Imagine a six bedroom, nearly 9,000-square-foot home with a catwalk connection to open loft spaces, a hydro-air heating system and a centralized sunlit courtyard. Now imagine that home being a model of energy efficiency. That’s the Sagaponack Modern Green Barn constructed by P3 Builder Group on four acres of land near Bridgehampton, N.Y.

The impressive sustainable spec home is targeted to have a HERS Index Rating of below 35 and is registered in the LEED for Homes program with a LEED-Platinum rating. Additional third-party rating certifications include Department of Energy Indoor Air Plus, Energy Star, WaterSense, and “Zero Energy Ready Home” plus being a NGBS Emerald-rated home.

“This home is all about being environmentally friendly and extremely efficient,” says John Barrows, owner/principle of P3 Builder Group Inc. “Architect Richard Stott did a tremendous job specifying the most sensible building products for this custom high-performance green home, and it all started with a precast concrete foundation system.

According to Barrows, installation of the wall panels on the project home went smoothly and immediately gave environmental credibility to the project.

“Using [these types of] products helps make a homebuilder’s job easier to achieve high levels of energy efficiency,” says Barrows. “The system also fast-tracks the building process. A certified installation crew arrives on site with the precast concrete panels and installs them on a crushed stone base. Once they’ve been secured in place before backfill, you’re ready to start the construction process.”

For this project, the R-21.3 foundation walls received added insulation on the interior to further increase the insulation value. The Xi Plus wall panels provided to this job by Weaver Precast feature steel reinforced concrete and 4½ inches of rigid foam insulation with 1/2-inch of Dow’s Thermax insulation to create a barrier against sidewall water penetration and improved thermal resistance value. The panels are custom designed and constructed in a factory-controlled setting.

A 4-inch standard floor slab may be poured equal to the height of the footer beam eliminating the need for an additional screed board.

Superior Walls insulated precast concrete wall products are pre-qualified to earn specific green points as Green Certified Products by Home Innovation Research Labs.

Xi Plus panels are available with a built-in insulation value of R-21.3 and can be insulated up to R-42+. The wall panels provide R-values that meet or exceed energy conservation values from both the IECC and the IRC, and the Xi Plus wall panels can help in the construction of an Energy Star-qualified home.

All the Spoils

On the market for $6.6 million, the Sagaponack Modern Green Barn was the brain child of Michael Newmark with Newmark Developers. The home exterior features a centralized courtyard, terraced gardens, a 60-foot lap pool and low-maintenance landscape features. On the interior, three levels of living space include six bedrooms, seven and a half bathrooms, open living spaces, a home theatre, wine room and large workout area. The home took 16 months to complete and includes many daylighting features plus water and energy efficiencies.

P3 Builder Group constructs and remodels custom homes in New York and in select vacation areas. 

Side Job

Features of  the Panel

• Five thousand-plus PSI concrete

• Steel-reinforced top bond beams,
• concrete studs and footer beams

• Horizontal steel rebar inside top and
• bottom beams

• Vertical steel rebar inside each stud

• Insulated access holes for ease in wiring and plumbing

• Galvanized steel stud facing ready for
• drywall finishing

• Insulated corners, studs and bond beams

• Dow Thermax Polyisocyanurate insulation covering rigid foam insulation

• A 4-inch insulated footer beam