The 860-square-foot ranch before renovation
The estimated cost of the deep energy retrofit portion of the renovation is about $150,000. The result is a comfortable 2,200-square-
foot, beautifully designed, all electric near zero-net-energy home.
Copyright © 2012 by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved.
Architecture in New Paltz, N. Y., looked at our
house and suggested that rather than level it, why
not retrofit it. It would be more cost-effective
and “greener.” We hired david to design what
would be uncharted territory for both of us: a
net-zero-energy, deep energy retrofit. Now I
had to quickly research deep energy retrofits
— which involve super-insulation upgrades
— and find a contractor who knew how to do
one. Finding the right tradesmen to achieve the
goals within our tight timeframe was the tough-est aspect of the project.
Global dwelling Home Energy Solutions’
dave raponi, the building envelope specialist/
builder I found, was enthusiastic about retro-fitting the property. He recommended a solar
installer, Jordan Mills, of Lighthouse Solar.
Reducing Our Fossil Fuel Reliance
The house was just 24 by 36 feet ( 7. 3 by 11
meters), with no south-facing roof on which to
install the solar array. The architect’s first challenge was to design the proposed 14- by 22-foot
Jordan then referred me to Pasquale Strocchia,
of Integral Building & Design Inc. We hired
Pasquale to begin the home energy rating process, just as we were starting the demolition. By
default, I served as the builder/general contractor of this team effort. Together with ideas from
our team and our two lead carpenters, Brent
Hertzog of Built to Last Carpentry and Cabinets
and Tom Cuccaro, we came up with a plan for
the envelope design and insulation methods —
the most critical parts of our project.
energy stats
Projected Annual Electric
Utility Cost ......................................... $723
Projected Annual End-Use Cost
Heating .................................................. $282
Cooling ................................................... $96
water Heating..................................... $176
Lights, Appliances............................. $1,011
Photovoltaics ...................................... ($843)
Service charges .................................. $192
total ........................................................ $915
Projected Annual End-Use Consumption
Heating .................................................. 2,134 kwh
Cooling...................................................729 kwh
water Heating.....................................1,330 kwh
Lights, Appliances............................. 7,634 kwh
Photovoltaics ...................................... ( 6,362 kwh)
Photovoltaic System
estimated Annual Output
First Year .............................................. 6.67 Mwh
5.16-k W System and Labor Total
Before Incentives ............................. $40,648
estimated Federal Tax Credit ...... $7,900
estimated State Tax Credit ........... $5,000
n YSeRDA Rebate............................... $11,740
energy Star Rebate .......................... $2,580
Total After Incentives ....................... $13,428
Project team
Owners/Builder: Robert Ritacco
and wendy Blair
Architecture: David Toder
Bolder Architecture
bolder-architecture.com
Building Envelope: Dave Raponi
Global Dwelling Home energy Solutions
globaldwelling.net
Building Performance: Pasquale Strocchia
Integral Building & Design Inc.
integralbuilding.com
Solar Install: Jordan Mills
Lighthouse Solar
lighthousesolar.com
Carpentry: Tom Cuccaro; Brent Hertzog
of Built to Last Carpentry and Cabinets,
Saugerties, n. Y.; Dave Raponi;
Jay Jagodzinski
solartoday.org SOLAR TODA Y June 2012 29
(4- by 7-m) addition so that its roof both faced
south at the right pitch and was large enough
to accommodate a then-unknown quantity of
solar panels. The resulting design is beautiful,
and the large roof has a 6: 12 pitch ( 26. 5 degrees,
almost due south). My idea was to use insulated
concrete forms (ICFs) from footings to roofline
for this addition. I wanted to experiment with
