We've been awarded Residential Design+Build’s national 2012 Design Excellence Award for innovative technology integration for our Cazedero Lodge House project!

At nearly 3,500 interior and 3,300 exterior sq. ft., it's big, it's beautiful, and it's green.  Every project has at its heart the people who created it from the owner's desires and vision to the architect, engineers and consultants, contractor and tradesmen who painstakingly made it real. 

Using our design/build process, everyone on the project was involved in intense collaboration from the outset. We were able to anticipate and understand the constraints of the project, avoid otherwise inevitable pitfalls, and build the house that uniquely reflects the owner’s personality and intentions. This process directly contributed to the success of the project.

The owner fell in love with a 775 acre, hilltop site for her hunting lodge style dream house.  The views are expansive and exquisite, but the site is remote and subject to frequent storms resulting in an average of 100 inches of rain per year and extended power outages in the area.

Owner's goals for her house:

• Be green and zero-net energy as close as possible, yet also be very spacious, light and airy.

• Tie the house to the land, have an intimate connection with the environment while treading as lightly as possible.

• Strong connection between the interior and exterior spaces; be able to enjoy the outdoors while staying protected from the weather.

• The owner wanted a spa conservatory space to be a get-away where she could be in the tub, with a fire roaring, in the pouring rain riding the storms out and be as close as possible to the outside, day or night, without being out in the wind and rain. 

Project challenges

• Remote site subject to frequent storms and extended power outages. This house would be the last in the area to have power restored. The energy systems needed to be self-sufficient. 
• House is big, and the owner had certain aesthetic requirements that tend to conflict with building green and sustainably.  She wanted seven fireplaces, but wood burning restrictions required the use of propane to fuel several of them and made achieving zero-net energy difficult. 
• Combined control of the heating, cooling, lighting and power systems was highly complex and novel involving many subcontractors and consultants. 
• The high level of complexity with tight tolerances and tricky dimensions with the spa conservatory required careful coordination of construction and structural details between architect, engineer, contractor and subcontractors along with great care and attention to precision and exceptional communication. 

Project Solutions

Green features:

• triple glazed windows,

• structurally insulated panels (SIP’s) provide R-60 roof and R-40 walls, 

• net-zero carbon energy heating system fueled by a pellet-fired boiler,

• passive air conditioning,
• solar electric and solar thermal,
• no VOC finishes or adhesives,
• building materials all sustainably harvested or high recycle content,
• landscape permaculture with a pond for rain and grey water storage,
• With her iPad, the owner can turn on lights and heat remotely and monitor performance of the entire heating and ventilation system in the house.

Spaciousness with a light and airy feel was achieved by high ceilings throughout, stone, wood columns, clay plaster walls with suede finishes, and many large windows and bi-fold glass doors.

To integrate the house with the surrounding environment, all aspects of the stonework were carefully thought through with the owner and deliberately placed – from native stone boulders moved into strategic spots to the stonework at the base of the walls and on the floors and fireplaces. 

The outside living spaces feature bi-fold doors that open up the house to nature. The unenclosed porches are open and broad enough to connect with the land and still provide ample shelter from the elements. 

The spa conservatory is all glass walls and roof, a spacious 350 sq ft, heated by the fireplace and radiant heat in the floor and is directly connected to the house via a spiral staircase.  It was designed and functions as an “outdoor” space that can be used year round. 

Other than three of the propane-fueled fireplaces and kitchen stove, the net-zero energy goal has been met.  All space and water heating and cooling systems are non-carbon fueled.

In order to achieve zero net energy because of the fireplaces and the remote site, we had to have a grid intertied photovoltaic system, but with a battery backup.  In addition, there is a propane-fired generator. 

The mechanical system, controlled by the Deltanor ClimateRight System, is a combined hydronic system with hot water used to heat the house as well as domestic hot water.  The energy source is a pellet-fired boiler assisted by solar thermal.  Passive ventilation avoided use of refrigerated air conditioning.  Passive cooling sensors allow outside air in the house and this also had to be controlled.  The extensive interior and exterior lighting is all high-efficacy LED lighting to meet green requirements. 

Integrating the controls for all these systems, as well as any power usage, is controlled and monitored from the owner’s iPad with the Savant system.

See more of this project here.