Bright Green Project
The Bright Green project is a super green infill project on South Hill, in Bellingham. This project highlights the reality that building high performance homes is both a craft and a science. This building is a system, and it’s beautiful. The integrated design team included Chuckanut Builders, Michael Smith Architecture, Spiral Design Studios, and [bundle] design studio.
Construction on project started in early 2016 and finished shortly before the holidays. The home is super insulated. It has 3” of exterior cork insulation that was designed to be thermal bridge free, plus wall, floor and ceiling insulation that is well beyond code requirements.The project has Cascadia fiberglass windows that are high performance and locally made. We also completed aggressive airsealing, installed a rainscreen and a SIGA weather resistive barrier. A heat pump is used for both heat and hot water. The final blower door test was 0.8 ACH (air changes per hour.) For passive house the standard is a maximum of 0.6 air changes per hour, needless to say 0.8 ACH is pretty darn good.
The interiors are green, classic, clean and durable. The design integrates aging in place measures. All of the finishes are low VOC; no carpet was used; the engineered quartz countertops are greenguard certified; nearly all of the tile has been certified to ensure green production, recyclability, and toxin free products; and some of the trees that had to be removed from the site were salvaged for lumber. Nearly all of the flooring is domestically harvested cherry, the fireplace is steel clad and was locally fabricated by Architectural Elements, and the cabinets were built locally by New Whatcom Interiors. Both of the decks were made with concrete pavers and metal railings, which are essentially zero maintenance and very durable.
When we think about green buildings we think first of their durability. On this project, and all Chuckanut Builders projects, we keep the ethos of John Ruskin’s words in mind, “When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for.” The Bright Green project is beautiful, healthy and durable.
Construction on project started in early 2016 and finished shortly before the holidays. The home is super insulated. It has 3” of exterior cork insulation that was designed to be thermal bridge free, plus wall, floor and ceiling insulation that is well beyond code requirements.The project has Cascadia fiberglass windows that are high performance and locally made. We also completed aggressive airsealing, installed a rainscreen and a SIGA weather resistive barrier. A heat pump is used for both heat and hot water. The final blower door test was 0.8 ACH (air changes per hour.) For passive house the standard is a maximum of 0.6 air changes per hour, needless to say 0.8 ACH is pretty darn good.
The interiors are green, classic, clean and durable. The design integrates aging in place measures. All of the finishes are low VOC; no carpet was used; the engineered quartz countertops are greenguard certified; nearly all of the tile has been certified to ensure green production, recyclability, and toxin free products; and some of the trees that had to be removed from the site were salvaged for lumber. Nearly all of the flooring is domestically harvested cherry, the fireplace is steel clad and was locally fabricated by Architectural Elements, and the cabinets were built locally by New Whatcom Interiors. Both of the decks were made with concrete pavers and metal railings, which are essentially zero maintenance and very durable.
When we think about green buildings we think first of their durability. On this project, and all Chuckanut Builders projects, we keep the ethos of John Ruskin’s words in mind, “When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for.” The Bright Green project is beautiful, healthy and durable.
Project Year: 2017
Country: United States
