Green Architecture Information

Green building info

We lived in DC for 13 years and were very happy to finally move out of the congestion and pollution. DC would certainly be greatly improved if everyone drove Prius.

My partners and I are in the process of building a 82 home "healthy housing" community in Vero Beach, Florida. Our homes are being designed to have reasonably minimal impact on the environment but just as important minimal impact on the people that live in them. We're using some innovative methods to dramatically reduce cooling cost but are not integrating solar other than for water heating.

One of the better resources for gaining knowledge about green building is the book "Green Development" by the Rocky Mountain Institute and published by Wiley. Another source for green materials and technologies is the Environmental Building News newsletter @ www.buildinggreen.com.

For a more personal and homey view of green building subscribe to Natural Home magazine. Info @ www.naturalhomemagazine.com.

I wish you great success in actually accomplishing designing and building a green, energy self-sufficient home. The important thing is to build something green now. Don't put it off to wait for the next greatest innovation. Don't put it off because you can only do 80% of what you want. The Prius is a great improvement in the automotive world but its still just a step in the right direction. Take your step now. Sermon over.

 

Try this: http://www.buildingscience.com/
This is a good jumping off place for learning about sustainable and durable approaches to building in different climates. These guys are at the top of the heap and are also connected to all the greatest minds worldwide in the search for better ways of building all types of buildings and preserving and improving the existing ones. I have personally developed a superior system for building in hot humid climates from things I've learned from these and other building science geeks and gurus. Our climate here in Texas can be quite hostile at times but I am able to maintain a very comfortable environment in a 4000 sq ft home for an average of 120 dollars a month. I achieved these energy savings with no additional up front costs The house includes many luxury features, such as hot water circulation and rain head shower, commercial kitchen and fresh air mechanical ventilation. Some of these features do contribute substantial energy use but the overall package manages energy use quite well. This home is not green in the sense of it's size and I apologise for that. I do use strictly rain water and I'm researching solar panels to come on line prior to peak oil. I commute 60+ miles round trip but we carpool and someday we'll charge an electric car from our solar panels. My approach is similar to the prius; use technology to maintain a compromise free lifestyle while minimizing impact on the planet. I again apologize for using more than my share.

 

David (et. al.)

Have already taken that step (sort of). My wife and I have been building a strawbale house for the past 5 years (yes it is taking us a while) We are doing almost all of our own work. Wall insulation value R60+ Slab on Grade with R15 rigid foam underneath. Hopefully R100+ in the ceilings. Passive Solar with lots of thermal mass. Has been a fun, if long weekend project. Keep telling everyone " Like I told you 3 years ago, We'll be done in 2 years!!"

 

I suggest you look into the question of whether earth-sheltered and super insulated make sense in your climate.

 

I don't know what you're apologizing for Ray. What you've done with your home is quite commendable. As to owning a 4000 square foot house, that is your perrogative, and nobody else's right to judge. Owning a large home is not wasteful, especially with the efforts you've undertaken to minimize your energy consumption.

I've been busy with my place as well. I have acreage, and enjoy having the neighbours pushed away from me a bit.

My house used to have a brown shingle roof. When I replaced it, I went with white. It needed new siding, so I selected a light colour that would be reflective of heat. New windows went in yesterday, and they have all the latest Low E coatings, argon gas filled, etc. All light fixtures in my home were changed out to CF bulbs instead of incandescent. One of my remaining projects is to have all of the remaining attic insulation stripped out, the attic vacuumed (to get rid of the previous owners rodent takeover remnants), and all new insulation installed. I'll have to pay someone for this job, as I get too claustrophobic up there.

Unfortunately for me, my sensitivity to the humid heat down here demands very heavy A/C use as the place needs to be pulled down to around 66 degrees at night if I'm to not sleep in a pool of sweat. I still have the thermostat programmed to cut off the A/C altogether when I'm gone, and maintain the highest tolerable temps possible when I'm awake and home. The A/C use though does take it's toll on power consumption. My bills are on par with your's, despite having only 1600 sq. ft.

 

Green restoration of a 1907 home

My partner and I bought a 1907 house in 1998, and had a major remodel done on it. The plumbing and wiring were circa the 1930s, and badly needed to be replaced, and we decided to take it down to the studs.

Our three main goals were:

• To repair and restore the house, with the intent of living it in for many years.
• To preserve the house's original style, charm and architecture.
• To use "green" processes, technology and materials as much as possible.
  • 
    For the most part, I think, we were able to meet all three of these goals. There were places where we had to compromise one goal for another; but not frequently, and most of these weren't significant.
    
    Here's a short list of some of the things we did:
    • . The house was (and is) wood siding with wood floors and stairs, etc. We refinished and restored the existing floors when possible. But any new wood that was added was from certified renewable suppliers, i.e., wood sources that don't clear-cut, and are planting new trees where they harvest grown trees.
    • Use recycled materials. One example is the thick-old fashioned linoleum we used for much of the basement (it's called marmoleum); it's made from recycled plastic and linoleum products. (Bouncy and really fun to walk on barefooted.) Also tile: all of our tile was made from recycled glass. Much of it looks like normal tile, but we also used some that's made from melted-down bottles of different colors. The latter isn't to everyone's taste, but we like it a lot.
    • Heat and water savings. Besides doing lots of insulation (though not super-insulation), we also used a device that extracts heat from waste water (i.e., hot water going down the drain) and uses it to heat the hot water going up the hot water pipes. Also have a radio-controlled pump that starts the hot water circulating through the hot water pipes. This saves the water that you would normally waste after turning on the hot water at the sink, and then waiting for the water to become warm.
    • Also, instead of having a separate hot water heater and a gas heater for forced-air heating, we have a gas-powered boiler. This heats hot water for the house, but it also heats a metal coil that is placed in the forced air ducts, and heats the air. Economical, less chance of gas leak (no heating plate to crack over time) and also apparently mechanically simpler and more reliable long-term (we'll see.)
      • 
        Also, here's a few green methods we decided not to do:
        • Didn't replace the glass in the windows with double-pane glass. We like the old-fashioned "wavy" look of the old glass; but, you lose more heat through the old glass. To alleviate this, we used windows shades that have a "honeycomb" construction; when lowered, they makes air pockets which hold in heat, thus insulating the windows some.
        • Use non-oil based "green" paints for the interior painting. These release less toxic fumes during the painting process, and are safer to dispose of. However, our general contractor and painters agreed that (in general) they didn't last as long, or hold up as well, as the oil-based paints.
        • We have a gas range. We like to cook over a gas range; but in a well-insulated or super-insulated home (we have the former), there's more of a potential problem with gas buildup, even with a good ventilation fan. We went with the ventilation fan (which is always on when we're cooking), and an electric oven (dual-fuel.)
          • 
            I should add: when I say "we", it's the "royal we". My partner and I hired people (a really wonderful general contractor -- we have no horror stories) to do the work, as we are not fix-it folks.

 

So Cal, near the ocean?? Good thing you are a Fat Cat Without regard to the heft of your wallet, the wind turbine will likely limit your location anywhere. Lots of people don't want a 200' wind tower anywhere they can see it.

Maybe you should try Hawaii, with Jan lows mid 60s and Aug highs low 80's open a window to let in the breeze and you don't need heat or air. My sister lived there for 2 years and their condo had neither.

Other than that, do consider that the basement is cooler in the summer and easier to heat in the winter. I keep wondering why all the houses have the bedrooms on the top floor instead of down low. The bedroom on the west side of our house gets really hot in the summer, hotter than the outside temp, on sunny days and in the winter needs more heat. R50 ceilings, R18 walls, double pane, low E, argon filled windows.

I think building into a hillside would reduce heating and cooling costs considerably. The ground is a great insulator/heat sink. Those Hobbits have something there! I'm sure finding the right site will be a challange though.

 

Bookrats,

I am still working on the strawbale house plumbing. (In Idaho as long as you follow code and pass inspection, no contractor is required) We plann to put in a hot water recirculator to warm the pipes before stepping into the shower etc. Have a pump already but the radio controlled aspect is new to me. Can you tell me more / point me in the right direction.

Jon

 

Absolutely. In fact, oddly enough, it was discussed in another PriusChat thread a couple of months back. Has the name of the device, and some discussion about the pros and cons.

 

Just checking. Are you finished with the house yet? It has been four years since you wrote this, so I gave you double of your suggested 2 years. We've been in our strawbale house five years and are loving it, almost as much as we love our Prius!

PA P

 

The following link is to a solar/RE forum, populated by some very smart people who have done all kinds of things in the Solar and RE/Green building world. That forum runs much like this one, but is much more focused. Lots of tried and tested ideas for conservation, PV solar, Solar hot water, hydronic heating etc.

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