Building and Remodeling Energy-Efficient Homes in New England

Over the past few years, high-performance, energy efficient homes have skyrocketed in popularity as homebuyers and homeowners prioritize reducing their environmental footprint and saving on energy costs when building new homes or remodeling. People often think of these as sleek, minimalistic modern style homes with high-tech systems. However, integrating sustainable features into your home doesn’t have to mean sacrificing a classic look.

There are many energy efficient home features that can be integrated into traditional, New England-style homes. We’re talking energy efficient capes, colonials, Victorians, and Greek revival homes. Classic New England-style homes were popularized during the colonial era, around the 1630s, and continued to grow in popularity through the 18th and 19th centuries. These traditional styles are known for their practical, symmetrical designs, with steep roofs and sturdy build. 

However, with their age, these classic homes were styled without accounting for the needs of modern technology – so how does that affect the energy efficiency and practicality for homeowners looking to build or remodel? Many historic homes that utilize traditional architecture were made with built-in environmentally-conscious features such as thick walls, reliable materials, and natural lighting and heating.

Although many of the techniques of yesteryear are now cost-prohibitive to many, today's builders, architects, and engineers have many more options to create high-performing, energy-efficient homes based in traditional architecture. By combining traditional New England-style architecture and its old passive methods with modern technology and the latest building science techniques, we can deliver homes offering a blend of energy efficiency, healthier indoor air quality and timeless architectural detail. At Gilmore Building Co., we refer to this as the new old home!

But how do design elements in a home translate to its energy efficiency?

The push away from homes that require a massive level of energy consumption resulting in high energy costs has resurged a focus on efficient design and energy conservation. Passive design elements, modern materials and the latest technologies should be utilized in concert when designing this way.

As people seek more sustainable lifestyles, or ways to cut costs of homeownership, homeowners or new-home buyers can consider incorporating passive efficiency techniques with high-tech efficiency upgrades. When homeowners combine these techniques and upgrades, they can maximize the value of their investment and achieve greater energy savings for every dollar spent. This approach also makes the home more environmentally-conscious while incorporating traditional architectural elements, boosting the home’s overall curb appeal. Many traditional New England-style homes have been around for centuries and have withstood the test of time, easily lending themselves to efficiency remodels or serving as inspiration for a new home build.

Building Sustainably With Passive Systems

Historically, homes relied on natural elements for cooling. Mechanical ventilation systems weren’t available, so builders utilized passive techniques like well-placed windows and doors to take advantage of pressure differences, while also considering site orientation, vegetation and porches to make the homes more comfortable.

Today, homes are built tighter to control the airflow with more precision. While modern ventilation systems are effective and widely used, combining them with these passive techniques and with the newer materials can enhance the system's efficiency. Passive techniques also provide lasting benefits with little to no additional costs once implemented. The New England region is a great contender for combining modern and passive systems, specifically because it has all four seasons in a year. Some of these combined features utilized by traditional New England-style homes include:

• Siting and orientation (North/South)
• Location, size and efficiency of glass in windows and doors
• Large trees that provide shade in the summer and allow sunlight in the winter
• Air sealing systems
• Insulation of all kinds – with careful considerations for location and type

Home siting can play a major role in its energy efficiency, especially when it comes to utilizing natural light and heat. A home with passive solar characteristics can benefit home heating costs. Passive heating features allow the home to collect, store and distribute heat directly from the sun. These passive designs often use large south-facing windows with specialty glass to utilize sunlight exposure when it is needed most, in the winter. This technique heats up materials in the home during the day and in turn those surfaces radiate that heat into your living space at night. 

Porches and other architectural shade features benefit this purpose as well, while also ensuring the structure is architecturally pleasing. Porches used as passive home features increase a home’s energy efficiency year-round. For example, in the summer when the sun is high in the sky, a porch keeps rooms in the home cooler by providing shade and sun protection, but in the winter when the sun is lower on the horizon, they allow the sun to make its way through to interior spaces to light and warm its interior.

Similarly, a canopy or native trees like maples and oaks offer shade in the summer, blocking high-angle sunlight and helping to keep the home cool. In the winter, when these trees shed their leaves, they allow the low-angle sunlight to pass through, warming the home naturally and reducing the need for artificial heating and lighting.

Seasonal adaptability makes passive systems perfect for homes in New England. Porches, awnings and trees are a low-maintenance, energy-saving feature that enhances comfort, reduces utility costs, and complement other passive solar design strategies. When these techniques are layered with modern air sealing and insulation methods, and materials that surround the conditioned spaces, you truly start to take advantage of energy savings without adding to a monthly energy bill.

Passive Systems in Efficient Remodeling

Remodeling offers a prime opportunity for homeowners to upgrade their home's energy efficiency in a convenient way. Making improvements, such as adding passive systems and modern upgrades can be seamlessly integrated into the remodeling process, and boost the home’s overall performance. These systems and upgrades include porches and other architectural shading elements, air sealing, upgraded insulation, landscaping (shade trees), and installing high-performance windows and doors. Many of these efficient adjustments also preserve and enhance a home's exterior façade, while adding character and increasing the value of a home.

Going beyond these upgrades, homeowners might also explore the benefits of adding solar systems, high efficiency heating and cooling and advanced mechanical ventilation. All of which will further lower energy requirements and make the home feel more comfortable. The new ventilation systems will also greatly improve indoor air quality. 

In the sections ahead, we'll explore how utilizing these strategies, whether remodeling or building, can enhance a home's energy efficiency while maintaining its New England charm.

Material Selection and Considerations

Preventing air loss and limiting rapid temperature transfer are also key to maintaining comfort and reducing energy costs. 

Materials are often one of the most important considerations when home buyers or homeowners are renovating or buying. Historic New England-style home designs integrate materials such as stone and brick, and while popular, full brick or stone walls are not as efficient as the new wall building techniques. There are however new ways to utilize “thin” versions of these materials that get applied to the home's exterior walls. In fact, you can utilize many different types of cladding with today’s wall assembly techniques. The cladding often will and should act independently of the wall structure. Pairing these exterior walls with fiberglass framed, multi-pane insulated doors and windows further supports your home's thermal barrier, keeping warm air in the home during the winter and cool air inside during the summer.

Proper air sealing also plays a significant role maintaining a home’s barrier. Over time, caulking and weather stripping around windows and doors can degrade, which can lead to unwanted drafts and energy loss. It's recommended for homeowners to re-caulk or replace weather stripping every 5 to 10 years, which can be done when remodeling or during routine maintenance of the home. By combining durable materials with thoughtful insulation and intentional maintenance, you’ll not only create a more energy-efficient home but also lower utility bills and improve year-round comfort.

Integrating New Technology

Solar panels, heat pumps, geothermal systems, energy-efficient windows and doors, and other innovative building technologies are common when designing high-performing, energy efficient homes. While these materials may not necessarily fit the traditional home aesthetic, there are many ways to integrate new technology into your home's system. Many homeowners or homebuyers opt to place solar panels and exterior heat pumps in hard to see, hidden places around the house. Hiding solar panels can mean designing a home accessible from the north, while placing the panels on the south-facing part of the roof to remain out of sight. A similar strategy can be implemented for heat pumps, placing them on the far side of the house away from sight. 

Heat pumps offer a highly efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional heating and cooling methods such as furnaces and air conditioners. In the colder seasons, the heat pump extracts heat from the outdoors and transfers it inside the home. Conversely, in warmer seasons, the heat is extracted from indoors and released outside.

Geothermal heat pumps offer another alternative to providing both heating and cooling functions, minimizing energy consumption, and significantly reducing the home's heating costs. While the purpose is similar to heat pumps, the methods for these geothermal systems differ. The geothermal technology transfers the earth’s heat from the ground into buildings during the colder months, and pumps heat from inside the building back into the earth during the warmer months, allowing the building to cool. Geothermal systems can reduce the home's heating cost by as much as 65% when utilized as recommended. 

Additionally, geothermal heat pump systems can be further utilized to move heated fluid underneath driveways or other parts of the homes to warm floors, or driveways. Gilmore Building Co. has built a geothermal driveway snow melt system for the high performing home featured here.

Indoor geothermal heat pumps are typically placed in basements, utility rooms, or garages, in places where conventional furnaces are often located in the home. Geothermal systems do require outdoor components however, but they are not present above ground. The hidden components and the lack of need for an outdoor condenser unit can allow homeowners to make more use of their property.

Energy-efficient windows and doors can provide comfort in your home as a form of temperature retention. They prevent heat gain or loss from external sources, as well as retain the indoor temperatures. These windows also lower the demand on your heating and cooling units, reduce noise and increase your home’s value.

Translation to Energy-Efficient Homes

Passive home systems used to make traditional New England-style homes have integrated benefits. However, this alone won't make the home highly energy-efficient. Newer technology helps streamline a home's performance when combined with these designs and systems.

Homeowners in New England can effectively use solar systems to reduce or eliminate energy costs and environmental footprints. Solar systems have the added benefit of keeping your home running when the grid goes down. While there is a misconception that New England states are poor contenders for solar panels, due to the area's diverse weather conditions and harsh winters, solar usage in the region actually has increasing benefits. Solar panels tend to perform more effectively in colder weather. Furthermore, states like Massachusetts have incentive programs for solar energy. This incentive coupled with falling costs for the technology, can lead New England homeowners to see significant reduction to their historically high electricity costs.

Creating Your Energy-Efficient Home

An effective way for homeowners to make their dream home high-performing is to utilize energy-efficient strategies. Combining these time-proven design elements with newer technology is an effective way to ultimately help homeowners save on their energy bills, while maintaining a classic look. When remodeling or designing your New England-style home, always remember the following to help make it the best it can be: