Moothart Residence Wins 2023 Regional USGBC Leadership Award

The Moothart Residence, a renovated single-family home in Cincinnati, Ohio, has won the 2023 Leadership Award in the Homes category from the regional chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The home, a 2382 sq. ft. brick structure built in 1895, underwent a “deep energy retrofit,” which reduced energy use by 86% and earned the home LEED Platinum Certification. Sol design + consulting provided architectural design, sustainability consulting, and LEED certification services for the project.

“We are honored to receive this Leadership Award from the USGBC,” said Sanyog Rathod, President and CEO of Sol design + consulting. “This project is an example of what can be achieved with historic buildings. It is often difficult for existing single-family homes to achieve carbon neutrality—but if we can do it, the carbon-savings opportunity is significant. This project provides a template that others can—and hopefully will—replicate”

The design pursued an “efficiency first” approach, utilizing passive design principles to dramatically reduce energy use. These included wrapping the home in insulation, reducing air leakage by 90%, and providing a fresh air system with heat recovery. The remaining heating and cooling needs are met with an electric heat pump. The home is so efficient that a 19-panel 7.6kW solar array not only supplies the home with 100% of its energy needs annually—it also produces enough excess to power the homeowner’s electric vehicle, with additional surplus to spare, making the home a net energy producer.

Key sustainable features of the home include:

• Continuous R-24 insulation on the exterior walls, and an R-41 roof
• New high-performance windows
• Shades on east and west windows to avoid summertime overheating
• Low carbon materials, including low-GWP insulation and engineered wood siding
• Water-efficient plumbing fixtures (yielding a 58% reduction in water use compared to conventional fixtures)
• Healthy materials, including low-emitting flooring, carpeting, and paints
• Energy Recovery Ventilation for fresh air
• High-efficiency air source heat pump with MERV 11 filters
• Heat pump hot water heater
• Efficient appliances, including an induction cooktop and condensing dryer
• 7.6kW rooftop solar array

The design of the home sought to juxtapose the new interventions with the historic architecture. The cladding peels back at the corners, expressing its applied nature. The elemental form, with eaves removed, expresses the home’s unbroken thermal enclosure. Aluminum shades on the east and west are both important passive interventions and a key part of the home’s aesthetic. In the kitchen, clean white cabinets sit next to an exposed brick wall; the stair to the renovated attic celebrates an original plaster wall.

“We would not be celebrating this project if it wasn’t for the homeowner, Casey Moothart, and his vision for a sustainable, Net Zero retrofit,” said Rathod. "We share the honor of this award with him."

Sol design + consulting worked closely with the builder, Creative Contracting, and the homeowner, Casey Moothart, on this project. The Sol team included Carl Sterner, who led architectural design, Mark Landis, who led energy analysis, and Nate Steeber, who led LEED certification.

You can learn more about the project here.