Building Technologies & Systems
e-House is located in New York State’s Mid-Hudson Valley at the edge of the Catskill Forest Preserve. Its sculptural shape features trapezoidal “View Catcher” and “Light Catcher” rooms that protrude from the building’s rectilinear stone-clad passive solar shell. Its plan is based on a traditional great room with get-away rooms and the organizational planning and circulation patterns are uniquely based on the compression and flow as experienced in nature. e-House will function as a smart house in which all major functions are distance controlled and monitored from a Website.
An experimental radiant heating, cooling, and snowmelt system with rainwater thermal storage cisterns and heat exchangers will be the high performance centerpiece of the building. Other emerging technologies include one of the first autoclaved aerated concrete block wall systems in the United States, in conjunction with structural insulated panels, engineered lumber trusses, and a variety of new insulations.
The building also features alternate technologies (traditional building technologies) including a wood-burning Rumford fireplace and bake oven, locally-sourced Dutch Colonial-style bluestone walls, natural ventilation, and locally-milled lumber sourced from the building’s site.
Selected High Performance Site Planning Technologies
- Aerial digital mapping and photogrammetric surveying
- Complete site resource mapping and minimal site clearing
- Conservation/restoration of native plant species at site
- Recycling of demolition-related materials
- Mature tree preservation
- Strategic re-use of existing site infrastructure
- Site-sourced fill, stone, and lumber
- Community-based micro-agriculture initiatives
Selected High Performance Building Envelope Technologies
- Integrated-building planning
- Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) and structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) exterior walls systems
- Engineered rubble-trench foundations with slag concrete grade beam system
- Exterior roof decks with slip-resistant porcelain tile, snowmelt, and failure proof substrate
- Self-healing, corrosion resistant stainless steel roofing
- Long lifecycle, moisture-release and vermin-resistant, CFC and HCFC free insulation
- Engineered lumber panels, trusses, studs, plates, beams, and girders
- High-efficiency doors and windows
- Designed-for-deconstruction (DFD) building systems
Selected High Performance Interior Finishes Components
- Engineered bamboo flooring and kitchen cabinetry
- Low toxicity, low VOC primers, finish coats, and vapor barrier paints
- Water-based low VOC floor finishes
- Future-proofed removable wire chase baseboards
- Recycled glass content ceramic tile
- Organic fabric and solid wood furnishings
- Integrated central vacuum cleaner system
Selected High Performance Appliances and Equipment
- Advanced engineering and Energy Star-rated appliances
- Stain proof, computer assisted, low water consumption plumbing fixtures
- Advanced engineering long life-cycle plumbing fittings
- High-efficiency lighting and control systems
- Insulated chimney systems
Selected High Performance Mechanical Systems
- On-site geothermal energy
- Off-site wind power (zero-energy home model)
- Photovoltaic uninterruptable power source (UPS) technologies
- Thermal solar technologies
- Multi-fuel radiant heating, cooling, and snow melt systems
- High efficiency computer monitored domestic hot water
- Centralized displacement ventilation
- Full fresh air dual core ERV-HRV system
- Passive solar high thermal mass floors and roofs
- Computer-controlled rainwater retention
- Thermal reservoir with water-to-water heat exchanger technologies
Selected High Performance Smart House Building Controls
- Demand-response distributed intelligence systems controls
- Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) controls
- Web-based systems monitoring and control
- CAT 5e backbone ELAN with wireless networking
- Cross-platform Mac/PC compatible networking and remote access
Alternative Technologies
- Site-sourced native bluestone exterior walls
- Site-sourced, locally milled lumber
- High-efficiency, wood-fired Rumford fireplace and bake oven
- Integration of local artisans and traditional skills
- Daylighting
- Natural ventilation
- Operable windows