Schaller Eco Home

Presentation and Book Signing, Wed. Feb. 15th 7pm

2012-01-25T20:14:00.002-05:00

We rescheduled the presentation and book signing that was cancelled due to the October snowstorm and power outage. Our new date in Wednesday, February 15th at 7pm with a snow date of February 29th. The presentation will be held at the Licia & Mason Beekley Community Library in New Hartford. For more information check out the poster I added to my original post with the announcement (in October, 2011) below on this blog. Come and learn about residential solar applications and about building a super energy efficient home!

If I have a PV system, why do I need a back up generator?

2011-11-18T09:19:00.003-05:00

First, I'll mention that the program scheduled for Nov. 2 at the Beekley Library in New Hartford was cancelled due to the storm. We are currently trying to reschedule, likely for sometime in late winter or early Spring. I'll post it when we have a firm date.

Now, on to my subject of choice today. Backup generators.

As many of us have learned this year, extreme weather events disrupt our lives and remind us of our dependence on fossil fuels. It's always a surprise to people that we also are "powerless" when the grid is down, even with our 38 PV panels shimmering brightly in the sun on our roof. I wanted to explain this phenomenon. Since we are tied to the CL&P grid, we are required to shut down our system to prevent harm to line workers. Our system is also leased, so we cannot make changes to the system, to allow us to add batteries, or other "bypass" systems to the connection we have to the grid. While there are many benefits to a grid tied system (no large room full of expensive batteries to store our electricity), this is one disadvantage. If we had to do over again (and had the money to purchase the PV system ourselves), I still don't think we would have done it differently. Batteries are expensive, dangerous, and require maintenance. Battery technology is improving, but it's still not great enough for me to consider switching to an off-the-grid system.

A more frustrating situation for me during the power outage was the fact that I had to run my little Honda generator, and burn gasoline, just to get my solar thermal loop working (and thus hot water). Duh. That made no sense. So we are currently researching installing several dedicated PV panels (that we would own) and a small battery pack, to power the pumps and sensors on our solar thermal loop in the case of an outage.

One thing I will say about the storm aftermath. Our house was so cozy even without our heating system running for 8 days. It took about 4 days for our slab temperature to drop to 65F, a testament to the excellent insulation and thermal heat sink in our house. When we had the generator running, several hours in the morning and evening, we ran a small electric space heater which was enough to keep us very comfortable.

I have a secret to reveal...I was actually a little bummed when the power came on. I so enjoyed our family time eating dinner by candlelight, having long discussions, playing games and puzzles with our kids. No ipads, laptops, TVs, fights over video games. It wasn't lemons for me, it was slightly sour, but sweet and delicious lemonaid.

2011-10-23T22:42:00.000-04:00

New Consumer Book on Solar Power

2011-09-20T15:48:00.003-04:00

I recently gave a presentation to the Solar Energy Association of CT on our house and my co-presenter was one of the authors of a new book Convert Your Home to Solar Energy. Finally, we have a good consumer guide to solar energy, including abundant information on solar electricity and solar water heating. It's rare to find these two technologies discussed together in one book, and in such detail. I really could have used this book when we were planning for our house. The book has something for everyone, easy to understand descriptions of different technologies for the newbie, as well as "tech sections" and tables of data for people looking for more detailed information. But, more importantly, the authors, Everett Barber and Joseph Provey, have years of experience in the solar industry and have seen (and fixed) systems that didn't work and have learned from those experiences. There is even a section that offers guidance on choosing a solar contractor. I recommend this book to anyone looking to retrofit a house to solar, planning to build a house with solar components, or simply wants to understand solar energy more thoroughly.

CT Zero Energy Challenge Video

2011-04-02T17:25:00.002-04:00

Check out the video about our house that Northeast Utilities produced for the CT Zero Energy Challenge. It was shown at the awards ceremony in Hartford on March 9th, 2011. Thank you, NU and the CT Energy Efficiency Fund for the award. Now we can afford to finish our master bathroom!

Hibernation

2011-02-09T22:40:00.007-05:00

I've had several posts partially written, but the snow storms keep interrupting my writing. So why fight it, write about it.

Oh, to be a kid on a snow day...the eighth one this winter. Growing up in Oklahoma, I didn't get to experience that. I remember Tulsa getting 4 inches once when I was in high school, and that was a big deal, closing down the schools and most businesses. This year, Oklahoma has had two snow storms dropping record amounts of snow, over 24 inches in two storms occurring two weeks apart. If the weather of this past six weeks doesn't prove global warning, than I don't know what does. Increased temperatures affecting the amount of water taken up by warm air masses, that slam into cold, northern air, producing increased precipitation (icy rain, and yes, snow too).

The picture on the right is of our kids sitting in small chairs after the first big storm (24 inches) in mid-January. Subsequent storms have completely buried the black compost bin and the chicken coop is barely visible now. The photo on the left is of our kids sitting on the top of our wood picnic table. In January we got 58 inches of snow and February is shaping up to be the same.

The shoveling kinda sucks but the snow has great insulating properties. I've noticed that our slab floor temperature is rarely dropping below 65F except on super cold days, 15F or lower. We usually keep it at 67F to 68F depending on how much sun we've had. However, I have experimented with letting the slab temp drop on cloudy days and use the backup electric heat to keep from burning propane for the radiant heat. On the occasions I let the floor temp drop, I found that it seemed to come to an equilibrium at 65F without any energy input. It's hard to tell for sure, but I think the snow is helping to insulate the foundation.

For anyone thinking of solar panels. Snow storms over 6 inches will likely require you to remove some snow from the panels. It's just too much to shed on its own, before the next sunny day comes. We put our solar thermal panels on the ground and I am so glad we did. We are able to remove snow easily so we can start making hot water (our evacuated tube solar collectors still produce hot water when it's cloudy, so we want to get them working again quickly after a storm). For our photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, we have this extension pole with a flat, soft, foam squeegie thing on the end that is great for pulling the stubborn snow patches down. Unfortunately, it still requires going up on a ladder, not my favorite thing to do.

On another note, our new batch of chickens are arriving in mid-April. The kids are excited to have cute fuzzy chicks for easter. Sadly, our old hens were picked off by predators late fall over a two week period. Word got out and they were attacked from multiple perspectives (hawk, fox, and possibly coyote). They were scheduled for culling anyway because they were getting too old to lay eggs, but I was hoping to teach my kids where chicken nuggets come from and not feed the local wildlife. I'm thankful for the "learning chickens" and I think our next coop and fencing design will be better, for both us and the chickens.

It's Official! 2nd place in CT Zero Energy Challenge

2010-12-11T11:33:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday the 8th I got the call from CL&P concerning the CT Zero Energy Challenge results and was congratulated for our second place finish. Not that it was a big surprise since everyone's HERS values were announced months ago and that's how the contest was judged this year (next year there are a variety of factors which greatly level the playing field).
Reviewing the 1st and 3rd place finishers, I can't help but pat ourselves on the back for achieving what we did on such a limited budget. The other winners' homes are obviously big budget undertakings that easily push (though I'm just guessing) into the million dollar range. We did ours for less than a third of that. They hired consultants, architects and specialty builders. Karann and I designed, planned, engineered (with over-the-phone consultations from a few sources) and finished the house ourselves. Our builder, Dave Nugent, kicked ass for sure but this was his first "green" house.
Their houses are big (4000 sq. ft. plus), high-end homes unattainable by most, which I think sets a bad example of "green" building. Ours is a modest (some would even say large, if you live in the real world) home at 2670 sq. ft. And I know $320k is still a lot of money but at least it's reasonable for a custom (near) zero energy home, especially since the return on investment is already paying dividends; our electric bill is non-existent ($16 service fee every month) and we've purchased two, 100 gallon tank-fulls of propane in the last year and a half.
Now don't take this like I'm down-playing the accomplishments of the other winners (ok, maybe a little bit) but I do respect that they're setting examples that hopefully their other rich neighbors may follow. Maybe this will set a whole new trend of "keeping up with the Jones". Every neighbor trying to make their home more energy independent than the next.
In the meantime, I hope Karann and I have inspired the average, middle-class person to use some ingenuity, take a little time, and put in some sweat equity to make an energy efficient home that, you too, can be proud of.

Best Green/Energy Efficient Home in CT!!

2010-11-20T22:45:00.002-05:00

On November 9th, 2010, Jeremy and I attended the HOBI Awards (Home Building Industry Awards) sponsored by the Connecticut Home Builders Association. Our general contractor, Dave Nugent from Greenworks Builder, won the award for the "Best Green Energy-Efficient House" in CT for our house. It was exciting to see our house displayed on the huge screen in the banquet room at the Aqua Turf, where everyone was dressed to the nines and people we didn't even know where speaking of our house with the highest praise. The food wasn't too bad either. We were amazed by many of the award winners, and even the categories, "Best Spec House Over $6 Million" or "Best Custom Home Over 12,000 square feet". I am NOT kidding about these categories. Many homes had jaw-dropping details and it reminded me of the incredible wealth in this state. I guess a recession just doesn't effect people who can afford 12,000 square foot homes and the costs to maintain them. It's no wonder that the loudest gasp from the crowd occurred when the emcee was describing our house and stated that we built it for $125 a square foot. That budget likely barely covered the landscaping costs for some of the homes. Regardless of how out of our element we were, we enjoyed the night and were pleased that Dave won such a prestigious award.

A Boy and His Chickens

2010-10-04T18:54:00.005-04:00

After grad school I spent a summer as a volunteer park ranger in southeast Alaska. In addition to my ranger duties, I also spent two weeks as a replacement caretaker for a fishing lodge while the regular caretakers were on their honeymoon in the "lower 48". While there were many highlights and adventures that summer (the postcard perfect landscape, endless salmon fishing, numerous brown bear and moose encounters), I found myself most amused and enamored with the small chicken flock that pecked and scratched around the small cabin I stayed in. I guess without electricity and running water, you find entertainment in the simplest things. Since then, the idea of chicken ownership seemed to fit well into the plan of owning land and building a sustainable house. While I've never had any experience farming, nor aspired to be a farmer, the lure of fresh, salmonella-free eggs, and the nonstop entertainment of plump little red hens running free was overwhelming. So when the opportunity arrived to adopt 5 rhode island red hens, I took it. Jeremy helped me build a coop for the hens and, surprisingly, Oslo has become the primary chicken tender (hee, hee, nice pun). He's named every one according to personality (Beauty Queen, Reliable Runny, Stripe, Peta and Polka) and handles them as much as they tolerate. Oh, and we eat fresh eggs often. With everything we've accomplished with our house over the past year, I have to say that those little chickens pecking in my yard make me feel as if I've truly "arrived".

NESEA Green Building Home Tour

2010-09-13T22:40:00.002-04:00

I wanted to mention two events happening in the next month. The first is the NESEA Green Building Home Tour on October 2nd from 10 to 4. Our house will be included on the tour and you can get more information at the NESEA website.

Also of interest is a Passiv Haus (Passive House) workshop sponsored by the Solar Energy Assoc. of Connecticut on October 9th at 2pm in Manchester, CT conducted by the New England Passive House Alliance.

I recently made a presentation to the Solar Energy Assoc. of CT on the design and performance of our house (my first Power Point presentation!) and I found the organization to be great source for information on renewable and alternative energy and energy efficient building. Their members include people from a broad range of backgrounds and disciplines including architects, engineers, builders, educators, activists, and students. Check it out!

A Case Against Geothermal

2010-08-09T14:47:00.006-04:00

After being asked about a zillion times by a house tour participant where my geothermal system was, I decided it was time for me to clearly state my opinion of geothermal heating systems. As I said, this is only one persons opinion, and with any decision involving spending copious amounts of money, one should conduct thorough research, and talk to as many people as possible, while considering the backgrounds and motives of "experts" before proceeding.

We decided a geothermal system was not right for our house for the following reasons:

1) Cost. A geothermal system is going to run $25K plus (mostly higher) and that only includes wells, piping, pumps, etc. You still need ways to convert that 52F water to either heat or cooling for your house.

2) Limitation. As stated in reason one, you're only getting water to 52F, which is fine for cooling, but in our climate (Northwest Connecticut) we heat our houses much more than cool them, so you still are going to need energy to convert that 52F water. Most homes with geothermal use heat pumps to harvest the energy (via temperature differences). This is, obviously, a very simplistic way of looking at it, but it was pointed out to me by an engineer friend that it equates to running a whole-house refrigerator/condenser 365 days a year. Doesn't that seem excessive?? A well insulated house in CT should not require a whole lot of AC, so heating is your primary concern. In my subjective opinion, geothermal is better suited for mid-Atlantic states, where the AC is running more than the heat.

3) The conundrum. Geothermal systems use huge amounts of electricity to pump the water down and then back up the geothermal wells. The solution I hear THE MOST regarding this problem is "Well, you can just install more photovoltaic (PV) panels to offset the added electricity use and cost." Every time I hear this, I usually want to: A) scream, B) stifle a well rehearsed, but condescending explanation of the "less is more" sustainable building theory, described below, or C) ask "With who's money?" The later answer about who is paying is an interesting conversation in itself, because the current state of rebates in CT right now that include PV and geothermal systems means that lots of people are actually paying for these systems, not just the homeowner or home builder.

4) The less is more sustainable building theory. The whole idea of building more sustainably SHOULD BE to use less, being materials, energy, land, whatever, NOT to build systems that can operate your 10,000 SF mansion cheaper. People will likely call me un-American for this, but what the heck. Building smaller IS building greener. Smaller houses use less materials, use less energy, and are less expensive to operate and maintain. Hopefully, our fascination with purchasing lots of stuff that we don't need, and can't afford, and building houses to hold all this stuff is coming to an end, thanks in part to the Great Recession.

Case in point (Boy, I'm going to get in a lot of trouble for this one), the likely winner of the CT Zero Energy Challenge is a house that few people could afford to build and no bank would touch a mortgage for it. This is because so much money was spent on the renewables and heating and cooling systems, there is no way an appraisal would justify the costs. It has something ridiculous like 65 PV panels, many just to run the systems in the house including geothermal. The goal of the Challenge is to promote energy efficiency/green building and to show builders and homeowners that they can achieve net zero energy. How can you expand your mission when your poster project is so unattainable.

5) Matching the technology to the scenario. All the previous points notwithstanding, I do believe that geothermal can work correctly and efficiently under the right conditions in the right project, but the current craze for geothermal means the technology is being used in places where it is neither effective or beneficial. There was an article recently in the Waterbury Republican American newspaper in their Green Living weekly series (our house was featured one week) about a guy who recently installed geothermal. The article praised the system then ended with a breakdown of costs. I'm quoting numbers here from memory because I couldn't find the article online to verify my facts, so forgive me if I get my numbers wrong. He spent $28K for the system and the first two years didn't save anything due to electric costs (his costs actually went UP!!). So he spent more money for different pumps and to rework the system and achieved a savings of $1200 on the third year. The cost benefit analysis proves this technology was not a good choice for his home.

The geothermal craze won't end soon enough for me. Then maybe I won't have to explain that our geothermal system is located in the basement, then gleefully watch as the hapless fool looks for the basement door. Unfortunately, CT has started a geothermal rebate program that is fanning the flames of misinformation and the "experts" pushing these systems are drillers making fortunes on installing them, and don't care about operating costs for the homeowners. Such is life.

State Sponsored Home Energy Audits

2010-07-20T22:16:00.002-04:00

The state of Connecticut has a Home Energy Solution, HES, program that provides home energy audits to home owners for a great price of $75. It includes a walk through inspection of the home, a door blower test to determine air leakage in the house (a great value in itself- ours costs $350), and insulation evaluation, appliance inspections, and air duct inspection and test. Air sealing and weather stripping will be done afterwards to stop major air leaks. The technician will also make recommendations on capital improvements to make your home more energy efficient. With this program there are rebates and discount loans available for capital improvements (I assume like windows and insulation). The CT Energy Efficiency Fund sponsors and subsidizes unsecured loans through AFC First and the rates are great - 0% to 2.99% depending on how much you borrow. The state website for the HES program is http://www.ctenergyinfo.com/dpuc_home_energy_solutions.htm.

For information on the loans go to www.CTenergyLoan.com
This is a pilot program so nobody knows how long it will last. Probably until the stimulus money that funded it is gone.

On the Outside

2010-06-16T23:22:00.003-04:00

Now that summer is beatin' down our door, we've been working on the outside of the house. I built 2 raised garden beds out of local hemlock from the mill down the road and filled them with topsoil/compost mix. We also built some flower beds around the house and planted edibles and native plants. Due to the expense of good quality native plants, I'll have to fill the flower beds over time. For now I just planted things like squash and melon, so the beds wouldn't be so bare looking this season. Our other big item is a 20' by 15' blue stone patio that was built by Peter Ledda Landscaping. We were very pleased with the masons who built it, including a small stone retaining wall (step) on the driveway side. They were able to use stone from our property. Apparently, we have great stone here and lots of it, so I'm thinking of all sorts of projects for the future. Likely some more walls and flower bed borders. We used blue stone from New York and I think it goes really well with the house and the native stone we incorporated in the patio. They also poured two footers at each outside corner of the patio so we could add posts for a large pergola over the patio. We'll definitely need the shade on summer days. We've been working on a design and thinking about materials. Jeremy is going to visit the CL&P substation near his business and see if he can pick up pieces of some old utility poles for the posts. Hopefully we can get some without too much creosote on them, nasty stuff! If not, then we'll probably use hemlock because cedar is really scarce around here and very expensive.

Enough with the Fluff!!

2010-05-28T22:26:00.003-04:00

OK. So the last several posts have been on the fluffy side and it's high time I try to put that engineering degree to some use (my parents will be so proud). I know many of you have been wanting more details on the mechanicals and I have been holding off writing about the performance until we had a few good months of operation under our belts, so to speak.

Here's an overview...we have solar thermal collectors for hot water generation. The heated glycol from the collectors goes to a 80 gallon Steibel-Eltron tank, that has dual heat exchanger coils. The bottom coil is for the closed solar loop and the top coil is for the backup heat (also a closed loop), which is provided by a Takagi on-demand water heater. Hot water in the tank supplies domestic hot water to the house and hot water for the radiant heat system (after going through mixing valves to cool the water prior to entering the PEX water lines). This system is called an "open system" because drinking water is going through our radiant lines. The radiant system consists of three loops in our concrete slab on the first floor and "staple-up" radiant tubing on the second floor. The slab thermostat is a floor sensor that keeps the floor around 69 degrees and the second floor radiant is controlled by a typical thermostat. We have a third set of radiant loops located deep within the three-foot earthbox under the slab. The purpose of this set of tubing is two-fold. First, in the transition months (Spring and Fall) when plenty of sun is available (and thus excess hot water is produced) we send hot water into the earthbox radiant loops, essentially "storing" that heat in the mass where it will passively help to heat the house. This Spring we found this greatly reduced the amount of time the slab radiant heat turned on (and thus reduced the use of propane). The second purpose of the earthbox radiant is simply as a heat dump for the system when the tank gets to hot. Minimum temp for the tank is set at 120 degrees and the max temp is 165 degrees. We have found that the heat dump will occur once on a really sunny day and only when I'm not using a bunch of hot water (i.e. laundry day). The dump results in heat going to the earthbox for approximately 20 minutes. We have NOT seen an increase in the slab temperature (or interior house temperature) more than 1 or 2 degrees due to this, even this week when we had two days over 90 degrees. This can be attributed to several factors; first, the huge thermal mass of the earthbox and slab, and its ability to absorb the extra heat. Secondly, we positioned the solar panels to optimize the winter sun (they receive more shading in the summer than winter due to their position next to the house), thus reducing the solar gain and heat generation in the summer. Lastly, like photovoltaic panels, evacuated tube solar collectors are more efficient in cooler temperatures. Radiant Floor Company designed the system and calculated the energy loads. They also supplied all the parts and we hired a heating contractor, Paul Martin, to install the system and the solar collectors. We did not take advantage of the CT solar thermal rebate program, because we already had a relationship with Paul and did not want to switch to a CT "approved" installer to get the rebate. Paul is a distributor of SunMaxx Solar thermal systems. The evacuated tube solar collectors (hot water generation) were installed in January and it took about 6 weeks to get the control settings and sensors placed properly and get the system running optimally. Until then, we were burning through an uncomfortable amount of propane. By the middle of Feb. we were seeing excellent results. We used about $145 worth of propane in Feb and $90 worth of propane in March, and the last propane fill up was on April 19th for $79. Since then the propane system has only run briefly on one rainy cold day. Keep in mind that propane is our backup energy source for hot water for BOTH domestic hot water and space heating in our radiant systems. We are a family of four. In a typical year, we would likely use more propane, but it has been unseasonably warm this spring. All in all we are thrilled with the performance of the house and mechanical/solar systems. I hope to include some graphics/tables of our energy use in future posts.

Tree House and Big Rocks

2010-05-10T22:55:00.009-04:00

The past three weekends we've been working on several projects down by our brook. Jeremy's friend, Al, built a stone wall for us around our fire pit. We figured he would just pile up the stones found in the area where it appears that an old wall stood, many New England years ago. He did more than that...he built this gorgeous semi-circle stone wall with flat sides and top, an enlarged stone fire pit, and built a small stone border around a sitting area by the brook, where I can sit and watch the kids play in the water. The first weekend Jeremy rented a small bobcat excavator which he used to move some of the biggest rocks and some really large stumps from the area. We also built two rain gardens which will hold the rainwater from two of our roof downspouts and allow infiltration. We've planted native species that like to have wet roots. It's a wonderful idea and I'm anxious to see if it solves a bit of our runoff issues.

Last weekend I built two 10' by 5' raised garden boxes from hemlock I purchased at the sawmill near our house. Cedar is hard to find here and very expensive.

Jeremy started building a tree house. He's been doing research on tree houses for years now, and was excited to start on one. I think it's quite an ambitious project, but he never had one as a child and I think he's wanting to make up for that. Oslo, of course, is very excited, and cheers Jeremy on from below (the framing of the structure is still too precarious for Oslo to be helping out directly). Once the floor is built he'll be up there plenty.

Our First Award!

2010-05-03T15:27:00.002-04:00

The company that manufactured and installed our structural insulated panels, Timberline Panel Company, entered our house in the annual building excellence competition held by the Structural Insulated Panel Association. Out of over 80 applicants who entered nationwide, our house won 2nd place (Honorable Mention) in the residential category. We are so excited to have been recognized. You can read more at the SIPA website. Congratulations Jeff Brooks and the rest of the Timberline team!

Solar Clothes Dryer

2010-04-23T14:29:00.003-04:00

Spring is here..it's time to take that laundry outside to dry. Hardcore energy conservationists probably dry their clothes outside in the winter too, but I'm a bit too wimpy for that. In the winter I dry my clothes on drying racks inside. But now that it's warm and sunny I'm using my NEW breezecatcher drying rack. I just purchased and installed it several weeks ago and I LOVE IT. Jeremy says "you're getting old when your excitement for the week is hanging your laundry up to dry". But seriously...going outside on a sunny day in April, watching and listening to the robins, seeing my solar panels pumping free hot water into my house, and using my new clothes dryer is a great experience. I highly recommend it.

15 minutes

2010-04-05T22:37:00.003-04:00

In the past six weeks we have hosted a number of reporters for interviews and tours for newspaper articles on our house. We've had 5 articles written, including one today in the Waterbury Republican American, that had some of the best pictures so far. There was a great art shot of our urinal, of all things, a Kohler waterless urinal. And in the print version they printed several color pictures of Nola on the stairs and playing on the concrete floor. Jeremy says cute kids sell papers. It's been fun to see all our hard work be recognized and to be able to tell about our experience building the house. The PR blitz is in preparation for the Solar Home Tour sponsored by PACE for our home on this Saturday, April 10, from 12 - 4. So far 76 tickets have sold and PACE expects a flurry of last minute purchases, a real "hit" in the eyes of the organization. Jeremy and I are going to be busy for those four hours... however, we will have a number of our venders here to help us answer questions about the house.

The other exciting development is that I finally met with a landscape architect that specializes in native plants. Lisa Turoczi, from Earthtones Nursery, came up with some great suggestions for our "blank canvass" around the house and for some areas down by our brook. I'm looking forward to getting some plants in the ground around the house and get the birds and other critters back. I'm not getting anything to my bird feeder because there is no other habitat to attract them.

Next post will be an update on our solar hot water system (Spring version) and photos of my new solar clothes dryer.

Twilight

2010-02-03T11:34:00.004-05:00

I've been waiting for a clear day following a fresh snowstorm to take some night pictures. I think they turned out nice.

Too Much Light

2010-01-29T16:17:00.008-05:00

We invited our good friend, Dave Emond, over to our house to take some professional pictures of the inside of the house. Unfortunately, it was actually TOO sunny and bright inside and we were getting glare in all the shots. Here are a couple nice ones he captured. The top picture is taken from the dining area looking toward the stairs and kids play area (the cleanest it's ever looked and will ever look again).

The other picture is of our bedroom - I wanted to show everyone how the sliding barn doors turned out. We used these beautiful solid wood doors salvaged from an office building remodel. Most of the doors were full view glass doors, but we used the only solid door for our bedroom. Most of the doors in the house were traditional swing doors, but in two places we used this inexpensive barn door hardware that we found at Tractor Supply. Tractor Supply came through for us on two occasions when we couldn't afford the expensive designer look we wanted. We used galvanized hog fencing for the railing on the stairs and balcony at the cost of $39 for a 10 foot sheet!! And our building inspector was fine with it because it had small enough holes. And then we found this sliding door hardware at a fraction of the cost of the stuff we were originally pricing out. So we are really embracing this whole barn theme, after all. We finally got some fresh snow yesterday, so tonight I'm going to try to take some outdoor shots as the sun goes down. The house looks awesome at night with the light shining up out of the cupola windows.

We're in Hot Water!

2010-01-22T10:29:00.008-05:00

Our solar (hot water) panels were installed in the finals days of 2009. We've been running our system, as designed, for two weeks using the sun to heat our water for both domestic hot water use and space heating. We have four SunMaxx solar panels which consist of 20 evacuated tubes per panel. For those who want more technical information on evacuated tube collectors, please use the link and I won't bore the rest of you with details. We chose the evacuated tube (ET) collectors over the more common flat plate collectors for two reasons: 1) the ET collectors are much more efficient in cold and overcast/cloudy conditions and would, therefore, be better in the winter when we need hot water for heating our house, 2) to get the btu output needed for space heating we would have needed 10 flat plate collectors to do the same job, requiring much more space and sun exposure. I may get disagreements from experts on this, but it seems that flat plate collectors, which produce lower water temperatures, are great for domestic water heating only. ET collectors can produce very high temperature water (170 degrees) so your system must be designed to accommodate this. Our system is designed to store the high temperature water and then uses several water mixing valves that cool the water before it enters PEX tubing either for domestic use or in the radiant tubing. It's what is called an open system where domestic water actually goes through our radiant tubing, where it is cooled (heat transferred to the floors) and returns to the system either through the mixing valves or to the bottom of the storage tank to be used again. Moving backwards in the system, our tank is an Eltron Steibel solar tank with two coils (heat exchangers) inside. The bottom coil is where the solar loop transfers it's heat and the top coil is where the backup heat enters via a Takagi on-demand water heater. Here is a general schematic of the system; ours is the second to last picture on the page titled "Open System with Solar Tie-in".

Let the Sun Shine On

2010-01-08T13:32:00.004-05:00

After much anticipation, our solar systems are operational (mostly). Our photovoltaic (PV) system, for electricity production, was installed during two very cold and windy days right before Christmas. It consists of a DC power inverter and 38 roof panels which will produce about 7.6 KW of power, more than enough for our energy efficient home (minus the hot tub which we haven't yet figured out how best to connect to the solar hot water system). We applied for the PV system through the CT Solar Leasing Program, a program within the CT Clean Energy Fund, where we lease the system. After having our house "approved" for it's inclusion in the program, i.e good sun exposure and a CL&P (Northeast Utilities) customer, we signed a 15 year lease for the system. The net amount of our lease is the cost of the system minus a 60% rebate from the CT Clean Energy Fund, and minus a large federal tax credit that the leasing company receives for purchasing the equipment. This resulted in a very small monthly payment (about 1/3 of the typical monthly electrical bill for this size house. After the term of the lease is up we can choose to purchase the system at current market value, or renew our lease for an additional 5 years at a greatly reduced cost, or remove the system. No matter how you look at it, we couldn't find a single reason not to proceed with the program. 1) There were no out-of-pocket costs and we now have a small, locked-in monthly price for our electricity - our monthly lease payment plus whatever CL&P is going to charge us to mail us a net metering bill (which should be zero energy use averaged over the course of a year, 2) Talk about "green"...how more efficient can you be than to use power at the point of generation - no losses in transmission and it's CLEAN power, and 3) we hope that technological advances and lower costs for these systems will be a reality in 15 years and we'll have many options when our lease is up. We used Alteris Renewables, and were exceedingly pleased with their professional installation. Right now our system has been inspected by the local official and CL&P showed up today to install our "net meter" that will spin in both directions. It's our hope that we will be able to flip the switch ON any day now and start producing clean, free power. What a liberation!

UPDATE: Today we received approval from CL&P to turn on the inverter and start receiving power from our panels. So at daybreak tomorrow morning we'll flip the switch with a toast over coffee and waffles.

Warm and Cozy

2009-11-18T22:21:00.004-05:00

We've been living in our house now for two months and we're loving every minute of it. As the days get shorter and the sun is lower in the sky, we're really appreciating the solar design of the house...the way the sun comes in the windows and warms the concrete floors. Our heating system is working really well using the back-up propane water heater. Paul Martin is our heating contractor and I give him tons of credit for his work. We had to fire the first heating contractor we chose; he did a terrible job installing the HRV system and we had to hire Beech Air from Torrington to finish installing the system and get it operating properly. We discovered Paul when he came to Jeremy's business looking for a digital print wrap for a mobile solar hot water trailer that he takes to events/fairs. Paul was able to take the components of our heating system, previously designed and purchased through Radiant Floor Company, and neatly install them in a very tight space in our mechanical room. He and our plumber, Lemieux Mechanical, did an awesome job getting the system hooked up correctly. So far the radiant system is working very well. I love the "set it and forget it" mentality that comes with radiant heat. No more huge swings in temperature or dust being blown around like in forced air systems. Jeremy has been doing all the prep work for our solar thermal collectors which should arrive and get installed next week. He installed concrete footings for the steel frame and dug the trench for the copper piping from the collectors to the house. After much consideration, we decided to install the panels on the west side of the house toward the back. We chose this location because we will get really good solar exposure in the winter, but less (approx. up to four hours less) in the summer when we won't need hot water for heat. People have been asking for more details on our system so I will try to upload some schematics, photos, and more details on our system soon.

Hot water, please?

2009-09-11T22:00:00.006-04:00

We haven't posted in a while because we're spending every waking minute trying to get the house habitable.

Our downstairs bathroom, the only one finished right now, is done and we can't wait to use it properly. The urinal got used right away (Jeremy was upset that Oslo beat him to it). The toilet we initially purchased, a Kohler dual flush, didn't fit in the rough plumbing opening. Ugh? Luckily, our plumber, feeling badly that it didn't fit, helped us return the toilet and found a Toto that we like even better, and he gave us the contractors price on it. I completed the tile in the shower. Wow, that was way more work than I anticipated. We used glass mosaic and it is unforgivable and very difficult to work with. It lays down quickly, but it also shows every irregularity on the surface and is tricky to cut. Jer and I designed the vanity/sink combination. The cabinet is maple and we found the legs online, which we stained to match. The countertop is a beautiful piece of remnant soapstone from Berkshire Stone in Winsted, CT and the backsplash is Vermont green slate.

The IKEA kitchen came together nicely. Those Scandinavians know how to design. We're very pleased with the quality of the cabinets and appliances. I chose the IKEA ovens (microwave and convection oven) from IKEA, manufactured by Whirlpool, because I wanted to make sure they would fit in the IKEA oven cabinets, plus they were cheaper than buying the same Whirlpool appliances at Sears. Our other appliances consist of a Kenmore Elite induction cooktop, Kenmore Elite fridge by LG, and Bosch dishwasher. It took a bit of work getting all the cabinets ordered, picked-up, and assembled (not recommended for the novice weekend warrior). We decided to use the oak butcher block countertop for the areas on either side of the sink. The island has a temporary countertop, until we decide on how we're going to finish the island and what material to use on the countertops. We just installed a 1/2" piece of veneer from the "seconds room" at IKEA. If you're creative, that's a good place to find some awesome deals.

Jeremy has been concentrating on the stairs, which have turned out great! The steel stringers are from Artistic Iron Works in Canada. Jeremy had a steel frame built for the landing and we used reclaimed barn beams for the treads and landing decking. We had a local sawmill remill the beams and we planed, sanded, and finished the wood. The posts are pine and the railing is galvanized hog wire fencing from Tractor Supply ($30 per 16 feet section!!) And the added bonus is that the inspector "passed" our stairs much to our surprise. We thought there would be lots of issues with the openings everywhere, but he just asked us to cover the risers and we concurred.

Now, all we need is hot water and we can move in!!

Sweat Equity

2009-08-23T23:06:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks. We decided to hire a painter so we could get the painting done fast and move onto other things. We love the color...agreeable grey. Then Jeremy and I slaved and fretted over the concrete floor. We cleaned, stained, and sealed the floor using Ecoprocoat soy based stain. We like how it looks now (after hours of wax-on/wax-off Karate Kid action) but are very disappointed with the sealer. Water drips and spills on the floor still seep through to the stain and leave watermarks. We decided that right before we move in, we'll touch up spots with more stain and use good, old fashion wax sealer.

Jeremy's dad, Charlie, helped us pick up our IKEA kitchen, located within about 200 boxes. Last weekend we assembled most of the cabinets and installed them, along with appliances. We are very pleased with the IKEA products and service. With the exception of several damaged pieces, our order was correct. My only complaint was the omission of instructions for installing the ovens in the IKEA cabinets. My dad was visiting and he helped me get them in place correctly. Jeremy has been installing light fixtures and I've been tiling the bathroom. The electrician and plumber returned last week to complete the finish work (outlets, switches, and set fixtures). The highlight for Jer was installation of the urinal in the downstairs bath. I have to admit, it's a beautiful urinal and will get lots of use. Oslo was excited to be the first one to pee into it.

The Green List, Part I

2009-08-22T06:04:00.003-04:00

A common question we are asked after people hear we are building a "green" home is, "what makes it green?". It's a good question, especially after hearing what other home owners and builders are pawning off as a "green" home. While having a low flush toilet, some fluorescent light bulbs and low VOC paint is certainly a step in the right direction (a local builder is touting a home like this as a green home) , it's far from a complete package. Instead of talking about what isn't, I wanted to start a list of items and attributes of our home that make our house energy efficient, material efficient and environmentally thoughtful. It's going to be long, and I'm going to forget some items which is why I've titled this entry Part I.

The Site

This is a key factor and where it all begins. After years of searching for the perfect piece of property we knew we had found "it" within 15 minutes of seeing it. It had great southern exposure (passive solar), where the house site would be, and it was in a meadow so we didn't have to take down a single mature tree, just some small pine and birch (less than 10' high). It's close to town and only a 7 minute commute to my business.

The Design

We did a ton of research, talked to architects, visited many homes on solar home tours and you know what we ended up with? A box. A simple open floor plan that suits the way we live and utilizes that open space to distribute heating, cooling and natural light. Couldn't be simpler and that's the point. Minimum material is used, maximum efficiency is reached. Key credos in "green" home building.

The Foundation

We used a prefab foundation (Superior Walls) and as anyone who knows about green homes will tell you, prefab is about efficiency and minimum waste. It went up fast with no waste products on site (plywood, left over concrete, etc.). It's super insulated and we went so far as to add another 2" of rigid insulation on the walls to minimize any thermal bridging with another 3" rigid underneath the heat sink.

The Shell

Why more people don't use SIP panels is beyond me. ALL homes should utilize this technology. It would save hundreds of tons of waste from going into landfills. It would make homes so tight and efficient that minimum fuel and electricity would be used to operate them. The list of advantages would make a long blog entry in itself. It you are going to build a new home or have an addition, give SIP's some serious thought.

The Windows and Doors

Anderson 400 for everything. Casement and awning windows (when closed they make a tighter seal than sliders or double hung). The doors are standard swing, even for the patio. Sliders just don't seal well. We opted for Smartglass film on all southern doors and windows to protect the interior from UV.

The Heating System

In one word; radiant. We used 7/8" Pex tubing for greater heat distribution for all three layers (Heat sink, in slab and staple up under the second floor). Our main source of heat will be from 4 arrays of 16 tube solar collectors with a backup of a propane fired hot water on-demand Takagi heater which we hope will barely ever have to fire up. As far as our "Heat Sink" system, look to an earlier blog post for an explanation.

The Siding and Trim

I'm not a fan of maintenance. Not to mention that painting and patching a home takes time and chemicals. We used Hardie board siding and Azek trim. I'll never have to get on a ladder and paint. Ever.

Also, we used old fashioned tar paper for the vapor barrier as opposed to Tyvek. Tyvek is crap. Any contractor worth their salt would tell you the same. It's just well marketed.

The Roof

We almost went for a traditional asphalt shingle roof because of our budget but it just didn't sit right with me. Here we are building an environmentally minded home and I'm going to put a petroleum based product, which when it's life cycle ends, goes straight into a landfill? I bit the bullet on this and went with a galvanized metal roof and installed it myself with the help of a couple guys from my shop. It was a bitch, especially the cupola, but it's going to last my lifetime and when it's time to change it out, completely recyclable.

The Floors

Our home is slab on grade. No basement. Another common question we get from folks when they hear that is "where are you going to keep your stuff?". I usually pause before I reply, allowing them a moment to think about their question even though it doesn't do any good. Think about that question. "Where am I going to keep a bunch of crap that I don't need or use and stockpile in a place that I rarely occupy except to clean out in order to have tag sales?" But I digress. We're leaving the concrete exposed. I sanded it to a "baby ass smooth" and then we stained it using a soy based concrete stain called EcoProCote. It came out sweet.

For our second floor we used Teragren Strand Bamboo flooring which is phenomenally hard and looks beautiful.

Interior Walls and Trim

First off, we did drywall returns on all the windows and doors. Not only does this give a very clean and modern look, it saves a ton of money (and material) normally spent on trim. Floor board trim was used primarily to cover the electrical chase for the outlets (SIP panels, while a great product, pose a challenge to electricians). In this case we used more of the Teragren Bamboo product. It's a carmelized bamboo plywood that we ripped into 8" strips and cleared with a water based poly satin. It looks trick and contrast beautifully with the floor and walls.

All the walls and ceilings were painted with a Benjamin Moore product called Harmony. It's a no VOC paint that after 24 hours of drying left absolutely no smell and looked clean, bright and seamless.

All right, this is going to be a hell of a long list. Need to take a breather and get back to the house!

Looking like a home

2009-08-02T22:04:00.010-04:00

I thought I would add lots of photos today. We had a small break in the rain so I could run outside and take some photos. No, the roof is not white, it's galvanized metal reflecting the grey sky. We are so happy with how the roof turned out. Jeremy's says it definitely makes up for spending six days 30 feet off the ground.

We're satisfied enough with the siding, but we're going to add corner boards, some window trim, and possibly battens. The siding we choose is typically installed with battens, but we thought it would look OK without them...not so sure now. The drywall contractor is almost done, so I took photos of the inside. Oslo is standing in the mudroom with the stairwell area behind him (upper left). A view from the upstairs balcony looking east toward the childrens bedrooms (upper right). Oslo and Nola run around the downstairs kitchen and living area (bottom left). Oslo's room has a nice size loft over Nola's room (she gets the big room and closet and Oslo gets the killer hang-out area. This week I'll be starting the tile in the downstairs bathroom and Jer will continue to work on putting together all the elements of the staircase, railing, and bamboo trim.

Rain is the name of the game

2009-07-31T23:49:00.003-04:00

I just had to post this cute pic of Nola taken while we were blueberry picking last week.

I gathered up some fans and our dehumidifier and took them to the house so we could try to dry up the drywall compound. It's been so wet and humid the drywall job is taking longer than normal. We're also drowning in mud. We've been waiting for the excavation contractor to come back and finish the grading. Right now we have about 10 huge piles of dirt (imported fill; yes, we needed more!!) waiting to be spread out. I'd love to post some pictures, but it hasn't stopped raining long enough for me to poke my head out the window and take some pictures (sorry, Mom, we'll try tomorrow.)
The past several weeks we have been consumed with 1) trying to catch any errors before they were covered with drywall, and 2) trying to get everything lined up so we can swarm into the house after the drywall is done. We decided to splurge and hire a painter. We got an incredible price to have the whole house painted and the exposed beams oiled. Our frustrations have mostly involved the installation of the ventilation system in regards to quality and timeliness. We've ended up doing portions of the work ourselves to keep things on schedule. I've been working on ordering/buying everything we need to do the first bathroom (downstairs) and the kitchen. I made a pilgrimage to IKEA and ordered our kitchen cabinets. After looking for used cabinetry in reclaimed stores and online for the past 9 months, we finally gave up trying to find something that was going to fit in our space/fit our needs. We also looked at some "sustainable" wood products, but cost and additional labor for finishing the wood made that option cost prohibitive. So we had to make a sacrifice on the "green cabinetry" and go for the IKEA option. They now have a solid wood, oak door that we like that should wear well. I was impressed with the kitchen department at IKEA. They were very helpful (don't ever go on a weekend, though) and put my order together promptly and correctly (so far). I ended up getting my oven and microwave from IKEA - they are Whirlpool products that cost a bit less than the equivalent models at Sears and have a more stylish look. I also was concerned about getting appliances to fit in the IKEA oven wall cabinets. One more recommendation on IKEA. Go to the store prepared with a full list of cabinets and accessories, or upload your custom design to their website using the IKEA Kitchen Planner software. I made the mistake and took a CD, but they won't accept outside data media. My other success this week was finding a reasonably priced slate from Vermont, without driving to Vermont to buy it. Suprisingly, I found some nice green grey Vermont slate through Home Depot at a very competitive price. Most slate, usually multicolored, you see is from Brazil. That's a long trip for some chipped rocks.
Tomorrow, Jer will be picking up our strand bamboo flooring. Today I installed the shower pan liner and sandmix mortor base for the tile in the downstairs shower stall. It was cheaper than a base, but more work and will look much better than a solid base. That's the theme for this house. Why skimp out on the details now...

Sweating the Details

2009-07-30T22:49:00.002-04:00

In the feverish pace of putting the many pieces in place that constitute this project, we realize we simply aren't going to catch everything. Coordinating all the various tasks while solving the problems as they pop up leaves little room for ruminating on the process and there will be things we wished we did or caught or changed or.....

Even though we are getting towards the tail end of the project, it seems the amount of decisions to be made have increased. It's all the finishing details; stair components, concrete stain, lights, cabinets, tile, backsplash, yada, yada, you get the idea. My mind is in texture overload. And there is Karann on the computer researching pendant lights. She's unstoppable.

I'm working on the stairs tomorrow. Scored some old barn wood, 2" x 12" of various lengths that I'm going to have milled at a local lumberyard. More recycling and monetary savings. I love that combo.

We're going to be constructing the components for the stairs at the shop next week and getting everything set so when the painters are done and we stain the concrete everything is set to go. Karann's focus has been the bathrooms and kitchen (surprise!) and she's been getting all the ducks in a row to outfit these rooms in short order.

I've arranged for the painter to get going on Monday but we may have an issue with the taping/mudding contractor running late due to the humidity slowing the drying time. It's been an extremely wet July which hasn't helped. Fortunately, the only thing that has been against us is the weather, oh, and the contractors who don't show up when they're supposed to. But we're managing. We've got a lot of other things to be thinking about.

Blue Jean Insulation

2009-07-16T23:18:00.004-04:00

This is my car, completely stuffed with UltraTouch insulation. This insulation is made from 100% cotton, 85% which is post-industrial recycled cotton (blue jeans, maybe??) and contains no VOCs or formaldehyde. I purchased the product at DeVries Building Supply in Sheffied, Ma. Very nice people and they deliver to Connecticut. We're going to use it in the walls and ceilings for sound suppression in the music room. The great thing about the stuff is that while Jer and I are installing it, the kids can be sitting on a pile watching a movie in perfect, safe comfort.

Today, all the subs finished with the rough-ins and I worked on the shower base in the downstairs bath. I learned the difference between mortar and cement. We'll be working hard the next couple days getting ready for the drywall contractor. Also tomorrow we are having an intermediate blower door test to see if we have any air gaps that need filling.

Roof

2009-07-14T23:12:00.006-04:00

We haven't posted in a while because we are always at the house. For the last 10 days we have had the plumber, HVAC, electrician, carpenter, excavator, and well driller all there at the same time working. While progress is being made very quickly, it is difficult to keep up with all the decisions that need to be made, and keep up with everything that we need to be doing to keep on schedule. Oh, yeah, and our jobs, home, and kids have to fit in there somewhere. It's exhausting and mistakes happen. After a week on the roof, Jeremy has decided he made the right career choice (anything but a roofer). Our friend Paul did a great job managing the roofing installation. It looks awesome. When the sun shines on it, I'll bet it blinds pilots. The windows are also installed and the siding is going up. Had some issues with windows (how to insulate properly without extension jambs (we selected to have drywall returns). And today we had some problems with the siding. Luckily, I think we've solved the problem. The exterior is still going to require a bit of paint touch up, corner boards, and possibly some trim. We want to wait until the siding is up before we decide the final touches.

On the inside, the rough in is done for the electrical and radiant, and the plumber will finish tomorrow. The HRV will be installed later this week. We decided on the Venmar Eco 1.5 HRV. It uses only 40 Watts of power verses around 150 Watts for other similar cfm rates.

On Sunday, Oslo and Jeremy installed cable, CAT5, stereo, and phone wiring. The electrician and I talked him into doing this even though he believes everything will be wireless eventually (he's probably right).

Cupola Raising

2009-07-01T22:44:00.007-04:00

Yesterday was an exciting day. We watched the final piece of the SIP puzzle being lifted into place. The cupola was assembled on the ground, with windows installed, and then Ben from North Timber Associates, lifted it with his crane and attached it to the roof. It looks great, like whipped cream and a cherry on top of a sundae. It's been a bit chaotic on the site this week...the SIPs team is finishing up; the framers are working on the interior walls; the drillers are drilling the well; and the excavator has been working on the septic system. Oh, and I also walked through the house with the electrician to work out an electrical plan. I guess it's time to call the bank for another appraisal and advance so we can pay all these people. Keeping the money flowing is key to keeping the job moving forward, especially in these economic times, where cash flow for contractors is a challenge.

We decided to have a work-in-progress house tour on July 11 from 3 to 5 pm. We've had requests to show the house before it's complete and I thought it would nice to draw attention to the "skeleton" of the house - the really important features that make the house energy efficient.

Up, Up, and Away (Again)

2009-06-25T21:01:00.006-04:00

Despite the rain, Ben Ellis from North Timber Associates, has moved right along on our second floor. The rest of the walls went up quickly; then they started on the roof, ridge beam and one purlin beam first. They assembled three roof panels then lifted the whole piece into place. The goal was to get the purlin beams covered as much as possible before the next rain storm moved in. Tomorrow they will finish the roof and hopefully install the cupola before the weekend. Our windows arrived yesterday from Anderson (via Forestville Lumber, Plainville, CT). I've been in charge of the windows from the beginning (design, placement, ordering, etc.) so I am quite nervous and very anxious to see them on-site and installed. So far I feel pretty good about how the placement of the windows, or should I say openings, have turned out in the house.

Nola and Oslo are getting used to spending lots of time at the jobsite watching (or in Nola's case exploring the various construction debris scattered around on the ground. She really likes those plastic strips used to wrap building materials (she's 2 for those who don't know her personally). Oslo, age 8, had the privilege of operating the crane today - he moved the hook up, down, and swung the arm once.

The rain can't keep us down

2009-06-24T18:10:00.005-04:00

Although June has been a real wet one thus year in CT, our GC pushes forward. David "The Asparagus" Nugent, is our GC and he has done a fantastic job keeping things on schedule. Thanks, Dave, you're awesome! The glu-lam beams, posts, and second level floor trusses were installed in about three days and the SIPs installer, North Timber Associates from Wilmington, VT, started on the second portion of the SIPs (second level wall panels, ridge and purlin beams, roof panels and cupola). The windows should also arrive this week. We should have a really good sense of the house and it's design by the end of the week.

Our Bubbling Brook is a Raging River

2009-06-17T23:23:00.006-04:00

After 10 days of sporadic rain and thunderstorms our cute little brook is a raging river. We could hear the water from our house, not a usual occurrence. The rain hasn't slowed down construction of our house, but I do worry about all that moisture that went straight down into our foundation earthbox. Hopefully the water will drain down though the sand and find it's way through the joints in the insulation. We did install a vapor barrier on top of the earthbox, so the moisture should not come up into the slab. Last week the mechanical subs were busy laying drain lines, water lines, electrical conduit, and radiant tubing which will all be within a 5" concrete slab. The picture above shows Oslo next to the radiant tubing manifolds (protected inside the OSB boxes) and the water lines coming up into the mechanical room. The smaller manifold box contains the tubing for the earthbox (it's actually not smaller, it's lower because it's within the sandbed). The PEX tubing that crosses the other lines will actually house a slab temperature sensor. The slab was skillfully poured yesterday by our concrete subcontractor. Those guys (Design Concrete from Danbury, CT) knew how to work with concrete! Our slab is so smooth and even - the floor is going to look great after we stain it. The kids loved watching the concrete trucks and all the different spreading/float tools the guys used. Then, of course, the obligatory hand print in the concrete floor was the highlight!

Today the carpenters started the interior framing; installing the beams, posts, and floor trusses for the second level. The glu-lam beams and posts in the kitchen and living area will be exposed - we'll sand and treat them with oil to bring out the color. Things are moving really fast now.

Up, Up, and Away

2009-06-04T20:28:00.005-04:00

Less than a week later and look where we are!! The SIP installer arrived on site on Tuesday and was done putting up the first floor walls by Wednesday evening. It was amazing to watch the crane lift the panels while four workers wrestled the panels into perfect position. They started on the north side of the house and moved clockwise around. The larger portion in the center of the south side contains structural supports due to the windows and thus extends to the roof in one piece. It was great to stand in the middle of the house and look out the window openings at the trees and surrounding landscape.
I love the positions of the windows, both their proximity to the ground and their height. It makes you feel like you are standing outside. We really agonized over the window positions and sizes during the design of the house, and so far they look great. In the picture to the right, the view is looking south out the living room windows toward the kids playscape. That is where I spend much of my time swinging Nola and watching the progress. We will be starting all the mechanicals in the slab (plumbing, electrical, and radiant tubing) next week. After consultation with our Energy Star (HERS-Home Energy Rating System) rater, we decided to put a vapor barrier between the earthbox sand layer and the poured slab. We hired the HERS rater to do the Energy Star certification for the house. This has to be done in order to qualify for all the state and federal incentives (cash rebates and tax benefits). We also found out last week that our house was chosen as a finalist in the Connecticut Zero Energy Challenge. A website will be launched soon, by Connecticut Light and Power Co. and the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, that features all the finalists and their projects. We'll include more information and links when we know more.

Nothing like a good foundation

2009-05-24T15:47:00.004-04:00

(Jeremy) A busy week indeed. The foundation was excavated, footings and drain lines were installed and Superior Walls delivered and installed the precast foundation. All that was done Monday and Tuesday! From there we ran into a snag of needing a lot more fill to backfill around the foundation than originally estimated. Fortunately our new neighbor, Troy, was quick to point out a huge mound of fill he needed removed from his property and voila, problem solved (oh, and an additional $3500 for the excavator to supply the machinery and equipment). We're getting very familiar with change orders from the GC!

So on Wednesday he started breaking up the fill and bringing it to the site. We decided to have them install a layer of gravel inside the foundation over the dirt to prevent any capillary action into the 3" of rigid insulation above. The insulation was then installed over the entire area inside the foundation - two layers of 1.5" rigid foam insulation (EPS - Encapsulated Polystyrene), with the joints staggered for better thermal barrier. We also had them install an additional two inches of insulation against the inside of the foundation walls. This was in addition to the 1" of rigid insulation that was installed in the factory. So what are we doing with all this insulation inside our foundation? We're creating a huge heat sink under the house. This "earthbox" as we're referring to it, is 3' of sand directly under the slab. On Friday, they brought in the sand and put 18" of it into our foundation walls (on top of the insulation) and compacted it well. On Saturday, Karann and I spent a good part of the day laying down 1200 linear feet of radiant tubing (7/8" PEX). We read the installation manual from Radiant Floor Company and designed the three 400 foot loops the night before. We were surprised how easy it was (although hard on the backs and knees). Monday, our heating contractor will pressure test the system and on Tuesday the building inspector will inspect everything allowing the excavator to install and compact the remaining 18" of sand. The first major component of our home complete.

Our Excavator Rocks!

2009-05-15T22:29:00.005-04:00

(Karann) We closed on our construction loan on Thursday. The loan closing actually pushed our schedule back because there were some legal issues with having the contractors working on site before we closed on the loan (even though we held title to the land). Whatever. The excavator mobilized quickly there after. First he managed to gingerly move our 40' cargo container out of the way and into a very tight spot among the trees (I still don't know how he did that!!). Then he cleared the small trees in the footprint of the building and was able to relocate some of them to another property (his, I think.) I'm glad some were able to be "recycled". He then laid down a very nice track pad of 5" to 6" rocks for the remainder of the driveway and scraped the topsoil off. On Monday, he will be ready to dig the hole and get it ready for the Superior Wall (precast foundation walls) that will be delivered and installed on Tuesday.

This weekend we will be going out to the building site with our compass and locating "true south" so the house can be oriented in the optimal position for passive and active solar. In CT, true south (not magnetic south) is facing approximately 14 degrees toward the east of magnetic south. So we will basically rotate the house to the east slightly to get the best sun.

Today, we received all our radiant flooring supplies from the Radiant Flooring Company in Vermont. We decided to go with their design for the solar-assist radiant space heating and domestic hot water system. Jeremy and I felt the most comfortable with their design and it utilizes evacuated tube solar collectors, which we really wanted to incorporate in our house. They are much more efficient, especially on cold or cloudy days, making them a good choice for Connecticut.

Next week should be fun and action packed. Stay tuned.

Let's Dig a Hole!

2009-05-04T22:42:00.002-04:00

(Karann) We are very close to breaking ground. We are a few days behind due to the schedules of our septic engineer and surveyor. Tomorrow morning we are having a "kick-off" meeting at the site with our GC and all the subs. Oh, and of course we'll be giving our check book some use giving deposits to the subs we've hired ourselves (plumbing and heating). We decided that because the fine details of the heating and plumbing systems are still evolving, it would be better for us to retain control of those portions. We also have spent quite a bit of time on the windows, so I wanted to stay in charge of the window order, in hopes of preventing errors. Because the window rough openings are cut into the SIP panels at the factory, we had to make sure that the window order was set and that the SIP construction plans matched with the window specs. Anderson windows have so many options available (probably close to 20 option categories) that it is easy to make mistakes on the order.

So, if all goes well tomorrow, and our surveyor gets out to the site and stakes everything, we may be able to see a hole dug by the end of the week.

The Bank Appraisal is In

2009-04-22T23:45:00.002-04:00

(Karann) After being on pins and needles for the last week, we finally got word from our bank, Northwest Community Bank, that our appraisal is complete and everything is good. We had heard from our bank representative, Monica, earlier last week that the appraiser was having a hard time valuating the house because it was so different from traditional construction and there were no "comps", or compariable properties for her to use for reference. We got very worried that the house and land wouldn't appraise out, especially due to the current real estate market. I think we were lucky with the appraiser, she seemed genuinely interested in the project and sought as much information from a variety of sources to help her with her valuation. So, we are one step closer.
The other news is that we have decided to enter the house in a design/build competition. See the title and link at the top right of this blog. The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and state utilities are sponsoring a competition (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place) to find three houses that are as close to zero energy homes as possible. They are even awarding cash prizes!! The education opportunities are great as well. We think our house will be an excellent example of a zero energy home, so I've been putting together everything required for the application. The deadline is May 1, with finalists being announced by May 15th. The awards will not be anounced until after the houses are built, December, 2010.

A Sad Separation, but Moving Forward

2009-04-13T12:33:00.003-04:00

(Karann) While on our Spring Break vacation in Florida, we did some serious soul searching and number crunching regarding how to proceed financially on our house. Our bank was on-board with us, however they were quite nervous about us being our own GC (as were we). When we received the initial proposal and bid from our chosen GC, David Jones, Jeremy decided we needed a second opinion-always a good decision when you are spending this kind of money. When we returned from our vacation, we met with the 2nd GC (also Dave), and were surprised to get a much lower cost for the exact same proposal (we insisted it was an apples to apples comparison). Dave (Nugent) was able to find a SIP provider that was much less expensive (by cutting out a middle man) and offered some other minor alternatives that saved money. We thought long and hard, and decided to go with the cheaper guy. It was a very sad separation from our first GC who has spent so much time on planning our project, educating us, and sharing green building experiences with us for the last 6 months. I was especially sad. Jeremy kept reminding me..."it's business, not personal".

So we're moving forward. Our building and zoning permits are ready to be picked up. Those were surprisingly easy to get. Our new GC, Dave, has been very good at getting everything we needed for our bank quickly and correctly. And we should be set to close on our construction loan as soon as the appraisal and title search is complete. We have a "break ground" date of May 4. Wow, we have an actual date. Hopefully, we can start on schedule.

Just Like Us

2009-03-15T10:53:00.003-04:00

(Karann) I finally found some people just like us. The Porter Family. We too believe that building green does not mean building a house that costs $2oo - $300 per square foot. Our philosophy is the same and we are also trying to use as much salvaged materials as possible (verses new "green materials").

We purchased salvaged cabinetry and granite counters for our laundry room. We found most of the interior doors that we need at a non-profit organization that accepts donations of salvaged and left-over building materials. We also acquired some old cedar barn siding and salvaged red oak flooring that we are going to use as wainscoting in several rooms. We found a black marble bathroom vanity counter with attached, undermount double sinks that was a reject from a high end home in Avon, CT. We're constantly scouring websites and the newspaper for opportunities to find interesting materials that we can recycle. A little creativity goes a long way. And to us, hunting for the stuff is way more fun than buying something new...imagining how and where you can use something...the feeling you get when you get a great deal while recycling something that would otherwise end up in the dump.

Like the Porters, we're also using SIPs for the shell, however, our heating system is very different (and less expensive). We're relying on solar generated hot water to supply heat through radiant tubing. We're also fortunate to live in a state that has great rebates and a leasing program for photovoltaic installation so we can start producing our own energy right away without spending $40,000 for the system.

Finding a way

2009-03-11T22:21:00.003-04:00

(Jeremy) We were pretty taken aback by the realization that we simply couldn't afford this house. While our entries into this blog have been few, our efforts for the past several months have been many. From concept, to design after redesign, not to mention the untold hours of research and discussions, this house has been the focus of an immense amount of time. And emotion. To be at an impasse like this was an immediate kick to the balls.

Not to say I wasn't expecting it, but it still steals your breath for a moment upon impact. And what do you do then? I'll tell you what, you catch your breath and you go kick the person's ass who was the culprit. Well, that's what you should do. I, myself, began to entertain the idea of cargo container/prefab home dwellings or selling the land and moving to Costa Rica or possibly roaming the land for adventures in our VW Camper. Think of it as a "Swiss Family Robinson" meets "Kung Fu". It took Karann a few days to talk me down but together we started to come up with "realistic" solutions and I think we are well on our way to figuring this whole thing out. For the record though, I still like the "Cargotecture" option.

Cost Rica sounds good too.

I really don't think the VW/Kung Fu option would work out.

(Karann) I actually liked the cargotecture house link above. Nice concept, good recycling idea, and pretty cheap. I just didn't like the idea of starting over on an idea, especially when Spring is on the way and the snow is melting. Besides, we both really love our house design.

So the plan we're working toward now is to have a GC working on the project up to completion of the shell (excavation, septic, trenching, foundation, all radiant and plumbing in the slab, slab poured, SIP package built, and windows installed). At that point we would take over the contracting. We really believe it will save us a considerable amount of money and allow us to do some items ourselves at a slower pace at that point. Jeremy thinks he knows enough contractors that are also clients that we can use.

So with our plan in hand, we went to our bank, not really sure if they would let us be our own GC for the last half of the project. They surprised us by being very excited (about the house) and were willing to let us be an owner/builder. Wow. Some good news finally. Things are looking up for right now.

Since we already had quotes and a detailed estimate for the finish work in the house (floors, cabinetry, fixtures, etc,) we just have to fine-tune our quotes for some of the bigger items like roofing, siding, plumbing, etc. Then the bank can order the appraisal and we can hope that our land hasn't lost too much value in this dismal housing market.

And the numbers are in...

2009-02-28T19:57:00.002-05:00

After months of plan revisions, meetings, research and more revisions, we've finally compiled all our numbers and received all the quotes from our GC and various vendors to find that....(dramatic pause)....we're incredibly over budget.

While being over budget is not really a shock, being 30% over budget is a bit disconcerting. Forget about a scalpel, we've got to break out the ax, maybe a chain saw.

So Karann has been re-crunching the numbers and I've been talking to several contractors seeking advice. We're finding ways to widdle down the costs like taking out a couple banks of windows, going back to an IKEA kitchen, forgoing the trick stairs and living with a basic set until we can afford to upgrade. I'm making some connections with contractors who are willing to barter services, proving that this economy is one of opportunity not just dread. The bottom line is that we're going to figure something out to make this happen. Where there is a will, there is a way.

House Plans

2009-02-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

Here's our most recent floor plan. We have not made an exact calculation yet, but I believe we're at about 2700 square feet. The living room and stairwell will be open to the second floor above and the master bedroom will have a cathedral ceiling. Oslo's bedroom (northeast bedroom) will have a cathedral ceiling with access to a small loft over Nola's room. The kitchen is open to the living area with exposed glu-lam beams and posts. The "music room" will double as Jeremy's practice studio/Karann's sewing room and spare bedroom for guests. The main entrance for the house is on the east side of the house where a large mudroom is located. Like all good passive solar houses, most of the windows are on the south side of the house. The cupola, in addition to providing light, will be vital in the summer for natural cooling.

House Elevations

2009-02-01T23:42:00.000-05:00

My New Years resolution is to post on this blog more often. So, in an attempt to catch up on the past several months, you'll be seeing a flurry of posts in the next several weeks.
For a start, here's our house plans and elevations as of December 31, 2008. Several small changes have been made since then, but nothing major. The elevations don't depict the siding or window divided light patterns. I'll post examples of siding and windows in future posts. The screened porch on the west side of the house is a last minute addition. We will likely have the foundation and ledger boards constructed for this at the same time as the house is built, but we will finish the room later. It will have a flat roof that will serve as a deck for the balcony above accessed from the master bedroom.

Poop and Circumstance

2009-01-31T16:34:00.000-05:00

Nothing happens quickly in this game. In fact, things take much longer that you would like.

The only thing that happened quickly was approval of the site plan and septic design from the health department, but not before wrangling an engineer to actually complete the work needed for said approval. We thought we'd have it easy since the land we bought was previously parceled, perc tested, and engineered. A simple call to the previous engineer would facilitate a small fee, a print out and off we go. Wrong.

A string of phone calls to this engineer (over several months) that grew in desperation finally yielded a response that told us of a hefty fee and a prolonged process. After that bit of info we found another engineer who, after receiving a retainer, said that he needed more perc tests, more survey work, blah, blah, blah. When we figured out we could say "Thanks, but no thanks", we did so and held him to his contract and got a septic design that gained approval easily. Step one complete.

While this was happening, we started working on a floor plan for the house. Having dreamed of building a house for about 12 years, we had lots of sketches on napkins and the backs of kids artwork to work from. In July I met David Jones, a general contractor. David was building a house that I was fabricating some stained glass windows for in Falls Village, CT...a stunning post and beam with structural insulated panels (SIPs) and beautiful craftsmanship inside and out. More on David's immense skills later. The owners also introduced us to an architect from NY, who built the Bog House in Sharon that we toured and loved. Unfortunately, we could not afford her services and decided we really did not want a full service architect, anyway. We set out to find a designer to take our ideas and make plans from them. David hooked us up with Panel Pros (SIP panel provider) in Vermont who recommended a free-lance designer. We've been working with him since September, with input from David, on the house design. The windows have been my primary responsibility. By that I mean choosing the right windows; style, size, and hardware. I can safely say I was a bit unprepared for this task, practically memorizing the Anderson catalog has been a requirement. We've made more changes to the design in regards to the windows than anything else, by far. And then when we thought we were done, Jeremy discovered that some of the windows would be too high for me to even see out. It sucks being short. So we had go back and look at every window again and make changes. I'm happy to say we now have a final design, and David is gathering bids (his and subs) right now for us. This process has been slow with lots of decisions to make, but since it has been a very cold and snowy January, we don't feel pressed for time yet.

Respite from the Heat

2008-06-09T19:43:00.000-04:00

Summer is definitely here. In fact it feels like summer in South Florida. 95 degrees, humid, muggy. Luckily we have a place to go to beat the heat....our land.
Sunday morning we needed to get out of the house for a few due to a showing at our house (it's back on the market). We thought playing in the brook would be fun for the kids and there is always some task to accomplish for us, so off we went. It proved to be fun for all.
While I gathered up the chain-sawed wood from clearing up a path down to the brook, Karann and the kids were knee deep in the water where the temperature was at least 10 degrees cooler than in town. As I stacked up the wood near our campsite, Oslo was exploring different parts of the brook and getting sticks out of the water. Karann was watching Nola as she fearlessly edged her way around the perimeter. Before long Karann was helping Ozzy catch "brookies" and put them in a bucket which he proudly displayed to me. After I had finished stacking the wood, I too went down to the brook and cooled off, splashing the cool (60 degrees or so) water over my head. Wound up sitting in a chair we had brookside, feet sloshing around in the clear water. Karann and I looked at each other and I simply said, "this doesn't suck!". Yeah, we're going to love living here.

Driveway

2008-05-23T21:47:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the day we may be able to park our car on the land. Kris, from Yardmen Landscape started our site work today. He graded (not much clearing was required) a 15' by 100' driveway onto our lot and spread and compacted 3/4" gravel for a nice base. He also dug a hole for our outhouse. Yes, outhouse. We are going to have the nicest outhouse in New Hartford.
This weekend Jeremy will prepare an area for the cargo container which is due to be transported to the land on Tuesday.

We just came back from seeing the finished product of our rough-in driveway and we are off to a satisfying start! The kids seemed to enjoy playing on the gravel and we were elated to see how clean and level the entrance to our "kingdom" is.
What better way to celebrate the first successful project on our land than a brookside cookout! We made a fire, roasted some hotdogs for the kids and some salmon burgers for us. Couple of glasses of port and a visit from Mom (Dianne) and our friend Dave who sounded off on the types of birds that he heard and found the spots where we can catch "brookies" along the way.
Looking forward to warmer weather so we can actually camp out and enjoy the sounds of the bubbling brook as we spend the first night on our land. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

A Bit of Nature

2008-05-20T22:24:00.000-04:00

I thought I would describe our land a bit. As soon as it stops raining, I'll try to get some good pictures to post. We have a shared driveway between five lots (65 acres total). The original estate of 200+ acres belonged to two brothers, who donated 118 acres to the state. Two heirs subdivided the remainder and we were lucky enough to purchase the most ecologically diverse lot. The state land, approx 400' to the north of our lot, has a road, trails, and a pond we have yet to explore. Jeremy is looking forward to getting his bike muddy!! On the east side of the lot (egress) the terrain is very level, with excellent sandy soils and contains numerous young trees, predominantly white pine and birch. There is excellent solar exposure to the south (our #1 requirement). We will need to relocate some of the birch trees to the north side of the homesite. The terrain then slopes down toward the west (on this slope is where the septic system will go). Generally, our site work costs will be very low (compared with almost every other lot we looked at). At the bottom of the slope - 15' lower in elevation - the vegetation changes to mature forest with a mix of deciduous and conifer trees. The forest continues to the west and gradually slopes down another 15' where a four season brook crosses the property on the west end. There are stone walls (typical of 18th and 19th century New England) as well as what appears to be the remains of an old stone bridge or grist mill at the brook where another small stream enters from the east creating a small waterfall. It's a lovely spot to sit and listen to the bubbling. Another big plus is that there are no wetlands with the exception of the stream bed and adjacent shoreline (less than 10 ft on both sides). Our first task is to build a trail from the homesite to the brook where we will be spending much of our time this summer enjoying the setting and roasting marshmellows with our kids.

A Way In

2008-05-20T21:42:00.000-04:00

A blizzard of calls this afternoon to try and secure a shipping container. There was a lead on a 40' container that might be available in the future and today the lead became a desperate, last minute scramble to get it out of it's present location. The deadline was midnight. I was on the case.
For a little back story, I have a friend who had a girlfriend who's taking him to the cleaners. Knowing both sides of the situation (and in the market for a container) I inquired from each direction and found myself able to get it from one side or the other. Just a matter of time. Didn't think it was going to be so little time.
My friend called early afternoon with the offer of the container as long as I got it today. By midnight because that is when the court order expired and the container, as well as it's contents, became the property of the ex. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
In a series of phone calls to trucking companies (to pick up the box) and my excavator (to put in a rough driveway into our property) I found a few possible solutions. What happened was a trucking company picked it up and is storing it on their yard until the driveway is built. Fortunately the excavator can get to it Friday and then we'll have it brought to the land. Everyone wins. Especially us.

Land Ho!

2008-05-20T01:10:00.000-04:00

As of Friday, May 16th, Karann and I are proud (and nervous) land owners. Proud at the fact that we have taken our time, researched for years, and finally acquired the "perfect piece". Nervous because we have quite literally gone broke in wrestling it to the ground. Of course the "fun" has just begun, which brings us to this blog. We felt it only right to share with our friends and family (and all the nosy folks trolling the web for a good story) the many ups and downs of building our "dream" home. We know it's going to be rough, we're expecting the worst and hoping for the, well, we're hoping it doesn't drive us to kill. Contractors be warned!