Posts Tagged ‘Built Green’

Saving water is more often than not, the introductory phrase to environmental awareness. Ask anyone how they plan to save the environment and “Turn off the tap while brushing” is on their list of top three ways. However, saving water and using it efficiently is one of the most basic ways in which we can ensure our homes are green. While most of us will conscientiously try and maintain water saving habits in the house and encourage others to do so, a lot of water wastage happens in other, not so obvious ways. Therefore, while remodeling homes we often ask homeowners to look beyond turning their taps off to replacing them altogether with water efficient taps.
A sure-shot way of looking for faucets that can help save water is to look for EPA’s ‘Watersense’ label, a certification given to bathroom fixtures and accessories that use minimum water, no more than 1.6 gallons per minute, as per federal regulations. The Watersense label, a program by EPA, is an independent third party certification given to products that clear the strict federal requirements.
Water efficient bathroom fixtures are not just limited to faucet, they also extend to showerheads that provide the comfort, and ‘feel’ of a regular shower head while using only a fraction of the water. In fact, there is a range of products that have the Watersense label and can greatly limit your water usage and wastage. These products cost a little more than the regular products, however, are worth it when you consider their quality and reliability as well as efficiency and lifetime value. Replacing your current fixtures with water efficient, or even better, Watersense fixtures is bound to bring in large savings in your annual water bill. To know exactly how much, you can use the savings calculator on the EPA’s Watersense website.

1. Shades, Awnings, Blinds, Curtains and even foliage around the windows can affect solar heat gain and can also be a cheap way to cool the house.
2. There are five parts of a window that affect its energy efficiency: Glazing technology; Frame; Operating Type i.e. how it opens and closes; Low-E coatings; Gas fills; Spacers. You need to check all these aspects of a window and ensure that they are the best suited for your climate.
3. Depending on the kind of problem you think you’re likely to have, focus on each of the six parts mentioned above. For instance:
a. If you live in predominantly warm and sunny climate, then you will need to focus on Glazing, Low-E coatings
b. If your weather is humid, then attention to spacers, frames and operating type will keep condensation and leakage problems in check
c. In cold climates, glazing, frame, spacers and gas fills need to be checked well before buying
4. Energy-efficient mortgages are a way of paying for energy efficient windows, which typically cost more than regular windows. This actually turns out to be quite cost effective, because the savings on energy and utility bills arising out of energy-efficient homes offsets the monthly mortgage payments. To get more details, visit the energy department in your state.
5. Important: Get your energy efficient windows installed by a professional. If not installed properly, they will be less efficient than even regular windows. . Make sure your installation expert has experience in installing windows and is familiar that particular manufacturer.

No, we are not switching to promoting green software – we’re going to stick to good ole’ hardware and home building. For a long time, windows have been thought of just as basic necessities to a house, or as ornamental and status-symbols. However, windows are a big factor in terms of our electricity bills, keep us healthier, make our homes last longer, save energy and essentially, save the planet. However, they can do all this and more.
Eco-friendly windows are essentially energy efficient windows. The make, material, frame, size and positioning of windows has a great impact on interior lighting, indoor temperature, heating & cooling systems and indoor air quality. Energy efficient windows work at maintaining optimal levels of all these aspects and thus significantly reducing our bills and our carbon footprint. And with the new eco-friendly wave taking the construction industry by storm, energy star certified windows are easily available. Also, the certification system is such that it works well for different kinds of windows that are made for different home requirements and weather conditions.
Yet, it can still get quite confusing and most of us are not quite familiar with scientific window terminology. Essentially, when you buy energy efficient windows, you will come across a lot of numbers and ratings. There are five things you need to look at:
1. U-Factor (Level of heat transfer)
2. Solar Heat Gain Co-efficient (Heat capturing capacity)
3. Visible Transmittance (Light Transfer)
4. Air Leakage and
5. Condensation Resistance
And that’s why we have a series of how to understand and buy energy efficient windows – without wishing you’d done more math in high school.

1. It’s easier to install and the units are smaller than conventional duct systems. Mini splits come in different capacities depending on the area you want to use it for. However, they all require nothing more than drilling a hole a few inches in diameter through your wall. This considerably brings down you labor costs and time taken for installation.
2. It has more aesthetic appeal. The indoor fixture are usually built with very sleek design and finishing, (depending on the cost) and are come in various mounting options. For instance you will find indoor fixtures that can be installed on the ceiling, corners or walls.
3. Space friendly. The indoor and outdoor parts can have as many as 50ft between them. Thus, you could install the outer condenser somewhere inconspicuous, like the back of the house, when it won’t be an eye-sore.
4. Duct HVAC systems usually cause a certain amount of heat loss through the ducts, particularly if they haven’t been insulated well (That’s another thing – there is no insulation required with mini splits) With mini splits there’s no such issue – there’s minimal loss of heat or energy through the conduit wires.
5. The cost is comparable to a standard heat pump system. Unlike heat pumps, Mini splits only lose about 40% of their efficiency when the temp drops to zero degrees. However by over sizing the unit by 40 %,( this adds a little to the upfront cost) you will have 100% efficiency at zero degrees. Given the last cold spell we had in December, this could be money well spent.

We recently hired Todd and Kari Harris of The Stone People to install a rain water harvesting system at our current project “The Cooper House” The system is designed to collect approximately 1000 gallons of rain water and store it under ground. During the summer months the homeowners will be able to use this water for their lawn and plants. They also will use the water to feed the water fall which is part of our landscape. Here’s how it works.

The Cooper Water Fall

The water is first collected from the roof with normal rain gutters. From there each rain gutter down spout is connected to a series of drain pipes which carry the water to a filter. As water enters the filter, the first twenty five gallons runs right through the filter and into the ground. By allowing the first twenty five gallons go into the ground we get rid of any bad things the water my have picked up from the roof. Once that occurs, the ground around the filter is saturated and the filter begins to fill up with water. When the water reaches a certain level in the filter it begins to drain into an out feed pipe and is carried to the 1000 gallon tank.

The tank is just a hole we dug, which we then wrapped with a heavy rubber liner. Inside the liner we stacked crates similar to milk crates which provide the structure for the tank. We then wrapped the top of the crates with the liner to provide a continuous cover. Also in the tank next to the crates is a pump chamber were the pump that runs the water fall is located. There is an over flow drain on the tank to allow water to escape once the tank is full.

After the tank was complete we poured a concrete walkway right over the top of it. Since the creates are incredibly strong, you can actually drive vehicles over them if you choose. Our concrete is part of a walkway that takes you from the street to the front door of the house. We plan to install a bench at this spot in the walkway so you can sit and watch the waterfall if you choose.

The city of Olympia bases homeowner’s sewer bill on how much water they use. They get the numbers from the water meter. By using water from the roof for irrigation you not only cut down you water bill but also you sewer bill. Imagine the savings if we could use this same water for the toilets inside the house.