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You might not expect to find an eco-friendly home in the middle of Brooklyn with a tree growing inside, but one architect wants to prove that sustainable living is possible even in the city.
According to the New York Times, architect Aaron Schiller and his wife, Anna, transformed an 1870s brick carriage house into a beautiful, climate-friendly home built from large pieces of wood.
This type of construction uses engineered wood, often made from large compressed planks, columns, or beams held together with adhesives, hardwood dowels, or laminates. Massive wood has high strength grades like concrete and steel without the need for subsequent carbon-intensive manufacturing processes, naturally: wood.
While renovating the dark, dank building presented considerable challenges, Schiller stuck to his vision. After stripping the two-story building down to its bones, Schiller retained only the original wooden beams for flooring and restored the bricks.
He then added a third story and roof deck for extra space and installed skylights near the center of the building. Skylights will provide sunlight for the Japanese maples he planted at the base of the open staircase.
For the structural components of the home, Schiller purchased plywood boards of various sizes and hired prefabricated home builder Bensonwood to construct much of the building off-site, according to the Times.
“The whole project was installed with a crane and four carpenters and locked in place and waterproofed within seven days,” Schiller told The Times. “Then they came back and installed the wooden stairs within four days. “
The house has thick wood fiber gum and hemp insulation, as well as a radiant heat system that conducts heat through the floors rather than forced air. Energy recovery ventilators allow fresh air to enter while removing stale indoor air.
Passive houses like Schiller use natural heating and cooling methods, such as sunlight, increased insulation, and improved ventilation, to keep residents comfortable without adding heat-trapping pollution to the air from air conditioning.
In addition to being better for the planet, these types of homes can also help lower energy bills because they are more energy efficient.
After closing in 2018, the building will finally be ready for the Schiller family to move into in early 2023, according to The Times.
“We’re lucky to have so much light and air in the middle of busy New York City,” Schiller told the outlet. “It feels like living in twice the square footage.”
“I’ve always wanted to be close to nature, so having a tree in our house—and all these sustainable materials—makes us feel environmentally beautiful,” adds Anna Schiller.
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