Traditional residence retains energy with metal roof

by Jonathan McGaha | March 30, 2014 12:00 am

A new 4,800-square-foot private residence in Glencoe, Ill., was LEED Platinum-certified after approximately 600 square feet of 24-gauge PACCLAD material from Petersen Aluminum Corp.[1], Elk Grove Village, Ill., was fabricated and installed by Cedar Roofing Co., Lake Forest, Ill.

The standing seam metal roof contributed to the sustainable design, created by Kipnis Architecture & Planning, Evanston, Ill. The Silver Metallic Kynar 500 coating offers one of the highest reflectivity and solar reflectance index ratings of all PAC-CLAD colors and is one of 31 PAC-CLAD Energy Star-approved finishes.

Nathan Kipnis, AIA, principal of Kipnis Architecture & Planning, says the roof shape is asymmetrically arranged to collect as much storm water as possible. “And the roof is sloped at two different angles-the summer angle and the winter angle,” Kipnis says. The steeper, south-facing roof supports the solar thermal panels, optimized for the low winter sun, he says. The shallower, south-facing section of the roof includes solar PV panels with electrical production maximized for mid-day in the summer as a CO2 reduction strategy.

Additionally, a ventilation tower with transom windows on the roof provides airflow to the upstairs when the lower windows are open. “Each section of the roof is doing something very specific for us- very thought out,” Kipnis says. “You can’t get much more action out of a roof than that.”

Other green features of the home include natural daylighting; radiant floor heating; cement-fiberboard siding; passive, whole-house ventilation; rain barrel water collection system; closed cell foam R-40 walls and R-55 roof; integrated, app-controlled, high-efficiency HVAC systems; and native/low maintenance landscaping. Additionally, the structure achieved a Home Energy Rating System Index of 32, which identifies it as designed to use 32 percent of the energy of a standard new home.

Scott Simpson Builders Inc., Northbrook, Ill., was the general contractor. “This may be one of the most sustainable houses in the country,” says Scott Simpson, president.

“When our client said, ‘Give me a roof that I will never have to replace,’ we thought metal immediately,” Kipnis says. The house is classic in style, form and proportion, yet modern in its use of materials, colors and systems, he says.

The residential, LEED-certified project was one of few to take a non-modernist approach to its exterior, Simpson says. “It’s not some far-out, spaceship design,” he says. “It’s actually quite traditional in its appearance.”

Even though this is a LEED Platinum home, Kipnis says the project was completed at a competitive market rate comparable to neighboring homes. “A green home doesn’t have to be crazy expensive,” he says.

The owners of the home were the driving force behind the effort for LEED Platinum, Kipnis says. “They kept pushing us to go as high as it made sense,” he says. “They wanted to show people that an extremely green house could be done with a nice design that would fit into a traditional neighborhood and wouldn’t have to cost a fortune.”

Petersen Aluminum Corp., www.pac-clad.com[2]

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/traditional-residence-retains-energy-with-metal-roof/

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