Ductless Mini-Splits Play A Role in New Efficient Housing

Marc Sternick has always been passionate about sustainability. As a college student at the State University of New York at New Paltz, Sternick was a member of a community of individuals who dedicated their time to studying possible efficient living arrangements on campus. He and the other environmentally conscious students cultivated an organic garden and raised bees and chickens, all while living in solar powered housing.

More than 30 years later, the Massachusetts architect is making headlines by putting his valuable experience from that sustainability experiment to work alongside his degree in solar design. Marc Sternick is currently working on a new housing project, called Parsons Village, that he intends to be as affordable as it is energy efficient.

With the meticulous design of the seven townhouses in Parsons Village in western Mass., Sternick is striving for a degree of efficiency that will amount to an overall net zero energy usage. Though this might seem ambitious, the housing units are intended to be affordable, each falling within the budget for state-funded housing options.

Their revolutionary design dictates that each new unit will have one foot of foam insulation in the walls, 18 inches of roof insulation, and triple-paned glass windows for minimal air leakage. The thorough insulation combined with efficient heating and cooling system are Sternick’s best shot at net-zero energy usage.

A major player in the plan for affordable efficiency housing will be ductless mini-split air systems. Sternick has deliberately chosen mini-splits as an efficient heating and cooling option in Parsons Village. The ductless design of these units allow for minimal energy loss during the air conditioning process.

According to energy.gov, duct losses can account for more than 30% of energy consumption for space conditioning, especially if the ducts are in an unconditioned space such as an attic. With the help of efficient ductless mini-split air conditioners using only a small amount of electricity for heating and cooling, Parsons Village will be an historic feat of energy-conscious architecture.