Net-Zero Passive House Opens in Arlington, MA
Arlington, MA—In collaboration with the Housing Corporation of Arlington (HCA), Reframe Systems, a tech company advancing climate-friendly housing, marked the completion of its first Accessible Dwelling Unit (ADU) in Arlington, MA.
HCA and Reframe hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for ‘The Cottage House,’ a 2-bedroom, 1.5-bath all-electric net-zero Passive House unit. This home was constructed using robotic technology at Reframe’s modular micro factory in Andover and then assembled in Arlington.
The event came shortly after recent legislative changes in both the House and Senate, which will permit ADUs to be built ‘as-of-right’ in single-family zoning districts across the state. This follows the 2021 Arlington Town Meeting approval of a new Accessory Dwelling Unit policy in the town’s Zoning Bylaws, permitting units of up to 900 square feet.
According to the Boston Real Estate Times, reframe Systems, founded by Amazon Robotics veterans, has developed a novel micro-factory that combines software orchestration, vision-guided robotics and augmented work cells to enable both skilled trades and apprentices to quickly and efficiently build high-performance homes offsite. These high-quality, high-performance homes can then be purchased at prices that are affordable to the ‘missing middle’ of the housing market, those who are rapidly being priced out of the market in Massachusetts and other high-cost regions. With the passage of the Massachusetts ADU plan, state officials predict more than 8,000 ADUs could be built over the next five years. Reframe’s ADU building process will also be applied to single-family and multifamily construction, with integrated renewable energy systems that deliver Passive House performance and net-zero energy use.
A number of critical choices have made this ADU a model of building decarbonization. The home employs all-electric heat pumps, rooftop solar PV panels (with battery storage), and low embodied carbon materials. Reframe Systems used a helical pile foundation to eliminate concrete from the foundation, traditionally one of the highest contributors to carbon emissions in a new construction project. Additional decisions that favored low embodied carbon include selecting dimensional lumber for the framing, deploying wood fiber rigid insulation and recycled cellulose insulation, using recycled gypsum drywall and applying cork flooring.
“This ADU marks the beginning of a larger movement to transform our built environment with low-carbon, high-performance homes. We want to thank the community and especially the HCA for their commitment to this project,” said Vikas Enti, CEO and Co-founder of Reframe Systems. “Using our productized designs and advanced micro factories, we can build more climate-friendly housing at a lower cost with rapid, efficient and predictable timelines. Our homes are optimized to have a much lower total cost of ownership and our vertical integration enables us to deliver an unrivaled customer experience.”
