Earlier this year, Mr. B gave this place a bit of a whooping for what he thought was an out-of-scale addition (though plenty of readers disagreed with us). If only we’d known how the addition helped reinvent this State Street townhouse into a green haven courtesy of Tesoro Architects and Ryan Enschede Studio. More from Ryan below. Got a green project you want to publish? Send us a note.

The owners needed to replace the worn-out interior of their home damaged by previous renovations, and to expand for a growing family. We worked hard to create a new green house within a historic shell. We started by preserving the original façade: stoop, window, and door openings have been left as they were. The cornice, which was crumbling and unable to be repaired, has been rebuilt nearly as it was. Above the cornice line the new floor extends the structure upwards behind a new mansard roof-with-dormers.

Demolition revealed the rear wall to be a rotting swiss cheese of holes and dissolving lime mortar. This facade had to be dismantled and rebuilt for greater connection to the treasured rear garden. Re-using the same brick, we made larger window openings for greater penetration of the sun, added larger rear doorways at the first three floors, new terraces, a top-floor balcony, and connecting exterior stairways. Finally, at the roof, a new deck is planned to take advantage of panoramic views of Brooklyn, to be shaded by a photovoltaic solar panel array that doubles as a sunscreen trellis.

At the interior of the house little proved able to be salvaged. After demolition we discovered that the original floor structure had been cut for plumbing in so many places by previous renovators that it sagged as much as 6 at the center of the 20′ wide house. Places in the roof bounced like a trampoline. Most of the original interior finishes were gone. We have kept what was worthwhile of the remnants, including the marble living room fireplace, lovely aged mahogany handrails, and the classic sweeping stair from the living/dining floor to the floor above.

A few notes specifically about the green measures incorporated into the house:

Best-practices green measures:
-Southern (rear) façade rebuilt with relatively large window openings, shaded to the summer sun, allowing solar heat gain in winter. Northern (street) façade preserved with relatively small window openings, emphasizing the insulation of an opaque wall where solar gain is not available and preserving the original façade.
-Reflective-finish metal shingles at the vertical East and West party wall extensions respond to the large summertime exposure to solar heat gain at these surfaces by reflecting solar radiation off of the building.
-High-performance open and close-cell foam insulation, at deep and shallow stud cavities respectively, provide maximum R-Value in minimum space and increase air-sealing.
-Thorough air sealing at windows and doors for increased energy efficiency.
-High-performance air conditioning equipment with variable speed condensers, fans, and zone dampers allow more or less conditioned air to individual rooms and varying portions of the home based upon varying cooling needs. This improves comfort and increases energy efficiency by cooling only the spaces that need cooling.
-High performance boiler provides domestic hot water and radiant floor heating, again zoned for temperature control of individual rooms to increase comfort and capture the efficiency of the wintertime passive solar gain in the south-facing rooms without leaving the north-facing rooms cold.
-Recirculating loop hot-water system saves heat lost as water cools sitting in pipes, saves water lost from running the tap to reach hot water.
-Fluorescent and LED lighting throughout.
-Interior transom windows for daylight penetration to interior spaces, reducing lighting demand.
-Low-VOC interior paint and floor finishes.
-Dual-flush toilets.

Additional green measures:
-3.7kw photovoltaic solar panel array to offset electrical demands and provide shading for rooftop deck.
-FSC certified flooring and cabinet materials
-Recycled glass/cement countertops.
-Re-use of salvaged brick.

Project Credits:
Architect: Tesoro Architects
Sustainability Consultant, Project Architect: Ryan Enschede Studio
MEP Engineer: M Ramos Assoc.
Structural Engineer: Chen Engineering
Contractor: Loranco Construction