Pretty Good House

Pretty Good House - The title of a popular home building book that highlights not letting perfection be the enemy of good when it comes to higher performance home construction.

This project started as a renovation & energy retrofit of the existing structure. Half of it being 100+ years old and the other half 20+ years old. The century old part upon tearing it apart was on a significantly weakened stone & rubble foundation. The tough decision to tear that side down and rebuild was made.

In the process of rebuilding the client and us wanted to be the smartest we could about making choices that would increase the buildings performance and lower its energy usage.

Focusing on high quality house wraps and air sealing was more accessible than adding layers and layers of insulation, which can increase cost quickly.

All electric mechanicals and appliances were also used to meet efficiency goals.

Using products locally was also important. The siding coming from a cedar mill in northern Maine and the insulation, TimberHP, a new product, also from Maine. This insulation is made of wood fiber in revamped paper mills in the state. It takes waste product from lumber mills and turns it into home insulation that performs better than most other existing products on the market, while being safer to use for the installer.

The home is now up to date with it’s modern style capturing the essence of high performance homes and is a testament to making smart choices for building efficiency without going overboard on material and expenses.