Home Tour: A 19th Century Style Victorian goes LEED Platinum

Interested in the basics of high-performance homebuilding or residential green building? Join Green Pheonix, LDA, and Essex Restoration for a tour of 346 Highland, a Victorian Style home aiming for LEED Platinum, Energy Star 3.1, EPA Indoor AirPlus, and DOE Net Zero Ready.  Both vendors and subcontractors for the building will explain how mechanical ventilation systems impact indoor air quality, green features, and various equipment and services.

Please note that the home is currently still in construction phase, and will be weathertight and include mechanicals, but will not include interior insulation and drywall.

About the Home
The Highland Street project is a total reimagination of a classic late 19th-century Victorian farmhouse. Retaining the well-proportioned and attractive main 1897 house, the 1960s-era wing will be removed and replaced with larger and more appropriate living spaces in the New England farmhouse vernacular. The detached vintage garage/barn will be removed and a new three-car garage with living space above will be added. The shallow rubble-wall basement will be excavated and finished to provide additional living space and improve the home’s efficiency.

The house will be modernized using best-practice building science principals to include a super-insulated exterior envelope, high-efficiency heating, air-conditioning, and hot water systems, a mechanical ventilation system, low-consumption water fixtures, and high-performance windows and doors. Careful landscape design with natural and adapted plants will reduce irrigation demand and maintenance.

This project is registered for LEED® certification with the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance. A home can achieve LEED certification under the LEED for Homes program after undergoing a technically rigorous process, including the incorporation of green strategies to achieve efficiency and healthy indoor environments. The sound design and operation of the home is tested and measured using tools like a home energy (HERS) rating and onsite inspections.