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Jay DeChesere completes new home designed to raise the bar for green living
Talon Court is a Platinum LEED for Homes 'gut rehab' awarded USGBC’s Outstanding Single Family Home of 2010. The concept was to take a 'regular home', one that a middle class person could identify with, and provide an aesthetically pleasing 'real-life example' of sustainable renovation. A community-based effort of the Cape Fear Green Building Alliance was the vehicle for this effort. Strengthened relationships and increased membership has been the result.
A website features the intent of the project, emphasises team design, and describes over 'sixty green strategies'. As the office and home of the architect, a working laboratory is maintained for ongoing research on performance of various systems and materials and a marketing source for vendors and designers. The home has been on the ASEC’s National Solar Tour and was a CE event for the AIA. It has been presented at a Green Living Expo twice. Its native landscaping will be the focus of Native Plant Society tours. A four-part TV film focusing on LEED categories, will inform the public of how they can renovate a home to be more sustainable. Local newspapers, USA Today, local TV, and numerous national green publications have recognised Talon Court.
The project has produced significant design concepts. One is the transformation of a traditional wood-burning fireplace and chimney into a skylit shaft providing daylighting while ridding the home of an environmentally undesirable element. Secondly it has created a new product, interior doors constructed entirely of wood remnants from cabinet shops and construction sites, demonstrating the true spirit of recycling. Talon Court’s design team has evolved into the Sustainable Design Collaborative (SDC-team.com), a team-driven design and construction effort, whose focus is on sustainable assessments of existing homes. A niche not yet filled, this affords the owner with a 'pathway to sustainability' and provides jobs in the green arena.
Links:
Talon Court: http://web.me.com/jdc001/TalonCourt/Welcome.html
Cape Fear Green Building Alliance: http://www.cfgba.org/
USGBC Award: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2368
Sustainable Design Collaborative: sdc-team.com
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