This luxurious home has been designed to serve as either personal residence or vacation rentals home. Ample available storage with a couple private lock off storage units allows owners to easily convert residence between personal retreat and a rental home. Large windows were able to capture 360 degree views from this property that include Mt Warner ski mountain, Flat tops, Emerald mountain, Sleepy Giant and so on.

We have designed and implemented several new features to the home that were there to maximize energy efficiency of the home and occupant's comfort. Besides superior insulation, significantly higher than code required, we have opted for a state of the art mechanical system. Air source heat pump coupled with solar hot water collector provide both domestic hot water and hot water for radiant floor heat. Since these systems are unable to provide heat at nights when it is extremely cold, we have opted for a very high efficiency gas boiler backup. Great benefit of this system is that we were able to implement a snow melt system that will utilize high efficiencies of heat pump and solar collectors before a gas boiler is needed. Between superior insulation and superior heating system we were able to project conserving 60% energy needed to heat the home as indicated by the preliminary HERS (Home Energy Rating System) index.

Occupant's health and safety is very important for us and we have implemented several custom features into the ventilation system. Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) is used to exchange stale indoor air with fresh exterior air. While doing that heat from the interior air is used to preheat fresh outdoor air resulting in great energy savings. Our climate extremes can still result in colder air being introduced into the home as a result of severe cold weather outside the home regardless of the preheating function of the HRV. A custom heating coil has been designed to additionally heat fresh air for maximum occupant's comfort. Before any incoming air is being introduced into the home it is being filtered by a high efficiency MERV 13 filter. To take more advantage of this filter when fresh air is not being called for, the recirculation function of the ventilator is being used and pollutants are continuously being removed from interior air.

To ensure the best possible interior environment we have implemented several moisture control features. In high moisture areas like bathrooms automatic means have been implemented to reduce moisture levels by starting a ventilator. On the other hand if a home is underutilized or unoccupied for a prolonged periods of time it is possible for interior RH to drop below desirable levels. Beside an uncomfortable interior environment, this dry air is very unfavorable for wood finishes, cabinetry and flooring. Automatically controlled steam humidifier is specified as part of the ventilation system to maintain interior air humidity at desirable levels.

Hot water availability and water conservation was addressed during the planning phase as well. Energy star certified appliances and Water sense certified faucets have been used in order to minimize usage of water without sacrificing comfort and performance. A circulation system has been specified to ensure that hot water is available with minimal wait times. A house as large as this one requires a huge hot water storage tank. High temperature storage tanks are inefficient due to high heat losses. To better integrate all mechanical systems and to utilize maximum efficiencies, we have opted for a storage tank with lower water temperature that will be boosted using tankless water heater. Besides high efficiency of the system we are ensuring that multiple bathrooms can be used simultaneously even if no hot water is present in the storage tank. Approximately 57% of the heat from the waste shower water is being recovered and used to preheat incoming cold water before it enters domestic hot water heater resulting in additional energy savings.

State of the art ventilation and mechanical systems don't offer superior interior air quality on their own. All interior materials, glues and paints have been carefully evaluated for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and especially Formaldehyde contents. All selected cabinetry, flooring, paint and glues are California CARB phase 2 compliant with either very low or zero VOC contents. In order to minimize "new home smell" that is due to the construction process, the home will be flushed with fresh air for 48 hours upon completion. This allows the majority of harmful matters to be flushed from the interior air for maximum comfort and safety.

After implementing above mentioned features we have decided to pursue HERS, Energy Star for Homes and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications. While there are no guarantees of obtaining these certifications we are excited about the opportunity to achieve them.

More information about residence can be downloaded here.