Green Home Building

Carbon-free cooling

ellen — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:24:00 -0400

The dreaded triple-H's are upon us (hazy, hot & humid for those not from here).

There was a brown-out this weekend in Brooklyn that stopped half a block from where we live so we decided to try and NOT use our air conditioning to see if we could remain somewhat comfortable.

What even allowed this possibility is that we finally rigged up the vented skylight (pictured above). It was installed 2 1/2 years ago but we finally hooked up the electric rain sensor cable which supposedly closes the skylight if it starts to rain. We have yet to confirm that it works. The idea is that as hot air rises, it exits the house at the top which pulls in cooler air from the windows on the floors below.

We opened all the windows and turned on all the ceiling fans (we have one in each room) and it wasn't too bad. In the mornings, it was downright delightful to hear the birds out the open windows and feel a cool morning breeze.

However, on those beastly days that are so hot that your bed is warmer than you are when you get in, no amount of moving air around will keep you cool without air conditioning.

Here is a site full of good ideas to keep cool. I don't know about showing up for work in a wet shirt though....

www.ehapc.com

[brooklyn green] www.ehapc.wordpress.com

Money-Saving Tips for Home Builders

jchait — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:10:36 -0400

If you're building a new home vs. buying a pre-built home, there are some ways to keep costs down.

1. Do much of the work yourself: If you have building savvy, or arm muscles and the ability to learn, you can do much of the manual labor on a home yourself. If you have no clue, of course, you'll want to work with someone who has a clue. Still, a lot of time and thus money is spent on stuff that anyone can learn to do - setting up equipment, bleaching wood, painting, clean-up and more are easy tasks to learn. Even if you're totally inexperienced you can learn to put a roof on a house if you have an experienced helper - trust me.

2. Sponsor a workshop: I knew many people in New Mexico who got their homes built by sponsoring learning workshops. You hold a weekend workshop that say, teaches folks how to build straw bale. People come, they help build, and sometimes will even pay you to do so.

3. Build with competent help: Hiring someone who has built your type of home before is essential. Hire a contractor who has a track record of staying within budget and timeframes. Don't hire some bloke who only has "cheap" going for him, and no established record. This mistake could cost you more in the long run.

4. Use recycled and reclaimed building materials.

5. Timing is everything; you can save money everywhere, but if you don't plan and time your home building right, you're in trouble. Delays cost more than other mistakes. If an electrician shows up and you're not ready for him, you're paying him for his time twice over. If you have to stay at a motel, because your current lease is up, you lose money. Plan, plan, plan. Then have someone else go over your plan.

Eleven Recycled Houses

jchait — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:28:36 -0400

Homes made of mostly recycled or reclaimed materials aren't a huge norm; not yet. However, there are plenty of great recycled homes out there that can inspire a vision for your own recycled abode.

Take a look at the following links to learn more about recycled home, including building ideas, material specs, and great visuals.

Recycled house video: Check out this cool house in Texas, 85 percent of this house was reclaimed from the garbage dump!

The Ultimate in Recycled Homes: What do you do with an old airplane? Turn it into a house of course.

The hyper neat newspaper house: Made from over 150,000 newspapers. Wow, that's a lot of reading.

Beer can house: I'm thinking... good for college kids. :)

Barrel homes: Take one old barrel used for storing pickles, wheat, what have you and you've got yourself a barrel of fun; or at least some nice recycled living quarters.

House that recyclables built - a beautiful project.

The biggie recycle project: A house built out of 100% recycled materials. Really great to see, and you won't believe how livable it is. I can't believe they thought of everything.

A bargain recycled house: This is my ideal house. Tiny, made with recycled materials, natural, simple, and just as cute as cute can be. Plus, you can't beat a bargain home; unless you enjoy spending money? You don't, right?

Built from trash: Gather two grandmas, some recycled materials, spunk, and green aspirations; mix well, and you get a house. Neat.

Bonus child-sized links of the day: Build your own recycled toy house or recycled dollhouse.

[image via stock.xchng]

Building A Bamboo Home

jchait — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:02:41 -0400

In my last post we looked at the Pros of Bamboo Building. What are the negatives? Well, yesterday I mentioned the look; which like I said is a little too tropical for me, but it might suit you. Visual issues aside (that's so personal), there are some other bamboo negatives to consider before you dive into building an entire bamboo house.

Green Home Building notes that joinery can be an issue since, "Its strength comes from its integral structure; it cannot be joined with many of the traditional techniques used with wood." You can get around this issue by working with a bamboo building expert though.

Bamboo can dull your tools due to large amounts of silica found in it.

Wet and bamboo don't go as well together as you might think. If you stick bamboo into wet soil it can cause big problems. Special care needs to be taken during the building process.

Bamboo will go up in flames super quick. I.e. it's a highly combustible building material. Uh oh.

Bamboo is unique. This is why I love some bamboo floors and furniture pieces so much - it's unique. However, that's not so great for home building. Because sizes of bamboo vary so much it can cause building problems.

You'll need to use chemicals to protect bamboo from weather extremes.

Bamboo is not as straight as timber or even logs. It can taper. It's hard enough to build with perfectly dimensional lumber so, it's going to take extra care and skill to build well with wood that won't always stay flat.

As with any material, you should research bamboo fully before deciding to build with it.

Build an Entire House with Bamboo

jchait — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:24:09 -0400

There's a lot of talk about sustainable bamboo floors and furniture; but you can also build your house with bamboo. In most places bamboo is sort of the poor man's building material. In Japan, bamboo is considered perfect for building luxury homes for rich clients, but that's an exception. Really anyone though can build a bamboo house. That said, like any sustainable building material there are pros and cons.

The benefits of building a bamboo home:

Some people love the look. I'm a fan of some bamboo applications, but the houses I've seen are a little too tropical looking for me. That's not all there is though, that's just what I've been exposed to. Still, I'd suggest looking at some various bamboo homes to get an idea if the look is what you want.

Bamboo is a strong building material.

Bamboo is very sustainable. It can be grown in multiple climates, it's very hardy, a snap to grow, and it grows super fast, unlike other trees.

Almost anyone can easily use bamboo. It's simple to cut, no fancy tools are needed, and it's not heavy, so it's safer than say log homes.

I've read that bamboo can hold it's own against tornados and other natural disasters. If you live in a volatile climate, I'd talk to an expert first, to make sure that bamboo is suited to your local conditions.

Bamboo is even. Meaning that, unlike trees that are filled with knots or uneven fibers, bamboo has a more evenly distributed quality, making it strong all over.

Bamboo left-overs can be used for many applications.

All this said, like any material, there are some negatives. We'll look at those tomorrow.

See some great books on building with bamboo. An excellent book to get started with is Building with Bamboo: A Handbook by Jules J.A. Janssen. This book is a good one for builders, as most bamboo books don't have any construction details, but this one does.

Reasons Why Anyone Can Go Solar

jchait — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

One of my favorite books, The Solar Living Sourcebook, notes that too often people sort of whine about locating the perfect plot of land for a solar powered home, when really solar can work for every location, just to varying degrees.

They make a good point.

Obviously, there's more sun on a mountain in New Mexico then in a valley in Northern Oregon. However, there's still sun everywhere, and if you have sun, you have solar potential. Basically any amount of solar power your home can use is a good deal for the environment. Any amount you can use is just that much less used from non-renewable sources, and that much money saved.

The Solar Living Sourcebook notes the following ideas:

Anyone can utilize solar power to a degree. You have to use what you have, make the most of what's available, and use super smart before building planning.
Work with nature, not against it.
You don't have to accomplish great strides all at once. Simply working hard to reduce your dependency on your heater and AC is a good start. Learning to use less is a key point. Sure your plot may not produce enough solar power to have your electricity running 24/7, but should it? No one needs their lights or TV on all day.

Learn more about solar power:

Seven Problems with Building a Log Home

jchait — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:00:06 -0400

Last week I posted Are Log Homes Earth Friendly?, which discussed the pros of building a log home, including some of the eco-advantages. Like all building materials there are some negatives involved with using logs to build your house.

Log home cons:

Some people are just plain against using wood. While wood is a renewable resource, it takes years to renew, and in some cases people ruin forests and bird and animal habitats to build with it. One thing to consider if you go with any sort of wood building is using wood from a sustainable source.

Log homes are dangerous during the building process. Try to lift a log, and you'll see why. One mistake and someone's foot or whole body could get smashed.

Log homes can end up taking forever. Because of the safety issues, you have to go slower when building with logs, plus the lifting gets tougher the higher you build a wall.

The best wood preservation finishes are still the most toxic.

Many types of homes can be built without super specialized tools - not so for log homes. Building a log homes means an investment (or high cost rental) on some pretty specific tools.

Log homes require more non-cosmetic upkeep than other home types. You have to reapply wood preservation solution in order to fight issues like bugs and moisture.

There's an entire other issue of logs shrinking and settling down, that you really need to study, to manage correctly. Or hire someone who is a log pro.

So overall, log homes have both great perks and some real negatives to consider. Research first, before making a final decision about whether a log home is best for you.

Learn more:

Log Home Builders Association

The Log Construction Manual from LogBuilding.org

[DIY log home image from LogBuilding.org]

Are Log Homes Earth Friendly?

jchait — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:48:37 -0400

Wood made items often get a bad rap in the realm of living green. However, not all log homes are a poor eco choice. It really depends. Looking beyond material, log homes offer some other eco advantages as well.

Pros of building a log home:

Beauty and aesthetics; many people find log homes lovely, giving them a better chance of being re-sold than say a green prefab.

Some research shows that log homes may use less wood than your basic wood frame home. Keep in mind that this is based on the less waste theory. It's true you have less waste, if you use a whole log, but you still are minus a tree. Still, it's one green theory.

If you have land with trees or can use local forest lumber, then logs save energy by cutting transport needs.

You can reclaim, reuse, and recycle wood logs.

Using only the logs needed to build your home can help (in some cases) to keep a forest healthy by thinning.

Like any other dwelling, you can build a log home with passive solar aspects and many other earth friendly techniques.

Because wood is a norm to many builders you may have a better selection of builders who can offer what you need and want.

Wood grows back - it's an ultimate renewable resource.

Because you're not dealing with milled lumber the energy required to build a log home is less.

Tons of style choices are available from contemporary to rustic.

Of course, like with any material, there are some eco and building negatives to consider when it comes to log homes. We'll go over that next week - have a wonderful weekend.

Learn more:

Natural Log Homes

Designing Green Log Homes & Timber Homes

[Image Natural Selection via Thinking Green at LogHome.com]

Government Involvement in Green Initiatives A Big Trend

jchait — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:42:28 -0400

A "2008 U.S. Construction Overview" released by management consultant FMI shows that construction industry is taking green building very seriously.

Results of the report, posted in Commercial Building Products note the following big points:

Three main trends are happening; a high level of government involvement in green initiatives, residential demand for greener structures, and a better selection of green materials. All are good trends, but one in particular is a trend you should stay on top of.

Government participation in, and support for green building practices has the ability to make or break the amount of green building going on. In 2007 over 100 new bills related to green building were released at the state level. More bills are on the way, and many states are promoting sustainable policy for any new government building being constructed. There's also been a much heavier release of green tax credits in recent years - all of this promotes green building and makes it more accessible.

However, right now green is the new black of building. What's important is to keep government agencies involved, even as the green rush cools. As a consumer, you can help the green building movement to stay fresh by voting for greener candidates and by pushing ideas and questions at leaders in your state.

Resources:

The Green Party

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)

Built Green

Green Your Vote 2008

Support that can help you go green with your mortgage

Building A Cordwood House -- Great Use of Recycled Wood

jchait — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:16:20 -0400

Cordwood is one sustainable option to consider for your green home. There are different sorts of cordwood houses you can build, but that would be a much longer post. Following are some of the basic pros of cordwood homes overall.

Cordwood is a pretty inexpensive option when compared to other home building methods. If built in the right area, and if you can manage some hands on time, a cordwood home can cost well under a traditionally built house.

Cordwood is a great option if you happen to have wood around. For example, a cordwood home can be built with discarded wood from fences and other homes, waste from sawmills or plywood companies, or other would be, wood wasted material. Obviously, if you live in the middle of the desert, cordwood becomes a less sustainable, almost impossible material choice.

Cordwood is easy to work with once you get going. If you know basic home building methods, cordwood is simple. It's also a lightweight material, making it nicer on your back.

It's pretty - or at least most people find cordwood aesthetically pleasing.

Cordwood provides enough mass to act as a natural insulator. It's not the most energy efficient building material, but it's also no where near bad. When properly built and situated, cordwood can provide a sort of passive cooling and heating for your home.

If you're looking to learn more about cordwood homes check out the following resources:

[image of cordwood house via Earthwood Building School - see more great pictures!]