Event Description

Tour a high performance retrofit in Midcoast Maine, led by Michael Maines Residential Design. Working within the client’s strict budget, the project team has created a completely transformed home with a predicted near-zero energy usage, despite the cold winters and variable humidity of its coastal Maine location.

The improved, more efficient design works with the home’s original footprint and includes 4-bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, hobby space, a conditioned attic that could turn into living or sleeping space, and an existing timber-framed basement reconfigured to function as an independent guest suite.

During the tour, the team will stress the environmentally responsible results gained from working to preserve as much of the original structure as possible. They will share insights on how they overcame the particular challenges of this project, such as providing classic detailing with minimal materials, protecting the finished basement when the roof was removed, working with the original footprint, and making an airtight envelope around a metal chimney which was disguised to look brick.

Given the aging housing stock in the Northeast, projects like this one can serve as an example of how to work with what a client may already have – like an existing home in a desirable location – and work from there to achieve the desired energy and architectural goals.


Site Details:
-2,648 sq. ft.
-Renovations scheduled for Spring 2017 Completion
-Unusual R-60 roof assembly
-Shell air tested at 0.25 ACH50
-Zip System Sheathing
-Alaskan Yellow Cedar decking; Western Hemlock clapboard siding
-Hearthstone Craftsbury 40K Btu wood stove with Selkirk insulated metal chimney
-PV array will offset approximately 80% of the home's annual energy needs