SunDog Ridge

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Case Study #1 - Sun Dog Ridge

This home is passive solar design (designed by Pamela Neely), with main living spaces and glazing oriented due south. Canada has cold winters and hot summers, which make insulation and energy efficiency a primary concern. The client also wanted to make the living space as non-toxic as possible and chose materials with low off-gassing qualities. The final result is a home that can be truly enjoyed. It consumes approximately 60% less energy than homes of similar size, had no “new-house smell” when the client moved in and is a real testament to form and function working in a cohesive manner. Some of the considerations the client had and the solutions chosen were as follows:

Natural landscaping, drainage and non-pvc or aluminum
siding - natural shading design elements - no paving on
driveway - natural stone.

Baxi - On demand hot water heat is
essentially the homes furnace

Energy Efficiency:

Passive solar design with main living spaces and glazing oriented due south
Double wall construction (stick frame) for R30 insulation value in walls and R50 in roof
Slab on grade with radiant heat - R10 under the slab
On-demand water heater (shown)– closed loop system for radiant heat and open loop for potable water (both potable and radiant heat are provided by the same unit)
Roof overhangs on the south side provide shade in summer and allow solar gain in winter
Fiberglass windows with triple glazing on west and north orientations (all glazing is northern low E for maximum solar gain)
Air lock entry (achieved with a very cool sliding barn door)
Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) for fresh air exchange
High efficiency wood burning stove, open concept house - allows stove to heat entire house

Environmental Concerns:
No PVC
Zero-VOC paint
Low-VOC finish on the polished concrete slab
   floor
Low-formaldehyde content cabinets (researched
   German E-1 spec)
Wool carpet (client amazed at how naturally
   stain repellent it is)
Appliances are all low-energy consuming
Alternative septic system to reduce size of
   leaching bed and preserve natural features of
   the building site
Natural landscaping – wildflower meadow, clover
   & creeping thyme, flagstone patio and walkway
Used materials that are high-quality and long
   lasting like 40 year roof shingles.

High efficiency wood stove, polished concrete slab
for mass and radiant floor efficiency

Roof overhangs on south side - all natural
siding, natural drainage - river rock drainage bed

Lessons Learned:
The more thermal mass the better. In hindsight it would have been wise to use a product like Durisol)

Pay attention to thermal bridging – slab was not thermally broken from the footing walls – on days when the radiant heat has not been on, one could feel the cold creep in from the perimeter (although this had been considered in the original design, the concrete contractor didn’t follow through…)

Triple glaze windows – with a northern low E even on south - or with a mixed coating system to help insulate in the summer better - keep cool in. Or use window treatments with some insulating value ( slight overheating in the summer because client doesn’t like the look of window treatments.)

Sustainable | environmentally friendly | energy efficient | building design