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.

Also a product that we think is very handy is their sealer. The Penetrating Sealer is perfect for giving the earth plastered walls sheen and making surfaces smooth to make cleaning easy. However its primary purpose is making your wall water resistant – especially in places where you have water seepage issues. The Gloss Sealer is used over the penetrating sealer to create a high-gloss look where desired.

Their best buy however the Mud-Glue – which is a binder for their plasters and at the same time a primer for your walls. Thus, not only is it environmentally friendly, but it also saves time because you don’t have to prime the walls separately. As a binder mud glue works to create more resistance within the earth plasters against water.

1. Esthetic: American Clay Plaster gives absolutely wonderful look to the walls, as evident by the pictures on their website. For anyone looking at warm, rustic, earthy tone and feel to their home or business space, American Clay is the best thing to go with.

2. Maintenance: The particular raw materials of American Clay Plaster make them resistant to UV rays – they don’t fade. Since it is natural clay – it releases negative ions in the surrounding air. Negative ions are naturally present in nature and natural materials. They are the reason we feel so fresh when we visit the park or a beach. They other great part about negative ions is that they don’t attract dust and pollen. Possibly, its negative ion count is also the reason that American Clay Plaster is mold resistant and controls moisture while allowing your walls to breathe.

3. No waste: As we mentioned, this plaster takes longer time to set – giving you more time to work with it and correct your mistakes. Even if it does set, you can simply re-hydrate it and its good to go.

4. Variety: American Clay Plasters come with 42 different shades, 12 textures and 3 different types. Other than this, they will create custom colors for you if provide them with a sample of what you want. Moreover, a professional who has experience with their plasters will be able to create shades of different tints and hues with their pigments. All ordering information is available on their website.

5. High on Information: Their website provides all the information you need on choosing, finding an experienced professional, application and use, and how to care for earth plasters. Here in Olympia we have it installed by Brent Hudson of Vessenza by Hudson. A link to his site is provided on our links page.

American Clay is a natural and environment-friendly substitute for regular plaster and performs all the functions of a regular plaster, only better. Regular plaster is made out of gypsum, cement, acrylic or lime, whereas American Clay is mud/earth/clay based. This makes a huge difference to the texture, stability, application, versatility, esthetics and health of the walls. American Clay Plaster allows walls and surfaces to breath, doesn’t attract dust and mostly importantly – takes much longer to ’set’ than normal plasters – so you have more time to work, without waste.

American Clay Plasters are made of recycled aggregates, natural clay and uses natural pigments to achieve its 42 colors. American Clay makes three different types of plasters to achieve three different finishes and for three different types of plastering requirements. Coloring pigments are separately available so that users can create their own tints and hues based on a shading card. Their website, www.americanclay.com also has a ‘how-to’ section.

Passivhaus is a building technique, or rather a set of building principles which result in creating a house that is extremely efficiently heated and cooled without the need for any external cooling/heating system. To make things simpler – imagine your current expenditure on heating and cooling – in terms of the system/equipment, the energy usage and the maintenance. Now bring this expenditure to almost 10% of its cost – this is what the Passivhaus technique looks at achieving.

Passivhaus achieves such efficiency by the inherent design and plan of the building itself, ambient and incident sunlight and weather conditions like windiness, cloudiness and sunshine. The principles of passivhaus are rigorous and strict ensuring that the structure built is extremely air-tight, optimally utilizes ventilation, super-insulated, and can remain at constant temperatures regardless of outside weather. Most of all – passive houses are sustainable, minimizing usage of energy and creating extremely healthy indoor air quality. Any energy, is required is produced with the help of solar systems – further reducing the carbon footprint and cost.

And contrary to what you might think, passive houses are as normal looking as regular homes and also not as expensive to build as others.

Your contractor will suggest that installing solar panels will be the most effective way to turn your home green. A better contractor, however, will suggest ways to make the best of the ambient sunlight you have for lighting purposes, so that you’re now powering other electrical appliances with solar electricity, and not so much the lights. This can be done by the Passivhaus standard which will entail constructing the home in such a manner that most of your rooms are lit up with natural sunlight, while ensuring that it doesn’t heat up the house unnecessarily.

The other things you want to discuss are appliances that save electricity: EPA certified one, CFLs, and the latest – LED lamps. Also, it is very important to ensure that you and the contractor carry out an energy audit of your existing house first in order to compare the savings your new house will generate.