”Net-zero Energy Home Prototype”
New Home Construction
3284 Lansmere Road
______________________
City of Shaker Heights Planning Commission
October
08, 2008
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Approved…
and Ready To Go
"The more expensive home is really the less expensive home."
One
hundred
years
ago
Shaker
Heights
was
one
of
the
nation’s
first
“garden
suburbs”
known
as
a
leader
throughout
the
country
for
its
quality
building
and
architectural
excellence.
Nearly
one
hundred
years
later
Kramer
Development
Group
gained
the
rare
opportunity
to
acquire
a
building
site
in
the
city
of
Shaker
Heights
to
earn
an
international
distinction
of
excellence
by
building
the
nation
and
world’s
first
affordable,
energy-efficent,
modular
construction
house,
built
entirely
around
a
NET-ZERO-ENERGY
model.
This
house
far
exceeds
the
highest
U.S
and
European
certifications
as
a
reproducible
prototype
for
mass
production
throughout
Ohio
and
the
US.
This
energy
model
can
be
adapted
to
homes
(and
commercial
buildings)
of
any
size,
type
or
architecture.
The
goals of the home on Lansmere Road are to:
- Achieve a Home Energy Rating Score (HERS) of Zero (0)
- Exceed
the
world’s
highest
energy
certification
standard,
the
- “PASSIV
HAUS
INSTITUTE”
certification
(European-Economic-Union
law,
2016)
- Far
exceed
the
highest
US
green
building
certification
standards
- LEED
for
Homes
“Platinum”
- NAHB
“Emerald
Green”
- Energy
Star
- Achieve
energy
self-sufficiency
and
sustainability
through
- NET ZERO-ENERGY
technology
and
integration
with
the
modular
home
manufacturing
process
- Far
Surpass
the
quality
of
conventional
“outdoor”
stick-built
construction
with
- Custom-Design
Modular
“indoor”
stick-built
construction
excellence
- Blend
into
a
Historic
District
Neighborhood
- yet
will
also
be
adaptable
to
other
architectural
neighborhood
vernaculars
- Demonstrating
flexibility
for
homes
of
any
size,
style
and
proportion
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Highest
Energy
Standards:
Research
and
Design
Our
motto
is
energy
first!
Our
model
completely
shifts
the
focus
of
home
construction
to
energy
design
from
day
one.
It
has
taken
over
two
years
to
search
out
and
integrate
forward-thinking
concepts
for
indoor-stick-built
modular
construction,
advanced
European
and
Japanese
technologies
and
common
sense
practices
to
build
a
healthy,
durable,
and
sustainable
energy
self-sufficient
home
with
standards
of
excellence
which
do
not
exist
in
the
U.S.
or
Europe
today.
Highest
Energy
Standards:
Development
It
has
taken
an
additional
two
and
a
half
years
to
visit
and
become
acquainted
with
over
two
dozen
modular
manufacturing
facilities
in
six
states,
from
the
smallest
to
the
largest
in
the
country,
to
find
four
manufacturers
potentially
capable
to
manufacture
the
shell
and
interior
portion
of
the
house,
and
one
manufacturer
willing
to
accept
the
challenges
this
would
make
to
their
present
assembly-line
process.
With
the
best
of
their
methods,
this
one
manufacturer
can
complete
seventy-five
percent
of
the
house,
under
our
strict
engineering
supervision.
We
complete
the
balance
of
the
house
on
site
to
achieve
our
NET-ZERO-ENERGY
engineering
standards.
HERS
Index (Comparison)
The
HERS Index (Home Energy Rating System ) is a nationally and
internationally recognized established measurement of energy
efficiency used to compare the energy efficiency of one home to
another home. The lower the HERS rating score a home achieves on the
scale, the more energy efficient. An index of 100 represents the
present US building code energy usage. Conversely, an index of zero
(0) indicates the home uses no net-purchased energy (zero-energy
home). The HERS Index is the highest standard of home energy
certification and is the only home performance index recognized by
the EPA and government agencies. It is the standard by which all
other homes are compared (see chart and graphic below).
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HERS Rating Score
Home Energy Rating System (HERS)
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CERTIFICATION
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ENERGY SAVINGS
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HERS RATING SCORE
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(Existing Homes)
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-20% to -60%
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120 to 160
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Present Building Code
(over 99% of annual new home construction)
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0%
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100
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Energy Star
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15%
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85
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NAHB (Emerald Designation)
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20%
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80
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LEED (Platinum Designation)
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25%
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75
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Passiv Haus
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80%
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20
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KDG NET-ZERO-ENERGY Lansmere
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100%
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0
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CLICK THE LINK to the left for the Home Energy Rating Score (HERS) Index.
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The
“Best
of
the
Old”
and
“The
Best
of
the
New”
Since
the
inception
of
the
project
our
goal
has
been
to
achieve
“the
best
of
the
old”
and
“the
best
of
the
new”
and
earn
the
distinction
as
the
best
built
house
in
Shaker
Heights,
Ohio,
the
nation,
and
the
world.
It
is
our
intention
to
“blend
in”
to
the
Historic
District
neighborhood
and
build
a
quality
home
that
achieves
a
- 1925
National Historic Landmark District exterior,
- 2011
modern-day-living-space interior and
- 2030
energy engineering profile.
Insulation
The
extraordinary insulation (wall R-value 55 and ceiling R-value 85 is
300% greater than required by present building code standards, the US
and International Building Code (IBC-2006).
Energy
Generation
Because
the home needs so little energy, the minimal additional energy
required is provided by onsite generation through solar panels and
residential wind applications. The air-tight windows are over 400%
better than the highest ranked major brand US windows.
Heating
Recovery
and
Ventilation
A
heating recovery and ventilation system (HRV) enable ventilation with
fresh air into every room of the house and the reuse of nearly 100%
of the heating/cooling-ambient temperature, providing the highest
quality healthy-air standard, which is a luxury that is unsurpassed.
No
Furnace
The
energy
required
by
this
house
is
so
minimal
that
it
does
not
require
a
furnace.
This
home
consumes
not
more
than
the
energy
required
to
power
a
1500
watt
hair
drier.
Energy
for the House - and Two Electric Automobiles
The
integration of NET-ZERO-ENERGY technology, integration of the modular
home building process, highest level of green home-building practices
and products capable to achieve net-zero, produce enough energy to
power the consumption needs of the house. Additional structural
capacity is built into the house and garage to provide additional
generation capacity to supply the consumption needs of two electric
automobiles.
Historic
Architectural Reproduction
The
architecture is a selection of the best quality elements for
reproduction of a “Fernway neighborhood” home of the 1920s. We
researched the architects used by the Van Swirengen brothers in the
Fernway neighborhood, viewed over one-hundred homes and studied their
style, design and building characteristics. The goal is to carefully
re-establish the architectural spirit of their architects in the
design of the home and blend naturally in its placement in the
neighborhood.
The
neighborhood standard 35-foot building-width footprint presented a
design challenge to achieve a modern-day floor plan. However, we are
delighted with the extraordinary final plan which includes a modern
expansive “kitchen-breakfast-family room”, optional first-floor
master bedroom suite, second-floor master suite and highly-coveted
“mudroom”.
The
house is 2,452 square feet with four bedrooms and three and one half
baths. When including the basement which is a fully conditioned
space, the total square footage is 3,592 square feet.
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Basement
– 1,140 square feet of conditioned space with a thirteen-course
(eight and one half foot) ceiling height, with natural light for
additional build out space for a home theatre, guest bedrooms or
other family uses.
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First
floor – 1,350 square feet with one-half bath. The kitchen,
breakfast room and great room offer extraordinary living space and a
sizeable mudroom and laundry area. The first floor has a traditional
entranceway and maintains the Shaker Heights Fernway neighborhood
formal dining room and den. The den however, is designed to have the
option to be converted to a first floor master suite (and has the
built-in option for a first floor master bedroom suite and full
bathroom).
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Second
floor – 1,312 square feet, master suite plus two bedrooms and two
baths.
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Site
Conditions
A
house fire in 2007 created the availability of the lot and the
opportunity to build this exceptional home in an ideal setting for a
home of this distinction. The lot size is the standard 50’ x 140’
and has a 35’ building footprint width. There are no trees on the
lot and the site is a topographically flat and ready for building.
The
front yard landscaping plan is to blend in to the neighborhood while
using best practices with rain and storm water. We will collect 100%
of the rainwater from the house and garage roof into a front and rear
yard rain gardens and yard irrigation (see plan).
Price:
“The
more
expensive
home
is
really
the
less
expensive
home”
This
house
is
affordable!
It
is
planned
with
“value”
in
mind.
It
will
be
priced
in
the
mid
$400,000
range.
Although
this
may
appear
more
costly
than
other
80-year
old
Fernway
neighborhood
homes,
it
has
a
lower
monthly
cost
of
operation
(which
includes
mortgage
debt
service
and
real
estate
taxes,
natural
gas,
electricity,
water,
sewer,
insurance
and
home
maintenance).
It
should
be
noted
that
the
average
Lansmere/Fernway
neighborhood
home
has
fixed
monthly
expenses
(gas,
electricity,
and
maintenance)
of
approximately
$1300+
per
month.
Even
considering
the
significant
difference
in
price
(including
additional
real
estate
taxes),
our
new
home
has
monthly
operating
cost
of
several
hundred
dollars
less
per
month
than
its
80
year
old
contemporaries.
A
new
paradigm
is
achieved.
Accordingly,
the
“more
expensive
home
is
really
the
less
expensive
home”.
We
have
developed
an
interactive
energy
model
which
allows
neighbors
and
potential
buyers
to
insert
their
present
monthly
operating
costs
into
the
model
(which
include
their
present
monthly
budget
for
natural
gas,
electricity
and
maintenance
– none
of
which
are
tax
deductable)
to
compare
the
monthly
cost
of
this
new
home
to
the
monthly
cost
of
their
existing
home.
In
Conclusion
We
look forward to building a home of this quality and distinction in
Shaker Heights, a city of quality and distinction. I anticipate that
our efforts will enhance the fine national reputation of Shaker
Heights and its 2012 Centennial Celebration and we look forward to
working with you.
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