Murphy-Dunn House

The Murphy-Dunn house is the personal home of Newphire Building owner Kevin Murphy and his family.  The house was designed by modern home guru Arielle Condoret Schechter.  Arielle did a fabulous job of modifying her vision to the limited budget.  The result is a house that is sleek, functional for the family and produces more energy than it uses.  

The house is situated on 4.3 beautiful acres in Chapel Hill with plenty of room for a large garden, a substantial flock of egg laying chickens, a couple of dogs and some bee hives.  It backs up to a substantial tract of Triangle Land Conservancy land that will never be developed.  

Negative HERS! The Murphy-Dunn House has a -3 HERS score! We are all very excited and proud to be working on a house that is modeled to be net positive- very cool.  For more about HERS scores, and to see how truly special a -3 score is, click on the link below.  (https://www.resnet.us/hers-index-score-card)

Electric Bill and Energy Monitoring- It is one thing to have a home modeled to be net-positive, but the proof is in the electric bill and energy monitoring.  The family of four, with two teenagers, has been net positive for the six months that they have been living in the home.  The intention is to purchase an electric car to use the extra production, or to just use it to pay down the monthly connection fee.  

Third Party Verification- Greenwashing is a common occurrence these days.  It is when companies claim to be "green" without actually doing much of anything.  It has resulted in the word green becoming a useless marketing mantra.  One way that consumers can mitigate that issue is to look for homes that have been third party verified.  The Murphy-Dunn house is certified Gold in the rigorous National Green Builders Standard.  

CERV- The Murphy-Dunn house uses a cutting edge ERV from Build Equinox that is a Conditioning ERV (CERV). The benefit in this climate is clear- when it is hot and humid outside, a standard ERV pumps that air in as fresh air. The heat is exchanged, but the humidity of the outdoor air is largely passed through. The CERV conditions and dehumidifies the incoming fresh air before introducing the air to the indoor environment. It is also much more “intelligent” than a standard ERV. It allows the user to set thresholds for humidity, CO2 and VOCs. If you pay for the optional “CERVICE”, you can monitor your indoor air quality in real time.

Feel free to contact Newphire Building with questions about this home.