Retrofitting Chicago’s Bungalows For Their Next 100 Years

Chicago’s stock of classic bungalows was constructed during an era when many of the creature comforts we take for granted today were the stuff of science fiction. There was no residential air conditioning in the second and third decade of the 20^th Century. Walls lacked insulation and windows were single-pane, as home heating was very affordable.

Correcting these and other flaws of bungalows for this and future centuries can be comparatively straightforward, but often proves challenging. The team behind the Better Bungalow — a classic Chicago bungalow updated to serve as a model for future bungalow retrofits — found this true once it tackled the job of retrofitting a legend.

Built-in issues

Their role in raising countless Chicago families notwithstanding, bungalows weren’t laid out with the efficiencies designers have learned over time to include in modern homes. “The floorplans often put the small kitchen at the back of the house, separated from the living flow, and the back of the house was usually more of a rudely functional space,” says Tom Bassett-Dilley, founder and CEO of Oak Park, Ill.-based Tom Bassett-Dilley Architecture (TBDA), the firm behind the creation of the Better Bungalow.

Matt Nickels, vice president of Oak Park-based energy efficiency and HVAC company Energy Matters, said the highly affordable heating of the era spawning bungalows left owners with scant concern about BTUs or air leakage around windows and doors. “[Bungalow] heating systems reflect this,” he adds.

“Changing to a new high-efficiency heat pump system can likely require significant infrastructure costs like ductwork and electrical service. The compact size of the home is another challenge, as each space is already carefully accounted for, leaving limited options for a new heating system.”

Kim Nigro, formerly of Studio Nigro Architecture + Design, a collaborator and colleague on the Better Bungalow project, adds bungalows’ lack of air sealing and insulation have to be taken into account when planning for upgrades to the most efficient heat pump heating and cooling system. Another problem: The Chicago common brick found on the sides of the houses is highly porous. “Designing new insulated wall systems that still allow the brick to dry to the outside is critical — and challenging,” she says.

Surmounting hurdles

In Better Bungalow, TBDA Ltd. tackled a great many retrofits, among them redesigning the layout of the back kitchen, which was opened to the flow of the house. In addition, vibrant indoor-outdoor connections to the backyard were created by means of a larger opening, deck, mud room and screened porch, Basset-Dilley says.

Another challenge involved the objective of adding insulation to uninsulated exterior walls, says building consultant and inspector Joe Konopacki, president and CEO of Insight Property Services in Naperville, Ill.

Insulating the exterior would require covering the historic exterior brick and adding new exterior cladding, while insulating the interior would add the expense of removing the interior gypsum-plaster finishes of all exterior walls, a task that would also necessitate adherence to EPA Lead RRP rules to limit exposure to lead-based paint, he says. Another solution had to be found, and science ultimately offered that solution.

Striving to imbue the home with interior air and vapor control, the team turned to new products made available by advancements in material science. “For example, products like Aerobarrier allow for air-sealing homes that already have plaster or finished wall systems,” Nigro says. “Because insulating the finished first floor of bungalows can be so cost prohibitive and invasive, we have used energy modeling to study solutions that maximize insulation in the basement and attic [and] roof levels that are more often unfinished, and focus on air sealing throughout. This has proven to lower the overall heating and cooling loads sufficiently to make cold-climate heat pump systems very doable and efficient.

“Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, tax rebates for energy-efficiency home improvements have also helped to make these investments much more affordable for so many families, my own included.”

What Bassett-Dilley calls “the archaic nature of older homes” clashes with the modern sophistication of the 21^st Century folks who own them. TBDA Ltd. clients typically drive up to their vintage homes in Teslas and possess state-of-the-art phones and computers.

“But early 20th Century homes are from a completely different world,” he adds. “When we insulate and put in right-sized heat pumps, coupled with energy recovery ventilation systems, solar PV and energy and air quality monitoring, we upgrade the experience of the house to be in line with the rest of the world. And we create a demonstrably healthier and more comfortable environment.”