The Fortunato House is a 2,150 gsf single-family house located in Hermosa Beach, CA. The owners wanted to select solutions that involved materials and “off-the-shelf” technologies to demonstrate that ZNE homes were affordable and realistic for middle-class families.
Some of the Sustainability Highlights are:
Air-source electric heat pump integrated with an 80 gallon water storage tank was selected as the basis of the design for heating because of its inherent efficiency;
Rough framing and foundation of the existing house were reused in the new structure “insulated sheathing” board also mitigated heat loss via thermal bridging;
House measured 1.12 ACH50, an exceptional level of air-tightness “thermal chimney” design feature provides a natural cooling option with no use of electric energy;
Natural ventilation;
Drain water heat recovery unit is installed at each of the shower drain lines, which captures some of the heat energy from the draining water;
Glare-free daylight from well-shaded, large window areas, as well as daylight penetration in the middle of the house provided by the central stair space; electric light sources largely unnecessary on most days.
Check out the
ZNE-Case-Study-Homes-Volume-1 to learn more about this project.