{"id":38167,"date":"2025-04-23T07:50:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T11:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=38167"},"modified":"2025-04-28T10:23:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T14:23:27","slug":"passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/","title":{"rendered":"Passive Home In Brant Lake Built To Protect Adirondack Beauty For Generations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Exposed post and beam framing and vaulted ceilings highlight the craftsmanship and energy-efficient design of the Martimuccis’ passive home in Brant Lake, built by Hilltop Construction Company.
Courtesy Hilltop Construction Companyy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Paul Post<\/p>\n

A Westchester County couple wants to enjoy the Adirondacks without impacting its natural beauty.<\/p>\n

Their forward-thinking dream home\u2019s energy-efficient features are the perfect solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been visiting the Adirondacks, skiing and hiking, since I was a kid,\u201d said Bill Martimucci, a retired primary care physician. \u201cWe wanted to create a modern cabin in the woods and reviewed the whole concept of a passive home. We\u2019re very excited about getting settled up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s our responsibility to take care of the Adirondacks,\u201d his wife, Edie, said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to do it one piece of property at a time. If we\u2019re going through the trouble of building, why not build something that goes into the future that deals with all the energy and environmental issues? Why would we build a house with concepts from the Sixties or Eighties with no insulation, no solar. This seemed to be the only sensible way to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their 2,000-square-foot, 1.5-story home \u00a0in Brant Lake is nearly completed, built by Queensbury-based Hilltop Construction Company. Douglas fir was used to create attractive interior highlights such as a custom staircase, railings and cabinetry.<\/p>\n

Plans call for using it as a year-round second home, possibly the couple\u2019s permanent residence in future years.<\/p>\n

The highly energy efficient house was designed by Cold Spring-based River Architects, which specializes in passive homes and commercial buildings.<\/p>\n

It utilizes solar electricity with roof-mounted panels, and is connected to the grid, but goes much further than a regular passive solar home in regard to energy efficiency.<\/p>\n

The five fundamental principles of passive house construction are continuous insulation, airtight construction, high-performance windows, heat recovery ventilation, and thermal-bridge-free design. These principles work together to minimize energy consumption by reducing heat loss and gain through the building envelope.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/b>\u201cThe basic idea behind passive houses is really about getting the balances right, instead of blasting as much sunlight into a space and hopefully retaining it overnight,\u201d said James Hartford, River Architects principal. \u201cThe house is so well insulated, with tripled-glazed windows and generous insulation, that it\u2019s not giving off heat through the building envelope. When there are power outages these houses shouldn\u2019t lose much heat at all. There\u2019s no fossil fuel use so we aren\u2019t contributing to global warming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initial up-front construction costs are anywhere from five to 10 percent higher, but long-term energy savings are considerable.The energy savings will pay for the solar system in 10 years.\u201cWe didn\u2019t build this house necessarily for us, but for our kids and future generations,\u201d Edie said. \u201cIt\u2019s like planting a tree. You don\u2019t plant a tree for now, you plant it for 10 years from now.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former graphic artist-turned-library director, the home fits in nicely with her latest career, in retirement, as a budding horticulturist.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy buying this property and building our house there we\u2019re becoming land stewards, part of the Adirondack Park, while making sure that it survives and carries on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hilltop did the construction, but most of the home\u2019s components were done by New Energy Works, of Rochester. The Martimuccis visited the firm and saw their house being built during a seminar at its Rochester shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (New Energy Works) did all of the post and beam, structural insulated panels, (14 inch thick) insulated walls and roof,\u201d Hilltop owner Tom Albrecht Jr. said. \u201cBasically, they gave us the envelope of the house. We didn\u2019t even have to put sheetrock on walls to meet the energy rating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt eliminates any room for error,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re in the field there\u2019s so much room for error based on weather, conditions, a whole bunch of variables. In the shop they could control any type of error. All you have to do is move and erect the components. They do all of the air sealing between joints. They\u2019re responsible at the end of the day for this building being airtight. The goal is keeping energy inside your home instead of going outside. Air penetrations have to be as tight as possible\u201d<\/p>\n

Albrecht said this was the second passive home Hilltop Construction has done, but he\u2019d like to do more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unique, it\u2019s something you don\u2019t do every day,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something you learn and have to be educated on. It\u2019s not like building a conventional house. For example, you have to use a certain paint inside because it\u2019s so air-tight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now that we\u2019ve done it I can tell others about it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to learn new processes, new techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Post A Westchester County couple wants to enjoy the Adirondacks without impacting its natural beauty. Their forward-thinking dream home\u2019s energy-efficient features are the perfect solution. \u201cI\u2019ve been visiting the Adirondacks, skiing and hiking, since I was a kid,\u201d said Bill Martimucci, a retired primary care physician. \u201cWe wanted to create a modern cabin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":38168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-real-estate"],"yoast_head":"\r\nPassive Home In Brant Lake Built To Protect Adirondack Beauty For Generations - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Passive Home In Brant Lake Built To Protect Adirondack Beauty For Generations - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Paul Post A Westchester County couple wants to enjoy the Adirondacks without impacting its natural beauty. Their forward-thinking dream home\u2019s energy-efficient features are the perfect solution. \u201cI\u2019ve been visiting the Adirondacks, skiing and hiking, since I was a kid,\u201d said Bill Martimucci, a retired primary care physician. \u201cWe wanted to create a modern cabin […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-23T11:50:28+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-28T14:23:27+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2025\/04\/brantlake3-h.jpeg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"320\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"240\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/\",\"name\":\"Passive Home In Brant Lake Built To Protect Adirondack Beauty For Generations - Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2025\/04\/brantlake3-h.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-23T11:50:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-28T14:23:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2025\/04\/passive-home-in-brant-lake-built-to-protect-adirondack-beauty-for-generations\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2025\/04\/brantlake3-h.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2025\/04\/brantlake3-h.jpeg\",\"width\":320,\"height\":240,\"caption\":\"Exposed post and beam framing and vaulted ceilings highlight the craftsmanship and energy-efficient design of the Martimuccis' passive home in Brant Lake, built by Hilltop Construction Company. 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