Green Wine Country
This Wine Creek Road Residence is a modest (1,200-square-foot) family retreat tucked away in the rolling hills of Healdsburg. Designed by Siegel & Strain Architects in Emeryville, this home evokes the spirit of William Turnbull and aspires to be timeless rather than trendy. Not only is this lovely getaway tastefully designed, but in true Bay Area fashion, it is green and sustainable. The simple retreat uses natural ventilation (rather than mechanical cooling), thermal mass, radiant floor heating, straw bale construction, and on-site management of almost all storm water. These sustainable design measures reduce environmental impact while adding to a comfortable, homey setting.
Site planning played an important role in the design. The setting is a sloping meadow surrounded by oaks and conifers, overlooking the vineyards of the Dry Creek Valley. The owners wanted to maximize the feeling of space and openness, even though the rural parcel is fairly small. Therefore, the house is carefully situated on the upper edge of the lot, to preserve the meadow below and to take advantage of the breathtaking views beyond. This orientation also allows the house to fit into the site without dominating it. Steep forested hills to the west and south eliminated the possibility of passive solar heating, but the architects knew these conditions would help keep the house cool on hot days.
The house offers a variety of indoor and outdoor living spaces that can be used in different ways as weather conditions change over the course of the year. A single, large room on the south end of the building contains the living, dining, and kitchen areas. This space is balanced on the north end by a matching area containing a bedroom and a bathroom. A central, open breezeway, referred to as a dogtrot, separates these two, integrating a feeling of the outdoors into the heart of the house.
The chief strategy for saving energy in this home was to keep the building cool during the long, hot summer months without mechanical cooling. This was accomplished by employing natural ventilation, thermal mass, and superior insulation. The thin section of the structure—the dogtrot—and placement of the windows all maximize opportunities for natural ventilation. The interior plaster walls and concrete floor provide enough thermal mass to minimize temperature swings, and integrate well with the radiant heating system. Because this mass is cooled at night simply by opening the windows, the house remains cool throughout the day—except during the hottest hours of the hottest days.
The building envelope was developed using high-performance, low-tech insulation: straw bales and cellulose insulation. Windows are wood, to minimize thermal bridging, and double-glazed with low-emissivity glazing. A highly efficient water heater provides radiant floor heating when cooler winter weather arrives.
Duration: 9 months. Distinctive characteristics: a sustainable design and function, made possible by leading-edge green building materials.
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