Green Is In The Details
Sustainability in historic homes; Ciel partners with Architect and Sustainability Consultant Keith Hone to deliver today's comfort and energy-efficiency standards to this exquisite historic property in Tewksbury, New Jersey.
Located in central New Jersey, Tewksbury Township is famous for its small-town sleepy vibe that belies its A-list residents which include many of New Jersey's most prominent families. Within close proximity to the township's famous General Store, this unique historic property is located in the heart of this idyllic township.
The property is comprised of an intimate collection of buildings that offer a relaxed and historic setting overlooking the surrounding countryside. The main house has served as the venue for a number of equestrian events and has recently undergone an extensive renovation focused on increasing the comfort and energy-efficiency of the stately property.
The owners of this exquisite property teamed up with Keith Hone of Hone+Associates, a firm that provides architectural design, sustainability consulting, and project representation services. Together they undertook efforts to understand how each of the structures on the property consumed energy and used this information to create a detailed master plan designed to curtail energy consumption across all of the structures on the property.
Like most historic homes, the main house acted like a sieve, letting air and heat easily pass through its poorly insulated walls and attic areas. Ciel technicians teamed up with Hone and his team in an effort to diagnose problem areas, create a master-plan, and to undertake the sustainable renovation work in this historic home.
"In our view, a building should reflect the full context in which the project is built:" says Keith Hone, an architectural design and sustainability consultant. "It should reveal the client's mission; it should promote health in all the systems in which it participates; and it should elicit joy."
In addition to putting in spray foam and fiberglass insulation in the attic areas, the Ciel team carefully opened up the historic siding on the home to insulate each wall cavity with blown-in cellulose insulation. As the project unfolded, the aging foundation of the home was reinforced or replaced in preparation for the newly excavated crawlspaces to be encapsulated and insulated.
Every detail of this home seems to spark lively stories about childhood and family. In the early morning hours you may catch a member of the staff sipping coffee in the kitchen warmed by an old stove. The staff here spans multiple generations and fizzes with the same life and personality as the rest of the property.
"We saw a lot of love at this home." said Scott Fischer of Ciel Power. "Our efforts here should ensure that the family has rooms a bit warmer, a hearth that's a bit cozier, and an environment that's a bit cleaner for generations to come."
““We believe strongly that, at a minimum, our activities must greatly reduce the impact we have on the environment, and we aspire to help lead our industry toward solutions that not only do less harm, but also promote health. At the core of the process that will allow us to move from sustainability to regeneration is an
integrative approach to design that honors systems thinking.”
”We recognize and appreciate that money is also a resource. Our experience has been that environmentally responsible building and site development can significantly reduce operating expenses with minimal or no additional capital cost. We are committed to providing our clients with accurate and current information so that they can properly evaluate the value of our solutions.””