This 5,800 sf. highly efficient “hybrid” home is described by the owner as a perfect match to his hybrid suv. The house features five bedrooms for a young couple and their expanding family and numerous family pets. The tree car garage sits above a day lit basement for a bedroom suite to be fitted out in the future. The house, while large, is extremely energy efficient and now under construction, is on target to achieve a LEED Gold rating.

The house is located on a wooded slope near a small lake north of Pittsburgh. The form of the house works with the natural slope of the hill, the roofs frame the dynamic views of the site and the lake while maintaining ideal orientations and slopes for the installation of photovoltaic and thermal solar panels. A field of five geothermal wells has been dug into the site and will combine with a distributed heat pump system. Rainwater is collected from the roofs and stored on site for irrigation of the new planting.

The thermally “uncoupled” exterior wall construction is a combination of ICF (insulated concrete form work) SIPS (structural insulated panels) panels, laminated framing and timber truss framing. Trusses and framing is exposed at the two story living / dinning / kitchen space with stained concrete floors featuring radiant heating. The floors in the bedrooms and private spaces are bamboo and the home is fitted throughout with triple glazed windows with integral shades.

The home was developed using energy modeling during the design development phase to “tune” and refine the combinations of the passive solar and ventilation with the mechanical building systems. The final models indicate that this large home will require only $830 of total energy annually for heating and air conditioning. Construction completion is anticipated the fall of 2009.