Myers-Heckman Residence Wins 2022 LEED Homes Award

Sol Design + Consulting has won the 2022 LEED Homes Award for Outstanding Single-Family Project for the Myers-Heckman Residence. This international award, presented by the U.S. Green Building Council, recognizes the most innovative and transformative residential projects in the world.

The Myers-Heckman Residence is a LEED Platinum renovation and addition to an 1870 townhouse in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Its historic status was a key driving force behind the design. The design seeks to respect the historic architecture while allowing the new interventions to be distinctly contemporary–all while significantly upgrading the home’s performance.

"We are honored to receive this award from the USGBC," said Sanyog Rathod, President and CEO of Sol design + consulting. "The project is an inspiring example of urban core revitalization. Just a decade ago, this 1870s historic building sat vacant in a blighted neighborhood. Today, it's a beautifully renovated LEED Platinum home for a family of four."

The retrofit utilized best-practice techniques for insinuating the existing masonry building, including continuous rigid insulation on the walls, careful air sealing to minimize infiltration, R-50 insulation in the roof, and new high-performance windows. Window trim, baseboards, and wainscoting were removed, restored, and reinstalled, making the insulation imperceptible.

Other sustainable design features include a 9.9kW solar array, geothermal heating and cooling, energy recovery ventilation, and a rainwater collection and reuse system that captures 65% of runoff from the roof.

"We would not be celebrating this project if it wasn't for the owners, Kristen Myers and Chris Heckman, and their relentless commitment to historic preservation and Net Zero buildings," said Rathod. "We shared a common vision with them of reaching a carbon-neutral future by restoring our historic urban core and re-using the embodied energy of existing buildings."

Sol provided architectural design, sustainability consulting, and LEED certification services for the project. You can learn more about the home here.