This 3,600-square-foot home built by Weiss Building and Development in River Forest, Illinois, is a certified U.S. DOE Zero Energy Ready Home and meets Passive House Institute U.S. requirements.
The green roof above the door of this high-performance home is one of many techniques the builder used to manage storm water runoff on the narrow site. Other techniques include underground retention wells, rain barrels, and a water-saving landscaping design.
Even without a solar electric system, this high-performance DOE Zero Energy Ready Home is expected to save its homeowners $3,000 a year in energy costs compared to a similar-sized minimum-code home.
All of the paints and finishes in the home are low-/no-VOC certified to help meet the requirements of the EPA’s Indoor airPLUS program. All finishes and adhesives are also UL GREENGUARD Gold certified.
Ultra-efficient, R-9, triple-pane windows include insulated wood frames, argon gas between the panes for additional insulating benefit, and clear advanced technology coatings that keep heat out in the summer and inside in the winter.
Numerous triple-pane windows allow sunlight to fill the natural daylight home.
Any holes through the vapor barrier installed over the basement floor slab are thoroughly sealed as part of the foundation water barrier system.
This home is built with insulated concrete foam (ICF) construction. ICFs are hollow foam insulation blocks that are glued together and filled with steel reinforcing bar and concrete to form sturdy walls that are resistant to pests, storms, wildfires, and severe winter storms.
In addition to the continuous thermal blanket provided by the insulated concrete form walls, the interior walls were framed and filled with dense-blown fiberglass for additional comfort and quiet.
For comprehensive draft protection, all wall penetrations are double- and triple-sealed.

System Home

Chicago, IL

4,763 sqft

5 Beds

4.5 Baths

3 Floors Above Grade

Custom

Cold

Humid

Without PV

27HERS

$100Average Monthly Energy Bill

$3,000Annual Energy Cost Savings

$128,00030 Year Savings

Evolutionary Home Builders LLC

Profile

ZERO

2013

Grand Winner

System

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Key Features

All-electric home Cold-climate heat pump Compact (core) plumbing design Energy / Heat recovery ventilator Electric Vehicle Charger Installed or Wired for Charger High-performance wall with continuous insulation Insulated concrete form (ICF) walls and/or foundation Triple-pane windows ACH 50 < 2.5 or CFM50/SF of enclosure ≤ 0.25

Additional Details

Basement

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Home owner (or occupant) Testimony

To ensure that the air quality in this house is safe for our family, especially our young children, Brandon went the extra mile to find materials that would provide a healthy environment. He called in a consultant from the Healthy Child Organization. She and Brandon worked together to get us healthy materials at a discounted rate so that we could stay within our budget.

Testimony Citation

Homeowner

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Finished Elevations

Finished Interiors

Under Construction

Any holes through the vapor barrier installed over the basement floor slab are thoroughly sealed as part of the foundation water barrier system.
This home is built with insulated concrete foam (ICF) construction. ICFs are hollow foam insulation blocks that are glued together and filled with steel reinforcing bar and concrete to form sturdy walls that are resistant to pests, storms, wildfires, and severe winter storms.
In addition to the continuous thermal blanket provided by the insulated concrete form walls, the interior walls were framed and filled with dense-blown fiberglass for additional comfort and quiet.
For comprehensive draft protection, all wall penetrations are double- and triple-sealed.
The rigid foam insulating sheathing is tape flashed to the foundation of the airtight home.
This plumbing stack and other penetrations through the roof were both gasketed and tape flashed to prevent air leakage.
To ensure good air quality in the tightly air-sealed home, a balanced fresh air system was installed that exhausts stale air from the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry and brings in fresh air through a high-capture filter.
The high-performance homes have 19-inch-thick walls consisting of 11.5-inch-thick ICF walls, plus 2 inches of coated rigid foam sheathing on the exterior and a 2-by-4 framed wall on the interior filled with dense-blown fiberglass insulation.