February 2010

Friday Green Building Recap 2.5.10

by nan on 2010/02/05 · 0 comments

There was so much inspiring, progressive green building news this week! I Tweeted most of it and narrowed the choices down to these few as most helpful for homeowners.

> Just last week, I was talking about ceiling insulation, and I said: “There is no rule that says you can’t do more than what the building code says. Code is a required minimum. You are free to do more, and that’s what I did. There probably is a cut-off point, though, where what you put in doesn’t contribute anymore to energy loss, but I don’t know what that is.” Lo and behold, the DOE heard me and responded.

> Physical comfort drives me. I change my clothes four or five times a day to regulate my body temperature (this is a sensory issue, which I have passed down to my younger daughter). I am much like every dog I’ve had, moving to various parts of the house or yard to stay comfortable in all seasons. I should consider a courtyard home for natural heating and cooling.

> Does the average homeowner want to monitor her energy use? Smart Meters are for exactly that, but if they get installed, will they get used? Will they help reduce consumption and emissions? Do people care? Or will they just wait to change their habits when the price of energy escalates, as it will, and has a huge negative effect on them?

> Once you monitor your home energy, with a Smart Meter or Google PowerMeter, you must act to manage it. Do people want to do that? I have found that people would like to curb their emissions and save money, but they do not want a change of lifestyle. If it was automatic, they may embrace it more quickly and passionately.

> Nobody is 100% green, and one of my green sins is not living in a walkable neighborhood. I live about six miles from the center of town, which is not far, but not close enough to ride a bike for running errands (besides that, it’s uphill all the way home!). I have lived in cities and in the heart of smaller towns, and walking or biking everywhere is one thing I do miss where I am now. The pay-off is killer views and peace and quiet, but that’s another story.

As a Realtor®, I was very interested in this article that states foreclosures are higher in non-walkable neighborhoods. The expense of travel is high and hurts a tight budget.

If distance from conveniences is taken into account while applying for a mortgage, this could hurt the people who want to live in a rural area. Would interest rates be higher? Would distance weigh as heavily as the home’s condition or a credit score? There are a lot of implications to ‘predicting mortgage performance’ based on walkability that could be hurtful instead of helpful. I’m open to hearing what you think.

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Second Hand Rose…. er, Nan

by nan on 2010/02/05 · 2 comments

I keep writing about the big picture of saving energy in our buildings, cars and environment. I also keep writing about my simple life. I keep reading about it, too. There are many bloggers learning to be eco-friendly and frugal in the name of consuming less and protecting the environment. With each blog post I read, I think, ‘I could have written that. Thirty years ago.’

I struggle with what to convey to you through my writing, because my green lifestyle is a part of me; it’s my nature. Yes, I learned some of it, but most of it is just who I am. Being a Capricorn, I am naturally frugal and tied to the earth. It’s hard to write about my daily routine, since to me, it’s not so outstanding. It’s just what I do. But to others, it’s valuable information.

That said, I am going to try and impart practical information for you by looking at my ‘green routine’ more closely.

Let me tell you about my furniture, 99% of which is second-hand.

> Five of my six bookshelves came from yard sales. I’ve had one of those for 15 years. One chair in my living room came from a yard sale about 12 years ago for $25, the other came from the local flea market. It is a wonderful Ikea POÄNG chair and footstool, ergonomic heaven that cost me $40. I’m still looking for a couch. Anyone?!

> I purchased one of my floor lamps at a yard sale for $1 back in 1991. The woman said she’d bought it used years before that as a ‘project,’ but it was clear to her she wasn’t going to get around to it, so she was selling it. My coffee table was a gift from a neighbor, who was moving. My magazine basket is from a gift basket I got at Christmas (yes, it was that big!). My trash can is a bushel basket from an apple farm in Tennessee, where we lived when my second daughter was born in 1994.

> The wooden screen dividing the kitchen from the living area came from my next door neighbor’s home after she passed away. I also got a lot of gardening supplies – flower pots, two carts, watering cans, bird feeders. Her son was very generous with her things. Being from out of state, he was eager to empty the house, sell it, and move on.

> My maple drop-leaf kitchen table is another flea market find. It replaced the one I brought from my mother’s house and gave away so I could travel. The chairs came from a client’s yard sale as she was clearing out to sell her house and move. Probably $20 for the four of them.

> Two wicker chairs in the greenhouse came from my mother’s sunroom. The cushions are draped with silk from two skirts I got at the freebox. I washed them, then cut the seams out and tucked them under the cushions. The metal side table was left beside a dumpster at the condos up the road. I also got a rug and a blender out of that pile of stuff, and my friend picked up a leather ergo-purse. Great finds! I love when people move or clean out and have the sense to leave things where people will get them, instead of sending them to the landfill.

> I have a mahogany sideboard and telephone table in the kitchen that were pieces in my childhood home. My kids sleep on beds that came from my mother’s guest room. I have a sofa table that was my mother’s. She’d painted it bright green, and when I stripped it, I exposed solid oak. I wondered why it was so heavy to lift into the pick-up truck! I also got a couple of small chairs from her house, the kind you toss clothes onto. They were never meant for sitting. One’s in my room, one’s in the bathroom – the most obvious clothes-tossing areas.

> Our three dressers came from yard sales. A little paint spruced them up. One daughter’s tv table is was given to us by a friend moving to a smaller apartment.

> In my room, I also have a computer desk and chair from separate friends. My closet organizer is stacks of milk crates for t-shirts, shorts and sweaters. My shoe rack is cinder blocks and 1×6 lumber. My bedside table was a side-of-the-road-sale find for $5, with a $3 yard-sale-find lamp on it.

The list of what’s NEW in my house is definitely shorter.

my bed
two banquet tables that serve as office/studio workspace – I’ve had these since 1996.
one floor lamp from Wal Mart for $14
a chair in each daughter’s room
one bookshelf in one daughter’s room

Just think, I could have spared you all that reading and me all that writing by just posting the NEW list!

As you can see, furniture comes from many places besides a store. You can also see that we don’t need to run out and buy something new just for the sake of shopping. I’ve had a lot of these things for many years, and they have a lot of life in them still. If I need a change, I will rearrange and/or paint the furniture, paint the walls and trim, or make new curtains. Life does not need to be consumptive or expensive!

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Your Eco-friendly Landscape

by nan on 2010/02/04 · 1 comment

(Read the intro, and learn about your green building envelope and your efficient interior systems, too!)

Conserve energy and natural resources when you do your landscaping. You built your energy efficient home according to the site, disturbing as little as possible and building with the topography, so think ‘ecology’ and ‘nature’ when you design your yard. Please garden organically!

Water Use

Catch water from the roof, and use your gray water from the house for irrigation. Use drip irrigation, and plant only native and adaptable plants and grasses. They are used to your environment and need little maintenance and pest control.
Mulch your flowerbeds and around your trees to maintain moisture, eliminating the need for supplemental watering. Add your own compost to add nutrients and water-holding capabilities to your soil.
Reduce your lawn area as much as possible. Grass is notoriously thirsty. Plant native grasses instead, or replace your lawn with native flowers and shrubs. Use a reel lawn mower instead of a gas-powered mower.

Drainage

Building with the topography leaves the natural drainage in place. Don’t try to change the direction of water flow. Water is stronger than your intentions, and you will fail.
You can make a drainage swale part of your design by lining it with local rocks and creating a pathway. You can also plant along the swale to utilize the run-off.

Parking, Driveways & Patios (Hardscaping)

Hardscaping should be permeable so storm water can seep back into the ground instead of running off and creating a flood. Crusher fines, gravel and permeable pavers are preferable to concrete or asphalt.
Plant shade trees to keep your hardscaping from absorbing summer heat. Place them where they will also shade southern and western windows and exterior walls to reduce cooling bills. Plant evergreens to create a windbreak.

Wildlife Habitat

Plant for the animals as well as for yourself. They need food, water, shelter and a place to nest. Native plants will attract wildlife by providing food and shelter. You can also make a brush pile for critters to live in. A small water feature can attract birds, butterflies, dragonflies and amphibians.

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Inside Your Energy Efficient Home

by nan on 2010/02/03 · 2 comments

(Read the intro, and learn about your green building envelope first.)

When it comes to saving energy, the systems inside your home are just as important as the envelope. You save money and energy with less air infiltration through the envelope, then you save again with efficient systems, lighting, renewable energy and water conservation.

HVAC – Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning

You need proper air movement in your home for comfort and efficient heating and cooling. The systems must be sized properly and according to the type of fuel used.
An air-tight home needs ventilation in the form of a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) or energy recovery ventilator (ERV). Indoor air is exchanged with outside air at least .35 times per hour, moving out stale and bringing in fresh air without compromising your heating or cooling. It’s not like cracking open a window and watching the heat flow out!
Energy Star equipment should be used for the most savings. All ductwork needs to be sealed to eliminate leakage.
If you install radiant floor heat, the tubing should be spaced close enough together to prevent cold spots.
Passive solar heating reduces daytime heating needs, and thermal mass radiates stored heat out at night. Thermal mass works year-round taking heat out of the air in summer, too.
Ceiling fans are also an inexpensive and effective way of distributing heat in winter and drawing in cool air in summer.

Water heating

Since I have solar hot water, I’ll praise it here! I cut my gas bill down to $15 a month with solar thermal. My installer and I crunched the numbers, and figured the payback would be about 5 or 6 years.
On-demand, or tankless, water heaters are very efficient, too. Water is heated as it is used, passing through and being warmed instantly by the heater. There is no 40 gallon tank to keep warm, which is the main cost of hot water.
If you need to have a standard water heater, compare the yellow energy labels that are posted on them. Buy a size that is right for your needs. Cover it with an insulating blanket, and insulate all water lines.

Lighting & Appliances

Allow for as much natural daylight as possible to reduce the need for electric lights. Install and properly place windows, solar tubes and skylights.
Use CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs) or LEDs (light emitting diodes) instead of incandescent bulbs. CFLs are four times as efficient as incandescents, and last ten times longer. They offer quality light, not the fluorescent of old commercial building. They are most effective in rooms where lights stay on a lot, since they use more energy being turned on and off, instead of just burning.
LEDs are more expensive, but they last ten times as long as a CFL. They are cool, durable and free of mercury, one drawback to a CFL.
Energy Star fixtures and appliances use 10-50% less energy and water than standard models. Check their website for information about refrigerators, washers and dryers, dishwashers and air conditioners.

Renewables

Try and generate some of your own energy through:

Solar thermal for domestic hot water and/or heating.
Solar PV – off-grid or net-meter
Wind power
Geothermal

Look into incentives in the form of tax credits and rebates at the Database of State Incentives for Reneweables & Efficiency

Water efficiency

You can save water by putting all of your plumbing lines in a ‘wet wall.’ Bathrooms can be back to back, or one can be adjacent to the kitchen. Upstairs plumbing is most efficient directly above downstairs plumbing. This is less distance for hot water to travel, uses less material and creates less waste.
As mentioned earlier, on-demand water heaters save energy, but they also save water, because you are not running the water until it gets hot. It is hot right away.
Showerheads and faucets should be rated at 2.5 gal/min or less to save up to 50% on your water heating and consumption bills. Toilets are low-flow (1.6 gal/flush) by law, and dual-flush toilets use even less water!
Catch water and filter it for indoor use. Direct gray water to plantings indoors or out.

Read about energy efficiency outside the house – how you can have an eco-friendly landscape.

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Your Green Building Envelope

by nan on 2010/02/02 · 2 comments

(Read the intro here.)

The tightness and efficiency of your building envelope is crucial to energy savings. A friend of mine once said it doesn’t matter what you do inside if the outside is not tight. I’ll start from the bottom and work my way up to show you the options.

Foundation

Most foundations are poured of concrete, which is durable and needs little maintenance, making it a popular building material. Concrete is made of cement, sand, water and stone. The last three are natural and generally local, which are green attributes, but cement is energy intensive to make and transport. Read: not green. There are several solutions to create a more eco-friendly foundation.

ICFs – Insulated Concrete Forms are panels of rigid foam insulation used as forms to pour concrete. This eliminates the need for plywood forms, which get used a few times and taken to the landfill. ICFs also insulate the wall in one move saving time and costs. These can also be used for your walls.

Rastra – Recycled polystyrene beads are mixed with cement in block form in an 85/15 ratio. This is lightweight and easy to transport and move around on the site, has excellent insulating properties cutting utility bills, and is durable in extreme weather conditions.

Flyash – Flyash, or coal ash, is a waste product from coal burning power plants. It is recommended to replace cement in a concrete mixture with at least 15% flyash. Recycling waste products is very eco-friendly. BUT! BUT! BUT! Flyash is toxic, laced with heavy metals, including mercury, lead and arsenic. It is no cleaner that its parent, coal. Consider yourself warned about the use of this product!

Outside foundation walls of crawls spaces and basements need to be waterproofed and insulated. A perforated pipe for drainage should be laid at the base of the wall by the footings in a gravel bed.

Newer homes here in Taos, New Mexico have concrete slab floors, with radiant floor heat tubing installed. The floors must be completely insulated, otherwise the heat will go into the ground. The site work should be done, rigid foam insulation laid down, a reflective barrier placed on top to reflect heat up, then the tubing laid, and finally the concrete slab poured. Code says only two feet in from the exterior wall needs to be insulated, but common sense tells me (and several contractors I know) the entire floor should be done.

I am a big advocate of the Passivhaus. The aim of this building standard is to combine an air-tight envelope with a high efficiency ventilation system so that no heating system is needed. The standard for this is 9” of insulation under the floor!

Walls

After your foundation is in place, the walls go up. Energy efficiency is achieved by increasing the R value and preventing air infiltration to reduce your energy use and avoid condensation. You also want to use local and natural materials, and create as little waste as possible.

Advanced framing – OVE, Optimum Value Engineering reduces materials and labor costs, and cuts down on thermal bridging, reducing heating and cooling costs.

SIPs – Structural Insulated Panels are modular panels of two layers of sheathing with a foam core. SIPs construction reduces labor costs and material waste, has higher R values, and is straighter and stronger than conventionally framed walls. It is also air-tight, lowering heating and cooling costs.

ICFs – See above

Adobe – This is the most common building material in Taos. It is local and natural, but it works its best magic as thermal mass in passive solar homes. It absorbs the sun’s warmth and radiates it back out at night.

Strawbale – This is another popular building material in Taos. Strawbales are made from what’s left in the field after harvest, so they are recycled and renewable. They have high insulating and acoustic properties, which reduces heating and cooling costs and creating a pleasant space. I have been in many strawbale homes, and they have a soft, warm, cozy feel to them.

Rastra – See above

Rammed earth – Forms are put in place and mud poured into them and packed down for strength and durability.

Windows

This previous post, Buying Energy Efficient Windows, says it all.

Wall Insulation

As you can see, sometimes exterior walls are insulated as they are built. If you need to insulate after the fact, there are a few green options. These hold true for interior walls, too. I recommend insulating interior walls for noise reduction, good acoustics, privacy and comfort.

Recycled cotton batts – These are usually made of denim and are installed just like standard fiberglass batts.

Cellulose – This is shredded newspaper that you can buy or shred yourself, and it gets blown into wall cavities.

Recycled fiberglass – These look and perform just like regular fiberglass batts, but are formaldehyde-free.

Once your walls are up and insulated, caulk and/or foam all connections, corners, openings for an air-tight structure.

When your home is air-tight, you will need some ventilation, either through operable windows or a whole-house ventilation system.

Now that the outside of your house is energy efficient, Iearn about the interior.

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Reduce Heat Loss with Ceiling Insulation

by nan on 2010/02/01 · 7 comments

(Although this was written for homes in cold climates, ceiling insulation is necessary for summer cooling in hot climates, too. It keeps the sun’s heat from penetrating into the living space, keeping the house cool and reducing cooling costs.)

Hot air rises. That principle propels hot air balloons off the ground and over the Rio Grande Gorge here in Taos, NM. Hot air fills the balloon, and it naturally ascends.

That same principle comes into play in your home. You heat your home, and the warmed air goes to the ceiling. If the insulation in your ceiling is minimal or lacking, heat escapes, increasing your energy bills and wasting precious fuel.

I heat with wood and have a ceiling fan. I had noticed over the years during power outages, when the fan was not spinning, the house felt much cooler, even with a hot fire going. I became curious about the insulation in the attic.

A friend and I opened up the access panel and took a look around. Pink fiberglass insulation had been blown in a long time ago, so it was not very thick. I called an insulation company, and when the man came out to look, he said it had an R value of about 19.

The R value of insulation says how well it resists heat transfer. The higher the number, the more resistance it has. There are certain minimums that the building code requires. For ceilings, it is R38.

I had two options, the man said. I could add R19 or R30. I wasn’t sure that what I saw in the attic was R19. It seemed thinner in places, so if I added R19, I might be up to code with R38. I opted for R30 to be on the energy efficient side, for an approximate total of R49.

remodelimg_3550

There is no rule that says you can’t do more than what the building code says. Code is a required minimum. You are free to do more, and that’s what I did. There probably is a cut-off point, though, where what you put in doesn’t contribute anymore to energy loss, but I don’t know what that is.

As expected, the heat is staying in the house. The ceiling fan is not the necessity it was. I still use it, as it does distribute the heat, but without it, the difference is barely noticeable.

Since I heat with wood, energy savings are hard to calculate. Considerations are the wood itself, how often I am home and how stormy or sunny it is (I have sunny south facing windows for daytime heating). These things are different each winter, so there is no norm for comparison.

I can approximate that I am burning approximately two cords less per year at a cost of $150 each. That is a savings of $300 per year. The cost of the R30 insulation was $900, so my payback time is three years. As the cost of wood goes up, and it will, my payback time will be quicker.

The added benefit is my comfort level. The house is much warmer, and I spend less time tending the fire. Human comfort and quality of life are as important as saving energy. They just don’t have a price tag.

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