Featured Projects

Four Värms in Hanover, NH

When Dartmouth College needed new faculty housing built on a tight timeframe and to very high standards, Unity was a natural choice. According to Tim McNamara, Dartmouth’s Associate Director for Campus Planning and Facilities, three factors weighed heavily in the college’s decision to hire Unity: speed of construction, energy efficiency and price.

The four faculty homes are part of new residential communities on campus that cluster student housing with nearby homes for professors. Each home has a Unity Värm design platform at its core, but at 3300 square feet, they are larger than typical Värms, in order to accommodate faculty-student gatherings.

Unity began the off-site construction of the homes in January of 2016, and assembled the weathertight shells on site that March. The homes were completed by early summer, allowing the new occupants to be moved in well before the start of the fall semester.

Building performance guru Martin Holladay visited the Dartmouth houses during construction, and had this to say about them in a blog post on GreenBuildingAdvisor.com: Unity Homes is building some of the best single-family homes in New England, and every employee I met is concerned with building a high performance home.  If Unity Homes represents the future of home building, we’re all in luck.”

Dartmouth’s McNamara has praised the new homes as “solid, attractive and durable.” We know that they are comfortable, healthy and low-maintenance as well.

Unity is proud to have helped Dartmouth realize its vision for the future of student life on campus, while we continue to pursue our own vision for the future of home building.

SQUARE FOOTAGE

Total Living Area: 3,062-3,255 SF
Porches and Decks: 405-837 SF
Garage: 389-582 SF

DESIGN FEATURES

Porches
Connectors
Garages

BUILDING SHELL

Wall Insulation: R-33 cellulose
Roof Insulation: R-50+ cellulose
Foundation Insulation: R-15 rigid foam
Windows: Triple-glazed, by Marvin/Integrity
Air Tightness: 0.88 ACH50
HERS Rating: 40
Certifications: Energy Star

MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Heating/Cooling: Air source heat pump
Ventilation: Heat recovery ventilator
Water Heater: Electric resistance
Sprinkler System: Included

In their own words

Unity’s new homes are solid, attractive and durable.

Tim McNamara,
Dartmouth’s Associate Director for Campus Planning and Facilities