Green Genes

Mat and Mary Lou Lee knew what they wanted. Mat, who was born and reared in Wahiawa, aspired to one day have a place with a view of Kaena Point on Oahu’s North Shore. After years of looking for land or a house, they found (at last!) a steeply sloping, 2.2-acre lot overlooking Shark’s Cove at Pupukea. It was time to go shopping for an architect.

The walls and windows are angled to ensure that Kaena Point, on Oahu’s North Shore, is visible from every room.

The Lees already knew this new house should be integrated into the hillside, not cry out for the attention of passersby. Most important, the plans should somehow arrive at a design in which meaningful environmental factors were built right in, as inherent parts of the structure. Their wish list included solar heating, passive ventilation, windows to block ultraviolet rays, and skylights to bring in the natural light. They did not want to rely on lighting fixtures to create ambience. This story has a visibly happy ending: Their architect, Keith Cockett, of Keith Cockett and Associates, produced a design that closely matched the couple’s “green” goals with their desire for aesthetics.

“The land was so beautiful and the view spectacular,” says Mary Lou. “Our first thought was that our house should complement the environment, rather than stick out like a sore thumb.” The owners were very specific in application. They wanted an open, airy, Hawaiian country-style house. They wanted high ceilings with a roof overhang similar to the old Hawaiian houses. They wanted a big lanai and, very important to Mat, the house had to be angled to face Kaena Point. They also asked for a great room with as few walls as possible, and lots of closet space.

“My clients requested a house that was unique—and green from the inside out,” says Cockett. “I think the floor plan and the features we came up with work very well on what is essentially a narrow, steep lot. If you’ve got a big view, you want to maximize it. And we did that by shifting, or notching, the house back into the property in steps.”

The spectacular result is about 3,500 square feet and four bedrooms on two levels that sit snugly on the site. The natural drop of grade allowed Cockett to place guest bedrooms on the lower floor. On the main floor above, the master bedroom, bath, living areas and garage assume a very low profile.

One major part of the design—and a true environmentally friendly feature—is the home’s passive cooling and ventilation system. The building is organized into three pods. Each pod has its own roof form. At the peak of each pod is a large skylight that is built up over a ventilation duct. The sun streaming through the skylights warms up the air inside. The air rises, being warmer than the air outside, and escapes through the ducts above.

Architect Keith Cockett obliged his clients’ wish to capture the feel of an old-fashioned Hawaiian country style house.

Next, Cockett cut ventilation ducts into the floors to draw cooler air from under the house into the interior. The air is then drawn upward to exit through the ceiling vents. The net effect is naturally flowing, cool air throughout the interior, driven by what the architect refers to as thermal chimneys.

“We actually built a curve up over the roof in order to place the top ventilation ducts right beneath the skylights—instead of putting the ducts on the roof next to the skylights,” he says. He also added overhangs on the outside barriers of the ducts to prevent rainwater from coming in.

Working from the three-pod skeletal structure, Cockett then angled the roof and floor plan over each pod to 45 degrees, thus leading to dramatic overhangs on the mauka, or south-facing, side of the home. The long overhangs also help reduce heat gain inside. The profound green result is that this luxury home has no air conditioners because none are needed.

(left) Daytime sunlight and nighttime stargazing make you never want to leave the bedroom. (right) Modified to the surrounding slope, the single-level house took on a unique open-floor layout.

Rooftop solar panels allow the Lee family to heat their water with sunshine. The house includes a special electrical panel in the garage, just in case they decide in the future to add photovoltaic panels to generate electricity for lights and appliances.

Other eco-friendly elements include Energy Star appliances in the kitchen, and windows throughout manufactured with low-emissivity glass. Low-E coatings are microscopically thin layers of metallic oxide bonded to the glass. They are thin enough to see through, but they inhibit heat and UV rays. Low-E windows are highly efficient at keeping out the heat on hot days, as well as preventing heat from leaving the interior on cold days. All plumbing fixtures in the house are low-flow. Cooking is done with gas from propane tanks.

Placing the roofs at 45-degree angles was done in part to create more shade with the extensive overhangs and to give the architect an opportunity to fulfill his client’s wish to orient all rooms toward Kaena Point. It also allowed for an open floor plan to promote airflow. Cockett says, “Individual rooms are delineated more by what is happening in the ceilings, with their pods, than by the use of interior walls. We have emphasized certain interior spaces by dropping the ceiling in some places with soffits.”

Thermal chimneys eliminate the need for air conditioning. Skylights, low-E windows, ENERGY STAR appliances, propane gas for cooking and low-flow fixtures help minimize energy and water consumption.

This makes the whole of the upstairs accessible—without the use of any stairs. Cockett, who does both residential and commercial designs, says more clients are looking for single-level access nowadays, with an eye to the future when they may find it difficult to negotiate stairways. The whole house, in fact, is a dramatic example of how owner-driven design and environmental innovation can flow with the unique surroundings and lifestyle of the North Shore.

Says Mary Lou, “We are most pleased with the overall appearance of the house. As you approach, it is so inviting and pleasing. One gets the feeling that it very much belongs with the land. The kitchen is a very happy gathering place for our family and friends. The large cook island allows us to enjoy time with our guests as we prepare the meal. And the master bathroom is a dream. Never in our lives did we dream we could stand in our shower and watch whales jumping off Shark’s Cove.”

Passively cooled, naturally lit, and ready to party: the Pupukea home is green to the gills.