And the winner of the 2022 Westport Green Building Award for Achievement in Sustainable Design and Construction is …
… 24 Owenoke Park.
Owners Keith and Kate Melnick; architect Jack Franzen; builders John and Steve Segerson and Pam Brennan, and interior designer Chrystal Toth received the honor from Sustainable Westport, and the town of Westport. They called it “a stellar example of what is possible with sustainable design and construction in a residential project.”
24 Owenoke Park. (Photo courtesy of Google Earth)
Moving to Westport in 2016, the Melnicks’ goal was to incorporate sustainable building features they had discovered while living in Switzerland and Australia into their new home. Sustainable aspects of 24 Owenoke Park include an efficient building envelope, use of sustainable building materials, a solar photovoltaic system, and a geothermal heating and cooling system.
The building envelope includes double-pane insulated glass with low emittance coating, to reflect heat and keep it from penetrating the glass. This reduces heating and cooling demands on the home, along with the size of the heating and cooling equipment.
Exterior of 24 Owenoke Park …
The heating and cooling system is an all-electric geothermal heat pump, lessening the home’s reliance on fossil fuels. When heat is required, the heat pump draws heat from the ground; for cooling, the heat pump rejects heat back into wells drilled 535 feet into the ground. Because the ground temperature is nearly constant year-round, less energy is required to extract and reject heat to the ground than to the air.
A 7.8kW solar array installation of photovoltaic panels produces clean electricity, powering the home and allowing it to send electricity back to the electric grid instead of pulling from it. The solar PV panels also power an EV charger for their electric car.
Ultra-high efficiency tankless water heaters provide hot water only when there is a call from a sink or shower, eliminating the need to keep water heated 24/7.
The interior of the home includes natural finishes and furnishings, and paint that minimize Volatile Organic Compounds (chemicals often found in building materials and interior furnishings that can cause health problems). The paint also includes cradle-to-cradle certification that assures the health and safety of the end product, as well as sustainable manufacturing practices.
… and the interior.
All appliances are Energy Star-rated. They meet energy efficiency standards set by the US Environmental Protection Agency or US Department of Energy.
To learn more about what you can do to make your home more sustainable, or the Green Building Awards Program, click here.
1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker (1st row, 2nd from left) presents the award to the Melnicks. The ceremony was also attended by town officials, and the home’s designers and builders. (Photo/Jenaé Weinbrenner)
