Our clients for a new house in Ridgefield wanted a beautiful home that was not only energy efficient, but also used materials that have the least impact on the environment. We all decided as a team to stick to the most stringent standards available. They also realized a home has a much bigger impact on your health than many realize, so they wanted to ensure that the new home would have no chemicals or off-gassing. The result is a house that achieves LEED Platinum and Passive House certifications, as well as qualifies as Net Zero. The Bottom line: its healthy, great for the environment and costs about $18 in total utility bills per month.
The greatest advantage for our clients, however, is peace of mind. The clients know every single material that went into building their home, sensors remind them how clean their air quality is, and they can monitor and control the energy use of all of their appliances and devices. The estimated cost of building this way is between 2-5% greater than traditional building, which generally results in an ROI of under 5 years.
The biggest questions people ask about he houses we design : ‘Isn’t it too expensive to build green?’, ‘Is it really worth it?’ and ‘Isn’t making your home energy efficient really hard to do?’ Building this way is not hard but it does take thoughtful design, good planning and an experienced team. It isn’t too expensive and it is definitely worth it. Houses built to Passive House Standards use approximately 90% less energy to heat and cool. For the lifetime of the house. Imagine spending about $220 per year to heat, cool and fully electrify your house and EVs for the next 30 years!
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