Building Science Excellence Creates a Climate Haven

No water? No problem. This home checks all the boxes: energy efficiency, IAQ, water efficiency, and design innovation.

“Samish Solar Home” is a highly efficient, drought-resistant Net Zero Plus home designed by Powerhouse Designs and built by TC Legend Homes. It’s another classic Green Builder Green Home of the Year winner—this one’s in the new Extreme Heat Ready category—making TC Legend a two-time champion.

Located in Bellingham, Wash., Samish Solar Home is also a certified U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH), ENERGY STAR and EPA Indoor airPLUS certified, and anticipated Built Green 5-Star certified. 

The green elements are overwhelming. Samish Solar Home includes 2,345 square feet of heated living space and is built using SIP walls and roof, and an ICF foundation for superior insulation and airtightness. It was also constructed using TC Legend’s tried-and-true clearstory design with extended eaves to allow for passive heating, cooling, and lighting. 

The house received a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index score of minus 20, and is a Net Zero Energy home with a 10.8kW solar array, Enphase micro inverters, and is battery ready. 

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According to TC Legend owner and project builder Ted Clifton, Samish produces enough energy to completely sustain the home and an electric vehicle (EV). The annual energy cost savings for this home is $2,432.

“Samish Solar Home was designed for clients who have a growing family and want their home to be resilient in a world where our climate is gravely impacting our day-to-day lives,” Clifton says. “It was important to [the clients] that they be able to harvest their solar energy and water, so that they don’t have to rely on the city or their well for utilities. This also aligned with our standard building techniques and goals which include creating a highly energy-efficient, healthy home that is built based on the principle of solar-guided design.”

It wasn’t a simple project. When the clients purchased the lot, there was already an old permit and plan set in place. “We started out hoping to modify that plan set, but it would have resulted in too many adaptations and changes, so we had to scrap the whole thing and start from scratch,” Clifton says. “It was an important but challenging moment to recognize when it was time to start over versus trying to make the old plans work.”

To make the home as energy efficient as possible and create the best indoor air
quality (IAQ), TC Legend utilized hydronic radiant floor heating using a Chiltrix CX-34 heat pump and additional fan coil unit, a Fantech Hero 250 HRV with integrated HEPA filtration, all ENERGY STAR-rated appliances, LED lighting, and triple-pane windows. Aerobarrier air sealed the home down to 0.27 ACH50. A certified metal cool roof was installed to help with temperature regulation. 

Samish Solar Home has an added level of resiliency with its 28,000-gallon rainwater cistern that supplies the house and its fire suppression system with water. The rainwater is filtered through a sediment filter, activated carbon filter, and UV filter to ensure it is fit for domestic use. 

But even with the cistern, TC Legend wanted to make the home water efficient, and did so using all WaterSense certified plumbing fixtures. IAQ was ensured as top notch with installation of Greenguard Gold certified flooring, using low- or zero-VOC paint and finishes, installed humidistats and CO₂ sensors that automatically boost the ventilation system. A separate Awair IAQ monitor measures CO₂, humidity, VOCs, particulate matter, and temperature. 

Clifton adds that it was important that the finishes be locally sourced where possible.

Cabinets were made locally and the interior doors and trim are locally grown fir. The home’s Hardie siding, Vinyltek windows, Insulspan structural insulated panels (SIPs) and under slab expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam insulation are also made just a short distance away.

The company did learn a lesson from this project. “We started construction during the wet season which meant we ended in the dry season,” Clifton says. “In the future, for a build this size, it would have been more advantageous to start construction in the dry season and ending in the wet.” 

The Samish Solar Home features durable walls with pre-painted siding, metal flashing and a timber-framed entry.

Whenever possible, locally sourced products were used, such as locally grown fir, structural insulated panels (SIPs) and under slab expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam insulation.

Samish Solar Home’s rainwater cistern supplies the house and its fire suppression system with up to 28,000 gallons of filtered water.

The internal environment is maintained by a hydronic radiant floor heating downstairs and a fan coil unit upstairs.