Ann’s Green Resume

Frog Rock Design Green Expertise

Ann and Tammy currently work together on energy efficient designs for Custom Homes, Remodels/Additions and Multi-family housing. Frog Rock Design is a member of “Not So Big House” and The Passive House Alliance. Ann and Tammy are both Certified Green Professionals through the National Home Builders Association and ANSI. Frog Rock Design has designed numerous “Green” Homes in the region. Many of them have been Passive Solar homes which use the sun to heat the home in the winter and utilizing shade elements and super insulation to keep the house cool in the summer. Their many years of specializing in home design gives them the expertise to help their clients balance aesthetics, budget and energy efficiency.

Ann’s Green Resume

Ann Orser has been an advocate for and student of “green” architecture ever since the first national energy crisis in the ’70’s. As a young wife and mother she followed the progress of alternative energy and building strategies until in 1995 she finally achieved her goal of an architecture degree and began her ‘second career’. Her interest in vernacular and indigenous architecture has also taught her much about the simple lo-tech strategies employed to moderate climate in many different parts of the world. All of this ‘life experience’ informs her design philosophy.

She has endeavored to bring green aspects to all of the projects she has been involved in with Frog Rock Design and her previous employers. From the very beginning of every Frog Rock project basic green strategies such as daylighting, natural ventilation and construction waste management inform the design.

In 2003 she converted a 100 year old log cabin adjacent to her home into an office for Frog Rock Design. The project brought new life to a vernacular homesteaders cabin. The exterior remains mostly the same except for added windows and a new entrance. Inside is a completely new structure-within-a-stucture. A 2×4 ‘stick frame’ structure built inside the log walls allowed for the addition of insulation and created a light, modern space for creative work. Other green elements are listed on the green design page.

Most recently she has been engaged in several projects to upgrade the energy efficiency of her converted 1923 farm house home. Insulation has been added to both the basement walls and the attic ceiling, a solar water heater now preheats all the water used in the home and a mini geo-thermal system moderates the temperature of the outside air which enters the basement. New, more efficient windows are planned for the next phase.