One of the greenest stops on the upcoming 2009 Green Buildings Open House presented by the New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association will be in Portsmouth, a little south of the center of town.

That is where Cheryl and Marc Batchelder built their 1,450-sq.-ft. home – a Cape Cod-style cottage that features timber-frame construction with SIPs on the shell (R-26 walls and an R-40 roof), Andersen 400 Series windows, a 3.15 kW solar power system, solar hot water, and a LEED for Homes Platinum certification.

The home is expected to operate, on an annual basis, at net zero energy. In a story published this week by Foster’s Daily Democrat, Marc, a civil engineer, and Cheryl said they had been living in the house since April and so far have used more power than the PV system generated only once: during the rainy month of June.

Marc told the paper that he and his wife intended from the beginning to go green on the house, although a LEED certification wasn’t part of the original plan. But through a friend the couple eventually connected with Little Green Homes, a Portsmouth-based in green construction specialist that helped put the couple on the LEED for Homes trail.

The Batchelder home, which ended up costing about $230 a square foot, was certified on July 27, becoming the sixth single-family dwelling in the state to earn a Platinum rating. Four others have earned Gold certifications. New Hampshire also is home to six multifamily projects that have earned LEED ratings (one Silver, four Gold, and one Platinum).

The New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association’s Green Buildings Open House includes more than 80 residential and commercial properties, all of will be open for tours on October 3. Click here to check the NHSEA website for details.