architecture 4 us

Sustainable Design of Ruby House in Salt Lake City

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 08:51 AM PDT

Ruby House is a contemporary and sustainable home designed by Brach Design Architecture and built by Benchmark Modern. It will be certified by PHIUS as the first passive house in Salt Lake City, Utah. Some sustainable features support the house to achieve high sustainability.

The eco construction is located in a historic district in the Avenues. The architecture should respect to surroundings’ architecture. So, contemporary design was chosen. The design also considers the placement of the house to take advantages from the sun, to provide natural lighting, also to maximize the view without forgetting the privacy.

To provide high sustainability and energy efficiency, this green architecture building is completed with several sustainable features, such as a Zehnder Comfoair 350 HRV, Fujitsu air-to-air heat pumps (7kBtu upstairs and 9kBtu main level), a AO Smith high-efficiency water heater, Verve lighting controls, and Energate 1202 windows.

Some sustainable materials are also used for this building construction, such as Logix ICF foundation walls, Senergy EIFS stucco, Old Virginia Brick thin bricks in Chatham Gray, Accoya cladding, Certainteed dense-pack fiberglass insulation, exterior EPS foam, a white vinyl roof, and also some wooden products.