Daniel Colombini—a principal at Goldman Copeland, the New York City–based consulting engineering firm—has been honored by the United States Department of Energy with a DOE Housing Innovation Award for spurring the housing industry nationally by creating his LEED Platinum “Passive House” in Ossining, New York, in the Hudson Valley. The single-family, three-bedroom house with an attached garage and about 3,500 square feet of living space offers a new model for sustainable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective residences.
The Colombini house is one of just 24 houses in the nation honored with a 2024 DOE Housing Innovation Award and one of only two in New York and New England. Both are located in the Hudson Valley; the other is in Esopus, south of Kingston.
In making the award, the United States Department of Energy stated, “As part of its Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program, the United States Department of Energy recognizes leading builders who are delivering better homes to Americans across the country. The DOE Housing Innovation Awards are made to those builders who are spurring the housing industry to construct more efficient, healthy, and resilient homes certified to the DOE ZERH program requirements. The DOE ZERH program represents the federal government’s most stringent above-code voluntary program for high-performance homes. Housing Innovation Award winners are selected by a panel of industry professionals. Projects are judged on various criteria that reflect DOE decarbonization goals with respect to energy efficiency, reduced carbon emissions, resiliency, and workforce development.”
A “Passive House” is a high-performance building standard developed by the Passive House Institute and is the only internationally recognized, performance-based energy standard in construction. LEED is the world’s most widely used green building rating system, and LEED Platinum is its highest certification. The combination of LEED Platinum and “Passive House” certifications shows that the house meets the highest levels of energy-efficient and green design. The house is also “Zero Energy”—as certified by the US Department of Energy—and is both net zero and carbon neutral, including the home’s energy consumption and electric vehicle charging.
Daniel Colombini, the engineer/homeowner, set out to create a new standard of suburban housing. The home is a partial tear-down and retrofit, meaning that the house that he originally purchased was torn down except for the foundation, which was retained, and 75 percent of the materials in the old house were reused and thereby diverted from landfill. The new house incorporates passive house principles including a high-performance thermal enclosure, airtightness and heat recovery, continuous balanced ventilation, high-performance glazing of windows and doors, shading and daylighting, and moisture control. The overall design provides an air quality that it is so high that Daniel’s allergy-induced asthma disappeared.
The cost of construction was eight percent higher than a traditional house. That additional cost will be paid off by energy savings within 10–15 years—with energy savings continuing to accrue thereafter.
The architect for the project is Christina Griffin of CGA Studio in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. The contractor is Ed Nugent of Fort Montgomery, New York. The certification consultant is Integral Building + Design in New Paltz, New York. The landscape architect is Barbara Restaino of Restaino Design in Grahamsville, New York.
The house is located adjacent to the Teatown nature preserve, and all new planting and landscaping consists of native species, designed to improve storm water management and mitigate invasive species. The landscape designer was selected in part because she also works with Teatown, ensuring sensitivity in design to the landscape of the nature preserve.
“Energy-efficient and green design is vital, given the challenges of climate change,” said Daniel Colombini. “This house provides the home that my family wanted, while demonstrating that the highest standards can be attained cost-effectively. I’m excited that it has been honored by the United States Department of Energy and now provides a model for the nation.”