Owners’ Statement

The idea of a Net Zero Energy Home was born out of an idea my wife had several years ago. This idea was to build a neighborhood of New England-style homes that were energy efficient, affordable and created a community.  The community would grow with like-minded people committed to limiting their impact on the environment. 

At the same time, we were witnessing the turmoil this country was going through with our son’s best friend going off to war as a marine, sky rocketing fuel prices, and the instability of our way of life. Energy, oil specifically, was like an earth quake, shaking our foundations leaving us wondering if we would be standing in the end.  These ideas and concerns transformed into a personal goal of building a home that required no fossil fuels, was safe for our family, required no imported energy to operate and was sensitive to the environment while also fitting into the community. NIMBY (not in my back yard) would not apply to our project.  We also wanted to build something that others could duplicate with common, local materials so our ideas could spread to others. 

We knew we wanted to share our ideas with the public and building professionals. We have had hundreds of people come through our home for tours and have been working toward public awareness through the media and providing seminars throughout the country. 

Finally, we wanted to build a home that we would live in, putting our ideas and passions to the test, to see if we could truly build a Net Zero Energy Home and live in it as a normal family would. I believe we have been able to accomplish all of these tasks with “living” in the house as a work in progress.

The energy usage projected based on modeling is negative 7%.

About the designers

The energy and consulting engineer Consulting Engineering Services, Inc (CES),located in Middletown, and Whitney Huber, AIA, located in Essex combined talents for a classic design and cutting edge engineering solution to achieve this one of a kind home. The concept of this design was established early on by the homeowner, Mary Keithan, and her husband George Keithan. Whitney Huber, AIA and his staff have developed a focused body of work specific to New England’s abundant and varied waterfronts and the region’s recognizable building tradition. The firm’s work reflects Huber’s philosophy that continuity with past building tradition fosters identity of place and the creation of striking new, yet enduring, architecture. CES and their staff is a multi-discipline engineering firm founded in 1994 that specializes in energy conservation, green design, alternative energy design and MEP/FP consulting services.