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CITY’S OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY AND ENNVIRONMENT ENDORSES FIRST NET-ZERO HOUSE IN SOMERVILLE

Revolutionary Design Signals New Direction in Sustainable and Green Building

SOMERVILLE - The Somerville Office of

Sustainability and Environment (OSE) announced their support today for a

recently renovated two-family house as a model of Net-Zero Energy building for

the city. "Net Zero Energy building" is

a new construction practice where buildings are designed to produce as much

energy as they consume, and this renovated home, owned by Chungha Cha of Susterra

Partners in Korea and located at 13 Elmwood St. is the first Net-Zero home in

the City. It is also the first building

in Somerville to attain a Tier 3 rating from the Environmental Protection

Agency's Energy Star program and conforms to EPA Federal Indoor airPLUS certification

for indoor air quality through its ventilation and insulation building

technique. OSE encourages others constructing residential units in the City to learn

from the environmentally conscious techniques used in this revolutionary design

for this home.

The home, a spacious two-family

double-decker a short distance from Davis Square, utilized "green" construction

techniques in areas such as insulation, heating and cooling, ventilation and

structural reinforcement to minimize the building carbon footprint while still

maintaining a spacious living-area. It also produces all electricity and heat

through two different kinds of state-of-the-art solar panels, which are applied

in an innovative design of having the electricity-producing photovoltaic panels

set atop the heat-producing thermal for maximum spatial efficiency.

"This is a model of how we in the City

of Somerville would hope to see building and renovation projects continue,

particularly since it expands upon services we currently offer through OSE,

such as assistance in green building and renovation through the Residential

Energy Efficiency Program, which provides financial assistance and support -

free of charge - to homeowners trying to find cost-saving methods to increase

energy efficiency," said OSE Director David Lutes. "Net-Zero Energy Buildings are the way the

construction industry should be heading in and I commend the developer for

their leadership in this area."

Lutes praised architecture firm

Amacher and Associates for their work in designing the home. Amacher and

Associates is a full-service architecture firm with over 25 years of experience.

They specialize in green-building techniques and are led by veteran architect

Franziska Amacher.

"Our goal was to reconfigure the

layout to match with a modern lifestyle," Amacher. "This reconfiguration helped

create a spacious layout within a small floor area, while many implementing cutting-edge

materials and amenities in the name of sustainability. All materials are either low or no VOC

(volatile organic chemicals), including paints, floor sealers, caulking, glues,

cabinets. There are no combustion gases. No fossil fuels such as gas is used in

the building. We have neither a chimney,

gas stoves nor gas dryers and not even a closed combustion heating system. It is truly a sustainable home, and a beacon

for future projects in the City of Somerville and the region.

While only the first Net-Zero Energy

building completed here in Somerville both Amacher and Lutes hope that this

will be the first of many environmentally-conscientious homes here in the City.

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