House Style and Features
This Craftsman style house design
includes:
 Custom rafters and gutter‐notched rafter tails  Custom door and window trim elements  Exterior brick porch entry and brick columns  Stained concrete floor  Slate floor and baseboard  Granite countertops  Cherry cabinets with pull‐out trays, soft‐close hinges and slides  Corner cabinet recycling carousel  Professionally designed and installed landscape, including automated sprinklers and drip irrigation systems  West‐facing, ocean view deck  James Hardie concrete fiber, horizontal siding (30 Year Warranty)  Quality Door hardware and Smart‐key lockset technology HROP Building Trades
Model/Demonstration Home
1245 Chelsea Way
McKinleyville, CA
Overview
This home construction project was made possible by the contributions of many people and businesses. Some of the contributions were monetary, some were an investment of time, and some were both. Our community benefits in many ways from the successful completion of these projects. We are proud to be a part of our generous community. Our plan is to continue to train our youth to become skilled and responsible adults. This model/demonstration house has been built by high school students enrolled in the Humboldt Regional Occupational Program’s Building Trades construction class. Students from Arcata and McKinleyville High Schools have been involved in the planning, design and construction process. The information in this pamphlet will identify many of the energy‐saving features, materials and mechanisms that will allow for a healthy indoor living environment. Thank You for Your Support
This list is a compilation of the many people and businesses who partnered with us. For those whose names are left out, we apologize and sincerely thank you too. Individual Contributors:  David Blevin  Gene Callahan  Doug Deppe  Jim Fuller  Jim Furtado  Phil Grinell  Larry Hansen  Kevin Jenkins  David Katz  Mike Keffer  Nate McKeever  Dan Morgan  Neil Penfold  Morgan Randall  George Schmidbauer  Roy Smith  Scott Snedeker Business Contributors:  Abby Technical Services  Alves Inc.  Anderson Windows  Azalea Realty  Brian Fallon Painting  Cement Finisher’s Local #300  Chapman Engineering  Custom Cabinets ‐ Fortuna  Don’s Rent‐all  Evergreen Landscape  Ferguson  Forbusco Lumber  Griffin’s Budget Drywall 
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Hensell Materials Home Depot Humboldt Fasteners Humboldt Sanitation James Builders Johnson’s Mobil Rentals Lowes Kernen Construction Maples Plumbing McKeever Energy and Electric McKinleyville Ace Mill Yard Miller Farms Nursery Myrtletown Insulation O & M Industries Penfold Engineering Pierson Building Center Platt Electric R & R Electric REC Solar Schmidbauer Lumber Scurfield Solar Seidt Construction SHN Engineering Sholes Overhead Doors Superior Alarm Taco Incorporated Thomas Home Center Thrifty Supply The Tile Outlet Uponor/Osborne Company Watson and Company Energy-efficient Features
PASSIVE SOLAR DESIGN
SOLAR PHOTO-VOLTAIC SYSTEM
INSULATION
LIGHTING AND ELECTRICAL
The majority of windows in this home are located on the south and west sides of the house. The first‐story concrete slab and slate are heat‐
absorbing surfaces, designed to assist in heating the home. The design uses daytime natural light‐
ing to minimize the lighting energy needs. Exterior wall cavities are a full 6” thick and filled with ULTRAFIT‐DS fiberglass blown‐in insulation. All wall cavities have been sealed between the studs and exterior sheathing, reducing air infiltration. Half‐inch closed cell insulation strips were placed between the interior stud wall and the interior drywall on the house’s exterior walls. This thermal‐break lessens the heat loss created by conduction through the studs and the drywall. The second story floor is insu‐
lated on the lower side of the floor joists. This insu‐
lation provides an oven‐effect for the upper floor hydronic in‐floor heat system as well as a sound bar‐
rier between floors. The blown‐in attic insulation has an R‐38 rating. Each room is insulated between common walls to reduce sound transmission. The first‐story, 5” thick slab is insulated with 2” rigid foam. The slab is protected from moisture infiltra‐
tion by a 15 mil vapor barrier. WINDOWS AND SLIDING GLASS DOORS
The roof‐mounted, 12‐Panel solar array is rated at 2.33kW and should generate over 10kW of power each day. The system uses Emphases Micro Invert‐
ers to convert the DC power to AC power. The sys‐
tem should generate enough electricity to meet the majority of the home’s electrical energy needs. The system can be monitored on site and on‐line to determine the energy production of the system at any given time. The house lighting is either light emitting diode (LED) or compact fluorescent (CFL). This light‐
ing requires a very low energy demand and will greatly reduce the replacement interval. The interior electric sub‐panel is located in the me‐
chanical closet allowing circuit breakers to be readily accessible. The short circuit line lengths reduce wire‐length runs and materials used. Each room has multiple phone and cable con‐
nection points for the Cat and coax cables. A structured media center hub is located in the garage. This centralized media center allows for all of the home’s present and future communi‐
cation needs to be upgraded from one conven‐
ient location. The ceiling fan is designed to keep the air moving and assist in relocating the heated air throughout the house. The refrigera‐
tor wall area has a smart‐wire connection port to be used with a Smart Fridge.
IN-FLOOR HYDRONIC AND
DOMESTIC HOT WATER HEATING
The home is heated with a 96% efficient natural‐
gas condensing hot water heater. The hydronic heating system creates no dust and uses the natural convection properties of warmed air to circulate heat. PEX tubing and individual room thermostats allow for heat to be delivered to only the rooms requesting heat. The plumbing/
electrical mechanical closet is centrally located in the home, allowing for short plumbing runs. Low‐flow water fixtures were used to minimize water and energy usage. Short plumbing runs allow for lower energy usage and less water consumption when transferring heated water. The house was built using Anderson windows and sliding glass doors which are vinyl, dual‐paned glass. The windows and doors are Energy Star rated. The Anderson manufacturing company uses recycled materials to build the frames for their window and door products. ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The home has been designed to surpass the Califor‐
nia Title 24 energy efficiency standards by more than 40%. This high efficiency rating qualifies the home for the PG&E Solar Homes Partnership Program. A small number of homes are able to qualify for this program due to difficulty of reaching the efficiency standards. HEAT RECOVERY VENTILATOR (HRV)
The heat recovery ventilator is designed to replace indoor air with fresh, outdoor air on a 24/7 sched‐
ule. The attic location of the HRV unit allows the ducting to pull in outside air from the west side of the home and to bring the fresh air into the three bedrooms and family room and to pull the exhaust air from the kitchen and two bathrooms. The ex‐
haust air pre‐heats the fresh, incoming air and re‐
captures 80% of the heat energy from the exhaust air. The system is designed to completely replace all of the home’s air with fresh air once every three hours. Air‐tight homes need to be mechanically ventilated to provide fresh, healthy air for the home’s occupants. APPLIANCES
All the kitchen appliances are LG brand. The micro‐
wave doubles as a ventilation fan and exhausts air to the outside. The all‐stainless steel dishwasher is one of the quietest on the market and is Energy Star rated. The electric range is one of LG’s nicer units and comes with self‐cleaning and convection oven capabilities. The electric range option was taken in order to utilize the solar PV system’s po‐
tential. INDOOR AIR QUALITY
The home was painted with Green Label, low‐
VOC paint. The carpet is 100% BCF Polyester. The carpet pad is approved by the Green Build‐
ing Council and exceeds the CRI indoor air qual‐
ity standards. Cabinets were built with solid cherry wood and plywood and contain no for‐
maldehyde off‐gasing products.