modern, barrel vault, curved, galvanized metal roof, ipe wood, solar panels
Example of a minimalist wood exterior home design in Austin

Example of a trendy mudroom design in Boston

To view other projects by TruexCullins Architecture + Interior design visit www.truexcullins.com Photographer: Jim Westphalen
Farmhouse light wood floor living room library photo in Burlington with a wood stove

Corner shower - large transitional master white tile and subway tile gray floor and marble floor corner shower idea in New York with a two-piece toilet, white walls, a pedestal sink, flat-panel cabinets, gray cabinets and marble countertops

Jeri Koegel
Patio - large contemporary backyard concrete paver patio idea in Orange County with a fire pit and a roof extension

COMFORT AND QUALITY, PAIRED WITH ULTRA EFFICIENCY First certified Passive House and LEED Platinum Home in New Mexico and in this combination to our knowledge probably the first and only one in the country. This is a very exceptional home in many regards. Are you looking for a very comfortable and super efficient place to live luxuriously with Southwest flair? Then you came to the right place. This recently finished home on the North side of Taos close to the Ski Valley and to town has it all and is available on the market. Enjoy its family friendly and livable layout with a great feel of open space and tranquility. You just have to experience the amazing comfort level for yourself. Always fresh and filtered air 24/7 with even temperatures all year around provides you with the healthiest and most comfortable indoor environment. Natural materials and high- end finishes are everywhere and beautifully mud plastered walls steep this place in intriguing light. The stunning views through a panoramic living room window reveal the changing beauty of Taos Mountain throughout the seasons. A large west-facing porch sets the stage for the daily spectacle of amazing New Mexican sunsets and views into pristine pastureland. Two bedrooms with a shared bathroom, a family room and a master bedroom suite with (2) walk- in closets and a steam bath shower in the master bathroom where you can soak your bones after a day on the slopes make this place a dream to live in. Beautiful details and special features are too many to mention here. You should see the spacious garage, which can also be used as a shop with great storage- impressive! An open gourmet kitchen with granite countertops and solid quality wood cabinets is waiting for you to cook a tasty meal and spend fun times with your family and friends. This home is truly exceptional on so many levels. Designed and built by a team of experts it is the ultimate in energy efficiency achievable today. Based on new building science and a much higher quality building envelope heat losses are reduced by a record breaking 90%. Our team designed this home to the Passive House Energy Standard, the most stringent standard worldwide. A solar hot water system provides the heat for the radiant floor tubing and takes care of your domestic hot water needs (shower, cooking etc.) Hidden behind parapets is a solar electric array that takes care of your electrical needs. And then there is a whole house ventilation system with 95% heat recovery of the warm exhaust air stream. Your home will always be perfectly ventilated with filtered fresh air,- dust, pollen and bugs will stay outside. You can feel the difference,- it does not get any better.

jeremy bittermann
Living room - contemporary open concept concrete floor living room idea in Portland with white walls

Photography by Rick Keating http://www.rickkeatingphotographer.com/

Sunroom - traditional sunroom idea in Chicago with a standard ceiling

photo credit: David Gilbert
Dining room - traditional dark wood floor dining room idea in New York with white walls

Inspiration for a timeless bathroom remodel in Chicago

Family room adjacent to kitchen. Paint color on fireplace mantel is Benjamin Moore #1568 Quarry Rock. The trim is Benjamin Moore OC-21. The bookcases are prefinished by the cabinet manufacturer, white with a pewter glaze. Designed by Julie Williams Design, Photo by Eric Rorer Photgraphy, Justin Construction

Inspiration for a farmhouse black floor entryway remodel in Minneapolis with gray walls and a glass front door

Photo: Lauren Andersen © 2018 Houzz Design: Mead Quin Design Plants: Living Green Design
This is an example of a mediterranean landscaping in San Francisco.

Inspiration for a contemporary deck remodel in San Francisco with no cover

Patio - contemporary concrete patio idea in San Francisco with a fire pit and a roof extension

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

The patio features 3 Nana doors that allow the room to completely open up to the exterior decks, or the living room or both. The fireplace is an EPA-Phase II rated wood burning appliance with ducting to direct excess heat to the lower level. Carl Schofield Photography

This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography