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PATH Blazing
Chuck Miller Construction: The Marketplace at Hidden Springs
The Marketplace at Hidden Springs is a mixed-use project with 20 contemporary townhomes and 20 retail/office spaces in five buildings. The project is designed to emulate the small-town character that makes so many of Idaho's rural towns unique. More information about this project is available on the PATH Web site.
The Marketplace at Hidden Springs, ID, will features condos, townhomes, and retail space six miles outside Boise.
Builder/developer Chuck Miller began planning the project in 2003. Completion of the first building is scheduled for mid-April 2006; construction on a new building is scheduled to begin every 60 days thereafter.
Hidden Springs will feature numerous PATH-profiled technologies and practices:
The lower level walls of the buildings will be constructed of Arxx Insulating Concrete Forms. The 8-inch cavity forms will create walls with R-21.7 insulation.
The upper floors will incorporate Advanced Framing features, including 2x6 exterior and party walls framed at 24 inches on center and single-ply insulated headers. The structural engineer also used Simpson StrongWall manufactured shear wall panels, eliminating structural steel rigid frames.
Exterior walls will feature a double air-barrier system. Three-quarter inch tongue and groove polyisocyanurate R-3.9 foam core sheathing will be installed over the OSB structural sheathing, providing a thermal break to reduce heat loss and gain. Exterior and party walls and ceilings will be insulated with Cocoon blown- cellulose insulation.
Optimized ductwork designed to minimize duct runs will be mastic-sealed and located in conditioned space.
The residential townhomes will be heated and air conditioned using Bryant's high-efficiency Plus 90 condensing furnaces and their Quantum Plus Puron 14 SEER Air Conditioners. The commercial spaces will be heated and air conditioned using Bryant's Evolution System 2 Speed Puron heat pump, offering up to 16 SEER cooling and 8.5 HSPF heating, as well as a variable speed FE fan coil. All units will feature Air Cycler electronic controls used in conjunction with energy recovery ventilators and programmable thermostats.
Other energy-saving technologies include Rinnai tankless water heaters, spectrally selective windows with a low-e glazing, ENERGY STAR qualified appliances, tubular skylights, and energy-efficient compact fluorescent recessed can lighting. Miller is also looking at the feasibility of offering a "Green Roof" option.
Visit www.chuckmillerconstruction.com for additional project information.
Carl Franklin Homes: Affordable Housing with SIPS
PATH Partner Carl Franklin Homes and winner of the 2004 ENERGY STAR “Excellence in Energy Performance” award, builds with structural insulated panels (SIPS) for energy efficiency and speed of construction.
"We have shown over the years that SIP construction in affordable housing is the best saver of energy to the buyer with the least amount of expendable income," says Steve Brown, president.
The company is building two affordable houses in Plano, Texas, with SIPs. One home will feature garage insulation of Demilec spray open-cell urethane as a test project.
Two more homes with SIPs are planned in Red Oak, Texas, with Jim Sargent of Anderson-Sargent Homes. Another three SIPS homes will be built in Amarillo, Texas, for the American Housing Foundation. These units will feature the Tri State Panel SIP system. Foundations were poured in December; construction is expected to be finished in 65 days.
Content updated on 1/4/2006
