We designed this Positive NRG Triplex™ in response to a design contest for student designers sponsored by Dow Chemical. We are not students, so we did not enter the contest, but were intrigued by the challenge: Design an affordable and sustainable multi-family-attached home, to house three families. One unit is for a couple, one for a typical family of four, and one for an extended family of six, with at least one handicapped or elderly person. The building should be near zero-energy, yet built in an affordable price range, and it had to fit on a particular lot size, shape, and with shading restrictions placed on it by certain surrounding buildings.
We asked ourselves why only near zero-energy? Why not WAY below net zero-energy? We can build this multi family building to also power the occupant’s vehicles. So we did. The small unit will provide up to 12,000 miles per year of vehicle operation, the largest about double that, and the middle-sized unit is somewhere in between, depending on your specific climate zone. We energy modeled this townhome style building in Seattle, Washington.
One of the beauties of this design is that any one of the units can be uesd by itself, in tandem with others like it, or in any combination with any of the other units. The three-bedroom shown here on the West end of the building has been designed with its entry on the west end of the building, but the over-all design works best with all the entries on the North. This change was made only to fit the particular lot requirements of the contest. Similar changes can be made to either of the other units, if the individual site demands end-unit entries. This plan will be the zero-energy developer’s dream!
Since this plan was posted on our website, we have been asked to use it as the basis for several other townhome projects, and it is becoming the benchmark for how townhomes will be built in the future!
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Townhouse style multi-family home We designed this Positive NRG Triplex™ in response to a design contest for student designers sponsored by Dow Chemical. We are not students, so we did not enter the contest, but were intrigued by the challenge: Design an affordable and sustainable multi-family-attached home, to house three families. One unit is for […]
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What's Included in Our Zero-Energy Home Packages
We provide the most complete plan packages available on the market. We are interested in the ultimate success of your project, not just in selling a set of house plans.
We include foundation plans, foundation details, floor plans of all levels, framing details, floor framing plans, and elevation views from all sides. We also provide an electrical plan, though you will want to modify the lighting to your own tastes. Most importantly, we provide a complete mechanical plan, tailored to YOUR climate zone.
We used to ship either a “Basic Set” of plans, with just one copy of each page, or a “full Set”, which ideally would include enough plan pagers for all of your key suppliers and subcontractors. Now most people prefer to have you send them a PDF to bid from and work from, and they will carry it with them in their portable device. Even banks and building departments are now preferring electronic plan copies.
There are now FedEx Office, Office Max, and similar locations all over the country where you can have full size plans printed at a far lower cost than what we can provide, especially when the cost and time required to ship them across the country is considered. When you need an extra copy of a certain page, you can simply e-mail the pdf page you need to the local outlet, and they will have it all printed and ready for pick-up by the time you arrive. Isn’t technology wonderful!