Transcript Panel 1: All About Video Processor Design

Experiment In Design: Optimum Performance
Home®
A Presentation Before The American Institute of
Architects’ Custom Residential Architects Network
October 20, 2007, Chicago, Illinois
Gary Reber, Editor-In-Chief & Publisher
Ultimate Home Design®
Copyright © 2007 Ultimate Home Design
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Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
Introduction To The
Optimum Performance Home®
• National showcase demonstration project and
trademark of Ultimate Home Design® magazine.
• Mission is to serve as a catalyst for
homeowners to create demand for architects,
architectural designers, and builders to adopt the
concepts and building practices that define
human-centered, optimum performance home
design.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Seeking “Optimum Performance” in home
design.
• Five years research and design to identify
appropriate strategies to meet optimum
performance goals.
• “Optimum Performance Home” design relates to
achieving efficient and functional spatial
relationships and material usage to obtain the
most favorable and desirable conditions for
environmentally enhanced lifespan living.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The Optimum Performance Home® embraces
the “Ultimate Home Design” concept, which
recognizes, respects, values, and attempts to
accommodate the broadest possible spectrum of
human abilities, regardless of age or physical
status, in the ergonomic design of products and
environments that are easier to use and more
aesthetically appealing, while optimally
integrating sustainable green building practices
and minimizing the overall impact on the natural
environment.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The project has been selected by the U.S.
Green Building Council (USCBC) for inclusion in
the national Leadership In Energy &
Environmental Design (LEED®) for Homes pilot
program, and the goal is Platinum certification.
• The Optimum Performance Home qualifies for
the Fortified…For Safer Living® program of the
Institute for Business & Home Safety, which
specifies construction, design, and landscaping
guidelines to increase a new home’s resistance
to natural disaster.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The home will meet the guidelines and
qualifications for the U.S. Department of
Environmental Protection’s ENERGY STAR®,
the EPA’s WaterSense®, and the American Lung
Association® Health House® programs.
• The home will also meet the requirements of the
National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB)
Model Green Home Building Guidelines, the
Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC)
Green Building Guidelines, and the “Green
Points” program of Sonoma County.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The home is also a case study of the California
Energy Commission in terms of energy-efficient
applications and an advanced water-saving
plumbing system.
• Finally, the home is a national showcase for
CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design & Installation
Association), and is the subject of a series of
articles in Electronic Lifestyles on the design and
installation of the electronic lifestyle components
in the home.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• These programs seek to raise the level of quality,
both in terms of build quality and occupant
experience quality. Their criteria represent the most
stringent design and build guidelines for the
development of homes that are optimized for low
environmental impact, energy efficiency, long-term
durability, and occupant health, comfort, and safety.
• Such product certification programs as Greenguard®
provide an excellent reference point to evaluate
product options and alternate strategies, and
perform cost/value analysis.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The project will be further promoted in the continuing
series of case study articles appearing throughout the
design and construction phase in Ultimate Home
Design, and once completed will culminate in a
Special Edition of the magazine solely on the design
and construction of the home. In addition, a hardbound coffee-table-style book will be published. A
high-definition two-hour broadcast documentary and
optical discs on the design and construction of the
home will also be produced. These will be made
available to everyone who tours the home, and to the
materials manufacturers who are participating in the
design and construction of the home.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• This first Optimum Performance Home will serve
as a proof-of-concept upon which Ultimate
Home Design will offer architectural design and
design/build project services to homeowners
and developers seeking to build similar homes
and communities certified by the “Optimum
Performance Home” trademark.
• A team of architects, environmental engineers,
and structural engineers, working with building
system and material manufactures will perform
the design duties for the projects.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The home design embraces five optimum
performance attributes:
1. Universal design architecture
2. “Green” building
3. Water conservation
4. On-site energy generation
5. Comprehensive electronic lifestyle
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
1. Universal design architecture ensures that the
home will present no physical barriers to any
occupant, thus sustaining people of all ages and
all capabilities in a functional, comfortable, and
aesthetic lifestyle. The design needs to provide a
conducive environment to support and stimulate
a creative and sustainable lifestyle so that its
occupants can “age-in-place” independently and
successfully. Personal requirements, needs, and
desires dictate the rooms and spaces to
accommodate activities designed for sustainable
and independent living.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
2. “Green” building is all about designing homes that
perform better yet use fewer resources to build and
operate. “Green” building is the process of
incorporating environmental considerations into
every phase of home building construction, including
site-specific positioning to orientate homes to
harvest light and warmth from the sun, low impact
development, use of sustainable and renewable
materials, energy-efficient building techniques, water
conservation, indoor environmental air quality, and
on-site generation of energy.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
3. Water conservation pertains to the efficient use
of on-site water resources, which includes
hydrologic design to manage above and below
surface runoff; rainwater harvesting, filtering,
and storing systems for selected reuse for an
outdoor spa and shower and above ground
irrigation; gray water recycling for below ground
irrigation; low consumption, water-efficient
plumbing fixtures and faucets; and exceptionally
efficient hot water plumbing systems.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
4. On-site energy generation pertains to designing
homes that are, in effect, their own “energy
factory” with the aim of cutting energy usage
with efficiency, and then meeting the remaining
needs with renewable clean energy sources.
The aim should be to achieve a “Zero Energy
Home” (ZEH) cost operation. Energy generation
can consist of a solar electric system, a wind
powered system, a solar hot water system, and
a geothermal ground source hot water system.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
5. Comprehensive electronic lifestyle features should be
designed to support a live-work scenario with an
infrastructure of advanced broadband hard-wired and
wireless WiFi and Local Area Network (LAN) systems that
facilitate home networking room-to-room and out-to-theworld-at-large through the Internet. There should also be
efficient zoned lighting design and room-to-room home
theatre/music entertainment lifestyle electronic systems
facilitated through a whole-house structured wiring system
to distribute and control audio, video, phones, video
conferencing, intercoms, computers, and security
surveillance. Other smart home features should include
any-room control of all of the lights and lighting schemes,
and electronic control of window shades and skylights.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
The Setting
• The Sea Ranch is an internationally renowned 5,000 acre
environmentally protective residential development situated
within a pastoral and forested coastal enclave and nature
preserve approximately 110 miles north of San Francisco,
California. This stunning development, now celebrating its 42nd
anniversary, straddles a ten-mile stretch of Highway One, ending
at the northern tip of Sonoma County and the south bank of the
Gualala river.
• Single-family development occupies approximately 2,500 acres
without border-line fences or other visible delineation of property
lines. The remaining acres are permanent green-scape commons
and nature trails for walkers, bicyclists, and equestrians.
IMAGE: Sea Ranch Collage
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Each home is custom designed by an architect/architectural
designer following site-specific design guidelines and is situated
off a private road network without curbs, sidewalks, or
streetlights. The development includes 2,288 lots for singlefamily custom homes, with 541 remaining to be developed (1,747
already developed and 29 under construction).
• The Sea Ranch is managed by The Sea Ranch Association, a
Common Interest Development (CID) with an elected volunteer
Board of Directors, and supported by numerous volunteer
committees. All development on The Sea Ranch is subject to
design review and the approval of a Board-appointed
autonomous Design Committee, comprised of architects and
landscape architects. A legal set of Covenants, Conditions, and
Restrictions (CC&Rs) govern the development and are designed
to protect The Sea Ranch concept.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The Sea Ranch Design Committee imposes upon
designers architectural building blocks derived from the
original rural structures found on the northern California
coast. Designers are expected to apply their creativity to
render various arrangements and deviations to arrive at
a custom solution that specifically responds to the site.
Successful proposals submitted to the Design
Committee address the issues of passive solar
positioning, wind, glazing (window) layout, privacy
between neighbors, vegetation protection, view
preservation, topography and grade changes, roof
slopes, appropriate exterior materials and finishes, and
other exterior design considerations––all within the
building and site design.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
The Home
• The focus of the design is to stand as a showcase for
the “green” movement and demonstrate means of
reducing a home’s impact on the planet through the
use of Low-Impact Development (LID) and
environmentally responsible building materials.
• The choice of sustainable building materials and
construction techniques assures long-term durability,
far exceeding that of conventional wood frame,
minimally insulated home construction.
• With proper maintenance the home should remain
whole with systems operatable for at least 100 years.
IMAGE: Site Plan
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The home’s 3,372-square-feet living space (4,441square-feet total building “footprint,” including
garages, glass-enclosed walkways, courtyard, and
decks) are arranged in a three-building compound
using a well-sealed, well-insulated, super-tight
building envelope that reduces temperature
fluctuations and enhances overall energy efficiency.
• The compound perfectly integrates into the site
providing protection from northwest winds,
enhancing distant ocean and nearby forest views,
and optimizing passive solar exposure.
IMAGE: Floor Plan
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• This arrangement connects the indoors and
outdoors with glass-enclosed walkways; a windsheltered courtyard, decks, and a garden to
expand livable space; and provides differing
spatial experiences throughout to encourage
exploration.
• The home is designed in accordance with
biophilic design principles to provide direct
experiences with nature as well as abundant
and excellent use of natural light and natural
indigenous landscaping.
IMAGE: Biophilic Plan
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The main-floor living area is designed to
accommodate the capabilities of all occupants
without any challenging physical barriers, especially
for the elderly and disabled. The home design
features a ground-level open plan for the living
room, dining room, master bedroom suite and bath,
and spacious kitchen with solarium, exhibition
cooktops, and home management system.
• A VELUX® custom-designed ridge skylight will
extend over the kitchen and through to the master
bedroom suite to provide exceptional natural day
lighting. Two VELUX VSE electronic-venting glass
skylights are featured within the otherwise fixed
array. A third VELUX VSE occupies the master bath.
IMAGE: VELUX®
IMAGE: Lindal Plan
IMAGE: Lindal Plan 2
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The solarium design will be fabricated by Lindal
SunRooms/Cedar Homes and will optimize the
passive solar heating of the home. The solarium is
on the south side of the home and will provide
abundant day lighting to the kitchen to complement
the custom VELUX ridge skylight. The solarium is
yet another intimate sitting room from which to enjoy
distant Pacific Ocean views.
• VELUX VSE skylights will be incorporated into other
areas of the home to provide natural daylighting and
fresh air ventilation. A VELUX Sun Tunnel™ will
provide natural daylighting in the underground wine
cellar.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The spacious open living room will provide an intimate
setting for enjoying the rear-projection performance home
theatre and the large RSF Delta Wood Burning fireplace.
The window-enhanced living room opens to the dining
room with its west facing wall of Pella® windows. A customdesigned see-through wall cabinet will separate the dining
room from the spacious kitchen. The open ceiling
throughout the home’s living areas is wood.
• Earth Weave’s Broadloom Bio-Floor® 100 percent wool
carpeting will cover the living room floor. The dining room
floor will be Kahris hardwood. The kitchen, pathway, and
solarium floor will be Bedrosians natural slate.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The second building in the compound is designed to
accommodate a large state-of-the-art Optimum
Performance Home Theatre™ with integrated rearscreen projection room and a home office. This is an
important component of the home as, in addition to
publishing Ultimate Home Design, I also publish
Widescreen Review®, a premiere home theatre
magazine. The theatre is a no-compromise
performance theatre designed as a professional
reference/equipment and movie review room with
adjacent home office quarters from which to manage
my publishing companies, and the new Ultimate Home
Design company design/build services.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• As with the mechanical infrastructure and overall
structural aspects of the home, the design of the
dedicated Optimum Performance Home Theatre
and rear-projection room utilizes several
leading-edge building technologies to create the
most energy-efficient and acoustically perfect
environment possible to optimize both sound
and picture performance in a dedicated room
with an all-black interior décor.
IMAGE: OPH Home Theatre
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The third building will include a two-car and boat
garage, workshop, main-level guest bathroom,
and laundry room. The second level of this
building will have two guest bedrooms, a
bathroom with a VELUX VSE skylight, and a
dedicated library/home theatre/surround music
room distinguished by a high-tower feature with
fixed pyramid skylight and G Squared
architectural ceiling fan and integral halogen
light. To insure universal access to this floor, the
design provides for an Otis® Gen2 residential
elevator.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• As with the solarium, the design of the
vestibule entrance and walkways that connect
the three buildings will be fabricated by Lindal
SunRooms/Cedar Homes to optimize the
passive solar heating of the home. These
areas are enclosed with insulated- and solar
gain-reduced-tempered glass. The main
entrance vestibule will serve as an oversized
mudroom, as will the two-car garage with its
ramp entrance to the vestibule walkway.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The driveway, area around the garage, guest parking,
and entrance to the home––as well as all paths
around the home––are designed in accordance with
The Sea Ranch guidelines governing exterior hardsurfaced paths. All such surfaces are pervious to
virtually eliminate water runoff. Rehbein Environmental
Solutions’ Netpave 50, manufactured from 100 percent
recycled polyethylene, provides an attractive, easy-touse, durable solution for permeable parking and
access routes. The brown gravel surface is ADAcompliant, while allowing ground water to nourish the
property’s trees and plants.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• A pond is to be constructed and sealed with Seepage
Control’s vegetable oil polymer and landscaped with native
wetland plants and bulbs. The pond water will recirculate
for water quality, with water drawn through the bottom
gravel substrate and underdrain filter. Makeup water is to
be pumped up to the pond from water harvested from the
foundation drains, and surface recharge through Smart
Drain horizontal drains. The pond will act as a “flywheel” on
excess runoff. Water collected from the combination
foundation and curtain drains can be pumped to the pond, if
there is capacity, and this is expected to be available yearround. Otherwise, excess water will be discharged to a line
of frontage StormTech® infiltration chambers before being
returned to the natural watershed.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The SIP-constructed roofs will be covered on the exterior
with Evergreen Slate Company Welsh Black slate. The
material for the all-copper rain gutters will be supplied by
Revere Copper Products with gutters and drains fabricated
by CopperCraft®. A Gutter Helmet® gutter protection system
will be installed on all of the full-size copper rain gutters,
and uses the simple physical law of surface tension, which
forces water around the Gutter Helmet nose and into the
gutter, while debris falls to the ground. Roof rainwater
runoff will be harvested and directed into a cistern placed
beneath the guest parking area after passing through
sorbent filters to remove any sediment and impurities. The
stored clear rainwater will be used for the hot tub, outdoor
shower, and irrigation.
IMAGE: Elevations
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The Optimum Performance Home will be
plumbed for gray water, bringing waste lines
from the laundry, sinks, showers, and baths to
the building perimeter in parallel with the waste
line from the toilets and kitchen. Once inside the
building foundation, the two waste lines can be
tied together and directed into the septic tank.
Should gray water be needed for additional
landscape irrigation, such as during a severe
drought, it will be accessible.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
Mechanical Infrastructure
• The Optimum Performance Home is designed to
cut its energy use with efficiency, and then meet
the remaining needs with renewable energy
sources. Except for the propane needed for the
two cooktops and outdoor grill, and backup
emergency generator, the home will be a “ZeroEnergy Home” (ZEH) cost operation based on
the Solar Buildings Program of the U.S.
Department of Energy.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• A Day4 Energy 8.7 kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) solar
panel system will be operated and managed by a
GridPoint® Connect™ Series hub with Internet net
metering monitoring capability and battery backup in
the event of a power grid failure and no solar energy
generation.
• A dual PacWind® Seahawk wind turbine will also be
tied to the GridPoint hub and produce an additional
1 to 2 kilowatts of electricity, depending on wind
factors.
• A Kohler® propane generator will provide emergency
back-up power.
IMAGE: Day 4
IMAGE: PacWind
IMAGE: Wind Turbine Plan
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Solar hot water preheating will be provided by
TrendSetter® Industries. The company’s evacuated
solar tube collectors will capture the sun’s rays. A
ground-coupled heat pump will be system-integrated
to maintain the domestic hot water temperature for
the main house and laundry. A 200-gallon TS-200
TrendSetter Solar Thermal Storage Tank will supply
preheated water.
• A Microtherm Seisco® on-demand electric tankless
water heater will supplement the TrendSetter
system.
IMAGE: Trendsetter
IMAGE: Seisco
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Geothermal energy will be harnessed with a groundcoupled vertical closed-loop WaterFurnace® system
installed under the guest parking area. This system
will circulate water from the earth to extended range
water source heat pumps. A WaterFurnace
Envision™ Series water-to-water heat pump will be
used for the whole-home zoned Uponor® radiant
floor heating system, as well as an Envision waterto-air heat pump for air conditioning in the Optimum
Performance Home Theatre and rear-projection
room. Spunstrand® underslab low-velocity insulated
ducts will provide ultra air flow quietness.
IMAGE: WaterFurnace
IMAGE: Spunstrand
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Uponor AQUAPEX® PEX radiant floor heating,
AQUAPEX PEX plumbing, and AQUAPEX PEX fire
sprinkler systems will be installed throughout the
compound. An Aquacore® Whole Home Ultra
Filtration System and a Sylvan Source M-600 UltraClean Water System will be integrated into the
plumbing system. The Aquacore system produces
an uninterrupted stream of bottled-quality drinking
water to every tap in the home. The Sylvan Source
unit will further purify the ultrafiltered water and
serve as the ultrapure water source for ice makers,
refrigerators, and kitchen faucets.
IMAGE: Aquacore
IMAGE: Sylvan Source
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The plumbing system design was orchestrated by the
California Energy Commission. The design conserves
water to the extent that from any location in the home, no
more than a cup of water will be wasted to deliver hot
water to any bath, shower, utility sink, or kitchen faucet.
• A whole-home Broan® SmartSense® Ventilation System
equipped with ENERGY STAR-qualified Ultra Silent
Series QTXE fans and spot-specific QTXE Ultra Silent
Sensing fans and fans/lights will be fitted to the
bathrooms, laundry room, and garages. The Broan
system will perform as an energy recovery ventilation
(ERV) system to provide fresh air while exhausting stale
air and filtering dust and indoor air pollutants.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Propane gas will be used as the source for three gasoperated cooking appliances: an ENERGY STARqualified KitchenAid® Architect Series® dual-fuel 36-inch
wide range, a KitchenAid Architect Series 36-inch wide
outdoor grill, and a Wolf Range Company professional
36-inch wide Japanese Teppan-Yaki-style cooktop for
exhibition cooking. A custom designed ABBAKA stainless
hood vent stack will be integrated.
• Kohler Ecoefficient™ bath, shower, kitchen, and utility
fixtures will be used throughout.
• The courtyard will feature a Dimension One Spas®
Chairman II spa and a Finnleo® Custom-Cut Finnish
Sauna featured with a Kohler BodySpa tower shower.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
Fire Risk Mitigation
• While every aspect of the construction of the
Optimum Performance Home is designed to
optimize energy-efficiency, the materials
selected will also help to mitigate fire risk. This is
desirable because the home is located in a
Wildland-Urban Interface and Very High Fire
Hazard Severity Zone Thus, the home will be
built with non-combustible and impact-resistant
exterior walls and interiors.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The Amvic® ICF walls will provide a solid flat wall of
concrete sandwiched between two layers of
expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam. The minimum
thickness of the ICF walls is 9 inches. The ICF
exterior will consist of 7/16-inch-thick MaxiTile®
cedar-grain fiber-cement MaxiPanels® and
MaxiTrim® to create a board and batt motif. The
main residence, home office, boat garage, and
second story guest living quarters will use
MaxiPanel as the exterior and interior cladding for
the IHSN ThermaSAVE® SIPs that form the 8-3/8inch-thick walls using EPS foam as structural
insulation.
IMAGE: Amvic®
IMAGE: Thermasave
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The glass in exterior openings will be tempered
and either dual- or triple-glazed and resistant to
transmission of radiant heat. Pella insulating-airgap windows will be installed throughout. Both
the Pella and VELUX VSE skylights feature foursided aluminum inserts and exterior aluminum
cladding with an EnduraClad® Plus and
Seacoast Exterior Paint Finish to ensure
superior weatherability.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Pella exterior doors, Holzkraft® custom staingrade wood doors, and Artistic® 90-minute firerated doors with glass inserts will be used
throughout.
• IAC Noise-Lock 300-pound steel door acoustical
assemblies will be used for the Optimum
Performance Home Theatre.
• The garage and barn doors will be crafted by
Carriage House Door Company and overlaid
with the same MaxiPanel fiber-cement panels
used on the home’s exterior.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Interior walls will be constructed with Nordic Structures’
light-gauge steel framing and Bonded Logic®
UltraTouch® cotton fiber insulation.
• The Optimum Performance Home Theatre and rearprojection room walls will be 2-feet-13/16 inches thick
and constructed with Amvic ICFs and Owens Corning®
QuietZone® Acoustical Wall Framing, and insulated with
Latitude™ natural wool. Interior surfaces will be
comprised of Quiet Solution® QuietRock 530 and USG
Sheetrock Firecode Type C Core gypsum panels.
• The steel-framed stud walls enclosing the Otis Gen2
elevator shaft and the laundry room will be surfaced with
an Acoustiblok® soundproofing assembly.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Natures Acoustics’ Whisper Wool® will be the underlay
for the Kahris hardwood and Bedrosians slate flooring in
the home and the wine cellar’s Natural Cork® floor.
• Henkel’s OSI GreenSeries™ Flame Smoke and Draft
Stop Sealant will be applied throughout construction, as
well as other GreenSeries adhesives and caulks.
• Ashland® ISOSET® adhesive will be used to glue the
MaxiPanels to the EPS foam panels as part of the IHSN
ThermaSAVE SIPs.
• No-Burn® fire retardants and reactants will be applied
during construction to render combustible materials
incapable of burning, as well as inhibiting the growth of
toxic black mold.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• Interior surfaces will be faced with hardwood veneers,
American Clay Earth Plaster, AFM Safecoats and YOLO
Colorhouse finishes.
• AgriStain’s Soycrete for fiber cement siding will mirror exterior
wood stain finishes.
• The ceilings in the main residence, guest bedrooms,
library/home theatre/surround music room, home office, and
other selected areas will be surfaced with Armstrong
WoodWorks® Linear planks with a classic open reveal.
• Rocky Mountain Hardware will be used throughout the
Optimum Performance Home.
• EarthSource Forest Products FSC-certified Ipé decking will be
used to construct the decks.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The underground wine cellar’s ICF walls will be finished
with Eldorado Stone® Veneto Fieldledge architectural
stone veneer, pierced with solid oak highlights. Wine
Master Cellars VintageView® wine racks will be featured.
• A custom-designed UltraGlas® architectural counter will
be integrated into the kitchen island and serve as the
eating surface for the counter space below the Wolf
Teppan-Yaki-style griddle.
• Silestone® Leather™ food preparation countertops will be
used throughout the Optimum Performance Home.
• The master bath walk-in shower will be surfaced with
Moving Color™ Northern Lights glass tile highlights and
UltraGlas wall surfaces.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• There will be five Dimplex® built-in electric fireplaces
featured throughout the home. They feature the patented
OptiFlame® image and built-in 33-inch wide Purifire™
Firebox.
• A built-in Travis Industries’ Lopi® Wilmington propane
fireplace will be featured in the master bedroom suite on
the wall at the end of the Kohler Escale®
BubbleMassage Bath.
• A Rais & Wittus Firebird outdoor fireplace/grille will be
featured in the courtyard.
• Closets throughout the Optimum Performance Home will
feature Cope Closet Concepts ventilated hardwood
shelving and cabinetry.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• A custom-built 36-inch-wide interior frame StiraMatic electronic
operated wooden folding stairs will be fitted to the home office
ceiling to provide access to the equipment and storage loft space.
• The library will feature an Alaco Rolling Ladder to access taller
shelves of the built-in natural wood bookcases.
• A NuTone® central vacuum system will be featured in the home for
healthy interior air quality.
• A HydroPoint WeatherTRAK® ETplus™ Smart Irrigation weatherbased management system will be installed to eliminate overwatering and reduce runoff.
• A WeatherHawk® 500 home automation weather station will be
installed and integrated into the smart home electronics.
• Three PEARL® Protected Permanent Escape and Rescue Ladders
will be installed at selected Pella window locations in the secondstory living quarters.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
• The lighting design for the Optimum Performance Home was
created by a select group of graduate students from the Lighting
Research Center (LRC) at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(RPI) in Troy, New York.
• The lighting design addresses sustainability with the use of LEDs
and natural materials, universal design incorporating wide toggle
switch design in accessible locations and aging-eye
considerations, ENERGY STAR fixtures and controls such as
dimmers, motion, and occupancy sensors, and California Title 24
high efficacy using compact florescent lamps (CFLs).
• An array of lighting fixture manufacturers are featured with
Leviton® Visia RF™, Acenti, and Decora® toggle switch designs,
and Monster® IlluminEssence™ “One-Touch” lighting system
products.
IMAGE: Lighting Design 1
IMAGE: Lighting Design 2
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
Conclusion
•
•
•
The Optimum Performance Home represents a true experiment in
holistic home design with regard to its occupants being able to age-inplace and to be assured that their home is designed and constructed to
have the least impact on the natural environment and to not deplete
precious earth resources.
Custom residential architects can play a leading role in educating their
clients to understand the benefits of building environmentally
responsible homes whose build quality and operational systems will
endure far beyond that of homes conventionally built.
Custom residential architects who practice the essential techniques that
comprise the “Optimum Performance Home” concept will have a
marketing advantage, which will in turn recognize them for setting
design industry trends, capturing media attention with their work, and
calling attention to innovative high quality products that enable
environmentally enhanced lifespan living.
Experiment In Optimum
Performance Home® Design
Conclusion
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The Optimum Performance Home project is being financed through a
new construction loan from New Resource Bank. The San Franciscobased New Resource Bank is the nation’s first “green” commercial
bank. Its chosen focus is to serve entrepreneurial community
businesses and to help finance sustainable resources by funding
“green” businesses and projects. The bank has specialized knowledge
and networks to provide differentiated solutions to “green” and
sustainable businesses and to help community businesses access
options to improve their resource efficiency and sustainability. The
bank’s clients include businesses developing clean technologies,
entrepreneurs specializing in ecologically-friendly industries, and
consumers concerned about the environment.