Welcome to the Nutter Green Home! Just a reminder that if you are new to this blog, you should probably go to the archives and start at the beginning. The beginning (March 2006) will tell you a bit about the start of this journey and what we were striving to do. The rest is just progress reports on how and why we did what we did! For more current information, to set up a tour/consultation, or for specific questions, feel free to email me atnuttergreenhome@yahoo.com The Nutter Green Home is located in the Eastgate area of Union Township in Milford, Ohio. Krista Atkins Nutter, designer and owner of the Nutter Green Home, is a certified interior designer with an MS Architecture degree and is a Professor of Design for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh – Online Division. She and her husband, Kenneth have built a super-insulated, energy efficient, passive solar, solar electric home with solar hot water heating and a rainwater catchment system to provide water for toilet flushing, clothes washing, and outdoor uses. The home is designed for the way the family lives and works as well as for the local climate, and has achieved an Energy Star Rating of 5-PLUS Stars (the highest possible) as well as a 2007 Cincinnati Sustainability Award. One of the main goals of the home is to serve as an educational model for the community. Many community, professional, and student groups have already attended tours and seminars at the Nutter Green Home, including the 2007 National Solar Tour, and seminars for the Green Energy Ohio (GEO) organization. Ms. Nutter is also a member of Green Energy Ohio and frequently speaks to local universities, organizations, and professional groups about the home and sustainable building practices.
The site for the project is a sub-urban infill lot with surrounding homes 25 years old. The site was selected for its unobstructed southern exposure and close proximity to support locations such as retail, churches, healthcare, schools, ect. The home is a 2300 sf modern-industrial, environmentally-sensitive dwelling utilizing strategies such as Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) foundation, Spray Foam Insulation, Value Engineered Framing, suspended and Insulated Concrete Floors, environmentally-sensitive materials such as recycled glass counters and bamboo stair treads, water conserving plumbing fixtures such as low flow faucets and dual flush toilets, two high-efficiency heat pumps for back up heating and cooling, a Heat Recovery Ventilator to supply the airtight home with fresh outside air, and a 4.4 kW photovoltaic roof-mounted array. The exterior of the home features recycleable Galvalume siding with recycled content and Hardipanel fiber composite siding. All concrete used in the project contained a 20% fly-ash mixture.
The home with its grid-tied solar PV system, which was installed in March 07, recorded its first positive electric bill in Aug./Sept. 07 (which was quite a hot month in Cincinnati where temperatures consistently reached in the 90s Fahrenheit). With both heat pump condensing units running the central air-conditioning and the thermostat set at 74-degrees, the electric bill from mid-August to mid-September was $8. All bills prior to that were credits ranging from $40 to $60.
Superior indoor air quality is achieved through zero-voc finishes, low or no-formaldehyde construction products, a high efficiency electronic air filtration system, a heat recovery ventilation system, and by sealing all metal ductwork with mastic.
The home was built for $100/sf, not including the cost of the solar PV system. A grant from the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Energy Efficiency was awarded to the owners to help offset the cost of the PV and solar hot water heating systems.
The home will also feature native landscaping including a rain garden, a constructed wetland, a native prairie, and other trees and plants native to southwestern Ohio. With the help of the Millcreek Watershed’s Raingarden Alliance, The Clermont County Soil and Water Conservation District, local organic nurseries, and the Cincinnati Nature Center, the Nutters have planned a native landscape to compliment their eco-home. Like the home, the gardens will be open to the public for tours and seminars which discuss the importance of native landscapes, habitat preservation, stormwater runoff retention, and so on.
The home has been featured twice in Cincinnati Magazine (April 06, March 08), in the 2008 Cincinnati Home and Garden Show program, and in Cincinnati Home Improvement Magazine (March 08).
