Construction Reinvented.
Spring Issue: A Variety of Modular Solutions to Building Green
Epoch Homes (Pembroke, NH) is one modular home manufacturer that has gotten into the green home building business in the Northeast in a big way. Recently, architect John Rossi and partner Quincy Vale, owners of Powerhouse Enterprises, saw a need for a quick, green solution for a small office, weekend home, starter-house or bachelor pad. They created the PowerPod, a self-contained modular green building with about 500 sq.ft. of living space.
“There are a lot of different views right now on what green means. We try to respond to what the customer wants and give as much guidance as we can,” says John Ela, CEO of Epoch Homes. He argues that this approach is more effective at introducing green building to the mainstream market than the practice of offering specific green home models or features.
According to Ela, many firms making green modular housing offer only a few models with several customizable options. “Homeowners want more options than that,” he says.
Units come stripped down or tricked-out for a more complete living experience, and the whole deal ships complete and can be installed in one day. Roof designs depend on location and use. Decks, bathrooms and kitchens come in a variety of configurations and options, or you can do the interior build-out and finishing yourself.
PowerPods feature options such as:
• Active solar array
• Remote building monitoring system
• High-efficiency lighting and water use
• Heavy insulation and airtight exterior
• Radiant floor heating
• Solar windows
• Rainwater collection scupper
• Optional composting septic and grey water technology
The company recently signed on its first customer, The Yellow Barn Music School, which will be using eight PowerPods for its music lessons. Yellow Barn Music School and Festival was founded in 1969 by cellist David Wells, then chair of the Chamber Music Department at the Manhattan School of Music, and his wife, pianist Janet Wells. Yellow Barn students include many of the finest up-and-coming young professional musicians currently studying at, or recently graduated from, Juilliard, the New England Conservatory, the Curtis Institute, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory, Peabody, Yale, and other leading conservatories and schools of music.
PowerPod’s solar butterfly roof generates electricity, hot water—and compliments. This configuration allows windows to be placed up to 10’ high, bringing in lots of warm southern sun in wintertime. Conversely, the roof’s sizeable overhangs keep things cool in summer. Other advantages: high ceilings without excessive volume, lovely northern light and a center trough that’s ideal for rainwater collection. Finally, the butterfly’s asymmetrical pitch makes the solar collection system almost invisible from ground level.
Abode Achieves Platinum LEED Using Mods
If you were going to build a ski house in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, energy efficiency would certainly be high on anyone’s list of “must haves.” The Mountain Home model that Abode Builders (Plymouth, NH) constructed, using Epoch Homes as their modular supplier, is more than just energy efficient.
This home achieved a U.S. Green Building Council Platinum rating in the LEED program, and a Gold rating in the Build Green NH program, modeled after the National Association of Homebuilders’ Green Building Program. This is the first and only modular home in the country to achieve these high standards.
The Mountain Home architectural style, a blend of Adirondack and Arts & Crafts, inspired the forest green Pella window and exterior fascia and rake trim. A small but comfortable front porch and functional mudroom to doff the ski boots after a day on the slopes top off a floor plan that packs a lot into a small area. The open concept kitchen, dining, living room and entry have ceilings that reach 11’ in some areas. Yes, in a modular home! A zero clearance fireplace adds warmth and atmosphere for those cold après-ski evenings. Two bedrooms and a home office complete the plan.
The LEED Platinum and Build NH Gold ratings were achieved by paying attention to a host of sustainable and high-performance energy-saving items. Modular construction itself is awarded 13 points under the new NAHB Green Building Guidelines. This is the single highest line item point award you can get in this program.
Other features of the Abode home are the Icynene spray foam insulation and natural materials, such as cedar shakes, fir beams, Carlisle reclaimed oak flooring, stone fireplace and slate floors and recycled materials that give substance and warmth to this classic home. The insulated concrete form (ICF) foundation adds additional energy efficiency.
Excel Homes Offers Energy Star Certification
Energy efficiency and cost savings are two features home builders and consumers are looking for these days. But the process of ensuring your new home is built to certified Energy Star levels can be confusing and time consuming for all parties involved.
Excel Homes (Camp Hill, PA), one of the nation’s largest custom modular home manufacturers and a certified Energy Star partner, is now helping builders and their customers manage this process to better support the environment in a way that benefits everyone’s bottom line.
Excel Homes will now offer builder partners a single-source, energy-rater consultant service option, Certified Energy Raters. Certified Energy Raters will meet with builders directly to review blueprints and make energy-efficiency changes to help ensure compliance. Consultations between Excel Homes and builders to review Energy Star options and cost savings will be based on individual floor plans, blueprints and customization features, company sources say. These services will also extend beyond the home builder to the various subcontractors and staff members also working on the project. These services will cover the three essential steps to complete a Blue Label Energy Star home: the pre-plan home design review, Grey Label inspection at the Excel manufacturing site; and Green Label on-site testing for final Energy Star certification.
With this option, home builders working with Excel Homes may qualify for various tax incentives and deductions available to commercial and residential home builders constructing energy-efficient buildings. These incentives have recently been extended through 2009 as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
“We know our builders strive to build energy-efficient homes for their customers,” says Steve Scharnhorst, president and CEO of Excel Homes. “But now more than ever, everyone is also focused on their bottom line. Our custom building process, Energy Star package and turnkey Home Energy Rater package provide the highest-quality products and services and help our builder partners successfully complete projects that meet efficiency and design standards—at a cost that supports their bottom line and competitive edge.”
Excel’s Home Energy Rater consultants will also work with builders to attain Energy Star certification and showcase the cost savings and potential tax credit incentives. Excel Homes will also work directly with Certified Energy Raters to make sure all homes for builders selecting this option are manufactured to meet all recommended criteria.
Haven Going Green
Sandy Spring Builders and Haven Custom Homes have completed an environmentally friendly custom modular home from the new line of Sandy Spring Classic Homes, a brand of homes created by a strategic alliance between the two companies.
The alliance is working to provide well-designed, efficient solutions to home building efforts in close-in Washington, DC, suburbs through modular building techniques. Located in a prestigious North Bethesda community, the Roosevelt custom home was designed by GTM Architects and constructed in Haven Custom Homes’ controlled indoor facility in Pennsylvania. The home was built in the facility in a matter of weeks before being delivered to the home site where its final completion took approximately three months.
“Modular construction allows our homes to be completely constructed in a matter of months—three times faster than on-site construction—and that is a timeframe homeowners in this area appreciate,” says Phil Leibovitz, partner at Sandy Spring Builders. “Many people in the Washington, DC, metro area want to refurbish or rebuild their home but can’t sacrifice the time and relocation effort it takes. Our new line of Sandy Spring Classic Homes is a solution to this problem. We invite people to visit the Roosevelt home where they can understand first hand the benefits of this building technique.”
Haven is also building to other green designations. The U.S. Green Building Council recognized Haven in 2008 for participating on a home in New Orleans that will meet LEED Gold standard. The company is also an EarthCraft House Certified Builder and has had homes certified in several locations to this certification. Each of these homes has demonstrated 20% to 30% greater energy performance than a traditional site-built home. Additionally, Haven has built homes with an HERS index of less than 40.
The HERS Index is a relative energy use index of a home design on a particular building site. The index is based upon a detailed analysis of the home design and testing of the completed home. The index was created by RESNET, the organization that accredits home energy raters. The HERS rating is an important component of Energy Star and most other green programs. A HERS Index of 100 represents the energy use of the American Standard Building while an Index of zero indicates that the proposed building uses no net purchased energy (a Zero Energy Building). In simple terms, the lower the HERS Index, the better the rating. For Energy Star, the NAHB Green Program, LEED for Homes and almost all green certification programs, a home must score less than 85 (or 80 in northern climates).
“There are a lot of different views right now on what green means. We try to respond to what the customer wants and give as much guidance as we can,” says John Ela, CEO of Epoch Homes. He argues that this approach is more effective at introducing green building to the mainstream market than the practice of offering specific green home models or features.
According to Ela, many firms making green modular housing offer only a few models with several customizable options. “Homeowners want more options than that,” he says.
Units come stripped down or tricked-out for a more complete living experience, and the whole deal ships complete and can be installed in one day. Roof designs depend on location and use. Decks, bathrooms and kitchens come in a variety of configurations and options, or you can do the interior build-out and finishing yourself.
PowerPods feature options such as:
• Active solar array
• Remote building monitoring system
• High-efficiency lighting and water use
• Heavy insulation and airtight exterior
• Radiant floor heating
• Solar windows
• Rainwater collection scupper
• Optional composting septic and grey water technology
The company recently signed on its first customer, The Yellow Barn Music School, which will be using eight PowerPods for its music lessons. Yellow Barn Music School and Festival was founded in 1969 by cellist David Wells, then chair of the Chamber Music Department at the Manhattan School of Music, and his wife, pianist Janet Wells. Yellow Barn students include many of the finest up-and-coming young professional musicians currently studying at, or recently graduated from, Juilliard, the New England Conservatory, the Curtis Institute, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory, Peabody, Yale, and other leading conservatories and schools of music.
PowerPod’s solar butterfly roof generates electricity, hot water—and compliments. This configuration allows windows to be placed up to 10’ high, bringing in lots of warm southern sun in wintertime. Conversely, the roof’s sizeable overhangs keep things cool in summer. Other advantages: high ceilings without excessive volume, lovely northern light and a center trough that’s ideal for rainwater collection. Finally, the butterfly’s asymmetrical pitch makes the solar collection system almost invisible from ground level.
Abode Achieves Platinum LEED Using Mods
If you were going to build a ski house in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, energy efficiency would certainly be high on anyone’s list of “must haves.” The Mountain Home model that Abode Builders (Plymouth, NH) constructed, using Epoch Homes as their modular supplier, is more than just energy efficient.
This home achieved a U.S. Green Building Council Platinum rating in the LEED program, and a Gold rating in the Build Green NH program, modeled after the National Association of Homebuilders’ Green Building Program. This is the first and only modular home in the country to achieve these high standards.
The Mountain Home architectural style, a blend of Adirondack and Arts & Crafts, inspired the forest green Pella window and exterior fascia and rake trim. A small but comfortable front porch and functional mudroom to doff the ski boots after a day on the slopes top off a floor plan that packs a lot into a small area. The open concept kitchen, dining, living room and entry have ceilings that reach 11’ in some areas. Yes, in a modular home! A zero clearance fireplace adds warmth and atmosphere for those cold après-ski evenings. Two bedrooms and a home office complete the plan.
The LEED Platinum and Build NH Gold ratings were achieved by paying attention to a host of sustainable and high-performance energy-saving items. Modular construction itself is awarded 13 points under the new NAHB Green Building Guidelines. This is the single highest line item point award you can get in this program.
Other features of the Abode home are the Icynene spray foam insulation and natural materials, such as cedar shakes, fir beams, Carlisle reclaimed oak flooring, stone fireplace and slate floors and recycled materials that give substance and warmth to this classic home. The insulated concrete form (ICF) foundation adds additional energy efficiency.
Excel Homes Offers Energy Star Certification
Energy efficiency and cost savings are two features home builders and consumers are looking for these days. But the process of ensuring your new home is built to certified Energy Star levels can be confusing and time consuming for all parties involved.
Excel Homes (Camp Hill, PA), one of the nation’s largest custom modular home manufacturers and a certified Energy Star partner, is now helping builders and their customers manage this process to better support the environment in a way that benefits everyone’s bottom line.
Excel Homes will now offer builder partners a single-source, energy-rater consultant service option, Certified Energy Raters. Certified Energy Raters will meet with builders directly to review blueprints and make energy-efficiency changes to help ensure compliance. Consultations between Excel Homes and builders to review Energy Star options and cost savings will be based on individual floor plans, blueprints and customization features, company sources say. These services will also extend beyond the home builder to the various subcontractors and staff members also working on the project. These services will cover the three essential steps to complete a Blue Label Energy Star home: the pre-plan home design review, Grey Label inspection at the Excel manufacturing site; and Green Label on-site testing for final Energy Star certification.
With this option, home builders working with Excel Homes may qualify for various tax incentives and deductions available to commercial and residential home builders constructing energy-efficient buildings. These incentives have recently been extended through 2009 as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
“We know our builders strive to build energy-efficient homes for their customers,” says Steve Scharnhorst, president and CEO of Excel Homes. “But now more than ever, everyone is also focused on their bottom line. Our custom building process, Energy Star package and turnkey Home Energy Rater package provide the highest-quality products and services and help our builder partners successfully complete projects that meet efficiency and design standards—at a cost that supports their bottom line and competitive edge.”
Excel’s Home Energy Rater consultants will also work with builders to attain Energy Star certification and showcase the cost savings and potential tax credit incentives. Excel Homes will also work directly with Certified Energy Raters to make sure all homes for builders selecting this option are manufactured to meet all recommended criteria.
Haven Going Green
Sandy Spring Builders and Haven Custom Homes have completed an environmentally friendly custom modular home from the new line of Sandy Spring Classic Homes, a brand of homes created by a strategic alliance between the two companies.
The alliance is working to provide well-designed, efficient solutions to home building efforts in close-in Washington, DC, suburbs through modular building techniques. Located in a prestigious North Bethesda community, the Roosevelt custom home was designed by GTM Architects and constructed in Haven Custom Homes’ controlled indoor facility in Pennsylvania. The home was built in the facility in a matter of weeks before being delivered to the home site where its final completion took approximately three months.
“Modular construction allows our homes to be completely constructed in a matter of months—three times faster than on-site construction—and that is a timeframe homeowners in this area appreciate,” says Phil Leibovitz, partner at Sandy Spring Builders. “Many people in the Washington, DC, metro area want to refurbish or rebuild their home but can’t sacrifice the time and relocation effort it takes. Our new line of Sandy Spring Classic Homes is a solution to this problem. We invite people to visit the Roosevelt home where they can understand first hand the benefits of this building technique.”
Haven is also building to other green designations. The U.S. Green Building Council recognized Haven in 2008 for participating on a home in New Orleans that will meet LEED Gold standard. The company is also an EarthCraft House Certified Builder and has had homes certified in several locations to this certification. Each of these homes has demonstrated 20% to 30% greater energy performance than a traditional site-built home. Additionally, Haven has built homes with an HERS index of less than 40.
The HERS Index is a relative energy use index of a home design on a particular building site. The index is based upon a detailed analysis of the home design and testing of the completed home. The index was created by RESNET, the organization that accredits home energy raters. The HERS rating is an important component of Energy Star and most other green programs. A HERS Index of 100 represents the energy use of the American Standard Building while an Index of zero indicates that the proposed building uses no net purchased energy (a Zero Energy Building). In simple terms, the lower the HERS Index, the better the rating. For Energy Star, the NAHB Green Program, LEED for Homes and almost all green certification programs, a home must score less than 85 (or 80 in northern climates).
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