a nearly net zero home with solar, solar thermal, triple paned windows, efficient mechanical equipment, and a lot of insulation.

Once in Bend, I decided it was time to come full circle and build net zero single and multi-family homes. I was familiar with the process, having friends in Seattle building net zero custom homes for several years.

After talking to everyone I knew in the green building industry, I became dedicated to the idea of building a net-zero house. I ended up starting a development company with a business partner, and we called it NZ Development.

The Albany net-zero house will be an Earth Advantage certified net-zero house that includes an 11.7 kW PV system. It is built using structurally insulated panels (SIPs), a heat pump for AC and heating, an energy recovery ventilation (ERV) for exhaust and make up air, and a heat pump water heater. I am proud to be the builder of a home that received incentive money from the Energy Trust of Oregon.

We hope that this home will provide an example and encourage other builders to consider building to net-zero standards.

...built in America today. By utilizing energy-use modeling design software, and with specific material selection, this home will achieve a “Net Zero” certification though Earth Advantage, meaning this home is designed to create as much energy as it uses on an annual basis. Here are some of the materials and systems that it utilizes to achieve this certification.

The home is framed using SIPs (Structurally Integrated Panels), a high performance building system that consists of an insulated foam core situated between two structural facings, typically OSB (Oriented Strand Board). Both the roof/ceiling (R56) and walls (R42) were built using SIPs, resulting in a strong, durable and energy efficient structure.

The windows are triple-pane, rather than the double-pane windows typically found in residential construction. This additional pane of glass results in a much more efficient window with a rating of U1.9. An additional benefit to triple-pane windows is significant noise reduction - coupled with the SIPs panels this house will be very quiet inside.

The interior of the home has been sealed by AeroBarrier, a remarkable new technology that seals all gaps and air leaks, greatly increasing energy efficiency. As homes do need fresh air; this home utilizes an air exchange system with an ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator), a two-fan system that draws fresh air into the home, while removing stale and contaminated air at the same time.

The home will utilize a full array of south facing solar panels with a 11.7 kW rating. All the systems in the home run on electricity, necessary to achieve the “Net Zero” certification. The solar panels will be tied to the electric grid through an inverter, so during peak sunlight hours, when the solar panels produce more electricity than the house requires at that time, the excess capacity will flow back into the local utility grid, offsetting your total usage and allowing the home to be certified as “Net Zero” Heating and cooling for the home will be handled by a ductless mini-split heat pump, a whole-house system that distributes warm or cold air to individual rooms as needed in a highly-efficient manner.

As of January 1, 2020 all new homes in California are required to be built to “Net Zero” standards. Oregon recently adopted similar measures, with all new residential construction to be designed and built to Zero Energy standards by October, 2023. In short, this is a traditional home that utilizes advanced design, mechanical systems, and material selections to help it achieve a level of energy efficiency that far surpasses homes built in a traditional manner.