Green With Envy

We live on one of the most exquisite spots on the planet, which should make us want to safeguard our environment. While some homeowners seem to care only for making a huge visual impact, others are concerned with not impacting the area’s natural beauty. Here are some houses that have embraced an eco-friendly theme.

Good Enough to Eat
Nestled in the heart of Sag Harbor’s Historic District, this hybrid old-new property abuts Cilli Farm, a 7-acre preserve that was once grazing land for the village’s last dairy farm. Owned by foodie Brian Halweil, editor of Edible East End, and his wife, the couple not only planted a large vegetable garden and assorted fruit trees they also restored native Pine Barren plantings from pitch pine to bayberry.
When the couple renovated the 19th century farmhouse a few years ago, they replaced old materials such as insulation and paint with nontoxic alternatives. In 2011 they attached a modern light-filled box with a wall of glass to overlook the bucolic landscape. It was essential for them to build with state-of-the-art green features like, “super insulated windows, spray foam insulation, a five megawatt solar system,” according to Brian. In summer their electric bills amount to zero. “Our annual bill is lowered by about 50 percent.” And, of course, they refrain from treating their bounty of botanicals with pesticides or herbicides, all the better to eat their many native edibles such as blackberries and raspberries.

132 Glover Street
Listing by Chip Dineen of Sotheby’s International Realty. $1,995,000

Rain or Shine
This light-filled North Haven house on a nearly two-acre lot boasts LEED Silver certification. In a nutshell, it uses less energy and resources, creates less waste and is healthier to live in. Built by Charles Rich, now retired, the 8,200-square-foot home features solar panels on a south-facing roof, energy-performing insulation, an energy recovery ventilator, low flow faucets, dual-flow toilets, and Low-E windows (which reflect heat back to its source) with a high-R value (resistance to heat flow).
Another major energy-saving feature is the home’s naturally insulating stucco veneer. When the sun is hidden behind rainclouds the rainwater that runs off the roofs is harvested into cisterns and used in the high-efficiency irrigation system. Not only were no tropical woods used in construction, many of the structure’s materials were sourced within 500 miles of the house. Indeed one of the reasons owner Emily Chu bought the house were such factors that helped create a low carbon footprint.

18 Gardiners Path
Represented by Douglas Elliman’s Enzo Morabito team. $3,445,000

A Porch of One’s Own
When building a green residence, the two main concerns of Modern Green Home’s Peter Sabbeth are energy consumption and air quality. For the builder’s trio of modern farmhouse-style houses in Amagansett (charmingly named Three Sisters), he embraced natural tree shade to “reduce heating and cooling loads.” Each porch is between 2,500 and 3,000-square feet and ten feet deep. In summer, the porches “decrease solar gain on the first floor” by obstructing the sun’s rays from entering the interior. “That’s the reason they built porches before air-conditioning,” he says. In winter, the lower angle of the sun’s rays can enter under the porch roof. Spray foam insulation instead of fiberglass created an impenetrable wall cavity that suffers no leaks.

Sabbeth, who has built sustainable residences from Gin Lane in Southampton to Daniels Lane in Sagaponack, controlled air quality in the homes by using low-VOC paints and finishes and by making the foundation walls at an upstate factory resulting in “waterproofing that is far greater than anything you can make on site.” The benefits: better air quality, less humidity and lower chance of mold and mildew.

Three Sisters Lane
Represented by Melissa Green of Saunders Associates and Randi Ball of The Corcoran Group.
$4.5 to $5.25 million

Reduce Energy Consumption
Design and build firm LABhaus creates technologically advanced and environmentally sensitive spaces by focusing on “reducing energy consumption, utilizing organic, low-impact materials and techniques, and selecting materials and systems that promote healthy interior spaces.” Their latest project, a sleek modern Bridgehampton house with pastoral views, features sustainably harvested hardwoods, a super efficient HVAC system, solid core insulation and a 6kw hidden solar rooftop array.

Many of the home’s features are ideal for the second homeowner, according to listing agent Krae Van Sickle.

The on-demand water system heats water only when it’s needed, so that it’s not being heated nonstop. Ditto for the net metered solar panels. When the electricity generated is not needed, it is directed back into the utility company’s grid, making the meter run backward. “Then when you use the energy the meter runs forward.” The substantial savings work well for a primary homeowner too.

2138 Scuttlehole Road
Listed by Krae Van Sickle and Lylla Carter of Saunders Associates.
$6,700,000