Connecting Place and Sustainability

October 26, 2026 Builder Media

Designing for a home’s regional vernacular relationship

Shelter is a universal need, but wouldn’t it be a bit odd if our homes all looked the same no matter where in the world you were? Living and working in such different places as New Zealand, Europe and Maine has given me an appreciation of the sense of place, especially as it relates to the structures we live in.

Although Maine became my home more than two decades ago, I’m only starting to be attuned to the rhythm of the seasons and, as my wife sometimes likes to remind me, I can’t be a real Mainer until I’ve been settled here for at least another two generations.

In Maine I discovered new concepts that are familiar to anyone who grew up in New England: frost protection, mud room, screen porch, post and beam, woven cedar shingles. There were confusing house styles: Federal, Colonial, Cape, something called a Salt Box and, perhaps my favorite, the “Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn.” This is a farmhouse connected over time by a long string of utility structures to the barn and is very common in southern Maine for social and economic reasons.

These terms were unknown to me because they are so closely connected to New England, but they are also markers of traditional sustainable architecture and the local context. They reflect vernacular responses to specific climate and seasonal conditions, readily available local materials and practical construction methods of their era.

Preparing for a changing climate and economy requires designing durable, adaptable, resilient buildings. I don’t expect to be here in 100 years, but I’m hoping my house will be. It has been altered and upgraded countless times since it was built over 250 years ago, but still has the same wood frame and foundation structure. This is clearly a resilient structure and, with periodic maintenance, could easily last that long again.

Sustainable design means something different to everyone, but often encompasses improving the comfort and durability of a home while also reducing operational costs and reliance on fossil fuels. There are multiple programs and certifications that can demonstrate how well a project has been designed to be more sustainable, each with varying degrees of rigor and tradeoffs.

For my own home, I’m relying on the knowledge I have gained through my own sustainable design experience because it allows me to prioritize the improvements that will have the most impact while staying within my budget constraints.

One key link between sustainability and sense of place is local materials. With Maine being the nation’s most heavily forested state by percentage of land area, using locally sourced wood-based products for framing, insulation and cladding is a great way to sequester carbon and support the local economy. I’ll prioritize locally sourced wood fiber insulation and eastern white cedar shingles or painted pine clapboards for the exterior cladding.

For new homes, I design renewable or renewable-ready systems that can function without fossil fuels and minimize a building’s operational demand. Considering the site-specific project design at an early stage helps optimize the passive solar design to reduce reliance on mechanical systems.

Luckily for me, that analysis was done by an astute builder in the 1700s who perfectly aligned the house with the cardinal points for passive solar windows facing due south and a gabled roof that is ideal for now adding solar panels.

Opportunities to significantly upgrade the exterior shell typically happen perhaps only once every 20 or 30 years. My house was last renovated in the 1980s and it’s time for a comprehensive upgrade of the roof, cladding, insulation and windows, while keeping the original post and beam structure intact and using existing public infrastructure.

For excellent primary water control and increased durability of the exterior assembly, the new cladding will be installed over a rainscreen and a continuous water-resistive barrier. New windows and exterior doors will use the same locations as the existing ones since they are well placed already, so there’s no need to change the structure. A new exterior air barrier layer and more wood fiber insulation will minimize energy use due to heat loss and air leakage and the chance for mold or mildew within the wall assembly.

Once this work is done, my family and I will enjoy living comfortably all year in our center chimney Colonial-era house with its connected barn. By embracing both a sense of place and sustainability, I hope these renovations will connect our home to Maine’s past and its sustainable future.

By Richard Lo. He is a Senior Architectural Designer at Kaplan Thompson Architects and can be reached at richard@kaplanthompson.com.