Rebecca F. Bundy, Design for Sustainable Living, LLC

Ketchum, Idaho:  Addition / Remodel,  2006

Recycling an existing home is a great way to practice sustainable principles.  This project remodeled a sixteen year old home near Ketchum, Idaho.  The back porch was enclosed to enlarge the living room, and a trellis was added to prevent summer overheating.  A playroom near the kitchen was added for the family’s young children, and most of the interior walls were rearranged to create a more open great room and more functional bedrooms and baths.  One garage bay was converted to a home office and a mud room, and a new bay was added on the end of the garage.

 

 

The crawlspace was insulated and provided with mechanical ventilation, eliminating an existing moisture problem.  The radiant heat tubing was reworked and a new high-efficiency boiler installed.  Leaky old windows were replaced with new Pella Energy Star clad units.

 

The new rusted steel roof, which replaces leaking cedar shakes, will provide fire protection for the next fifty years.  Hot water is provided by an evacuated tube thermal solar system, hidden by landscaping behind the garage.  A small greenhouse is planned to grow fresh vegetables year round.

The cabinets and flooring removed were donated to a young couple building their first home.  The new flooring, a ¾” concrete overlay, distributes the existing radiant floor heat better than the former oak floor and provides mass moderate interior temperature .  The new cabinets were made with low-formaldehyde plywood and are capped with concrete countertops that also add needed thermal mass.  The tiles used in the new baths and inlayed in the countertops are made from recycled materials.  The paints and stains are low VOC.