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Wed
Jun 20
2012

Foundry Court: Five Net Zero Homes Coming to Northern Liberties

Last week, we gave you the heads up about the upcoming demolition of the former Pride of the Sea warehouse at 720 N 4th St., across the street from Honey’s Sit n’ Eat. Whelp, demolition has proceeded since then, and the site should be clear in the coming weeks.

A couple weeks back

A few days ago

The plan for this site involves five new construction homes, called Foundry Court. We spoke with the developer, Carol Diament, a realtor who is partnering with Nexus EnergyHomes to build these homes to Net Zero standards. Nexus, a company that’s done most of its building in Maryland to this point, will lend their expertise to bring the first truly net zero homes to Philadelphia.

According to Diament, these homes will employ a few different technologies to use much less energy than a standard home while at the same time producing the little energy they require. Most noticeable will be the solar panels that will sit on top of these homes, on top of green roofs. Least noticeable but equally important, the homes will utilize geothermal heating and cooling. This will require workers on the site to dig a hole roughly the size of dinner plate about 300′ into the earth. Most importantly though, the buildings will have an extremely tight envelope, keeping the indoor air inside and keeping outdoor air outside.

What does everyone think of the look of these homes? Typically, when we think of ultra-green homes, we imagine more contemporary aesthetics- it’s interesting to see these principles applied with more traditional architecture.

View from Brown Street

Looking up 4th Street

According to Diament, the homes will cost about 5% more to build than a standard new construction home, but buyers will receive a tax credit of about $20K at settlement to make up for the price difference. Groundbreaking on the homes is expected at the end of July or the beginning of August, and the homes will likely be listed in the $600-700K range.

Certainly an exciting development, and a tremendous improvement over what’s there right now. We’ll be sure to provide updates as this project moves along.

14
COMMENTS
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Posted in Northern Liberties | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments
  • Chris

    bays, bays, everywhere… definitely better than what was there, but not sure I like it.  seems like a lot of small windows.

  • Anonymous

    I noticed that they seem to be very careful in their demo so far.  It’s essentially coming down one cinder block at a time.  I’m guessing that this is so the materials can be recycled which makes sense for these Net Zero houses.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Greg-Meckstroth/12415881 Greg Meckstroth

    It’s great to see decent infill development, but this lot should be mixed-use.  They’re missing a prime opportunity to create a great little neighborhood node and build off the commercial activity already occuring in this area. 

  • veggie

    agreed. the nlna could have said, “no we do not want the use to change from commercial to residential,” but they probably feel pressured when faced with a project like this to let it go through fairly easily.

     i know people will argue that there are enough vacant storefronts elsewhere in the ‘hood, but this little stretch of street has been doing quite well and could probably carry another commercial space.

  • http://twitter.com/F1rstCitizen First Citizen

    How long do you suppose the green roofs will stay green in the shadow of the PV panels?

    God bless ‘em if they can do PV, green roofs, and high efficiency mechanicals for only a 5% bump in construction. But then again, those costs are more or less static so they must have a pretty high baseline cost for construction, and definitely should at 600-700k.

    The one little detail I really like is the hanging plants on the top of the bays. Europeans spruce up their facades with hanging flowers from balconies and it’s a beautiful sight in the spring/summer. I hope they keep that in the final product.

  • Guest

    if the stretch could carry another space don’t you think the vacant spots on the stretch would not be vacant? 

  • veggie

    what vacant spots are there at 4th and brown? (besides the ones currently still under construction?)

  • Creamer

     There’s a rundown looking structure just north of GreenSaw… resembles a 19th century saloon of sorts.  It looks like a refurb started about 3 years ago but never really got off the ground… anyone know anything about this site?  This guy works there btw: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xnedski/5391288761/

  • veggie

    some sort of studio on the first floor is in use. work has restarted there recently (verrry slowly)– the roof being taken off happened in the last month or so. i think a couple years back some guy got electrocuted while working on the buildings.

  • thegreengrass

    Wow that’s… quite a difference.

  • shut

    where is mcds!

  • http://blog.philadelphiarealestate.com/how-foundry-court-came-to-be-and-what-makes-it-distinctive/ How Foundry Court came to be, and what makes it distinctive | Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

    [...] As you may have read by now, Philadelphia’s first net-zero energy housing development will soon rise on the site of a former fish wholesaler at 720 N. Fourth St. (Fourth and Brown streets) in Northern Liberties. To be called Foundry Court, it is remarkable both for its ultra-energy-efficient design and for its price point, which is comparable to conventional homes in its class. Another distinctive feature of the Foundry Court homes is that they combine high-tech energy-efficient construction with neotraditional design – most "green" homes signal their difference through ultra-contemporary style. [...]

  • http://www.homesgonegreen.com/home-energy-efficient/foundry-court-five-net-zero-homes-coming-to-northern-liberties.html Foundry Court: Five Net Zero Homes Coming to Northern Liberties … | Self Sufficiency | Home Efficiency

    [...] these principles applied with more traditional architecture. … Go here to read the rest: Foundry Court: Five Net Zero Homes Coming to Northern Liberties … ← The Green Building Video/Webinar Course: For Those Who Prefer … House Lottery [...]

  • http://phillyecocity.com/act-philly/green-building/first-net-zero-residential-project-is-breaking-ground-in-philadelphia-in-the-coming-few-weeks/ First net-zero residential project is breaking ground in Philadelphia in the coming few weeks | PhillyEcoCity

    [...] Unlike North Pointe, the emphasis at Foundry Court is on luxury instead of affordability (word on the street is that prices will most likely fall in the $600,000 to $700,000 range) yet each of the five [...]

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