Nestled in the mountains of Western North Carolina, My Healing Cottage fulfills this couple’s lifelong dream of building a sustainable home, harmonious with the surrounding landscape, which offers a place of teaching and inspiration for all who enter.
At 1166 square feet of living space upstairs plus a partially-finished walkout basement, My Healing Cottage is right-sized for the homeowner needs. It was built to be sustainable by homeowners pursing their own vision, on a middle-class budget. Its focus on local products, durability, material efficiency, and common-sense energy efficiency design make it stand out as a green home.
The Deltec structure and process of creation offered a winning package of durability and sustainability. The owners, an architect and his wife, an energy healer, worked with Deltec designer Kerry Watkins to create the floor plan for My Healing Cottage, where both would live and work out of their respective home offices. The owners chose a metal shingle roof that Deltec developed with Classic Metal Roofing Systems specifically for the round design’s triangle shaped roof sections. The shingle application allows for the high durability of a kynar-finished metal roof while drastically reducing the waste that would be generated by trying to cut a square sheet of metal to fit a pyramidal roof. The owners use this metal roof to collect rainwater in rain barrels for garden irrigation, although the lot is practically absent of any conventional turf, using instead rocks, mulch, native vegetation, and gravel to provide ground cover.
Cozy and complete, the kitchen/living/dining area has everything the couple needs to relax and enjoy their home. Behind that partial wall in the background is the architect's studio.
For the interior finishes, local, energy efficient and low-emitting were the standards these homeowners. Walls are painted with American Pride Paint, an ultra-low VOC finish, while wood trim and doors are protected with whey-derived Vermont Natural Coatings products. The kitchen cabinet and fireplace surround were hand-built by James using wood and stone salvaged from the construction site. Kitchen countertops are made from recycled paper and quartz, while appliances were selected from among the most energy and water efficient options in their class. They include a Boshe dishwasher that uses only 1.9 gallons of water per cycle, a Frigidaire hybrid induction range top, Samsung front loading clothes washer and dryer, and Maytag refrigerator.
The owners treasure the abundance of natural light that floods into their home, from the many windows around the structure.
An acid stained lightweight slab floor acts as thermal mass to store the sunlight that streams in from south-facing windows, which are wood framed, double pane from Integrity from Marvin Windows and Doors, and use Marvin’s special “Low-E-180” coating to maximize solar heat gain where it matters.
Leigha Dickens, Deltec’s green building and energy efficient envelope design expert, helped the homeowners to lay out their home according to classic sustainable design principles. She helped them size overhangs, windows, and appropriate thermal mass for passive solar design; helped them select high performance insulation and fresh air ventilation strategies; and helped train their builder, Al Pierce of Al Pierce Contractors, on how to build the home to achieve and surpass Energy Star certification.
Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and if you 'know your green', this is indeed a sight to behold! The energy efficient aspects of the building shell include: locally and durably produced 2x6 wall panels built with 24” on center framing, 1” of exterior foam insulation, and box header cavities filled with recycled XPS insulation; blown-in-blankets in the cavities that give the walls a total R-value of 24; roof trusses featuring a raised heel truss insulated with open cell spray foam to R38.
In order to meet Energy Star certification, thorough air-sealing treatment was applied to all areas of the home. The home received a projected HERS score of 48.
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