NJ Star-Ledger
When one thinks of building an eco-friendly home, Jersey City might not immediately come to mind as a place to do it.
With nearly a quarter-million residents packed into a dense 15 square miles, all things green there would seem to be at a premium.
But architects and Jersey City residents Richard Garber and Nicole Robertson of GRO Architects in New York rose to the challenge of designing and overseeing the construction of a single-family house that’s a true testament to both innovative design and eco-friendly technology.
Garber, also an assistant professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture and Design in Newark, was commissioned in 2007 by Denis Carpenter to design a concrete home with a fixed budget of $250,000.
“I’d recently purchased a small vacant lot and because of concern for the environment, wanted a house that was efficient, easy to maintain and which would take me through retirement,” said Carpenter, who often rides his bicycle from the house at 1 Minerva St. to Forest Research Institute in Jersey City, where he works as a medical files clerk. Garber and Robertson, a husband-and-wife team, evaluated the lot and its climate to determine the optimum design and orientation for the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house. “Design, research and approvals took about a year-and-a-half, but actual construction was completed in six months,” Garber said.
“Denis didn’t come with any pre-conceived idea of what the design should be,” Robertson added. “He was simply interested in performance, that the house be concrete and that we stay on budget.”
Building the house required special approval from the city, according to Claire Davis, supervising planner, Jersey City Division of City Planning.
“I worked with Richard a lot on the exterior design, making an essentially one-story house like a 2.5-story house to match its neighbors by adding upper windows and realigning basement windows.”
The house sits the same distance from the street as its neighbors, and while it has a modern, asymmetrical peaked roof, it is approximately the same height as other houses on the block. “The asymmetry works because the house is at the end of the row,” Davis said.
While the concrete house stands in contrast to its mostly clapboard neighbors, there was no community opposition to its unconventional design and the project received unanimous approval from city officials. This could mark the dawn of a whole new era for New Jersey concrete contractors.
The success of the project, completed in October 2009, is evidenced by the fact that Garber and Robertson are in talks with two Jersey City developers about future green buildings in the city. The 1,600-square-foot house they designed for Carpenter won a 2009 American Institute of Architects merit award and the 2010 Green Building of the Year Award from the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.
STEP INSIDE
To soften the interior, the architects used standard gypsum board, painted Benjamin Moore Super White, with a variety of tile accents that play on the home’s angular design. On the ground level, radiant heating beneath the exposed concrete floor warms the full bathroom and two bedrooms, one of which Carpenter uses as an office for his work as a part-time musician.
Pocket doors conserve space in the home’s relatively compact living quarters. Heading up to the loft-like second level, sleek aluminum and stainless steel railings accent the bamboo stairway to the mezzanine, living room and an artfully designed kitchen outfitted with salvaged appliances and cabinetry. Gray backsplash tile in the kitchen was installed at an angle, offsetting a streamlined stainless steel refrigerator and playing off the home’s asymmetrical construction. The kitchen also offers access to a small outdoor perch in the form of an elevated cedar deck. Bamboo floors on the upper level, also with radiant heating, add to the home’s eco-friendly design.
ADVANCED ARCHITECTURE
Technology played a major role in saving time and money in the home’s design. As director of NJIT’s fabrication laboratory, Garber had access to computer programs that allowed him to design the home’s components to exact specifications without the back-and-forth review of drawings that is typically required. Because we designed the house in an exact three-dimensional format using computer software, we were able to transmit precise 3-D files directly to the sub-contractor via e-mail and requested they fabricate the panels directly from our 3-D data.” Garber said. “There, in effect, was no shop drawing review and the panels went right into fabrication, and were exact in terms of dimensions. This saved the client time and money, and allowed us to finish the project probably about two months earlier than if we had undergone a traditional shop drawing review process.”
The three-dimensional specifications were transmitted to Northeast Precast LLC., a Cumberland County concrete-manufacturing company. From the specifications, the Millville-based company was able to form 18 slightly different panels that became the house walls.
The load-bearing concrete panels were transported by flatbed truck and hoisted into place with a crane. “The concrete structure was completed in only three days,” Garber said. “The panels are highly insulated, packed with both rigid insulation and fiberglass. And where a wood-framed house might require substantial upkeep in 30-plus years, concrete requires zero maintenance.”
Concrete is also watertight, and although the exterior’s side walls are exposed, the front and rear facades are clad in cedar rain-screen panels that soften the home’s appearance.
“Cedar turns silver with age and the slats applied to the concrete allow rain to sheath between the two surfaces,” Garber explained.
The house features awning windows for ventilation and large stationary custom windows. Though it is not air-conditioned, Carpenter said rooms remain relatively cool, even on hot days. “I also feel strongly about passive cooling strategies like ceiling fans and clerestory windows, and both are part of this design,” he said.
The home’s unique roof is formed by two triangles and holds 260 square feet of photovoltaic panels. The solar panels were placed to maximize solar collection and deliver about 2,000 kilowatts of energy annually to a battery stored in the basement. The panels also cut about $360 a year from the home’s energy costs, he said.
Robertson added: “Over 30 years, this small solar array will save 21.4 tons of carbon dioxide from the environment.”
Making the roof even greener is a 2-foot-square area planted with drought-resistant sedum plants. The flat vegetative roof, at the back of the house above the kitchen, absorbs some of the rainwater that would run off the home’s roof and thereby helps to curb pollution of area waterways.
Carpenter had high praise for his boldly designed green house.
“I wanted a home that was sustainable and economical to maintain and I more than got it.”
With nearly a quarter-million residents packed into a dense 15 square miles, all things green there would seem to be at a premium.
But architects and Jersey City residents Richard Garber and Nicole Robertson of GRO Architects in New York rose to the challenge of designing and overseeing the construction of a single-family house that’s a true testament to both innovative design and eco-friendly technology.
Garber, also an assistant professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture and Design in Newark, was commissioned in 2007 by Denis Carpenter to design a concrete home with a fixed budget of $250,000.
“I’d recently purchased a small vacant lot and because of concern for the environment, wanted a house that was efficient, easy to maintain and which would take me through retirement,” said Carpenter, who often rides his bicycle from the house at 1 Minerva St. to Forest Research Institute in Jersey City, where he works as a medical files clerk. Garber and Robertson, a husband-and-wife team, evaluated the lot and its climate to determine the optimum design and orientation for the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house. “Design, research and approvals took about a year-and-a-half, but actual construction was completed in six months,” Garber said.
“Denis didn’t come with any pre-conceived idea of what the design should be,” Robertson added. “He was simply interested in performance, that the house be concrete and that we stay on budget.”
Building the house required special approval from the city, according to Claire Davis, supervising planner, Jersey City Division of City Planning.
“I worked with Richard a lot on the exterior design, making an essentially one-story house like a 2.5-story house to match its neighbors by adding upper windows and realigning basement windows.”
The house sits the same distance from the street as its neighbors, and while it has a modern, asymmetrical peaked roof, it is approximately the same height as other houses on the block. “The asymmetry works because the house is at the end of the row,” Davis said.
While the concrete house stands in contrast to its mostly clapboard neighbors, there was no community opposition to its unconventional design and the project received unanimous approval from city officials. This could mark the dawn of a whole new era for New Jersey concrete contractors.
The success of the project, completed in October 2009, is evidenced by the fact that Garber and Robertson are in talks with two Jersey City developers about future green buildings in the city. The 1,600-square-foot house they designed for Carpenter won a 2009 American Institute of Architects merit award and the 2010 Green Building of the Year Award from the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.
STEP INSIDE
To soften the interior, the architects used standard gypsum board, painted Benjamin Moore Super White, with a variety of tile accents that play on the home’s angular design. On the ground level, radiant heating beneath the exposed concrete floor warms the full bathroom and two bedrooms, one of which Carpenter uses as an office for his work as a part-time musician.
Pocket doors conserve space in the home’s relatively compact living quarters. Heading up to the loft-like second level, sleek aluminum and stainless steel railings accent the bamboo stairway to the mezzanine, living room and an artfully designed kitchen outfitted with salvaged appliances and cabinetry. Gray backsplash tile in the kitchen was installed at an angle, offsetting a streamlined stainless steel refrigerator and playing off the home’s asymmetrical construction. The kitchen also offers access to a small outdoor perch in the form of an elevated cedar deck. Bamboo floors on the upper level, also with radiant heating, add to the home’s eco-friendly design.
ADVANCED ARCHITECTURE
Technology played a major role in saving time and money in the home’s design. As director of NJIT’s fabrication laboratory, Garber had access to computer programs that allowed him to design the home’s components to exact specifications without the back-and-forth review of drawings that is typically required. Because we designed the house in an exact three-dimensional format using computer software, we were able to transmit precise 3-D files directly to the sub-contractor via e-mail and requested they fabricate the panels directly from our 3-D data.” Garber said. “There, in effect, was no shop drawing review and the panels went right into fabrication, and were exact in terms of dimensions. This saved the client time and money, and allowed us to finish the project probably about two months earlier than if we had undergone a traditional shop drawing review process.”
The three-dimensional specifications were transmitted to Northeast Precast LLC., a Cumberland County concrete-manufacturing company. From the specifications, the Millville-based company was able to form 18 slightly different panels that became the house walls.
The load-bearing concrete panels were transported by flatbed truck and hoisted into place with a crane. “The concrete structure was completed in only three days,” Garber said. “The panels are highly insulated, packed with both rigid insulation and fiberglass. And where a wood-framed house might require substantial upkeep in 30-plus years, concrete requires zero maintenance.”
Concrete is also watertight, and although the exterior’s side walls are exposed, the front and rear facades are clad in cedar rain-screen panels that soften the home’s appearance.
“Cedar turns silver with age and the slats applied to the concrete allow rain to sheath between the two surfaces,” Garber explained.
The house features awning windows for ventilation and large stationary custom windows. Though it is not air-conditioned, Carpenter said rooms remain relatively cool, even on hot days. “I also feel strongly about passive cooling strategies like ceiling fans and clerestory windows, and both are part of this design,” he said.
The home’s unique roof is formed by two triangles and holds 260 square feet of photovoltaic panels. The solar panels were placed to maximize solar collection and deliver about 2,000 kilowatts of energy annually to a battery stored in the basement. The panels also cut about $360 a year from the home’s energy costs, he said.
Robertson added: “Over 30 years, this small solar array will save 21.4 tons of carbon dioxide from the environment.”
Making the roof even greener is a 2-foot-square area planted with drought-resistant sedum plants. The flat vegetative roof, at the back of the house above the kitchen, absorbs some of the rainwater that would run off the home’s roof and thereby helps to curb pollution of area waterways.
Carpenter had high praise for his boldly designed green house.
“I wanted a home that was sustainable and economical to maintain and I more than got it.”
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