Green Timber Frame Home Earns a Place on Portland's Build It Green! Home Tour

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Industrial salvaged Douglas Fir timbers find new life in The Vermont Street Project.

The Vermont Street Project showcases the culmination of 25 years of custom timberwork and environmentally sensitive design and construction

Portland, OR (Vocus) July 28, 2010

The Vermont Street Project, a hybrid timber frame home designed and built by New Energy Works Timber Framers has officially been named as one of 20 homes to earn a spot on the City of Portland’s Ninth Annual Build It Green! Home Tour. The tour showcases homes that promote sustainable design, ingenuity, renewable energy and green building. Tour date: Saturday, September 25th, 2010, 11am – 5pm, followed by a free Info Fair at ecohaus from 3pm – 7pm.

“The Vermont Street Project showcases the culmination of 25 years of custom timberwork and environmentally sensitive design and construction,” says Jonathan Orpin, President of New Energy Works Timberframers. "The home also sets a few firsts: we believe it to be the only timber frame home in Oregon that is a LEED Platinum candidate, and it is the first home we know of where every possible wall surface is finished with a natural plaster material, instead of paint.”

Aptly named after the street it resides on, The Vermont Street Project is a living example of greater sustainability in a design and craft intensive home. It is a collaboration of design/build team members, reclaimed and natural materials, energy efficiency, and recent technologies. Here’s a glimpse of what folks will find on their tour of the home:

•     2,000 sq. ft. home with additional 1,000 sq. ft day lit lower level
•     3 bedrooms, with office/fourth bedroom
•     Family bath, guest bath, powder room
•     Lifestyle rooms such as mudroom, wine cellar, library, movie nook, recreation room
•     Timber frame and ceilings made of reclaimed industrial salvage Douglas fir
•     Antique reclaimed walnut, elm, oak, fir, and cypress for flooring and fine woodworking
•     Reclaimed redwood and barn siding
•     Living roof above garage
•     4.2kW photovoltaic system and solar domestic panels
•     4,000 gallon rainwater collection system
•     Earthen clay wall coverings (whole house!)

Here are a few of the systems that make the home green:

•     Critical water management includes 70% of the home’s usage coming from roof-collected and filtered rainwater, low flow and dual flush fixtures and toilets, on-site storm water catchment.
•     Net zero electrical usage occurs with a large solar electric array, LED and low-watt lighting and appliances, variable power-draw pumping and ventilation, and no AC.
•     Heating is supplied by a balance of efficient boilers that modulate specific to the load along with a sealed combustion wood stove. Majority of hot water heated by the sun.
•     A high percentage of materials sourced locally with low embodied energy and recycled content, such as FSC reclaimed and sustainable wood throughout. Every effort was made to use products sourced and manufactured in the US, or where labor and environment controls could be verified.
•     The hybrid timber frame is an expression of structure and craft, engineered to last for generations. Its high efficiency envelope of Structural Insulated Panels and cellulose insulation eliminate thermal bridging, while providing breathable walls and effective rain screens.

For information visit The Vermont Street Project. Partners who collaborated on this project: Pioneer Millworks, Basco Appliance, Chown Hardware, Custom-Bilt Metals, Dimensional Millwork, Inc., ecohaus, Evolution Floors, GLD DesignStudio, Imaginenergy, Landscape East & West, Loren Nelson Photography, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Traditional Natural Plaster Company, Premier Building Systems, Shelter Works, and West Side Electric Co.

New Energy Works designs and builds environmentally responsible timber frames across the USA from their Oregon and New York facilities. The company offers Timber Framing (design, engineering, manufacturing, build), Enclosure Systems, Fine Woodworking, Recycled and Sustainable wood products. The company uses 100% wind power, and heats its shops with scrap wood. New Energy Works has 2 LEED AP staff members, is a member of the US Green Building Council, and is FSC Certified in three categories. Visit New Energy Works.

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