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Marcoplos-Sundermann eco-house, Orange County

Roof-integrated photovoltaics, solar water heating, materials from deconstruction, drainwater heat recovery, passive solar, passive cooling, radiant floor heating...

Address:
7207 Southern Trail
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Orange County

http://indyweek.com/durham/2003-01-29/cover.html
http://smart-homeowner.com

Click here for detailed contact information

Model environmental residence

Owner: Mark Marcoplos & Wanda Sundermann
Occupant: Mark, Wanda, Dakota, & Riley
Use/Occupancy: Residential
Construction: New
Completed: 2001
Size: Under 5K sq. ft.
1 to 10 acres

Site Conditions: Sensitive habitat, Rural wilderness, Previously undeveloped land

South face of Marcoplos Home

(Photo: Photo by: Marc Marcoplos)

Project Image Gallery
(Click on the thumbnail photo to enlarge and see caption.)

Green building techniques, strategies, and technologies
(Click on the paperclip to view attached Power Point presentations, documents, and images.)

Quality management

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Post occupancy evaluation	We have lived in the house for over five years and it has proven to be easy to heat and the passive cooling features work and enable us to avoid the noise and high cost of a mechanical AC system. The indoor air quality is superb due to the natural air flow caused by the roof “tower” and the open design. The home power system has been invaluable, especially when the grid goes down. [Solar Center staff note: It is important in Mixed Humid climates to carefully consider the use of ventilation and dehumidification strategies in the home in order to prevent poor indoor air quality. It takes an active, healthy homeowner coupled with a well designed passive ventilation system and almost always the occassional use of mechanical dehumidification equipment to remove enough moisture from the air to prevent mold growth or other indoor air challenges for homes built in NC.]

Site

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	South facing orientation	Standard strategy for passive solar gain (and passive cooling) whereby the appropriate amount of window area faces the south and properly sized eaves allow the winter sun to penetrate while blocking the summer sun.

Water

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Low-flow fixtures	My favorite strong-flushing, low water using, inexpensive toilet - the Toto Carusoe. Plus various low-flow shower fixtures and faucet aerators. [Solar Center staff note: Toto Carusoe is a 1.6 gpf toilet, in compliance with Federal low flush requirements but not exceeding those requirements]
2	Water efficient appliances	Maytag Neptune horizontal axis washer

Energy

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Superinsulation	Blown-in damp spray cellulose in walls and horizontal ceilings (boric acid added as a fire retardant which has the fringe benefit of being a benign pesticide). Fiberglass in floor and sloped ceilings. Insulating foamboard sheathing also used. But most importantly, it is extremely air-sealed with caulk and insulating foam.
2	Air filtration control	Foamboard insulation sealed with special insulating tape. Drywall joints caulked to prevent air flow. Extreme air sealing in all cracks, wire & pipe penetrations and around windows & doors.
3	High performance glazing	Hurd brand casement and awning windows using two types of special high-performance glazing. On the south and east sides, the glazing is designed to maximize solar gain while also optimizing the insulating qualities. On the north and west side, a type of high performance Low E glazing is used that maximizes the insulation capabilities. [Solar Center staff note: In passive solar design with a heat gain strategy, most experts recommend only maximizing solar gain on the south face of a building in the northern hemisphere. This is due to the fact that summer sun can be blocked with appropriately sized overhangs on the south face but not on the east face. To block summer sun on the east face, a vertical shading strategy should be employed.]
4	Energy efficient appliances	Maytag refrigerator (Model # MBT2156DEW), highly effcient, recommended by Home Power magazine for its extreme efficiency. Neptune washer (horizontal axis design is very efficient) and gas dryer. My favorite appliance is the solar clothes dryer suspended between two poles in our backyard - no energy costs and the clothes smell “nature-fresh”.
5	Highly efficient mechanical system	It’s so efficient it’s not even there. We heat very comfortably with passive solar gain, about 280sf of radiant floor heating, and a clean-burning woodstove.
6	Passive solar heating strategies	See glazing info above. Our sunroom has a tile floor installed over a slab for solar mass. It also has a stone wall for more heat absorption. My office faces south and has an acid-stained concrete floor.
7	Passive cooling strategies	Belvedere on top which acts as a “solar chimney” as the sun hits the windows early in the morning and causes the air to start rising through the opening in the top, which in turn pulls air from out of the entire house and pulls in cool morning air. A wide variety of other techniques documented in an article I wrote for Smart Homeowner magazine: http://www.smart-homeowner.com/ [Solar Center staff note: It is important in Mixed Humid climates to carefully consider the use of ventilation and dehumidification strategies in the home in order to prevent poor indoor air quality. It takes an active, healthy homeowner coupled with a well designed passive ventilation system and almost always the occassional use of mechanical dehumidification equipment to remove enough moisture from the air to prevent mold growth or other indoor air challenges for homes built in NC.]
8	Daylighting	Natural light penetrates every room. Only one room does not allow for a window (an interior bathroom) so a skylight was installed there as well as a glass block wall that allows light in from the adjacent hall. Hardly ever need to turn on a light in the daytime - and the views to the woods & garden are omnipresent and satisfying.
9	Solar domestic hot water	Solahart thermosiphon system which does not require a pump or other moving parts. It’s an 80 gallon tank with two collectors.
10	Photovoltaic energy	1.6kw system with battery bank, which supplies about 60% of our power and is quite adequate when the grid goes down. This was installed before “net metering” or grid inter-ties were allowed, which is fine with us because we just use all the power we generate and can store it for emergencies.
11	Building integrated photovoltaics	First in the Southeast (and one of the first in the country) to have roof-integrated Unisolar cells installed. They adhere to our standing seam metal roofing and they are “shade-tolerant” which means that if any amount of sunlight is hitting them, they will generate power.
12	Pre-design for future renewables	The roof over my south-facing office can be easily converted to host more similar Unisolar cells.
13	Highly efficient lighting system	Superb daylighting plus compact fluourescent lighting where needed makes this home extremely efficient in its use of lighting energy.

Materials

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Designed for occupant recycling	The kitchen (and outside stairwell area) was designed to facilitate recycling.
2	Construction waste management plan	Very low waste (as is our practice on all jobs) - waste wood saved for kindling, useable material scraps sorted & reused where possible, other “waste” materials sorted and recycled at landfill construction recycling center.
3	Salvaged building materials used	Various items from my years of construction (and landfill raiding) - windows, wood, tile, etc. Plus I used an old fiberglass hockey stick blade to shim one of the beams.
4	Deconstruction	Our company deconstructed a 1936 building in the late 90’s and the beautiful heart pine flooring is now our living room floor. I re-milled the framing lumber into about 90% of the interior trim. The porch posts are also from that building. Additionally, rebar that had been used to block the windows is now in the pier footings. Brick from the foundation is part of our patio.
5	Recycled materials used in wall	Blown-in cellulose insulation made from recycled newsprint.
6	Recycled materials used in flooring	1936 heart pine floor in living room
7	Recycled materials used in structural	Engineered I-joists made from OSB
8	Recycled materials used in landscape	Bricks in patio from 1936 deconstructed building plus an old mill in Bynum. The stones in the various rock walls were primarily from a friend’s field in neighboring Alamance County (plus a few choice rocks from our travels).
9	Linoleum use	Marmoleum (made from cork flour & jute) in the mudroom and our homeschool project room.
10	Non-toxic outdoor wood treatment	Various types of wood-polymer decking made from recycled plastic and wood - Fiberon, Weyerhauser Choice-Dek, Timbertech, and Trex.
11	Optimum-value engineering	Advanced wood stud framing techniques: Drywall clips were used in corners instead of wall studs which allowed for more insulation and less wood waste. Also, header hangers were used where appropriate to avoid using more wall studs and insulating better as well.

Indoor environment

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Controlled ventilation for fresh air	Strategically placed Panasonic vent fans (very quiet, energy-efficient, & high performance) in bathrooms. High quality range hood vent fan. Whole house fan in belvedere. Open design with ample windows. Superb indoor air quality.
2	Low-emitting paints & coatings	There’s a lot of natural wood trim and wood flooring in the house. We primarily used water based polyurethane.
3	Good housekeeping protocols	No carpet - hardwood, tile, Marmoleum, and concrete flooring. Open design. The stairwell is wood paneled instead of drywalled to minimize hand-prints, smudges, etc.
4	Natural ventilation strategies	See above - the belvedere tower on the roof is key to the excellent air movement that we achieved. Also designing rooms that can have windows or doors on at least two walls.
5	Daylighting	Natural light in every room. Very healthy feeling also. Morning light penetrates every bedroom.
6	Achieved view in 90% of occupied space	Probably more like 99% views. Great connectivity with the outside.
7	Low maintenance materials	Hard flooring is easy to clean. Butcher block and laminate kitchen counters are easy to clean. Stone and tile hearth.

Other Innovations

	Description	Docs
1	1) Drainwater heat recovery system capturing 80% of heat from shower & tub drainwater. 2) “Rain-screen” siding technique whereby the siding is mounted on vertical nailing strips so that there is an air pocket behind the siding, it naturally dries, and no paints or stains were needed.

Contact Information

Specialty Contact Information

Click on the specialty technology in the table above to see contact and other information

General Project Contact

Mark Marcoplos
Marcoplos Construction
Phone: 919-968-0056
Email: marcoplos@mindspring.com

Relationship to the project: Designer, Builder, Owner

Project Team

	Involvement	Stage	Name/Address	Phone
1	Contractor - general	Design/Construction	Mark Marcoplos - Marcoplos Construction 7207 Southern Trail Chapel Hill, NC 27516 marcoplos@mindspring.com	919-968-0056
2	Contractor - electrical	Construction	Warren Golson - Golson Electric Box 2642 Chapel Hill, NC 27515	919-697-1270
3	Contractor - plumbing	Construction	Tim Peck 112 Elm St. Carrboro, NC 27510	919-933-8485
4	Waste management consultant	Design/Construction	Mark Marcoplos - Marcoplos Construction see above
5	Environmental building consultant	Design/Construction	Mark Marcoplos - Marcoplos Construction see above