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. The Client, River Architects and the local Historic District Review Board discussed the pros and cons of modern versus historical design. Everyone agreed that the High Street’s Victorian character should be maintained but with some allowance on clean lines and modern, high-performance windows.
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 achieved with careful planning and detail-oriented builder.
With R-55 exterior walls, R-50 slab, R-76 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.
