Jordan Meadows House

Location

Gorham, Maine

Overview

LEED Standing

Gold

Project Team

• Architect: Curt Jensch, A.AIA
• Builder: Taggart Construction

Photo by Randolph Ashey (www.rlashey.com)

The Jordan Meadows House achieved LEED Gold certification in 2007. After building the first LEED certified home in the USA, Taggart Construction of Freeport, Maine was chosen to design and build this 1,700 sq. ft. residence. Curt Jensch, A.AIA, resident associate architect for Taggart Construction, headed the design phase.

Among the many LEED features incorporated into this home were site selection, limited environmental impact, rainwater collection, passive solar design, advanced framing techniques, locally harvested and milled materials, Dense-Pac cellulose insulation from recycled newspaper and high efficiency plumbing fixtures.

A frost protected concrete slab with radiant heat was stained and sealed to serve as the finished flooring on the 1^st floor. The dark concrete mass retains the passive solar heat absorbed during winter days. In summer, strategically placed window overhangs block the high summer sun. The super insulated envelope combined with the passive solar design creates an extremely energy efficient home.

The owners of the Jordan Meadow House were inspired to build a small, environment friendly, high performance home after reading The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka. This house, like so many “not so big houses” was designed for efficiency, economy of space and quality of life.

Environmental Design Features:
Site:

• House oriented for maximum active and passive solar gain
• Limited impact zone around building footprint during construction
• No turf grass installed
• No impervious paving materials
• Rain water collection system with 500 gallon storage tank and on-site pond for overflow
• Phased landscaping plan utilizing permaculture strategies of sustainable native species and plantings of perennial trees, shrubs, herbs, and root systems

House Design:

• Passive solar design
• Natural daylighting using strategic window locations and interior glass reduces need for artificial lighting
• Underslab radon loop with passive venting to exterior
• Universal Design Features for prolonged usable life of home

Floors:

• Frost protected reinforced concrete slab (over 10 mil stabilized vapor barrier and 2” XPS (extruded polystyrene) insulation) with radiant heat
• Concrete slab stained and sealed to serve as finished floor on 1^st floor
• Locally harvested and milled stair materials
• Carpet and pad – low VOC (Carpet & Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus rating) on 2^nd floor

Walls:

• High performance exterior wall system using advanced framing strategies of 2×6’s spaced 24 inches on center, single top plate and headers with steel connection plates for optimized material usage and higher R-values
• Thermal break [2” EPS (expanded polystyrene)] – reduces thermal heat loss transfer through exterior walls
• Recycled Dense-Pac cellulose insulation
• Reinforced poly vapor barrier with recycled content
• Interior walls of Master Suite insulated with Dense-Pac cellulose for sound isolation
• Exterior siding system utilizing rain screen as continuous drainage plane with passive air vents at top and bottom of siding – allows siding to breathe prolonging life of exterior finishes
• Locally harvested and milled and/or durable, low maintenance siding materials

Roof:

• Architectural asphalt shingle roof
• Built-up trusses and rafters to achieve 14 inches of recycled Dense-Pac cellulose insulation (R-52)
• Reinforced poly vapor barrier with recycled content
• Careful air sealing details to minimize heat loss
• Locally harvested and milled soffit material

Air quality:

• Sealed combustion super-efficient wall-hung condensing boiler
• Ventilation system provides for continuous ventilation with fresh air intakes ensuring good indoor air quality
• Switched fan operation with variable settings at defined timing and speed to rid space of moisture laden air as needed
• Waterborne or low VOC finishes used throughout interior

Other Materials/Features:

• No tropical or exotic hardwoods
• Job-site recycling and waste management system used during construction
• Advanced Energy Lighting package
• Energy Star appliances
• High efficiency plumbing fixtures – dual flush toilets, super low flow faucets
• Sprinkler system with audible alarm and connection for local fire department hook up

For more information, click here.

LEED Standing: LEED Gold
Architect: Curt Jensch, A.AIA
info@tagcon.com
207.865.2281, ext. 101

Builder: Taggart Construction
peter@tagcon.com
207.865.2281