Beaver Pond House
- Net Zero Ready
- ‘Pretty Good House’
An energy efficient home on Beaver Pond becomes a summer cottage, a winter ski chalet, and a source of revenue.
If you live in Maine, you know those beautiful summer days that get you dreaming about cottages on lakes. You probably also know those crisp sunny winter days that get you dreaming of ski cabins. Attaining even one of these dreams can sometimes be a real stretch, but our clients had a clever idea: If they could find the perfect piece of property that is on a body of water AND near a ski mountain, they could build a cozy home that they could rent on Airbnb for large portions of both seasons and still reserve plenty of time for their own family to enjoy. The seasonal income from the Airbnb would help them afford to build a modest, energy-efficient, “Pretty Good House” that their family could enjoy for the foreseeable future. Brilliant! After years of searching, they found just the spot close to Pleasant Mountain on Beaver Pond and reached out to BRIBURN to turn their dream into reality.
This home features all the Pretty Good House principals of being simple in form and reasonably small (for two bedrooms), by having a robust thermal envelope, balanced ventilation, and low-toxin materials. With extra attention to air-sealing details and added passive solar benefits, the home reaches passive house level energy efficiency.
Beaver Pond House takes advantage of its steeply sloped site to create a fully finished daylight basement. Since the main entrance (and the best views and daylight) are on the upper level, the main living spaces have been placed there following an open concept arrangement, with the bedrooms and a small TV room below. The home features double stud walls filled with dense packed cellulose, triple pane European style windows, mini split heat pumps, and a Zhender ERV (energy recovery ventilation) system.
In case you want to share the dream, or just experience what it’s like to hang out in a ‘Pretty Good House’, you can book a stay through Airbnb
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- Specifications
- Achievements
Project Type
Residential
Project Location
Bridgton, Maine
Project Year
2021
Project Size
1,603 sq. ft.
Design Team
Christopher Briley, Ian Parlin (Alumnus)
Contractor
Maine Passive House
Partners/Consultants
L + L Structural Engineering
Photos
Irvin Serrano
Energy Use Intensity
17 What is EUI?
Energy use intensity (EUI) is an indicator of the energy efficiency of a building's design and/or operations. EUI can be thought of as the miles per gallon rating of the building industry.
It's calculated by dividing the total energy consumed by the building in one year (measured in kBtu or GJ) by the total gross floor area of the building (measured in square feet or square meters).
