Windows & Doors

• The 3 street facing windows were original and in poor condition. Each one was carefully stripped, original ‘wavy’ glass was preserved where possible, and glass reglazed. To increase energy efficiency, new Mon-Ray storm windows were installed adjacent to the original windows. With one exception, the rear windows were thoroughly rotted, so unfortunately had to be replaced.
• All four transom hall windows upstairs were painted over and painted shut and inoperable. Each was removed and restored.
• Every original door handle and door faceplate had been painted over multiple times. Each one was removed, stripped, polished and re-installed. The original front door handle was gone so it was replaced with original 1890’s Eastlake etched brass hardware, and a matching manual doorbell (which emits a glorious ringing sound).
• The double glass doors between the living and dining rooms were missing when the house was purchased. After a long hunt a perfectly fitting set of vintage doors was found and installed.
• The house was originally quite modest, and built for working class folks- 1321 was originally home to Irish immigrants (a family of 6 lived upstairs, while a boarder who worked for the government lived downstairs, according to the 1915 census). Slightly more affluent buyers would have demanded stained glass, so this was added retrospectively: 7 pieces of vintage deco British glass, two in the kitchen, 3 in the upstairs hallway, and 2 in the basement.

Brickwork

• Brickwork in the front of the house was in excellent condition. Brickwork in the back of the house was deteriorating and was fully repointed in 2009.
• Front concrete steps and patio in back were badly cracking. Bluestone pavers were installed in front/back in 2019.

Lighting

• Original light fixtures in the living, dining room were missing. These were replaced with vintage European brass cantilevered fixtures (with a 3rd in the upstairs bedroom).
• The front hallway chandelier is original but was missing several glass baubles. Miraculously these were found in an old box in the basement during renovations.
• Original light fixtures in the 3 bedrooms & hallway were preserved.

HVAC

• The original cast iron radiators were preserved and restored, and paired with a new high efficiency condensing boiler (which also serves domestic hot water) and new copper piping. Typically radiators are removed and replaced with forced hot air, which is unfortunate: forced hot air requires bulky ductwork that destroys the architecture of the rooms. These systems also require large air handlers that take up precious closet space, they dry the air uncomfortably, make quite a lot of noise, and are relatively inefficient (metal ductwork is notoriously leaky, or becomes so over time). Well functioning cast iron radiators are a quiet joy.
• Air-conditioning was installed, using a unique high velocity system with 3” tubing. This allows a/c venting to route around the house through floor joists with very minimal architectural disturbance. An added benefit of the system is that it is nearly silent when running.

Baths

• The upstairs bath had the original sink, cast iron tub, subway tile all reglazed. Unfortunately the original (increasingly leaky) plumbing and small bath size called for a full bathroom renovation (2022).
• The original downstairs bath was not salvageable and was fully remodeled in 2005.
• Basement bath was added in 2005, with vintage cast iron farm sink and light fixtures and subway tile shower.

Kitchen

• A (new) farmhouse style sink was added along with butcher block countertops.
• A 110+ mason jar shelf was custom designed to pay homage to the long domestic tradition of canning foods. The jar shelf (since replicated in all Minim projects) has been found to be a remarkably efficient way of accessing ingredients, storing and displaying food, and preserving dry goods from critters. It also quietly encourages purchase and use of bulk ingredients over overly packaged products.

With shared party walls, a relatively small footprint, and modest square footage per person, often located in  dense, walkable neighborhoods, the DC rowhouse form is fundamentally a fairly efficient structure to start with. The goal of the renovation was to make it even more so.

Materials

• During the restoration of the property, there was no full gut of the structure, which avoided both a) large container loads of landfill waste (and associated methane emissions as waste decomposes), and b) the substantial embodied carbon emissions associated with the creation and transport of new building materials. Only modest wall removal/replacement occurred in the kitchen and upstairs bath. As described above, existing doors, windows, hardware etc were restored, and walls repaired whenever possible.
• The front porch wood decking was replaced in 2010 using reclaimed lumber from Community Forklift, and reclaimed vintage square head nails.
• Over 1′ of recycled treated cellulose insulation was blown into the attic (remarkably, no insulation previously existed).

Energy loads

• The façade (originally deep red) was repainted a white color to decrease summer heat loads on this south-facing wall.
• Installation of a Navien on demand gas condensing boiler + domestic hot water heater, 93% efficient. This suitcase sized, wall hung unit replaced a large inefficient 40 gallon gas water heater & large gas boiler, and also freed up closet space in the basement. During heating season, it prioritizes hot water, and provides limitless hot water to the house. Installed 2015.
• High efficiency Equator fridge/freezer.
• High efficiency LG combination washer/dryer, which both washes and dries in the same cycle.
• All LED lighting throughout house.

Energy generation

• A 4kW solar array was installed on the roof in 2008 and offsets a substantial portion of the electric bill. One year, with 2 people living in the house using a/c cautiously, the power bill netted to $0. The system currently mints around $1000/year in DC SRECs, on top of power savings.

A few things that likely should have been done differently:

• A recent and necessary trend in green building is full electrification, i.e. avoid all combustion appliances. This eliminates the use of direct fossil fuels and associated transportation line losses (in this case, natural gas), so a house is fully electric, allowing it to be fully powered from green power sources (solar, wind, etc). An induction range in the kitchen and high voltage electric boiler/DHW heater would have been better choices in retrospect. Functionally, electric induction stovetops are just great to use (as well as safer, more precise, easier to use and clean up). An induction range was put into the basement apartment.
• The rear windows are fairly standard vinyl R-3 windows and could have been higher efficiency/quality. Today windows up to R-9 are available rated for 50 years+, and would have further lowered heating/cooling loads and improve aesthetics.
• Solar panel attachments. There have been 0 leaks in the roof since the house was acquired in 2004. When the solar system was installed, the solar panel racking was bolted directly to the roof with pitch pockets. Newer systems simply use ballast blocks, which eliminate penetrations altogether.
• The original wood floors were fully refinished in 2004 and then largely protected with area rugs. A standard polyurethane coating was originally used. While highly durable, with polyurethane when damage/wear occurs in one area of the floor, the entire floor must be resanded/coated. An all natural oil wax coating would have allowed for easy spot patch repairs.