Imery Group built this 2,389-square-foot custom home in Lilburn, Georgia, to the high performance criteria of the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program.

This highly efficient two-story-plus-basement home achieved a low HERS score of 39 even without PV panels with high levels of insulation and air-sealing. The screened front porch offers a naturally cooled spot to gather in mild weather.

Durable fiber cement siding covers the walls and 29-gauge ENERGY STAR-rated coated-metal roofing covers the roof of the farmhouse style home. The metal roofing sits on furring strips over 15-pound felt over coated and taped OSB roof sheathing over the unvented attic, which is insulated on the underside with R-21 of open-cell spray foam.

ENERGY STAR appliances, LED lighting, and water-saving plumbing fixtures add to energy and water savings in the efficient home.

Two ducted and two ductless minisplit air handlers provide highly efficient heating and cooling to the three-level home.

An ERV provides balanced fresh-air ventilation throughout the home.

Below-grade walls were insulated along the exterior with R-5 of bug-resistant, high-density, rigid fiberglass insulation and along the inside with R-7 of closed-cell foam to R-7.

A layer of R-5 rigid foam was laid on the crushed rock before pouring the basement and grade-level slabs.

The 2-by-6, 24-inch on-center walls were constructed with several advanced-framing techniques like California corners, limited framing at windows and doors, ladder blocking at interior-exterior wall intersections, and no headers over windows and doors on non-load bearing walls. The exterior walls were filled with R-23 of blown fiberglass.

Over the coated OSB sheathing the builder installed a rain screen product that includes a corrugated plastic layer, which provides an air gap and drainage plane between the sheathing and the cladding. The rain screen product includes a mesh fabric layer that is folded over the bottom edge to form an insect screen.