She called her project Sunset Green Home, which also became the name of her energy efficiency, high-performance retrofit, and sustainability strategy consulting business. The town’s tax break provided her with $15,000 over 10 years—more if property taxes increase. Moreover, she now “walks the talk” by having completed her own 3,600-square-feet home that integrates building practices and sustainable strategies that minimize the impact on the environment. The home also incorporates high energy efficiency and superior air quality. “As a LEED-accredited professional,” she says, “I knew what it would take to reach Platinum on this home.” 

Tight and Resilient

Details Deconstruction, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that provides green construction jobs to former prison inmates, removed the remains of Erle’s hurricane-damaged cottage. That decision diverted more than 90 percent of the home’s building materials from landfills. Next, the team, which also included builder Chris Mensch of Coastal Management, LLC, framed the new structure on top of 130 pilings driven 25 feet into the ground for resiliency. 

“We’re in an AE10 zone, which is our flood mapping,” Erle explains. “We get swiftly moving water during a flood event, which is what destroyed our first home. Underneath the pilings is a wall that’s designed to break away when fast-moving water hits it, so the water passes under the house and recedes without causing structural damage. We used impact-resistant glass to protect us from wind-borne storm debris. We also put the house up two feet higher than required by code.” 

The home’s Zehnder energy recovery ventilation system (ERV) makes sure fresh outdoor air is continuously exchanged with the air in the house. While a code-compliant house has seven air changes per hour and an Energy Star® home has five, Sunset Green Home has just two. The home uses an energy-efficient, variable refrigerant-flow HVAC system for heating and cooling. 

Erle says visitors can’t believe the tiny mechanical system heats and cools her house. She adds that HVAC installers and subcontractors specializing in air sealing had to collaborate on sizing the system, “which rarely happens on building sites.” They also considered window orientations. Energy-efficient ceiling fans in the living areas and bedrooms allow cooling at higher air-conditioning temperature set points.

The greatest joys

Erle added a seasonal pool with an automatic cover to retain heat, and a UV-ozone sanitizer to minimize chemical use. The home’s 3,000-square-foot deck was constructed using FSC-certified cumaru through WalkGreen. Because the home is close to sensitive tidal wetlands, Stinchi Landscaping implemented an environmentally sensitive landscaping plan, which incorporates a vegetated wetlands buffer of native plants attractive to birds and other wildlife.