Planned "Green" Improvements at Chilton House

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Chilton House is undergoing renovations with the goal of becoming the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified hospice residence in New England. Plans for making the home "greener" include:

Rain water collection — Rain water runoff from the roof will be collected in underground tanks. The collection tanks are in place and, if funds are available, piping will be installed to use the collected water for site irrigation.
Icynene foam insulation — Icynene is 100 percent water-blown and does not emit harmful gases once cured. It creates a continuous air barrier in the walls, ceilings, and floors, which minimizes the intrusion of outdoor allergens and pollutants. Besides putting as much as possible into the exterior wall, additional foam insulation has been used in the interior to dampen noise and in and around domestic hot water and heating and cooling piping.
Geothermal wells — The three 450-foot deep geothermal wells will be connected to a high efficiency heat and air conditioning system. The antifreeze circulating through piping in the wells will provide the medium to add heat to the building in the winter and remove heat from the building in the summer. We will not need oil or gas as a source of heat; this is supplied by the earth. An additional benefit is the elimination of outdoor equipment and noise from traditional air conditioning systems. (Installation of the wells pictured.)
Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) — The building envelope will be sealed as tightly as possible to ensure the efficiency of the building. This will require the addition of a ventilation system to bring fresh air into the building and exhaust stale air. In the winter, the ERV will remove some of the heat from the exhaust air and pre-heat the fresh, incoming air. In the summer, the incoming air will be pre-cooled by the exhaust air. This is done without mixing the air streams.
Hot water — The building's hot water will be from a high-efficiency, gas-fired tank. This water will also be pre-heated by utilizing a small solar panel on the roof.
Elevator — The elevator is a Kone EcoSpace elevator, the most efficient unit available.
Appliances — All major appliances will be Energy Star rated.
Energy Star Home — The efficiency of the building must be at least 15 percent higher than a house built to the current building code. It is estimated that Chilton House will be at least 40 percent more efficient.
Replacement windows — These are high efficiency, double pane, low-E coated, argon filled windows.
Landscape — There will not be any lawn. Plants will be drought resistant and appropriate for the planting zone of Cambridge so less water is needed.
Lighting — All light fixtures will be fluorescent to save as many watts as possible.
Cleaning materials — All cleaning chemicals used when Chilton House is operational will be as "green" as possible.
Paints, carpets, laminated wood products, and adhesives — Items used on the project do not emit any unhealthy chemicals creating a safer environment for building occupants.
Recycled materials — Material removed from the site during demolition was sent to a waste hauler that recycles 70 percent of the waste.
Water — All toilets, showers, and sinks will be low flow to save water.
Wood — Most of the wood used in the project is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a certification the ensures that foresters maintain environmentally sound harvesting practices, no clear cutting or old growth forest destruction. Wood was used as efficiently as possible to cut down on waste.
Heating/cooling systems — The heating and cooling systems are designed to have more zones of control so less energy is needed.
Greenhouse gasses — To keep the production of greenhouse gases down, many products were sourced locally. For example, the building cabinetry was fabricated in Groton, MA.
Life span — Chilton House is built with durable materials and by methods which will ensure a long building life span.
Roof — A lighter color shingle roof was used to lessen heat gain and lower the amount of cooling required.

Updated: Oct. 26, 2009