Building Green has announced its annual top 10 list of Green Products.
I am describing the 3 products that caught my eye, but please follow the links for more information and the complete listing of all 10 products.
1. First on the list is Nylodeck: a moisture, mold and termite proof decking material that is made from 100% recycled carpet fibers with a 30 year warranty. I have not personally used this material but am very interested in how it prices out compared to traditional wood decking. I will keep you informed.
2. Foamglas Closed Cell Board Insulation eliminates the concept of swelling and moisture problems typical of building insulation. It is non-combusible, impervious to water vapor, no warping or buckling of the insulation boards and it is easy to cut and shape.
3. Bensonwood OB Plus Wall System: This 12-3/4" thick superinsulated wall system allows your house to achieve near net zero performance. They are marketed at a "fraction of the cost of a conventionally built home" and I am anxious for more specific pricing information. They sell standard wall systems as well as custom wall panels for any home design. I don't know the system details such as the air barrier system and construction integration, but I will post more as I learn.
Completed in 1999, this house was what most would say, ahead of its time through its use of green design techniques. However, the passive solar design, rain water collection and material re-use are age-old historic practices of vernacular design. Once again, America is returning to the correct and historic design methods of optimum site orientation to make use of the sun for heat and wind for cooling. Rather than simply adding a large and commonly oversized HVAC system, designers and homeowners are rethinking where to spend the money. In this home, the home owners splurged on high operable windows to allow the collected heat to naturally exhaust the house rather than beefing up the air conditioning system and energy cost. 10 years later, they are still happy with this decision.
Along with natural ventilation, the floor of the house was treated as a large thermal mass to collect heat throughout the day which releases during the cool night. Structural Insulated Panels replaced typical wood framing techniques and improve the air sealing of the house tremendously. SIPS panels can reduce energy consumption up to 50%, according to Energy Star.
Less and Better Wood Use. The use of SIPS panels reduce the amount of lumber and increase the area of insulation. Framing lumber was sustainably harvested by the FSC.
Natural Light and Ventilation. Hlgh Operable windows allow captured heat, in the vaulted ceiling, to escape the house naturally.
Zoning of Spaces. Mechanical rooms, Utility, Bath and Service rooms were gathered to the street side of the house, allowing bedrooms and common areas to capture the warmth and daylight of the South Sun.
Water Collection. Roof water is collected for irrigation.
Schwolsky says: "As a former high-performance home builder, I know what this feels like. You’re stuck in a gray area between innovation and risk, caught between a commitment to build high-performance homes and your responsibilities to ensure those homes still perform their most basic functions without creating problems—or liabilities."
Here is his list, from the the article: 1. How will it perform its basic function as a building material or product? 2. How does it compare with products I use now? 3. Is it code approved? 4. Is it third-party certified? 5. Will it contribute toward project certification? 6. Is it available? 7. How will it affect my pricing? 8. Will it increase my level of risk or liability? 9. How will it improve the level of performance of my homes? 10. How will it contribute toward sustainability? 11. Will it require new sequencing or installation skills/trades? 12. Is it worth the investment for the benefits?
As I read through these, numbers 1 and 8 struck me as the most basic and important. For those actually living in the home, 8 could also be translated to "Is this as water tight as a conventional product? Is the warranty comparable? When will it need to be replaced: 10 years, 30 years, 50 years?" With few exceptions, it does not matter how "green" the product is if it will not last.
Instincts will also go a long way in evaluating a new green product: does it seem like a gimmick, someone who is taking advantage of the green bandwagon by selling me something I don't need? Or is this a quality replacement of something I am using anyway? Will this replace a product that would have been more resource intensive to make, or make an energy intensive product more sustainable (like using concrete containing fly ash)? Will it replace a material whose manufacture is dangerous to the environment and to those who are making it (i.e., choosing FSC certified wood windows over vinyl)?
If you have doubts, ask the manufacturer directly. A few years ago, we were working with a client to develop townhouses, and we suggested bamboo floors. He expressed some concern about the use of product without much of a track record for durability. Through internet research, I found many homeowners who were disgruntled. This is just a warning about internet research in the form of chat rooms and comment pages: they can help alert you to issues with a product, but keep in mind that people don't go to chat rooms when they are happy with a product. However, this research did alert me to a few things to look for when choosing bamboo floors: as in most cases, you get what you pay for in terms of durability. To get the environmental advantages of bamboo (rapidly renewable), it should be certified (i.e. FSC) to ensure that a forest was not destroyed in order to produce the bamboo crop.
Also look for BuildingGreenTop 10 products, and stores like EcoHaus, which has a knowledgeable sales staff and vets products before they are sold, so you know that if it's sold there, it's most likely passed the "green" test.
The "Living Green" authors visiting many intentional communities around the country, interviewed residents, and spent time getting to know what makes each place tick. These communities ranged from a commune that has been around for decades that in order to be a part of you must give up all outside assets so that all are equal, to cohousing communities and eco-villages. The book focused much more on the social aspect of these communities than the built environment, but there was enough discussion of the physical makeup to merit a discussion here.
In the commune mentioned above, the focus of the community was a social sustainability: everyone is made equal by the fact that there is no outside income and everyone contributes somehow for the common good. In an eco-village, incomes are separate and the emphasis is on environmentally sustainably living.
The authors visited the Los Angeles Eco-Village (LAEV), located in the Koreatown neighborhood west of downtown LA. Their mottoes are "Demonstrating higher quality living patterns at a lower environmental impact" and "Reinventing how we live in cities." It is sponsored by the Cooperative Resources and Services Project, which is a nonprofit community development organization for "small ecological cooperative communities."
This community is what the Cohousing Association of the United States would call a form of "retro-fit" cohousing, that is, people live together in community, but they live in a building and spaces purchased by the LAEV, as opposed to the traditional definition of cohousing, where residents collectively design a community from scratch. Retro-fit cohousing like the LAEV is a much more accessible and attainable way to live in community. However, it is not without sacrifice. Their rules and regulations dictate the minimum and maximum amount of residents in each unit, for instance. But living here comes with many advantages of community, including "traffic calming" potlucks in the street, gardens, and a supportive bike culture. About half of the residents do not own cars, and those that do not receive a $20 discount on their rent each month. The eco-village is located close to transit and bus stops. The 48 units, owned by the Cooperative Resources and Services Project, are currently rented to residence, but in the future LAEV hopes to create permanently affordable co-ops.
Fosket and Mamo list the 10 C's of Sustainability that they found in the communities they visited: Culture, Context, Citizenship, Commitment, Collaboration, Connectedness, Care, Contact (with nature), Commons, Continuity.
I particularly like "Citizenship" as key to sustainability. So often the people have a will for living sustainably but what needs to be done is literally against the law (this subject could be dozens of other blog posts, but just for example, zoning laws that separate commercial and residential uses that discourage walking, limits on ADU's and granny flats which discourage density and affordable housing, and municipal covenants that limit the number of unrelated people living in a single family dwelling). The authors encourage people to take power over their circumstances and strive to change local ordinances that are outdated that limit sustainability .
Martin Holladay explores the environmental and public health pros and cons of burning wood for heating a home in his very informative report. What's wrong with burning wood? one might ask.
It seems so intuitive. While wood is an abundant and renewable resource, the burning of wood emits "some toxic air pollutants, fine particle pollution, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds (VOC), and a group of toxic air pollutants known as polycyclic organic matter [including] benzo(a)pyrene, which may cause cancer," according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA reports that "Just 20 old non-EPA certified wood stoves can emit more than 1 ton of fine particles into your community during the cold months of the year."
Pellet Stoves, which burn a renewable fuel made of ground, dried wood and other biomass wastes compressed into pellet, usually use electricity (unlike a fireplace or wood stove), but do not need to be EPA approved, because of their relatively low emissions.
Mr. Holladay concludes that "The deleterious effects of wood smoke on human health are a serious concern. However, wood smoke is much less likely to cause health problems in sparsely populated rural areas than in densely populated areas.....Because of the health problems associated with wood smoke, wood burning is inappropriate in densely populated town and cities. Wood burning is also inappropriate in areas where forests are threatened."
Luckily, we may not need to worry about turning on a wood stove for a while (unless the Pacific Northwest's "June-uary" gets any worse) but if you are planning on building or remodeling this summer, here is where to find a list of wood stoves certified by the EPA. (An EPA approval is required in Washington State).
KUOW's Tom Banse recently reported on Ductless Heat Pumps. You can listen to audio of the report here or read the transcript here.
He reports that some utilities will pay a rebate up to $1,500 for installing a ductless heat pump (and replacing less efficient heating systems, like electric baseboards). A 25% to 50% reduction in heating bills is the average, partially reflecting the amount of heat loss and inefficiency with ducts (estimates of heat loss in traditional ducted systems are 15-30%).
The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance reports that if about a million homes in Washington make the switch, that's an average of 440 megawatts of savings, equivalent to about one medium-sized coal plant. They say these are standard in Asia and Europe, and just now catching on in the United States.
Example ductless heat pump, $1,879 + installation. The appearance of the interior unit (lower) can be a drawback.
The homeowners in the report say that the total cost for their new heat pump was about $4,000, and will pay for itself in about 10 years. This technology may be more affordable in new construction or additions since no retrofit is required.
We still assert that the most efficient way to heat a home is with a hydronic system, where there is little heat loss, though these systems can be considerably more expensive and most feasible in new construction. Since you are heating materials (like the floors) not air, there is less heat loss when a door is opened. These systems also correlate nicely with the current emphasis on indoor air quality. Whole house fans create many air changes a day, which renders a system that heats just the air more inefficient.
Remodeling is one of my favorite subjects to blog about: I love the creativity and problem solving involved in a remodeling project, and think that it's the ultimate way to build green. Talk of remodeling has been going mainstream, like in this Wall Street Journal Article, "The New Rules of Remodeling."
From MP McQueen's article:
"According to an April 15 report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, annual spending on remodeling is expected to accelerate this year, with nearly 5% growth over 2009. "This year could produce the first annual spending increase for the industry since 2006," the peak of the housing boom, says center director Nicolas P. Retsinas.
But the forces driving today's action couldn't be more different from those during the boom. Back then, people wanted to renovate their places so that they could trade up to bigger homes, or because their home equity was soaring and they wanted to reinvest some of the spoils.
Now, the opposite is happening: Many people who bought during the boom years are accepting the reality that they won't soon be swapping up for a sybaritic spread. Their mortgages may remain above water, but after years of falling home prices, their equity is so low that the transaction costs of buying a new house would leave little for a down payment."
I appreciate this quote from the article:
"So these people are making their homes more comfortable for a longer-than-expected stay. Setting aside old calculations of how much a particular improvement will add to resale value, they are making smaller tweaks that can make a big difference in livability. You might call it "psychological return on investment." "
We have made a few changes to our condo, which we purchased in 2007, like replacing the carpet with wood floors and replacing the sheet vinyl in the bathroom and kitchen with tile (see previous blog entry, "Under $500 remodel/makeover")
Yes, I hope to see a return on these investments someday when we sell our condo, but I like doing them gradually, so we can enjoy them while we live here. I still hope to replace the laminate counter tops, and I have big dreams for removing our coat closet and expanding our flex space, but I would like to do these mostly because they will add to our quality of life while we are here, and will probably be good for resale some day also.
Check out this great chart from the Wall Street Journal Article:
The New Remodeling Rules
During the bubble, homeowners sought the biggest, splashiest home improvements to boost resale value. Now they're doing smaller projects that deliver a similar result for far less money.
POPULAR PROJECTS DURING THE BOOM*
THE NEW VERSION**
RESULT
Major home office remodel
Cost: $27,000
Basic remodel, converting a bedroom by adding low-priced cabinets. Can cost as little as $2,000 plus rewiring and adding receptacles, according to Washington-area contractor David Merrick.
Provides a new, dedicated work area at a fraction of the price.
Bathroom addition
Cost: $37,200
Typical 5' x 7' upgrade within existing home dimensions, including low-flow toilets, new fixtures, mirrored walls and new architectural lighting. Cost: $16,000
Mirrors, better lighting increase the feeling of space; low-flow toilets save money on water bills; bath fixtures including body sprays give "spa" feel to the home without the expense of whirlpool baths.
Major kitchen remodel/expansion
Cost: $55,500
Remodel within existing dimensions, including removal of a wall for improved flow between kitchen and dining room, new energy-efficient appliances and water-saving fixtures, new cabinets and flooring, and bigger windows. Cost: $21,000
Less wall space and bigger windows give a small home the appearance of more space and light; energy-efficient appliances save money on heat and hot water.
Family room addition
Cost : $79,000
Screened-in porch. Starts at a few thousand dollars, assuming there is a roof and foundation in place; $15,000 to $20,000 to convert a small deck; or more than $50,000 to build new.
Screened-in porch increases usable space and brings outdoors indoors; accentuates landscaping and gardens.
Master suite addition
Cost: $98,863
Attic bedroom. Convert unfinished space into 15' x 15' bedroom and a 5' x 7' bathroom with shower. Cost: $49,346.
Provides more living space for a returning family member.
Design Build: An Avenue for Women in Construction & Green Building, Our latest article for Seattle Builder/Architect Magazine. The March issue has a focus on women-led and owned businesses. Also check out Builder/Architect's new digital edition.
*Note: the caption on this page incorrectly labels Anna as an architect. We are not yet licensed architects.
Design Build: An Avenue for Women in Construction & Green Building
By Anne Hamilton and Anna Howden
Although there are relatively few women-owned general contracting companies, the transition from offering design build and general contracting services in addition to architectural services can be a fairly natural one. Many architectural firms offer construction management and administration services, and by default end up working side by side with the superintendent to work through issues and to ensure that the design intent is carried out in the final product.
Transitioning to a design build firm allows the architect to be involved in a project from start to finish, control the budget more efficiently, and have more control over the quality of the final product. Participating in the actual process of pricing and ordering in construction allows for architects to design more thoughtful and cost effective buildings. The commitment to green building can be upheld throughout the project most importantly through direct contact with suppliers and subcontractors.The architect writes the green specifications and also puts them into action rather than relying on someone else to follow their green initiative.Acting as both the architect and the contractor, the site visits are streamlined and create a team approach since the architect and the tradesmen are working together and not as separate entities.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that about 8 times as many men are employed in wage and salary positions in the construction industry as women, while 5 times as many men are self-employed in the construction industry. According to the American Institute of Architects (AIA), as reported by Rena M. Klien, FAIA, in 2008 16% of architectural firm principals and partners were women, up 4% from 1999, though most of these are owners of small firms. In all industries, just 6% of highly paid executives are women.
An increasing number of women continue to receive architectural degrees. However, unlike the bar exam, for instance, which allows lawyers to obtain licenses directly out of law school, architectural interns must work for many years before they can become licensed (and in some states, before they can sit for the seven architectural licensing exams). This is usually in their early to mid thirties, when women with advanced degrees usually begin having children.
This biological reality and the time commitment outside of the work day needed to become licensed will most likely keep the “glass ceiling” in place for women architects in general.However, as revealed above in the statistics about the increasing number of small women-owned architectural firms, women can create their own opportunities in construction by adding construction management and design build services to their firms through becoming licensed general contractors.
The Master Builder tradition held almost exclusively by men and mostly phased out in modern times as most industries moved towards specialization, can now be enjoyed by women.
D+A Studio strives to create elegant, sustainable solutions by forming flexible working relationships with each client based on their unique needs, making Real Green projects possible in the Real World. Learn more at www.dandastudio.com, (206) 706-2565 (Seattle) or (360) 370-5955 (Friday Harbor), or email info@dandastudio.com. Studio How, LLC is our design-build entity that specializes in green construction.Learn more at www.dandastudio.com/studiohow , (360) 370-5955 (Friday Harbor), or email anna@dandastudio.com
Expected to be widely available in 2011, Powerhouse solar shingles install and perform like standard asphalt shingles while harnessing the power of the sun to offset a home’s energy usage. Unlike traditional frame-mounted PV panels, the shingles are installed flat against the roof deck; they are compatible with most new and existing residential rooftops. http://www.dowsolar.com/index.htm
Retrofits, solar power, and water conservation seen as some of the top issues this year.
The first weeks of the year always drive building pros to predict which green products and technologies will emerge and which existing trends will gain greater acceptance, and 2010 has been no exception.
Green building experts point to the drop in price of photovoltaics, a widespread introduction of super-efficient water heaters and windows, finalized WaterSense specifications and, of course, the struggling economy as major developments leading to this year’s biggest trends.
1. Water Conservation 2. Green Remodeling 3. Solar Products 4. Zero-Energy Homes- Much of the discussion around this subject involves pre-fab homes. The concept is a good one: like the automobile assembly line, creating the pieces to be put together on site creates less waste, provides for quality control, and centralizes skilled labor. However, until this idea gains traction outside of the high-end market, the advantage of economy can't be realized, and pre-fab homes will remain Dwell cover fodder. Builder/developer Onion Flats in Philadelphia proposes that pre-fab will be the way of the future for multi-family housing, and is pairing with a concrete company to develop pre-fab concrete units that will fit into a building like a filing cabinet. 5. Energy Modeling 6. Super Efficient Windows 7. Heat Pump Water Heaters
This article and slideshow comes from Treehugger.com. Passivhaus is the latest buzz in the green building world, but it has been around since 1990, with the first buildings in Germany.
Passivhaus with shading devices for summer. Matthias Schindegger of Maschin Arhitektur. Photo by Peter Jakadofsky.
Passivhaus requires a maximum energy usage (120 kWh/m² per year), a blower door test, and an annual heating demand of less than 15 kWh/m² per year.
Green building rating systems will continue to battle it out for superiority, and Passivhaus is the latest to vie for its spot in the US.
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) President Rick Fedrizzi expresses our hope:
"“Our goal is for the phrase ‘green building’ to become obsolete, by making all building and retrofits green--and transforming every job in our industry into a green job,” said Fedrizzi."
The San Juan Channel House has been certified Built Green 3-Star. View the current Built Green Newsletter here.
Points were earned for incorporating many green building techniques, including retaining a minimum of 30% of the trees on the site, setting aside a percentage of the buildable area to be undisturbed, using local materials, installing dual flush toilets, installing rigid insulation beneath the slab on grade, installing insulated headers and corners, using advanced framing with Greenguard certified insulation and a rainscreen system for siding, employing passive solar techniques, using a hydronic heating system on separate zones with a high efficiency heat pump and geothermal heat pump, using concrete slab as the first floor flooring material, using Energy Star rated equipment and appliances, hard wiring for compact fluorescent lighting and installing dimmers, using no vinyl windows or carpet, detaching the garage, cabinets with no added urea-formaldehyde, using all low-VOC, non-toxic interior paints and finishes, reducing interior walls, and many waste-reducing efforts on site such as providing a detailed take-off list to framers and selling, giving away or recycling any construction waste.
Features earning Built Green points include the passive solar design, finished slab, local wood doors and windows and Energy Star appliances. Photo by John Sinclair, Concepia.
Built Green of King and Snohomish Counties is a non-profit environmental building program. For more information visit www. builtgreen.net.
D+A Studio is a San Juan Island & Seattle-based woman-owned design | design/build firm and general contractor. Here we banter about current issues in architecture, urban design, construction, green building and sustainability along with updates and observations about our built projects and other endeavors.
by Jennifer Fosket and Laura Mamo
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