Birch Bay View

Birch Bay View

by | Jan 26, 2026

Birch Bay View

 

As the name suggests, Birch Bay View sits right across the street from Birch Bay with epic views of the water and easy access to the beach.  Since the lot is within a tsunami zone, appropriate future-proofing was necessary. In this case, the zoning required that the house be raised 4’ off the ground. Fortunately, this just added more visibility of the scenery. The permitting process, which is always done in-house, took a full year in order to obtain the major variance.

While this home sits high above the water, the clients shared that while demolishing the run-down homemade cabin that used to reside on the lot, they discovered that their cabin, like many cabins on the road, was built on tree stumps instead of a proper foundation. Having such a large foundation on the new house isn’t ideal for the home’s carbon footprint, but at least this one will stand the test of time better than the stumps that came before it.

Lovingly nicknamed the trailer house, the lot size required that the house be long and skinny to fit on the infill lot, mimicking the client’s previous vacation trailer home a few lots over where they spent many years visiting while growing up. Birch Bay View was also designed to house the client’s children, grandchildren and friends for years to come. Although the first floor isn’t currently built to accommodate aging-in-place due to the front steps, the first floor is otherwise designed to be accessible when the clients are older. The home was designed to be able to easily install a ramp over the stairs in the future to make it fully accessible.

 

 

Specs

  • Overview:
    • 3000sf SFR
    • 7 bedroom, 7 bathroom
    • Net zero energy
    • Passive solar heating/cooling design
    • Insulation: R-29 walls & R-45 ceiling
    • Air Sealing: 0.59ACH
    • HERS Index: -4
    • Certifications: DOE Zero Energy Ready Home certified, ENERGY STAR certified, EPA Indoor airPLUS certified, anticipated Built Green 5-star certified
  • Mechanical:
    • Ventilation: Fantech Hero 250 with built in HEPA filter. Built-in humidity, temperature, and CO2
    • Heating/Cooling: Chilltrix CX-34; hydronic radiant floor heating downstairs and 2 fan coil unit
    • PV: 10.32kW solar array with Tesla Powerwall 3 backup battery
  • Selections:
    • Hardie lap, panel and shingle siding
    • T&G cedar soffits
    • Taylor Metal Easylock aluminum roofing with Alumiguard coating in Zinc Gray
    • Hemlock trim & doors
    • VOC and formaldehyde-free hickory flooring — Vintage Natural Hickory Northern Solid Sawn
    • Locally made custom cherry shaker cabinets
    • Quartzite countertops — MSI Calcatta Abezzo
    • LED lighting
    • WaterSense plumbing fixtures
    • ENERGY STAR appliances and induction range
    • Balanced range hood
    • No/Low-VOC finishes
    • Triple pane, Low-E coated, argon-filled locally manufactured vinyl windows
The Gravel Pit

The Gravel Pit

by | Sep 24, 2025

The Gravel Pit

Sitting in an old quarry gravel pit turned gated community, this home was built to be a couple’s forest hide-away. Designed to mimic the Fox Net Zero Home, it features an aging-in-place first floor and clearstory second floor. Due to the CC&Rs in this community, the owners were required to build a home at least 2,500sf big but did not need all that space. The solution was to create a second floor loft that was designed to be converted into several bedrooms by future homeowners, should it be needed.

The build was completed beautifully by our field crew, with love and attention put into every detail.

 

 

Specs

  • Overview:
    • 2500sf SFR with 624sf garage
    • 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom
    • Net Zero Energy
    • Passive solar heating/cooling design
    • Insulation: R-29 walls & R-49 ceiling
    • Air Sealing: 0.37ACH
    • HERS Index: -28
    • Certifications: DOE Zero Energy Ready Home certified, ENERGY STAR certified, EPA Indoor airPLUS certified, anticipated Built Green 5-star certified
  • Mechanical:
    • Ventilation: Fantech Hero 250 with built in HEPA filter. Built-in humidity, temperature, and CO2
    • Heating/Cooling: Chilltrix CX-34; hydronic radiant floor heating downstairs and 2 fan coil units
    • PV: 13.02kW solar array
  • Selections:
    • Hardie lap siding
    • T&G cedar siding and soffits at entry
    • Taylor Metal Easylock steel roofing in Cool Roof certified white
    • Rotary birch doors & hemlock trim
    • Acid stained concrete at first floor
    • GreenGuard Gold Bamboo Flooring – EcoForest Mocha Locking Stranded Bamboo
    • Custom Plyboo cabinets
    • Custom stainless-steel countertops in kitchen
    • LED lighting
    • WaterSense plumbing fixtures
    • ENERGY STAR appliances
    • Balanced range hood
    • No/Low-VOC finishes
    • Triple pane, Low-E coated, argon-filled vinyl windows
Fox Net Zero House

Fox Net Zero House

by | Nov 28, 2023

Fox Net Zero Home

Started in the winter, building the Fox Home was not without its challenges, but the challenges ended up working in our favor in the end and producing this beautiful and unique home. Right off the bat, after we poured the concrete slab, the weather turned and frosted. As we saved the slab from freezing using plastic sheets and hay, the wind kicked up and caused the hay to come into direct contact with the slab as it was curing. The hay interacted with the concrete and caused what turned out to be really cool color undulations which add to the home’s character. Now we are intentionally adding this option for future clients who want some extra pizzaz in their concrete floors!

We always love when clients add their personal touches to a home as well, and in this case that personal touch was in the form of a repurposed trash receptacle laundry chute!

 

Specs

  • Overview:

    • 1978sf SFR &  876sf garage
    • 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath SFR
    • Net Zero Energy
    • 1st floor aging-in-place
    • Passive solar heating/cooling design
    • Insulation: R-29 walls & R-45 ceiling
    • Air Sealing: 0.18 ACH50
    • HERS Index: -2
    • Annual Energy Cost Savings: $2,800
    • Certifications: DOE Zero Energy Ready Home certified, ENERGY STAR certified, EPA Indoor airPLUS certified, anticipated Built Green 5-star certified

    Mechanical:

    • Ventilation: Fantech Hero 250 with built in HEPA filter. Built-in humidity, temperature, and CO2
    • Heating/Cooling: Chilltrix CX-34; hydronic radiant floor heating downstairs and fan coil unit
    • PV: 9kW solar array with Enphase microinverters and battery ready

    Selections:

    • Thermatru exterior doors
    • Certified Cool Roof metal roofing
    • Birch doors and hemlock trim
    • Floor Score certified vinyl flooring & zero-VOC, anti-microbial underlayment
    • Quartz countertops
    • Thrifted plumbing fixtures
    • Europly maple cabinets
    • LED lighting
    • WaterSense plumbing fixtures
    • ENERGY STAR appliances
    • No/Low-VOC finishes
    • Triple pane, Low-E coated, argon-filled vinyl windows
          Point Whitehorn Net Zero

          Point Whitehorn Net Zero

          by | Nov 15, 2023

          Point Whitehorn Net Zero

          Point Whitehorn Net Zero home is a modern, space-efficient, and economical home for the couple to spend quality family time in with their kids and eventually grow old in. The entire first floor is accessible for aging-in-place, leaving the second floor for family to stay over.

          The stacked design and minimal undulations in the envelope helped make the most use out of every inch and get the best cost per square foot.

          On the North side of the property is a wetland mitigation area that has been smartly sectioned off and adds an extra beautifully landscaped view with native trees, shrubs and wildflowers.

           

          Specs

          • Overview:

            • 1802sf SFR &  300sf carport
            • 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath SFR
            • Net Zero Energy
            • 1st floor aging-in-place
            • Passive solar heating/cooling design
            • Insulation: R-29 walls & R-59 ceiling
            • Air Sealing: 0.31ACH
            • HERS Index: -2
            • Annual Energy Cost Savings: $2,141
            • Certifications: DOE Zero Energy Ready Home certified, ENERGY STAR certified, EPA Indoor airPLUS certified, anticipated Built Green 5-star certified

             

            Mechanical:

            • Ventiliation: Fantech Hero 250 with built in HEPA filter. Built-in humidity, temperature, and CO2
            • Heating/Cooling: Chilltrix CX-34; hydronic radiant floor heating downstairs and fan coil unit
            • PV: 7.2kW solar array with Enphase microinverters and battery ready

             

            Selections:

            • Thermatru exterior doors
            • Lifetime warrantied asphalt roofing
            • Birch doors and hemlock trim
            • Floor Score certified laminate flooring
            • Quartz countertops
            • LED lighting
            • WaterSense plumbing fixtures
            • ENERGY STAR appliances
            • No/Low-VOC finishes
            • Triple pane, Low-E coated, argon-filled vinyl windows
                Lynden Powerhouse

                Lynden Powerhouse

                by | Nov 15, 2023

                Lynden Powerhouse

                Lynden Powerhouse is a highly efficient, net-positive home with an additional ADU and stick-framed garage/shop. This home will receive the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home, ENERGY STAR, EPA Indoor airPLUS certifications, and Built Green 5-star certification.

                Lynden Powerhouse will provide full-time and temporary housing for up to four separate family groups. This level of complexity required a greater attention to climate and ventilation zoning, which necessitated the installation of three separate Fantech Hero 250 HRV units and one extra-large Chiltrix CX50 heat pump. These devices allowed the home to be compartmentalized into three separately conditioned spaces – the main living space downstairs, living space upstairs, and ADU. Breaking up the air spaces ensures that the fresh air circulation can independently adapt to the measured CO2 levels and temperatures of each air volume. Given that hazardous airborne viruses are a normal part of life for the foreseeable future, having three separated air spaces allows those infected to quarantine without infecting others. Further measures to make the home as energy efficient as possible with the best indoor air quality included hydronic radiant floor heating, HRVs with integrated HEPA filtration, all ENERGY STAR rated appliances, LED lighting, triple pane windows, and Aerobarrier air sealing.

                One of the owners, who works in the tech industry, used his knowledge to create innovative automation systems for the ventilation and hot water circulation systems using motion detectors and CO2 sensors to minimize wasted energy, water, and time. Each air space has a motion sensor that will stop the HRV unit if no motion is detected for 24hrs to conserve energy. Additional automation uses custom algorithms to vary the HRV air velocity to balance CO2 extraction with ventilation-induced heat energy loss. Motion sensors placed near each plumbing fixture trigger the hot water circulators only when need is anticipated. By the time the person turns on the fixture, hot water is available, minimizing both water, time, and energy waste.

                Lynden Powerhouse features a 17.01 kW solar array with six 48v 100AH LFP batteries for backup storage. The system was designed to be oversized, knowing that the combination of PV with storage allows for disaster resiliency and for the house to operate completely off-grid for weeks if needed. It also supports three EV charging ports, two for occupants and one outside for guests. Moreover, having an oversized solar array on an already super-efficient house, means the owner can eliminate the entire energy bill which makes retirement budgeting more predictable and effectively making the cost of living cheaper in the future. By over-sizing the system, the house can fully power the AC units of four less efficient homes in the cul-de-sac, thereby minimizing peak energy loads for the entire block. The reduction in peak-energy loads helps reduce the stress on the grid caused by extreme weather events. And is the key to eliminating petroleum powered peaker plants, thereby reducing CO2 production for the entire street.

                 

                 

                Specs

                Overview:

                • 1549sf SFR &  842sf ADU
                • 1123sf unconditioned garage & shop
                • 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath SFR &  1 bedroom, 1 bath ADU
                • Net Zero Energy
                • 1st floor aging-in-place
                • Passive solar heating/cooling design
                • Insulation: R-29 walls & R-45 ceiling
                • Air Sealing: 0.45ACH
                • HERS Index: -24
                • Annual Energy Cost Savings: $3,717
                • Certifications: DOE Zero Energy Ready Home certified, ENERGY STAR certified, EPA Indoor airPLUS certified, anticipated Built Green 5-star certified

                 

                Mechanical:

                • Ventilation: (3) Fantech Hero 250 with built in HEPA filter. Built-in humidity, temperature, and CO2
                • Heating/Cooling: Chilltrix CX-50; hydronic radiant floor heating downstairs and (3) fan coil units
                • PV: 17.01kW solar array with whole home battery back-up

                 

                Selections:

                • Timber framed entry
                • Metal roof
                • Locally made walnut and maple cabinets
                • Bamboo Floor Score certified flooring
                • Vanair vented interior doors
                • Locally made solid fir front door
                • Silestone and Corian countertops
                • ENERGYSTAR appliances
                • LED lighting
                • WaterSense plumbing fixtures
                • No/Low-VOC finishes
                • Triple pane, Low-E coated, argon-filled vinyl windows
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