green home building

Green Home Building Link Love

jchait — Sat, 17 May 2008 02:37:29 -0400

Here's a nice little round-up of some of what I've been reading this week. There's plenty going on, and hopefully, you'll find something to enjoy.

Get Solar Makes Finding a Solar Contractor Easier: Ah, how to find a good solar contractor in your area plus the link offers plenty of great solar info - from the basic to advanced.

The 2008 HGTV Green Home Sweepstakes is over, but that doesn't mean you can't still win a little something. Or should I say, a lot of little somethings. Enter the new Get More Green Giveaway at HGTV - you could win a $15,000 shopping spree from Sears or a $10,000 gift card from Kohler. Enough to buy some cool green goods.

Charity homes are getting greener - learn how charity homes, such as the likes built by Habitat for Humanity are working on their green efforts.

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is planning its first-ever national summit this summer. On the agenda - cutting building-source emissions of green house gases! Yahoo Canada. Learn more.

Learn how taking a few minutes to do a DIY thermostat checkup can save you some green - in more ways than one.

An awesome post with tips about how to green your move - perfect for when you're moving into your next green home.

Eco Friendly Flooring Doesn’t Have to be Drab - nope it does not and this post will show you where to look for some great looking floors.

And last, but not least Treehugger has the 411 on REI in REI To Retrofit Eleven Stores with Solar Power - just one more reason to be a consumer at REI, the continually getting greener as I type company. Go them.

Now, what have you been reading this week?

35 Ideas for Building A Greener House

jchait — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:21:20 -0400

Here are 35 ideas for building green... Feel free to add your ideas in the comments.

1. Use salvaged, recycled, and reclaimed materials.

2. Build small. At least only build what you need; no more than one bedroom per person actually living in the home. A family of four does not need four bathrooms. Seriously.

3. Try a green roof.

4. Buy from responsible, sustainable wood suppliers.

5. Work with eco-friendly builders and contractors. For example; do they have a paperless office, do they carpool to sites, etc.

6. Aim for natural ventilation.

7. Understand LEED - you don't have to go for LEED gold stars, but the basic principals should be in the back of your mind.

8. Avoid pressure-treated lumber when possible.

9. Always design with passive solar in mind.

10. On the building site supply refillable water bottles.

11. Try earth floors.

12. Find out if local codes permit graywater recycling and reuse.

13. Aim to eco-renovate an older house before deciding to build new.

14. Buy building materials and hire building help locally.

15. Don't build too far out in the sticks - to avoid excessive transportation needs.

16. Landscape with drought resistant plants, flowers, and shrubs.

17. Recycle any building material leftovers possible.

18. Plan for daylighting.

19. Build for the long term - don't make flighty decisions and build strong and durable to last.

20. Consider tankless water heaters.

21. Plan, build, and then stay put forever. Not always possible; but each time you move, renovate, or rebuild, resources and excess energy is used. It’s sustainable to stay where you are.

22. Pay special attention to moisture reduction. Mold and mildew can do homes in faster than you might think.

23. If you break it you buy it – not literally, but if you take out trees to build or mess with the soil, you need to restore and make amends. Transfer trees when possible, or better yet build around them.

24. Choose your building site wisely.

25. Build on previously used land - avoid building on new, untouched land to preserve natural spaces.

26. Install LED lighting in small spaces.

27. Try new roofing shingles made from recycled plastics and rubber.

28. Don't purchase over packaged supplies - i.e. buy screws, tools, and other materials that come free of an outer box or plastic coating wrap.

29. Install Energy Star appliances when building new - consider keeping your old appliances if remodeling.

30. Think about bamboo flooring.

31. Try cellulose insulation.

32. Incorporate as much alternative and efficient energy as possible.

33. Think about co-housing developments.

34. Use the sun in as many ways as you can think of.

35. Design for forever. As you age, your capacities change – what if one day you needed a wheelchair, or a door handle that turns easier? Build slightly wider doorways, install easy turn doorknobs at the start. If you ever sell, it would be smart to be able to sell to a disabled individual or an elderly couple. Small forethought given to design now can benefit the future generations in the home, without renovation requirements.

Also read: 50 Sustainable Home Design Features & Resources

Will $100,000 Build A Good Green Home?

jchait — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:33:42 -0400

Postgreen and ZeroEnergy Design are going to be constructing an urban infill home for just 100K. The main goal of the house building project is that the home ends up using only 53% of the energy that's normally used by a standard new home, while still keeping costs at a smaller level. Another goal of the project is to achieve a LEED Platinum rating. The home is being built in Philadelphia where costs to build any home are considerably more than 100K.

The 100k house is going to be a great case study in proving that a well-made green home can be built for about the same as a traditionally built home - or possibly even cheaper than a typical home.

According to the press release, Chad Ludeman, President of Postgreen, notes, "In order to accomplish the lofty energy goals for the home on our budget, more time and care must be taken during the planning and design phase of every aspect of the home from insulation to HVAC equipment... ZeroEnergy Design is the perfect company to ensure that we will get the most bang for our buck in terms of energy efficiency on the 100K House and we are excited to have them be part of the project."

Aspects being concentrated on first include the best passive ways to save energy, because passive allows more bang for less money. Then the team looked at actual active energy systems, to analyze their efficiency, and lastly renewable energy systems were discussed. So far solar thermal is the top contender.

You can follow along with the entire process at 100k house, and so far it's an awesome read. Budgets, design ideas, and materials are all being posted about. I love this whole case study. When we built our home it was under 100K but in an area easy to build fairly inexpensively. This project will show that green can be built anywhere for less than some think. It should be fun to follow along.

[image via flickr: New renderings of the 100K House with new stucco & Hardie siding]

Green Homes for Less Money

jchait — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

CNET is one of my favorite websites - mostly because they always offer the best tech advice in town. If you buy a camera or pda they reviewed, you know what you're getting. Because I adore them so, I was happily surprised to see a cool green home article and photo gallery at their site the other day.

The article, Green homes on the cheap, walks through writer Martin LaMonica's home, pointing out the green (and cheap) ideas he's put into action.

Some of the highlights:

Heat: Martin discusses the pellet stove he installed last year. This was a really cool deal to read about for me. When I lived in Humboldt we had no electricity related to heat. The only heat we had in our on-the-beach home was a wood stove. It saved us lots of money, because at the time wood was cheaper than California electricity, but wood is also a hassle. Being on the beach means wet, cold mornings, every morning, and fighting with also damp wood is no picnic when you're freezing. We considered a pellet stove at one time, but moved before we decided. Martin's tips on pros and cons of a pellet stove are great to read.

Energy efficiency: More and more people are realizing that using power correctly is just as big a deal as what sort of power you use. Martin discusses this important topic.

Other topics include, solar chargers, toys, window shades, water barrels, and composting. I loved this article and all the photos were a great touch. This is a must read if you're dreaming of greening your own home, or even if you're dreaming of building from scratch.

[old school wood stove photo via stock.xchng]

The Zero Energy Home

jchait — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:41:47 -0400

It's actually possible that we'll see many zero energy homes in our near future - and if not our future, hopefully our children's.

What is the Zero Energy Home (ZEH)?:

A ZEH is a home (or it could be any structure) that produces more energy than it uses. So, not only does the home sustain itself, but it makes enough extra energy for another use, or to save, as well. There are ZEHs around, but they're not common; not yet.

A ZEH is able to cancel it's own energy out - which is very cool. To get this sort of innovative home, you need to combine completely energy efficient construction with one or more renewable energy systems, such as solar water heating and wind generated electricity or any of the other systems available. With smart green design you'll end up with a house that consumes zero energy from the utility gird.

According to the U.S Department of Energy, a Zero Energy Homes optimizes and includes the following design features:

Climate-specific design
Passive solar heating and cooling
Energy-efficient construction
Energy-efficient appliances and lighting
Solar water heating system
Small solar electric system.

Few prototype ZEHs have been constructed and researched up to now, but you don't need more research to know what a great idea these homes are. Zero energy homes are not unheard of. There are already people achieving this by being efficient and using alternative energy sources.

To learn more about ZEHs, read Seven Important Steps to a Successful ZEH.

The Top 4 Ways to Save Energy in Your Home

jchait — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

If you're building or renovating a home and want the biggest earth saving bang for your buck than concentrate on energy saving first and materials second.

A lot of green building advice focuses on greener, more sustainable materials, both recycled and new. However, what matters a little more on the earth end of things is energy. Here's why. Green materials are great, in fact use them all you can, but the deal is, that green materials tend to be a one time deal. They do good because you choose them over another. I.e you may save some trees by going with reclaimed wood or straw bale vs. new timber. By building with green materials you perform a good deed.

By saving energy each day, each week, each year, for years and years, you're looking at a much longer payback of good deeds for the planet. Greener materials can be costly, depending on which greener building materials you use. Some energy saving built-ins can be costly as well. If your budget only allows room for one; go with the energy saving costs.

Here are some energy costs to consider - costs that pay off better in the long run for the earth:

The best insulation set-up you can afford.
Really great energy efficient windows and doors.
A great designer and building team - a team that will build right for maximum solar exposure, and who won't leave pesky cracks and holes in your home. Cracks and holes can cost you big time in energy losses.
Super energy efficient appliances and light fixtures.

These are just some ideas, there are many more ways to design for energy saving that have nothing to do with actual structural materials. All of the above can be costly, but in the long run you will save money and energy and the earth can breathe a little easier.

Proper Disposal of Paints & Other Home Finishes

jchait — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

A large part of green building that people often forget to work into their plans is proper disposal of building materials. If you build green, then toss items into landfills to rot for 100 years, or pour finishes down the drain, you're missing a big part of the green building process.

We could discuss any number of excess building materials, but because paint and other finishes are a biggie item, used by many, let's look at that first.

Even if you're buying non-toxic paints and finishes you still need to dispose of them properly. Just because it's a greener finish, doesn't make it cool to dump it down your drain where it can enter our water supplies, streams, groundwater, and so fourth.If you do happen to have some of the more toxic finishes around, then proper disposal is even more important.

Here are some steps you can take:

First, you should be buying non-toxic paints and finishes whenever possible. Not that their disposal is any less important, but why not be more green?

Don't buy more paint than you need. If you aren't sure how much paint you're going to need, ask a professional - even the fellows at your local hardware store should be able to help you estimate paint needs, both exterior and interior.

If you do end up with left over paint - consider it's other uses before tossing. Keep it well marked and use it for home touch ups, your next dog house, tree house, refurbishing bookshelves, and more. Let your kids use it for art, paint birdhouses; donate it to a school or community center.

Re-mix it. Did you know that if you have many different left-over paint colors, than all of them mixed together will almost always create a dull gray color that's perfect as a primer. Now you do.

If you've honestly used all you can, give the excess to it a hazardous waste collection organization in your community. Your local trash or recycling program will be able to tell you where to go.

[photo via stock.xchng]

Four Easy Tactics You Can Use In A House To Conserve Water

jchait — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 02:47:35 -0400

If you’re building or renovating a your house, there are some things you can do to conserve water.

Install ultra low-flush toilets. This is more of a renovation tactic, since Federal law actually already requires that all currently manufactured residential toilets use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush. If you have an older toilet though, you could be wasting lots of water. Per flush, most toilets designed before 1994 waste about four to six gallons more water than the newer ultra low flush toilets.

Consider a composting toilet: Composting toilets can save even more water than a low-flow; cutting up to 50% of your water and cutting your water storage costs up to 60%. Also, a composting toilet is not the outhouse you might think – many are super nice, they aren’t too hard to manage, and it’s not as if you simply have a big hole in your bathroom floor. People are really misguided about composting toilets. We looked into them for the house we built two years ago, and our real estate person was dead set against it – based on “Poor resale value.” However, you can learn more and see for yourself that composting toilets are not something to freak out about.

Install some $5 faucet aerator: One little aerator can save an average family around 6,000 gallons of water per year – or more. A faucet aerator is a low-flow device that can be easily installed (or more attached) to the water faucets in your house. This tiny adjustment can reduce water flow up to 50%. This also helps to conserve energy. Depending on the model you need, an aerator can be super cheap; I’ve seen them for under $2 at Home Depot.

Collect your rainwater: Rain water can be used for a multitude of things – washing your car, watering your garden, and more. When you’re building your home, or making changes, look into how to build or buy a rain barrel, and how to get started with saving rain water.

[photo via stock.xchng]

50 Sustainable Home Design Features & Resources

jchait — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:00:00 -0400

Sometimes it’s nice to dive deep into a single green home topic. Other times it’s cool to have a nice long list of ideas to work with. Following are 50 features of smart green home design. These ideas for building a green home will get your brain pumping and the creativity flowing. To learn more about each sustainable home design feature, simply click on the link.

If you’re thinking of building green, but aren’t sure where to start, this list should give you plenty of sustainable home ideas to explore. Of course, there are other sustainable building features not covered above, and some features that overlap. Also, no one will integrate all of these options into a single home, but it’s nice to know that so many great green building features exist.

More Tips for Building A Green Home for Less Money

jchait — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:45:35 -0500

The other day we started looking at ways to build green for less money. Today - some more tips on this important topic.

1. Visit Green Home Building to read their excellent guide regarding Financing Alternative Homes. This resource offers tips on financing, appraising, and more to help your green building project come out strong and less expensive.

2. Weigh what you can afford to do now. If a sustainable design tactic is out of reach, can it easily be upgraded later? Although, consider if it will end up costing more to do it later. If there's going to be major reconstruction involved, it may be wise to just budget the project in at the start.

3. Focus on sustainable building techniques that offer the best return for your money. Some sustainable design ideas will start to pay you back sooner than others.

4. Build with your own hands. For some people this won't be a viable option. If it is, it can save you some money though. While building our passive solar home, my partner and I did most of the work, along with a handful of helpers. If you're going to be involved in the building process, you do need to know what you're doing, or you'll only drive costs up with mistakes. Also, know your limits. We laid the roof, did all the framing, and basic installations, but when it came to most of the plumbing, and all the electrical, we contracted out. We would have made a mess of things - and we knew it.

5. Locate recycled goods for building. This is often less expensive than buying new. In New Mexico, we visited the Habitat for Humanity ReStores to get some supplies. We also knew other builders with left over supplies, and put out some inexpensive ads, noting supplies we were looking for and willing to trade for, or pay less for. Using recycled, refurbished, and reclaimed materials can really help cut costs.

6. Lastly, keep in mind, that when it comes to green building, what you can accomplish is something. Small choices can make a big difference. Even if all you do is build smaller, collect rainwater, or install a solar system; these are tactics that can create change. Building green doesn't have to be about "all sustainable" - it's about accomplishing what you reasonably can, and when you have the means, accomplishing more.