2022 New American Remodel, Orlando, Fla.
RETROFIT TEAM
ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANT: Two Trails Inc.
MATERIALS
The home’s core is a great room with a cathedral ceiling that extends from the front of the house to the backyard. The gables at either end are filled with glass: fixed windows and sliding or hinged doors. To begin the remodel, insulation was added and air leaks sealed throughout the walls and ceilings to make the building envelope super-efficient.
Next, old windows and doors were replaced. Those at the front had to be the same sizes and shapes as the old ones. The doors at both ends required better glass. JELD-WEN Siteline wood and clad-wood windows and patio doors and LaCantina Aluminum Thermally Controlled sliding doors satisfied both requirements. The new Siteline windows are visually indistinguishable from the originals though they are energy efficient thanks to low-E insulating glass. The LaCantina door systems feature frames with built-in thermal breaks. “Even in the hot Florida sun, you can touch the inside of the frame and it still feels cool,” says Drew Smith of Two Trails Inc.
Smith models home energy performance with Energy Gauge, a simulation software developed by the Florida Solar Energy Center. Pre-remodel, Smith calculated a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score of 115, or 15 percent less efficient than the average new home. The finished home scored -22—low enough for it to earn Net Zero Energy certification, which means rooftop solar panels will more than offset its annual energy needs.
WINDOWS: Siteline from JELD-WEN
SLIDING DOORS: LaCantina
THE RETROFIT
The 1963 home selected for the New American Remodel is considered one of the best examples of Mid-century Modern style in Orlando. It resembles a Frank Lloyd Wright home—the owner believes the architects were Wright’s students—with an emphasis on glass to welcome natural light.
The New American Remodel project had two main goals: to raise the home’s thermal performance to that of the best new construction and to preserve the home’s exemplary style with architecturally correct windows.
PHOTOS: courtesy Jeld-Wen
