Richard Rodi is the owner of Cranston-based Clearpoint Builders Inc., and a LEED-accredited professional specializing in homes, who has spent the last several years methodically rebuilding and expanding a Providence residence, with the goal of achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’s highest-level platinum certification.
The house, at 509 Wayland Ave., is a Dutch colonial that dates to 1923. It will be open for public tours from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, through June 16, for people who want to see some of the changes that have improved its energy efficiency.
Rodi spoke to the Providence Business News this week about the project, which began in 2015.
PBN: Tell us about the house.
RODI: It’s located on the East Side of Providence. It was built in 1923. It’s a Dutch colonial. We stayed true to the style of the home. We didn’t change it at all. This is a full gut rehab. In order to apply LEED, it either has to be a brand-new home or building, or it’s a full gut rehab. It can’t be retrofitted into an existing building. We gutted it out completely. Just like a brand-new home, you’re starting from scratch. The main focus is about energy efficiency. As far as the thermal comfort and the energy efficiency, we need to get in there, so we can put the proper insulation in the walls.
PBN: Can you give a few examples of the changes that were made?
RODI: Obviously with an older home, you have gaps between boards and stuff like that. We needed a way to find a way to seal up the actual envelope of the house. We used a product, spray foam insulation. We used a closed cell. It expands in the stud cavity. It seals, it basically glues the house together. It actually makes the house 200 percent stronger.
It also gives the high R-value [thermal resistance]. It gives a vapor barrier, an air barrier and a moisture barrier. We have an R-58 in the attic, for example, where R-38 is the code. Same thing in the walls. The code is an R-19, and we have an R-29. The [windows and doors] are all brand-new and Energy Star-rated. All brand-new exterior doors. The only thing that was kept on the original house was the original sheathing, studs, all of that. We even stripped the old cedar shingles on the house.
PBN: What was the most challenging aspect of this for you?
RODI: Honestly, the whole chase for platinum, that’s the certification we’re going after. It’s the highest and it’s the most difficult. There are strict guidelines. With LEED, it’s “good,” “better,” or “best” and that’s how the points are allocated. The challenge is, now we’re covering all of the credits. For certification, you only need 45 points… As you go higher, for bronze and gold, the decisions that are made for strategy, we start covering more and more bases and territory. That’s what we did here.
PBN: How much more expensive is it to do this after the fact, versus building new in this manner?
RODI: That’s actually a very difficult question. Not every house is the same and not every client is the same in terms of their wants and needs.
PBN: Does the LEED certification, in platinum no less, add resale value to a house?
RODI: Absolutely. If you were to stack this house up against a house that’s exactly the same … because of the features that are in the house – we have a permeable driveway, we have a cistern where we collect all the rainwater from the house and use it for irrigation, all kinds of systems – this house is definitely going to command much more.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
