High Street Passive House

BEFORE

Cold Spring, NY

The 1880’s historic house that was located at this project site burned beyond repair in early July of 2014.   “What is to become of the old house?” has been on everyone’s mind in Cold Spring.  This ground-up new construction was debated whether it should be completely modern or historical in context.  The Client, River Architects and the local Historic District Review Board discussed the pros and cons and we all agreed that the High Street’s Victorian character should be maintained but with some allowance on clean lines and modern, high-performance windows.  

While the Client missed her previous house, she described the aspects that could use significant improvements such as energy performance, natural light, and the views to the mountains and Hudson River.  The Client also wanted to preserve what was good about the previous house such as her home office overlooking the children’s park and the generous back deck with partially covered patio.  The Client being in her 80’s, we decided that incorporating a bedroom on the ground floor would be wise.  On the other hand, the house being near the school and the children’s park, the Client also requested that we design the house for the next generation of young families.

River Architects proposed to incorporate super-insulated Passive House standards into the historic Victorian aesthetics because high-performance house will become the expected norm of the future.  The integration of decks and porches were challenging in maintaining a continuous thermal envelope but we proved that it can be done with careful planning and detail-oriented builder.

With R-55 exterior walls, R-50 slab, R-80 roofs and 6.48 kW photovoltaic solar panel system, the total energy bill for the first year, including heating, air conditioning, lights and appliances is expected to be less than $58 per month plus the Central Hudson delivery charges and taxes.