Address Newsletter
Our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design, with expert advice and insider neighborhood knowledge.
Hey, Somerville. What’s going on with this house?
With a gut renovation, a former two-family is becoming a stunning, energy-miserly single-family.
What kind of house uses almost no air conditioning or heat, even in a New England winter?
The contemporary at 76 Wallace St. in Somerville is being built to Passive House Institute U.S., Incorporated standards. It is slated for completion in three weeks.
PHIUS standards, known as principles of passive building, aim to minimize airflow and optimize moisture and sunlight, using little — if any — electricity. What little energy the home will use will come from solar power. It will produce more than it will consume, said Aaron Newell, New England Design and Construction construction director. It will be cooled and heated with heat pumps.
Advertisement:
Passive homes use 75% less energy than modern, new-construction homes, according to Newell.
Passive building includes high-performance windows and efficient insulation and ventilation. Ventilation is measured through air-changes per hour, and the PHIUS standard ACH is 0.6 — meaning six-tenths of a complete air change occurs every hour.
This home will have an ACH of just 0.38, meaning there is significantly less leakage than is required by PHIUS. For reference, the ACH of an average single-family home in Ontario in 2018 ranged from 2.5 to 3.5, according to building envelope consultant Barrier Sciences Group.
The original two-family home was stripped down to the studs and redesigned as a single-family dwelling. Newell and Chad Zgradden, project manager — both PHIUS Certified Builders — oversaw the three-year-long process at the Somerville location.
The Somerville home is centered on a two-story floating staircase next to a wall of colorful built-in shelves. Natural light from picture windows will illuminate the space, eliminating the need for most artificial light during the day.
Advertisement:
The kitchen will include an island with seating for three, hardwood floors, and navy blue flat-panel cabinetry. Stainless steel appliances, spherical pendant lighting, and a chic herringbone backsplash will create a unique and modern look.
A library is also in the works. It will have walls of built-in shelves, hardwood floors, and a door leading to the back deck.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com