Green Building, from the ground up

While most of my blogs have been focused on passive solar energy,there is a whole lot more to building an energy efficient or "Green Building". I don't like to call myself a green builder, it sounds kind of trendy and that has never been my thing, but I have been following most of the basic principles for years. Lots of the things that are thought to be green also save money during construction, things like reducing material waste. My current project, has had half of the normal waste of a typically built home, great for the environment but also great for my wallet, I saved almost $1,000 in disposal fees for the project. I have at the homeowners request decide to attempt, to compile all of the green elements designed into this house. My latest video covers some of the features.


I want to take a minute to mention and thank Linda Johnson, (homeowner) without her this project would not have been possible. When Linda first came to me in June of 2008 and told me she had found a lot and wanted to build an energy efficient house, I was ecstatic. Here was my chance to prove that with good design, you could build a very energy efficient, passive solar home at a reasonable cost, and so the design process began. Working together we came up with a house that meets all of her needs while reducing energy needs and costs while using as much solar energy as is reasonably possible.
When I design a building I use a whole house method to make decisions, taking into account the added value and costs. It's kind of hard to explain, but many of the choices we make in the design phase will have an impact on not only the energy usage of the house, but also the costs as well. I have a unique advantage over most Architects, in that I don't just design the building but I also build it. I know how much in cost to build things and how the cost of materials and labor can be reduced through good design. Here are a few questions I ask myself when making decisions about design or materials, first: Does this save energy? Saving energy always saves money the next question is how much energy does it save? How much more does it cost, if it cost more? Is it better for the environment? Will it last longer? Is it produced or available locally? So, here is the list and some information about the advantages and disadvantages of each, most have overlapping advantages that work together to save energy and costs. I know I don't have enough time to cover all of it in this post, but I will continue it into others, when time allows.


Insulated slab on grade foundation

The insulated slab on grade foundation allows us to use the foundation as the heating distribution system for the house. It also has thermal mass properties that allow it to store thermal energy, and regulate the temperature fluctuations of the house. The floor controls the temperature in the house, if the floor is cold the house will be cold, if it is warm the house will be warm. By using radiant tubing embedded in the floor we can deliver heat to the house at a much lower temperature than with traditional heating systems, even better that most radiant systems, that are installed below the floor. The least expensive way to install radiant tubing. The slab only requires the heating system to provide 90F water for heating, under wooden floor radiant requires at least 130F water and forced hot water system require around 160-180F. The lower temperature needed for heating also increases the efficiency of the geothermal heat pump, another whole feature of the house that I will explain in another post. We are also using the foundation as the finish floor for most of the house. When the foundation was poured, we had the concrete guys finish the concrete slab just like you would a concrete floor, polished to a smooth surface. We then covered the floor during construction to protect it from the likes of the plasterers that would make the clean up a nightmare. The finish will be an acid stain with a sealer that will appear much like tile. We cut grout lines into the concrete making it look like a 18"x18" tile pattern, then the acid stain will be applied, neutralized, sealed and then waxed. Once completed it will appear as tiles, but no materials were shipped from afar and did I mention that the concrete used contained 20% fly ash, a waste product from local coal burning plants? No VOC's in the finishing product's.
The cost to do this is comparable to conventional flooring but most of the cost is in labor, making it better for me, not so good for the flooring suppliers, oh yea no waste from left over flooring materials.
So this is just one feature of the house that contributes to the green design, I will list more later things like how we reduce electrical and water demands through appliances and even some strategies to reduce vampire loads. How natural light is used to reduce need for lighting and how ventilation can be used to improve indoor air quality and energy use. How more insulation and reduced air infiltration can reduce the need for heat and add to comfort. How passive and active solar energy is incorporated into the design, that has the potential to make this a true zero-energy home. For me these things seem simple but trying to explain how all of the individual decisions made while designing a house, and all of the choices made regarding materials contribute to the energy and cost of building, is much harder to explain in writing. Here is a quick list of other features of the house.

Whole house design
Oriented for solar
Structural Insulated Panels
Heat recovery ventilation
geothermal heat pump
thermal mass windows
energy efficient appliances
HP adaptable
passive solar
active solar
recycled materials
durable materials lasting longer than 30yrs
low maintenance
water reducing elements
electrical reducing strategies
PV ready with electrical conduits run

I am sure I have skipped over some but I will continue this at a later date with more explanation of all of these features and pictures as well. Stay tuned.

Tom