Features

• Airtight, thermal-bridge-free, 5,000+ sf Passive House with constant fresh-air ventilation and air purification.
• Net-zero-energy performance.
• Can withstand a 225+-MPH sustained wind.
• Constructed entirely of cradle-to-cradle and non-toxic (VOC-free) materials.   Nearly 100% of building structure was re-used, all new lumber is FSC-certified or re-claimed.
• Walls insulated to R-65, Retrofit Cellar R-50, Slab-on-grade R-90, and Roof R-60,
• Triple-paned, thermally broken, UV-protected, ballistics-grade glass windows are R-20, with SHGC of 53%.   Installed without thermal bridging and airtight.
• Heating & hot water systems rely 95% on the sun and earth, Cooling systems rely 90% on the sun and earth.
• Home melts the snow off its driveway and walkways, captures and purifies water,
• Big trees kept on site, added native, drought-tolerant local planting.  Micro-irrigation system uses captured and purified rainwater,
• Encased in recycled glass with redundant airtight barriers, and with ventilation that makes 90-degree turns, the building qualifies as a nuclear fallout shelter.

Taking apart and rebuilding the home stud by stud, adding an extension, and reinforcing the whole building, engineer Raj Parikh set out to demonstrate the viability of:

1.  A renewable energy future without sacrificing modern luxury, and

2.  The ecological and fiscal prudence of reconstructing older building stock instead of sending it to the landfill.

 

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Setting

The project is located on a cul-de-sac in the Borough of Paramus in Bergen County, New Jersey, USA.

Climate Zone

Paramus, NJ is located in mixed-humid Climate Zone 5; cold winters and hot summers and year-round precipitation.

 

Why a Suburban Project?

Cities have built-in efficiency: shared systems in apartment buildings, public transit, and fewer daily car trips.  Raj’s firm is in Manhattan with projects all over the city where the carbon problem is increasingly under control.

The Parikh family and their firm welcomed the opportunity to design-from-scratch and build a carbon-neutral home right in a classic American suburb, located 15 miles Northwest of NYC.