A fully passive energy design strategy yields maximum efficiency & contextual appropriateness…

…in this 2,000 square foot three-bedroom, three bathroom house built in the Sandy Mush area of Leicester, North Carolina and functions as an instrument highly ‘tuned’ to the physical characteristics of the site.  Motivating the design is a fully passive strategy where direct & indirect passive solar collection, geothermal, natural ventilation and local materiality all tempered the design process and shaped the final form for maximum energy efficiency.  The result is a synthesis of vernacular tradition with a modern language that creates an architectural form firmly rooted in its own place and time.

The long and narrow house is situated perpendicular to the slope to take advantage of local prevailing wind patterns and with its primary axis east-west to maximize solar gains through a fully integrated passive solar sunspace & greenhouse at the south facade.  An exposed concrete thermal mass storage wall absorbs the suns energy when exposed to the low winter sun.  Conversely, in the warmer months when shaded by a continuous five-foot roof overhang the wall acts as a cool-sync that draws heat from the air and cools the adjacent spaces.  Heat gains can be recovered and mechanically distributed to the basement to enact a natural convective loop to facilitate adequate air exchanges for moisture management.  The single-pitch shed roof diverts rainwater to a single collection point for grey water reclamation, irrigation and livestock.  Further contributing to a reduced carbon footprint and establishing harmony with the bucolic setting site-harvested black locust trees are used for all exterior cladding, natural columns and live-edge counter tops throughout.

The overall success of the design is a result of the interdependence of the various passive systems used, how well they are calibrated to the specific location and respecting the land and the built history that surrounds it