Channel: finehomebuilding

Category: Education

Tags: building materialsconcretesustainable designbuilding scienceembodied carbonnet positiveiccfgreen buildingicfrecylceinsulationbuilding envelopenet positive housecarbonconstructioncarbon emissionshigh performance house

Description: The Perfect Block foundation system on this high-performance house in Upstate New York saves 60% of the concrete needed for a conventional slab. In October, 2021, Connecticut-based builder Ben Bogie of BPC Green Builders broke ground on a trailblazing project in the Hudson River Valley (climate zone 5). A collaboration with Trillium Architects, the 5000-sq.-ft. house is Japanese pagoda–inspired and promises to be lesson-rich. The overarching goal is to use building science–based best practices—products, techniques, and assemblies—to construct a high-performance, net-positive house. Keeping upfront carbon emissions to a minimum is a key objective. To that end, the project minimizes the use of virgin foam insulation, reduces concrete where feasible, is engineered to avoid the need for steel, and optimizes materials made of recycled content. GBA will be following this build and sharing key construction details along the way. We will produce an 11-episode video series and culminate with a webinar to discuss the design thinking behind the building details. Get more of the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field here: greenbuildingadvisor.com Subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on new Fine Homebuilding videos: youtube.com/finehomebuilding Connect with Green Building Advisor: Instagram: instagram.com/greenbuildingadvisor Facebook: facebook.com/GreenBuildingAdvisor Pinterest: pinterest.com/greenbuildingadvisor