A number of years ago, we built our first net zero capable house. It is a super-insulated, carefully air-sealed house heated by mini-split, air sourced heat pumps and sporting a 5.45 kw solar array. The client recently reached out to me to report her utility...
[caption id="attachment_16357" align="alignleft" width="400"] High performing, durable wall assemblies: Double 2x4 framing carefully air sealed and filled with dense packed cellulose provides high-performing, noise-blocking, long-lasting walls. All our new construction walls are built to this level of performance. [/caption] My accountant is a man of long...
Picture above: Architect’s rendering of our new project in Great Barrington. [caption id="attachment_16309" align="alignleft" width="400"] What can happen when the noble desire to be energy efficient trumps intelligent design.[/caption] For many years we branded ourselves as a green building company, and we defined being green as making...
The philosopher Descartes is best known for his stand-against-the-raging-wind assertion “I think, therefore I am.” From this position of strength, he fashioned a whole new method of thinking that quickly became the foundation for the new sciences emerging in his time. But...
A net zero home is a house that produces as much energy as it consumes each year. Because Net Zero Homes are tied to the grid, they can draw electricity when their renewable source can’t meet demand and sell it back to the grid when...
What do you feel you are born to do? Is it to Run? In his popular bestseller, Born to Run, Christopher McDougall marshals evidence from anthropological studies, from a hidden tribe in Mexico and from an elite group of superathletes to argue that as a species...
I love this house. It is located in Adams, Massachusetts, on the eastern part of town with a stunning view of Mt. Greylock. In my mind it is a perfectly proportioned house with tasteful trim and carefully conceived details. It calls to mind Virginia Lee...