for its High Performance Buildings Database
U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Building Technologies Program - Buildings Database
Indoor Environment
Natural daylight is the primary light source for 100 percent of the living area of the house during the day. The home's many windows give every room either a direct or indirect view of Lake Michigan as well as abundant natural light. The open floor plan and open central stairwell also allow daylight to penetrate deep into the house.
Other design features minimize the need for artificial lighting, including skylights over the front airlock, mudroom, and first-floor bathroom; an open interior window in the first-floor study giving a view through the kitchen to the lake; a cut-out in the wall of the master bedroom walk-in closet; and glass blocks in the back hallway and the basement. Only the three basement utility rooms, comprising five percent of the floor area of the house, require electric lighting during daylight hours.
Open windows, natural stack ventilation through the belvedere, and high-efficiency ceiling fans provide natural cooling. Tight construction and high performance windows also help keep temperatures comfortable. Although the house has an air conditioning system, it has been used fewer than ten days over the past three summers.
In the winter, air quality is maintained with an energy recovery ventilation system.
Green Strategies
- Thermal Comfort
- Use glazing with a low Solar Heat Gain Coefficient
- Use glazing with a minimum U-value of 0.33 when occupants will be adjacent to windows
- Visual Comfort and The Building Envelope
- Choose interior and exterior glazing to maximize daylight transmission
- Visual Comfort and Interior Design
- Design open floor plans to allow exterior daylight to penetrate to the interior
- Ventilation and Filtration Systems
- Provide occupants with access to operable windows
- Design for optimum cross-ventilation through window placement
- Design ventilation system to exchange both heat and humidity between incoming and outgoing air
- Direct Exhaust from High-source Locations
- Install a quiet, effective fan in bathrooms
- Ensure that kitchen range hoods exhaust to the outdoors
- Above Grade Humidity and Condensation
- Use windows that provide R-3 or better over their entire surface
