Budget Breakdown: An Architect Couple Build a Net-Zero Home and Studio for $250 Per Square Foot
eMZed Architecture builds a sustainable, durable, high-performance residence and storefront in Portland, Oregon, for $950,000—an impressive feat given the challenges.
eMZed Architecture builds a sustainable, durable, high-performance residence and storefront in Portland, Oregon, for $950,000—an impressive feat given the challenges.
Keyan Mizani and Alexia Zerbinis, the husband-and-wife architects behind eMZed Architecture, have grown accustomed to passers-by pausing on the sidewalk outside their home and studio in Portland, Oregon.
"I’m just thrilled by the number of exclamations I hear, how intrigued people are," Keyan says. "We did build this as a demonstration house. We wanted to show what you can do with limited means."
$6,000 Deconstruction & Salvaging (After City Grant) |
$382,250 High-Performance Shell |
$2,400 Mini-Split HVAC |
$10,100 Zehnder Energy Recovery Ventilator |
$32,000 Cabinets & Counters |
$3,000 Sliding Sunscreen |
$12,200 9.5 kW Solar PV Panels (After Rebates) |
$19,200 Wood Flooring |
$5,775 Wood Stairway |
$19,500 Tile |
$35,000 Drywall |
$13,575 Steelwork |
$418,000 Construction Costs |
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Grand Total: $950,000 |
With its pitched roof, inviting front porch, and lush landscaping, the Treehouse, as its designer-owners call it, fits well into its leafy neighborhood of early 20th-century bungalows. Looking closer, though, reveals not only an ultra-green home with a carbon footprint dramatically less than that of a conventional design, but also an architectural Swiss Army knife of indoor/outdoor configurations, spaces within spaces, and creative use of materials to save money.
The couple’s ground-floor architecture studio not only has its own glass storefront entrance, but can be converted to either an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or a garage. A sliding exterior sunscreen on the top floor helps minimize summertime heat gain.
The cantilevered front balcony can become an extended part of the living room thanks to a sliding glass partition behind it, and its automated roll-down screen can make it feel even more like interior space. A guest room and full bath on the ground floor can be closed off with pocket doors to create a private suite in keeping with barrier-free design principles, should the couple need as they age.
See the full story on Dwell.com: Budget Breakdown: An Architect Couple Build a Net-Zero Home and Studio for $250 Per Square Foot
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