More Green Building Blog
South Harpswell sits at the end of a narrow peninsula, facing due southwest toward Casco Bay. Like a lot of coastal hamlets in Maine’s mid-coast and Downeast regions, the land formations are long and irregular, resembling flecks of paint being thrown onto a canvas from a distance. In other words, the topography is unique.
In the early 2010s, architect George Penniman sought to build a modest cabin on a plot of undeveloped land fronting Ash Point Cove, near the terminus where the mainland’s jagged fingers give way to the sound. But unlike the countless other weekenders seeking that rustic log cabin feel at the water’s edge (Penniman lives and works in Connecticut), Penniman wanted his home away from home to have minimal environmental impact. He wanted a passive house.
“We wanted to leave as light a footprint as possible on the land,” Penniman says. He and his wife Anne, a landscape architect, used locally sourced lumber, stone, and other materials to build and finish the home. Most notably, they installed helical piles for the foundation.
“We didn’t want a basement, we didn’t want all that concrete, and we didn’t want to risk damaging the roots of the trees,” Penniman says. They likewise wanted to avoid the use of foam insulation, fossil fuels for heating, and bringing large construction equipment onto the densely forested pocket of land.
Through this process of elimination, coupled with Penniman getting certified in passive house design, their vision was coming into focus.
Helical piles for a low-impact build
The idea of building a passive house first crossed Penniman’s mind in 2012 after he saw a presentation by Chris Corson, owner of Maine-based Ecocor, a design-build company specializing in low-carbon, net-zero-ready homes. Corson was an early adopter and builder of passive…
Weekly Newsletter
Get building science and energy efficiency advice, plus special offers, in your inbox.
This article is only available to GBA Prime Members
Sign up for a free trial and get instant access to this article as well as GBA’s complete library of premium articles and construction details.
Start Free TrialAlready a member? Log in
7 Comments
This is a seriously impressive project. I worked at Ecocor at the time and helped develop many of the details for the original house. I believe it was the first Passive House on piers, but I can't confirm that. Even 12+ years later, I still think that Ecocor's details are the best available, and George is a talented architect. I wish they had included a floor plan, but it's an impressive use of a small space. I'm glad to see that they were able to go ahead with the planned expansion.
Mike,
A floor plan would be great. A section through the floor system would be really helpful too.
Both George and Chris have lots of good photos on their websites.
I'm interested to know how water, etc was brought in without a basement and without risk of freezing. Do tell?
bobww,
I don't know how they did it on this project, but the link shows a good detail for bringing up services under pier houses.
https://www.southmountain.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/19-Small-Home-Harmony-Article-PDF.pdf
When I have done it I used a 2 ft x 2 ft insulated chase down to frost level open to the house above to keep it warm.
Very cool build. My question was along the same lines - I love the idea of building on piers but the raised floor brings up challenges. I'm assuming the floor was also pre-fabbed and craned into place? Surely there were still some seams to seal (room to crawl around under there?) and like others said, what about penetrations?
Was the floor insulated before the building was dried in? If so, how was that managed for water?
Very cool project! I'd love an update on how the mechanical system is performing, since it was such a contentious decision.
Log in or become a member to post a comment.
Sign up Log in