Haven · November 2025 · 5 min
Notes from Haven: building to Net Zero without a brochure house
Low-carbon concrete, an envelope we commissioned, solar sized for a family that uses the pool.
Net Zero is a set of numbers a house either meets or does not. Haven meets them — Energy+, Built Green Gold, a CHBA national nod — because the envelope, the mechanicals, and the solar were designed as one argument, not three invoices.
Low-carbon concrete went in the ground. The air system was commissioned, not merely installed. Rooftop solar was sized for the life the family actually lives, including a pool and a gym. A house that sips energy because nobody is home is not the interesting problem.
The kitchen that won at HAVAN is the other half of the brief. High-performance living that cannot host a birthday is just an experiment. Haven had to be both.
