Check out Siobhan Connally’s story about two Passive Houses in the regional magazine Alloveralbany.
Category Archives: 6. Architecture and Inspiration
Artist’s rendering of our future house
Digital illustration by Jeff Brink Illustrator for Dennis Wedlick Architect.
Digital illustration by Nicholas, age 9.
Grading at Hancock Shaker Village
Steep grades without the use of a retaining wall.
Raining on our parade
L. to R., Dennis Wedlick, Brian Marsh of DWA, Susan Guthridge – Gould client, Bill Stratton GC, Ted Bombola excavator, Alan Barlis of DWA.
Dennis and Susan planning the swale
Site visit by Dennis Wedlick Architect
If they can do it, so can we
Credit: Jim Tetro/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
Reading for work today, I came across some words to live by while building our house:
“…and make sure you have two year’s worth of self-reliance, resilience, teamwork and community spirit to make it all happen.”
Jack Byrne of Middlebury College is describing his students’ experience designing and building a house for the Solar Decathlon. I post his story on my client’s website and reflect on my reaction: (1) I am twice the age of those students but I share the excitement of a project that stretches my limits and is actually good for people and the planet; (2) like them, I am both giddy and geeky when I talk about our Passive House; (3) I need a boost of their energy and spirit. As we start to build this house, I will start to build community.
Shaker / Serendipity
How to find the perfect house plan: Spend three years studying websites. Do this late at night after putting two little kids to bed. Go to home shows, meet builders and visit model homes. Fill notebooks with sketches. Argue with your spouse. Then, trust that one day you will drive down a country road to a place you’ve never been before and encounter the most perfect inspiration — a Shaker barn, red with a brilliant blue door.
Congratulations DWA on winning Builder’s Choice Award
The extraordinary Passive House that inspired us to build this way just won the Builder’s Choice Award for a Green/Sustainable home. Congratulations Dennis, Brian, Bill and your team at Dennis Wedlick Architect and Bill Stratton Building Company. View the slideshow in Interior Design magazine >>
We are inspired by this house
Our source of inspiration for building for super extra mega energy efficiency is the Hudson Passive Project, featured in these stories:
First Green, Passive House in New York State Constructed in Claverak, NY
“An architect committed to sustainable living designs an extremely green home that almost heats itself”
Hudson Valley Magazine, by Lynn Hazlewood
House Tour: Claverack, NY
New York Times, by Bethany Lyttle
Passive House, Aggressive Idea
“The house uses no geothermal power, no wind power, yet it uses 10 percent the energy of a normal house, simply by the way it’s built.”
New York HOUSE magazine, by Vicki Distefano
And more examples of Passive Houses