This custom home was designed by Greg Franta, AIA Fellow and co-founding chair of the AIA Committee on the Environment. Greg founded and led ENSAR Group in providing services for over 800 energy efficient projects, including the White House. This energy efficient home showcases many environmentally friendly practices and materials. The design of this home exemplifies sustainable architecture that centers around a clean, efficient, healthy home. Today, more than ever, our home environments are important and worthy investments. This home features 3 bedrooms with a main level primary bedroom, 3.5 baths, is on a half-acre lot with mountain views, and backs to neighboring conservancy land. It is conveniently located just 5 miles from the Point of Rocks MARC train station for an easy commute into Washington D.C. Walking into the home, one is struck by the beautiful solid oak wood floors, the open kitchen, the light-filled double-height cathedral ceiling great room and the details of the wood trim throughout. The basement is fully finished with a bedroom, a full bath, and a family room with built-in shelves inside double closets for lots of storage space! There is a walk-up rear entrance which leads to a private patio and rear yard planted with native trees and shrubs. A favorite feature of this home is the upper level loft which opens to the screened-in sleeping porch with skylights, creating a peaceful, serene indoor/outdoor space. The front porch wraps around to a rear sitting deck, all made from Trex decking. Some of the technologies utilized to achieve improved energy performance in this home are: Passive solar design this represents an important feature of this house that helps to achieve higher energy performance and reduces reliance on mechanical systems to condition interior space; The entry foyer is an air lock, which minimizes the infiltration of hot or cold air; SIPsStructural insulated panels are used for the above ground exterior walls (6 inches thick at R-24) and roofing (10 inches thick at R-40); High efficiency Weather Shield windows are featured throughout this home. The windows are argon filled and have a low emissivity coating, which reduces solar heat gain and therefore decreases summer cooling requirements; the Hardiplank siding looks like wood, but is a fiber-cement composition and is immune to termite and insect damage; the Ecoshake roofing shingles have an attractive woodshake appearance and are made from 100% recycled vinyl and sawdust. These shingles are hail-proof, offer high resistance to moisture and are UV protected, have a Class A fire rating and may lower household insurance premiums; the Geothermal heat pump is extremely efficient. As a result of geothermal systems drawing on the earths constant temperature of approximately 55 degrees, the systems use far less energy than air-to-air heat pumps, and they can cut heating and cooling costs by 30% to 60%; the Interior paints and finishes are low VOC minimizing out-gassing. In addition to the numerous energy saving features, this home is in a great location in the Ecovillage neighborhood which has 50 surrounding acres of common land throughout the community. There is an additional adjacent 50 acres with walking paths in a beautiful park-like setting, with mountain views and streams running through it. The common land provides a Wildlife Sanctuary certified through the Audubon at Home program of the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia. The common land also serves as a Monarch Butterfly Waystation that is certified by Monarch Watch. There are more than 800 native trees and shrubs planted which support pollinators and beneficial insects, and all of the land is organically managed. The historic Stoutsenberger Farmstead is located on the common lands and dates back to the colonial period. Separate garage may be built and HOA does allow chickens.