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A Green
Dream House
Solar house remodeled to near net zero energy
By Jana Miller
Heritage Newspapers
An architectural gem in the Manchester
community just got better and greener for one
farming family. Hal and Katherine Walters just
completed a major remodeling project of their
19th
19th century historic Italianate farmhouse,
and it is being featured on this year’s Showcase
of Homes and Remodelers Home Tour.
The project included an addition—which
brought the living space up to 4,000 square feet
from 2,700 square feet—as well as several green
building techniques.
The end result is a home that is very nearly
at net zero energy.
“For the nine years we lived in the house,
we noticed that there were drafts,” Hal Walters
said. “No matter how hard we tried we could
not achieve a high level of energy efficiency.
We even tried putting all new windows in the
house and re-insulating them. But we found
that the energy bill was just as bad. So from
the very beginning, we wanted to have a home
that was more energy efficient and respon-
sible.”
Of course, historic homes can be problem-
atic in that way. As beautiful as they are, they
often can be leaky, uncomfortable and waste
energy. To correct those problems, project con-
tractor Doug Selby of Meadowlark Builders
in Ann Arbor went straight to the core of the
existing structure.
“We did a retrofit installation with sheet
rigid foam on the outside and reinstalled all
new siding and trim,” Selby said. “Almost all
of our projects are highly energy efficient.”
The Walters’ home is also a working farm.
While Hal is working as a children’s heart
surgeon, Katherine oversees a sheep and hay
farm. A working farm requires lots of power.
“We were able to get real close to net zero
energy,” Selby said. “To me that’s a real signifi-
cant accomplishment.”
Walters was in agreement. In the months
since moving back into the home, he noticed
the changes immediately.
“We really enjoy it,” he said. “Every day I’m
home I just notice it. We’ve never even really
done a serious remodeling before. We built this
house to fit our needs and tastes, and living in
a house that you’ve designed for yourself has
been a real privilege and we’re grateful.”
The home was essentially wrapped in four
inches of foam with taped seams, adding a
tremendous amount of insulation. It also has a
Southern exposure (which captures solar ener-
gy), insulated concrete forms, efficient water
heating, solar panels, geothermal heating and
cooling, radiant floor heating, an energy recov-
ery ventilator, structural insulated panels,
advanced building envelopes, and a polyethyl-
ene manifold water delivery system.
The house is now one of the most energy
efficient homes in the entire country.
“We’ve completely weaned ourselves off of
propane,” Walter said. “We also hope to supply
most of our electrical needs by the new solar
panels.”
Meadowlark Builders are no strangers
to green home remodeling either. Of the
eight green homes featured on the
home tour this year, Meadowlark
Builders built five of them. The
company is also currently
working on three other
green projects.
But the remodel
was more than
just an energy-
September 30, 2010
efficient makeover, because the project also
maintained an 1870’s farmhouse and kept the
architectural continuity on the addition.
“This project was very difficult,” Walters
said. “It was less efficient economically (to
maintain the architecture), both in terms of
finances and in terms of space. But we really
did feel like it was better stewardship to keep
the old farmhouse in tact and not touch a hair.
It’s made out of all virgin timber. You go down
into the basement and see these big, thick wal-
nut beams, and you can see where the original
builder has literally cut down walnut trees on
our property to build our basement.”
Architect Keith Fineburg of KSF Architects
worked closely with the Walters to replicate
the details.
“It took about a year to design and 16
months to build,” Fineburg said. “We have
definitely imitated and replicated many of the
details and ornate trim work. We also intro-
duced some new things which were consistent
with the period.”
It isn’t always easy to get architects and
contractors to work together on historic, yet
green, projects. However, the Walters couple
was extremely pleased with its remodeling
team. That’s part of the reason the couple is
so happy to be on the Remodelers Home Tour,
because of the recognition for their contractor
and architect.
“If we can go through (a remodeling project)
like that for two years and still not only like
them but think the world of them, then we
want our architect and builder to benefit from
that,” Walters said. “Keith Fineburg’s patience
and expertise and Meadowlark Builders’
expertise and willingness to make everything
fit together in terms of energy efficiency and
architectural styles were not easy to do. It’s
extraordinary to find people to do that and to
be able to call them a friend after two years of
hard work.”
Fineburg said that he is asked to do these
types of projects more and more.
“Five years ago there was more resistance
because it was more expensive at the outset,”
he said, “but with the incentive programs
offered now there is a lot more interest in
it. We have a new energy code that has sort
of required us to say to the client, ‘maybe
you don’t want to spend this money, but code
requires it. So while we’re doing this why don’t
we make a slightly greater effort and make it
even greener?’ There has been a lot more activ-
ity in that direction.”
The Walters worked with Stein Electric
Company in Manchester for all electrical work.
Typically contractors work with the same
groups over and over, but the Walters insisted
on Stein Electric and Meadowlark Builders
were receptive to the idea.
“They just did a gorgeous job of it,” Walters
said. “Meadowlark had never used them before
and were willing to listen. We really did want
to use a local company if we could.”
With the completion of the project, the
Walters are now enjoying their home and look-
ing forward to enjoying an energy-efficient
home during the winter months.
“We moved to this farmhouse nine years ago
from Plymouth and have never looked back
or been sorry,” Walters said. “We’re happy to
tolerate the longer commute. We love living
in the beautiful farmland. This is a wonder-
ful community, and we really enjoy living in
Manchester. We couldn’t imagine living any-
where else.”
Copy editor Jana Miller can be reached at
(734) 429-7380 or jmiller@heritage.com.