Renovating a historic property can be a challenging project. So can transforming a building from an energy consumer into a net energy producer.
It took four years of work, but Paul and Julie Weissend have managed to do both with the offices of their company, Dovetail Construction Co. Inc.
The Weissends have transformed their building on Brook Road in Richmond, a former electric trolley car barn built in 1907, into the nation's first building that has three distinctions: It is on the National Register of Historic Places; it has a LEED Platinum certification, the highest possible rating by the U.S. Green Building Council; and it is a "net energy zero" building that produces more energy than it uses.
"This is one of the most energy-efficient buildings anywhere," said Julie Weissend, a partner in the company with her husband, Paul.
The 6,800-square-foot building uses a combination of energy-saving and green building components and technologies.
Its heating and cooling system and water heating is geothermal. Electricity comes from a solar-panel array on the property, contributing to the building's zero energy usage from the power grid.
All of the plumbing fixtures are ultra low-flow for water conservation. The building materials are recycled, including cabinetry made from 84 percent recycled sunflower hulls, counters made from aluminum scrap, and reclaimed pine flooring. All but three of the interior lights use light-emitting diodes, which use less energy than standard lighting.
A Web-based monitoring system helps the Weissends keep tabs on how well the whole system is performing. The company made efforts to preserve the building's historic accuracy and façade.
"It would have been easier to just come in and start over, but having these façades and tangible connections to the past is really important for a community," Julie Weissend said.
The building was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, a year after the Weissends bought it.
For the Weissends, the building serves as a showcase of what can be accomplished in green building.
"We have been in business for almost 25 years and we wanted to have something that was the culmination of that, and put everything we've learned into kind of a petri dish," Julie Weissend said.
"I think there are very few people who would want to do everything here, but there are certainly elements here for everyone," she said.
The work to preserve the building and make it energy efficient has earned Dovetail Construction a special recognition for sustainable design at this year's Golden Hammer Awards, which will be presented next month. The awards are given annually by the Better Housing Coalition for work in neighborhood preservation.
"They have gone above and beyond, successfully combining historic preservation with sustainable design, which is very difficult," said David Herring, vice president of the Center for Neighborhood Revitalization at the Better Housing Coalition.
The office renovation isn't the Weissends' only project. They are now renovating their house on Monument Avenue to make it a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum-certified historic building.
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