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Houzz Tour: New Zero-Energy Home Filled With Natural Light
A green-leaning design-build firm creates a LEED Platinum-certified family home near Portland, Oregon
This light-filled, energy-efficient family home in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, was designed and built to exacting green standards by design-build firm Green Hammer, focusing on healthy indoor air quality, low carbon emissions and sustainably sourced materials — all with a Pacific Northwest design flair. “This family wanted to reduce their environmental footprint by building a home that met a zero-energy goal. They wanted a contemporary, industrial design with plenty of natural light,” says Stephen Aiguier, founder and president of Green Hammer.
After tearing down the previous house, which had mold and rot, the Green Hammer team sited the new home “to maximize daylight and solar energy production and deepen connections to nature,” Aiguier says. There’s a rain garden to capture stormwater runoff and, inside, an advanced particulate filter that does air quality duty — a necessity to filter out smoke particles after wildfires in recent years.
“Our clients knew they wanted to design and build a healthy home with a small carbon footprint. Because Green Hammer has 20 years of experience creating low-to-zero-energy homes, they reached out to us to discuss their project,” Aiguier says. “They also wanted to create spaces for their kids to read, create and play, as well as an expansive and naturally lit dining-kitchen area to entertain guests. Their cat, Arthur, who is an important part of their family, even got their own protected outdoor play area — a catio.”
After tearing down the previous house, which had mold and rot, the Green Hammer team sited the new home “to maximize daylight and solar energy production and deepen connections to nature,” Aiguier says. There’s a rain garden to capture stormwater runoff and, inside, an advanced particulate filter that does air quality duty — a necessity to filter out smoke particles after wildfires in recent years.
“Our clients knew they wanted to design and build a healthy home with a small carbon footprint. Because Green Hammer has 20 years of experience creating low-to-zero-energy homes, they reached out to us to discuss their project,” Aiguier says. “They also wanted to create spaces for their kids to read, create and play, as well as an expansive and naturally lit dining-kitchen area to entertain guests. Their cat, Arthur, who is an important part of their family, even got their own protected outdoor play area — a catio.”
The team constructed the home with framing techniques that use less material and fewer resources while making the structure stronger — a more efficient way to build referred to as advanced framing. “Advanced framing reduces the amount of lumber in a building by lining up structural framing members and eliminating additional supports required when those framing members at a roof, ceiling, wall and floor system are not aligned,” Aiguier says. “This both saves project costs and allows for additional insulation to take up the space the excess lumber would previously have occupied.”
The landscaping is drought-tolerant and the landscape designers installed a rain garden, which captures the property’s water runoff when it rains. The entry shown here has a steel-and-cedar awning that extends from outside through the interior hall.
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The landscaping is drought-tolerant and the landscape designers installed a rain garden, which captures the property’s water runoff when it rains. The entry shown here has a steel-and-cedar awning that extends from outside through the interior hall.
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Here’s a view inside from the entry looking out toward the backyard. The tight-knot cedar ceiling is a visual continuation of the awning outside. The flooring is engineered white oak. The pros chose engineered over solid hardwood or a luxury vinyl plank because of its stability and durability.
“With the engineered you still get a solid wood surface that can be refinished down the road if necessary. You can have a wider plank look and it won’t cup or warp,” Aiguier says. From a health standpoint, Aiguier says, he seeks out products without formaldehyde or phthalates, a known bioaccumulative toxin, he says, meaning it builds over time in the body.
Flooring: Casa wide plank in Pale, D&M Flooring
“With the engineered you still get a solid wood surface that can be refinished down the road if necessary. You can have a wider plank look and it won’t cup or warp,” Aiguier says. From a health standpoint, Aiguier says, he seeks out products without formaldehyde or phthalates, a known bioaccumulative toxin, he says, meaning it builds over time in the body.
Flooring: Casa wide plank in Pale, D&M Flooring
Floor plan: The one-story section of the house is a long rectangle that includes the office, the kitchen-living-dining areas, a guest suite and the primary suite. The team built an enclosed catio next to the garage for the family’s pampered pet cat (J in the bottom diagram of the first floor). The second level has kids rooms. The area labeled “storage” is actually a flex play area and gym.
The team created a kitchen that’s open, airy and bright. “The family wanted a combined kitchen and dining area that would allow them to gather and cook together. The large working island serves as the hub of the kitchen,” Aiguier says. A mix of upper and lower cabinetry, open shelving and cubbies provides plenty of storage.
Not sure where to start on your home project? Learn the basics
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They equipped the kitchen with energy-efficient appliances, including a 36-inch Bosch induction range. The countertops are PentalQuartz — in the deep gray Cinza color on the perimeter counters to stand out from the marble-look Lattice color on the island. White-on-white Ann Sacks tile adds texture to the backsplash.
The kitchen light fixtures have LED bulbs, which use at least 75% less energy and last up to 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The trick is finding the right “temperature” for a room, to produce warm or cool light, Aiguier says. Measured on the Kelvin scale, LEDs typically range from 2,700k to 5,000k, with 5,000 being the brightest. For warm light in a living space, LEDs measuring 2,700k or 3,000k are in the Goldilocks zone, producing warm light with a yellowish glow.
The kitchen light fixtures have LED bulbs, which use at least 75% less energy and last up to 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The trick is finding the right “temperature” for a room, to produce warm or cool light, Aiguier says. Measured on the Kelvin scale, LEDs typically range from 2,700k to 5,000k, with 5,000 being the brightest. For warm light in a living space, LEDs measuring 2,700k or 3,000k are in the Goldilocks zone, producing warm light with a yellowish glow.
In addition to LED lighting, the kitchen gets natural light via roof monitors, little dormers built into the roof that act like skylights but are more efficient, Aiguier says. (They can be seen from the exterior in the last photo.)
“Roof monitors add a dramatic element and help balance the daylighting in the main living space,” Aiguier says. “The use of a roof monitor can allow you to cut down on the amount of windows or doors in a space and bring more light in. They’re a very intentional way to bring in light, and more durable. Skylights are more exposed to the elements, and roof monitors are more protected as they’re part of the roof system.”
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“Roof monitors add a dramatic element and help balance the daylighting in the main living space,” Aiguier says. “The use of a roof monitor can allow you to cut down on the amount of windows or doors in a space and bring more light in. They’re a very intentional way to bring in light, and more durable. Skylights are more exposed to the elements, and roof monitors are more protected as they’re part of the roof system.”
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Aiguier says Energy Star is their efficiency standard for appliances, but they like to go one step further and choose products that are Energy Star best/most efficient on the EPA’s website. They’ll work with homeowners to consider an appliance’s performance, fit and finish and check it against the best-of list online.
A cozy nook tucked under the stairs is lined with geometric tile, a wooden bench and a small closet. “The use of the space as a place for a bench and hooks came from the desire to have an easy place to drop things as you enter the home from the garage, yet it is tucked away and not visible to guests,” Aiguier says.
In this photo, the family cat surveys the open-plan dining area and living room. Built-in Oregon white oak cabinets around the fireplace and media wall evoke a midcentury modern feel. Bump-out window seats flank the space. A slightly gray white paint brings out the warmth of the wood.
Paint: Lacey Pearl, Benjamin Moore; cabinet design: Schulz Design; cabinet construction: Prodage
Paint: Lacey Pearl, Benjamin Moore; cabinet design: Schulz Design; cabinet construction: Prodage
Here’s a closer look at the window seat area. The home’s multiple good-size windows are oriented to fill the interior with natural light, a necessity in the often-cloudy Pacific Northwest.
The living space is bathed in natural light that pours in from the various-size energy-efficient triple-pane windows. Triple-pane windows are typically found in passive-energy homes, especially in colder climates, and provide superior insulation and energy efficiency.
The first-floor primary bedroom has easy access to the home’s exterior and was designed with the homeowners’ future in mind. “When we designed the house for our clients, their kids had about five more years before going off to college, so we wanted to create a house that could function just for the two of them after the kids were gone,” Aiguier says. “The primary suite was seen as a relaxing retreat space and so was set toward the back of the house, the farthest from the street and the action of the kitchen-living-dining room.”
Splashes of blue and soothing white paint and rectangular tiles in a grid pattern make the primary bathroom feel clean and bright. “The design was based on the idea of very clean, modern finishes with blue accents to bring in the sense of water,” Aiguier says.
Vanity counter: PentalQuartz, Icelake
Vanity counter: PentalQuartz, Icelake
The powder room bath has white and wood finishes that coordinate with the rest of the home, including the same tiles used in the kitchen. “We incorporated the same Ann Sacks white-on-white tile to bring in some beautiful texture while keeping things very clean, simple and modern,” Aiguier says.
Here’s a look at one of the bump-out windows that provide cozy built-in window seats in the living area.
The backyard pool has a retractable cover and is heated by a high-efficiency natural gas pool heater (separate from the home’s heat pump). The two-story building includes the garage and the one-story structure has the kitchen, living and dining rooms. The cedar siding weathers naturally, so the owners don’t need to stain it. The roof monitors that bring in natural light can be seen on the roof of the single-story structure.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple, their two children and the family cat, Arthur
Location: West Linn, Oregon
Size: 3,487 square feet (324 square meters); four bedrooms, four bathrooms
Designer-builder: Green Hammer
Landscape designer: Landline Design
The exterior is clad in vertical cedar with a gray pigmented finish that’s low-maintenance, provides UV protection and will naturally patina over time. The home achieved LEED Platinum certification, the highest level awarded by the Green Building Council, by adhering to the organization’s standards for carbon emissions, energy and water use, waste produced and materials used, along with health and indoor environmental quality. It’s also platinum-certified by Earth Advantage, a regional green home certification program that tests homes for energy efficiency, air quality and other sustainable features.
The house produces all of its energy needs with rooftop solar panels. “The home has a super-insulated building envelope, advanced framing and high-performance detailing, high-performance triple-pane windows and energy-efficient systems,” Aiguier says. “Supplemental heating and cooling is supplied by energy-efficient ducted heat pumps.” Heat recovery ventilators remove stale air and provide clean, filtered fresh air to living spaces.
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