Discover the Fascinating History of The Old Yellow House
The Old Yellow House 1890
Winner of the William Penn Mott, Jr. Environmental Award 2018
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“Living in a Geo-Solar Biomimicry Energy System.”
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Driving along the road In Orinda, California, I found a vacant structure locals called “The Old Yellow House.” Research shows that it was originally built in 1890 by the California and Nevada Railroad as employee housing, but never occupied due to its bankruptcy at the end of the Steam-Railroad era. The Charles Nelson family lived on the property from 1918 through 1966, after which it was left vacant and unaltered. In 1918 there was no electricity or plumbing, and Charles had to build amenities crucial to living there. These included two hand-dug wells, a rainwater cistern, and an incinerator he built into the stone foundation, all part of the self-sustaining survival needs for cooking, cleaning, bathing, gardening, and maintaining livestock. The youngest Nelson son, Ezra, had preserved the building and all sustainable living features on the property until my purchase in 2012. During our deconstruction, we found newspapers which were published just prior to and after World War II. The fascinating display of historic newspapers that now adorn the stair hall walls provoke profound thoughts about the relationship of the past to our future, while revealing a poignant history for all. The house has two entry doors, because at the time this commercial structure was built, slavery had recently been abolished and the "caste system" did not allow mixing of worker, the social norm.
I decided to refurbish a house on a heavily traveled road, as an architectural showcase of my skills developing geo-solar passive houses. Recognizing the need to live, experience, and develop the benefits of the architecture I passionately advocate, I set out to build a prototype to convince my clients of the advantages of passive houses. The design intent was to create an understanding of the natural energy systems or “Biomimicry” of the building as an educational tool through the use of thermal imaging photography, indicating the temperature of all exposed piping of the system’s ventilation ducts and equipment, demonstrating the heating and cooling energy dynamic of the different seasons. My goal was to create a “visual expression” illustrating the unusual but simple heating and cooling systems within a sustainable but historic house.
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My plan was to rebuild maintaining the original appearance while-showing how a historical dwelling could become super energy-efficient through a passive house technique known as a “chainsaw retrofit.” We cut off the roof overhangs and rebuilt them with framing overtop the new exterior rigid insulation, and then re-installed the original redwood fascia and trim, resulting in thermal-bridge-free construction. To make an airtight building envelope essential to the fresh-air energy-recovery ventilation system, we installed radiant barrier plywood outside the framing, and sealed all the seams. Over this envelope we installed rigid insulation suspending wood battens supporting the rain screen original redwood siding. Because of adjacent traffic noise, acoustical engineering detailing was used throughout the street-facing facades and roof. We installed suspended soundproofing (mass loaded vinyl) that had the duality of also creating a ventilated façade, increasing the thermal resistance of the walls. The original front doors, deteriorated from severe sun exposure, were replaced with doors found in local salvage yards matching the existing doors within the home. We made 3-inch-thick sandwiched antique front doors with soundproofing in between. To complete the soundproofing envelope, the double-hung windows were modified on the interior, receiving a new dual glaze window, making the assembly a triple glaze acoustical window. The only new addition to the exterior is a rear cantilevered bathroom clad with recycled yellow lichen covered fencing used as siding in a rain screen application. The design philosophy here was that alterations to a historic structure should distinctly contrast to the original building aesthetic, making it clear which was original and which was new. In 1890, the structure had a redwood foundation which was replaced with stone in 1923. The stone for the foundation and landscape masonry was harvested from San Pablo Creek, passing through the rear of the property. To match this indigenous stone for the new basement exterior wall, material was collected from this same creek, two miles downstream.
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The upper level is illuminated from above by natural filtered light revealing the integrated photovoltaic thermal (PVta) skylight. The fans, filters, duct, and piping are exposed, expressing the juxtaposition of the old and new. This cogeneration energy system provides natural lighting as part of the integrated photovoltaic water-cooled skylight, with internal radiant barrier insulated shades, enabling optimum seasonal benefits. The original beautifully preserved raw red wood doors and trim were numbered removed and re-installed complementing the light and airy framing skeleton silhouetted by the foil-faced radiant barrier plywood.
The main entry level showcases historical photos of the California and Nevada Railroad within a Victorian décor adorned with antique furnishing and fixtures complemented by old growth redwood mill work and reclaimed fir flooring. The original hardware was refurbished, and any missing or broken parts were found in a local Berkeley salvage yard. The new rear bathroom addition is distinctly different from this decor and is composed of newer salvaged materials. Within this new space, the original exterior stud framing is exposed, revealing the interior of the horsehair reinforced lath and plaster wall (expressed as decoration). The front side entry door leads to the laboratory foyer-mechanical room, expressing the heart of the home, and beginning the experience of the Geo-Solar "Biomimicry" energy system. The main feature, the energy recovery fresh air ventilator, along with other heat exchange systems, surrounds the observer as they descend the glass spiral staircase, serving as a natural lighting fixture illuminating the basement.
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The lower level exhibits the harnessing of natural energy. Dominating this space is the 1920’s hand-dug brick lined well, that we extended up creating a large circular glass table base. Twenty-seven feet below you can see well-water illuminated by an underwater LED “rainbow” light highlighting the main part of the “Earth-coupling" geo ventilation system. Adjacent the well are glass windows into the evaporative cooler water-wall also serving as a wine display case exposing the original stone foundation. This water is supplied by the landscape irrigation that recirculates water in an open loop draining back into the well. Highlighting the under-floor labyrinth chamber are several salvaged glass structural panels used as windows into the antique brick floor revealing the thermal mass storage / heat exchanger. This storage is made from recycled soda cans filled with sand, gravel, and water. This mass is within the whole home ventilation air stream, maintaining building temperature, and buffering both seasonal day-night fluctuations, therefor reducing annual energy consumption. In the center of the kitchen is a site-fabricated butcher-block island of recycled Ipe wood blocks, surrounded by counters made from salvaged honed Onyx. The custom yellow wall finish was made by mixing recycled paint sand and drywall compound. Some areas of the ceiling are left exposed, while others are covered with reclaimed wall planking from the 1950’s milled on site. Adorned with books and on-site artifacts, it is an open plan spatially connected to the outdoors and gardens by means of a floor to ceiling plate glass wall framing the garden solar plunge pool, used as a heat dump for the water-cooled cogeneration skylight. This opening is flanked by thermal curtains and a nine-foot-wide theater screen that drops from the ceiling concealing the glass wall giving the room complete privacy. The room is illuminated with LED cable lighting. The mechanical heat pump water heater is located outdoors, with a backup tankless hot water system when temperatures fall below 43°F. The system is assisted by a drain water heat recovery pipe (DWHP) displayed next to the glass stairs. To minimize peak heating electrical use, a pellet stove was installed. The large onsite electrical generation, and use of all electric equipment, which avoids the need for natural gas, results in the absolute minimum carbon footprint.
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While working on the house, I coined the term, “Aesthetic of Blemish,” a phrase associated with re-purposing original materials, siding, windows, molding, and trim. Because all original materials were extremely weathered or damaged, they inspired a design of only salvaged replacement materials, welcoming imperfections. The renovation concept resulted in an unexpected education from re-purposing used, misfit, or discarded items. The interior is now composed of re-claimed fixtures, appliances, equipment, and furnishings that were all found in local salvage yards, such as the Habitat for Humanity Restore, secondhand stores or local antique shops. I believe that because of re-purposing materials in conjunction with passive house energy efficiencies, this project has led to one of the smallest carbon footprints of any modern renovation in the world.
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In 2011, I completed passive house consultant training by PHIUS (Passive House Institute United States), at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Architecture & Environmental Design. This classroom training complemented my intuitive understanding of building science, which began in 1979 at the University of Maryland Architectural School, when my studies focused on solar energy, natural lighting design, energy systems of buildings, and special studies in the engineering department of thermodynamics. Now that I am living in a passive house I can truly experience and study the geo-solar Biomimicry environment that I’ve created. This house has become a laboratory for newly realized aspects to the natural energy science within these types of environments, such as passive annual heat storage (PAHS), radiant cooling, natural evaporation cooling and displacement ventilation. Moreover, the indoor health benefits are like sleeping and living outdoors, but in an ideal temperature. The Old Yellow House restoration has left a profound impact on me, both from history and the attributes in pursuing sustainability in architectural design.
James Phillip Wright Architect & Building Scientist
