Redfern House

Project Architect | Christopher Briley, RA, LEED-AP
Contractor | Redfern Properties
Location | Portland, Maine
Completed | 2009

Jonathan and Catherine Culley of Redfern Properties, found a wonderful, though neglected, piece of property just off of the Back Cove in Portland. This, they thought, would be the proving ground for their concept: A modest home that was energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and competitively priced.

They had taken an interest in the ‘Sustainable, Attainable’ design and wanted to use it as a springboard for a slightly larger, less aggressively affordable, but equally green house. They also wanted to have the house LEED certified, as this would add legitimacy to the “greeness” of the home and might give them a leg up in the housing market. Shortly after construction began, the housing market became abysmal. It was therefore, with great pride and excitement that together, along with the carpentry of Todd Harrison, the systems by Revision EnergyRevision energy, and the landscaping by Ken Fengler, we achieved a Platinum Rating! The proof of the value of this rating came when the house sold after being on the market for only a month. Other home sellers in the Portland area were green with envy.

The Redfern house features balloon framing with 1-1/2″ horizontal strapping on the interior of the studs to increase it’s effective insulation depth and minimize thermal bridging to the exterior. It is also a passive solar house with distinctive exterior ‘shading doors’ that are a hybrid of New England barn doors and venetian blinds. These blinds block the hot direct sunlight in the summer, and are stowed to the side in the remaining seasons. The home also features PV solar panels as well as an array of solar hot water evacuated tubes to take care of the majority of home’s energy needs. The heat demand is so low in fact that the only backup is a small electric wall mounted boiler.