Efficient and Low Impact
Just like Whistler itself, this luxury home is the perfect marriage of opulent splendour and the desire to exist in balance with nature.
The timeless beauty of the house is only matched by its future-proofing green construction, environmental design and eye toward sustainability.
No luxury home on the Whistler real estate market can boast of better indoor air quality or energy efficiency.
Rammed Earth
Rammed Earth is possibly the single lowest environmental impact building system commercially available today, yet based on an ancient method of building.
It is composed of only six natural materials: sand, gravel, water, Portland cement, Roxul natural insulation and non-toxic sealer. This Rammed Earth construction used 60 per cent less Portland cement than conventional concrete structure.
As the sand and gravel were locally sourced from the neighbouring Pemberton area, it will feature uniquely coloured walls to any other Rammed Earth home in the world.
Energy Efficiency
- The home will be certified as R2000 and Built Green™ Platinum with an Energy-guide target of 88-90. At 90 The Rammed Earth House will be one of the highest rated homes in North America.
- Insulation: Home comfort is achieved through high, airtight insulation values achieved with R42 2lb Polar Foam in the roof; R23 Roxul Natural insulation in the Rammed Earth walls and R26 ½ lb Icynene foam in the wood framed walls.
- The ventilation/heat recovery system is designed to dramatically reduce heating and cooling costs. The amount of savings of course depends on the lifestyle of the homeowner.
- The house has a grey water heat recovery system and is set up for grey water recycling.
- The house has been designed to take advantage of passive solar energy. The clerestory windows and large roof extensions offer warming in the winter and cooling in the summer.
- Window System - casings are fibreglass – the tightest windows tested for air leakage to date. The windowpanes are Low E and filled with Argon gas to maximize the thermal performance.
Air Quality
Special attention has been paid to the air quality within the Rammed Earth home, making it one of the healthiest homes in Canada. The “intelligent-air” system keeps the house perfectly tuned both in terms of temperature and fresh air.
Air is circulated using ducts – the arteries of the system - with fresh air constantly supplied to every room and filtered through a hospital-quality UV air filter, resulting in the highest possible indoor air quality.
Heat sensors monitor the room temperature and adjust for your optimum comfort. The air comes through the grills at floor level and the return air leaves through the upper grills. The variance in temperature between the floor and the ceiling is minimal. In fact, the temperature at the highest point in the room is lower than at floor level.
Building Envelope
- The Building Envelope is exceptionally high performing, resulting in excellent energy efficiencies, indoor air quality and greater living comfort.
- The old growth timbers have been incorporated into one of the highest performing wall and window systems built in Whistler to date.
- The home's airtight building envelope was designed to achieve 1.0 air change per hour. To date the Rammed Earth Home has achieved 1.1 air changes per hour. The air change per rate is a measurement of how energy efficient the home is. Conversely, a code built home is less efficient and ranges between five to 10 air changes per hour.
- Rainstone panels: a product fabricated from 60 per cent consumer paper waste; sourced from Seattle area; UV coating.
Ecological Footprint
A major theme of the home’s design was to minimize its ecological footprint.
- To keep the ecological footprint small, more than 80 per cent of the materials were sourced locally and reclaimed and recycled products were used wherever possible: Carrera Marble, paving stones in the driveway, Douglas fir timbers harvested from a standing dead forest.
- Zero VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) materials were selected: polished concrete floor, paint, stains – just to name a few.
- Construction of the home only produced a fraction of the usual waste.
Master Control
The Master Control device, centrally located in the kitchen, displays humidity, indoor and outdoor temperatures, plus it enables the homeowner to see and set temperatures for each room in the home. It also displays many of the technical details of the performance of the integrated heating and ventilation system.
Built Green™
The Rammed Earth house meets the Built Green criteria to be certified “Built Green™ Platinum”.
- Built Green™ is a voluntary program, owned and managed by the Built Green™ Society of Canada that uses buyer demand, market education and builder training to encourage builders to build homes that have better:
- Energy Efficiency
- Indoor Air Quality
- Resource Use (including Waste Management)
- Overall Environmental Impact
- Built Green™ adds value to new home construction by promoting and recognizing the use of practices and products that represents resource-efficient and environmentally friendly construction.
- The primary purpose of Built Green™ is to encourage homebuilders to use technologies, products and practices that will:
- Provide greater energy efficiency and reduce pollution
- Provide healthier indoor air
- Reduce water usage
- Preserve natural resources
- Improve durability and reduce maintenance
Download the Rammed Earth Fact Sheet
For a viewing appointment, please contact Karen Vagelatos or Susie Frank.
