Posts Tagged ‘LEED’

There are two ways that windows help in heating and cooling – by preventing heat loss from the room, and by taking in heat from the outside. The former is measured by a window’s U-Factor and the latter by SHGC. U-Factor measures how much heat is lost through the window. The actual math gets quite complicated – U-Factor tells you how much heat is lost in one hour for one square foot at a certain temperature. A low U-Factor value (usually of 0.35 or lesser) means less loss and thus better insulation. Conversely, some windows may even mention an R-value, which is a measure of insulation. A low U-value corresponds to a high R-value.
SHGC is a value between 0-1. The lower the value, the less the amount of heat a window admits. Depending on the climate and your heating/cooling requirements you will need to pick a window with the right combination of SHGC and U-value. In cold climates, you want a U-value lesser than 0.35 combined with a high SHGC of around 0.60 or higher. This will considerable reduce the load on your heating system. For warm climates, you want the opposite – a low SHGC of less than 0.40 with a high U-value.
Does this mean you will have to change windows to match the seasons? Not necessarily. A metallic oxide layer (called a low E coating) applied on the outside keep the heat out, lowering the SHGC and when applied on the inside decreases the U-value. Even tints work well, though they only reduce the SHGC value.
Does material matter? Very much so, windows made of wood are not very good on insulation, while vinyl and fibreglass frames have the lowest U-values. Metal should be your last option when looking for insulation.

The ECO-Builders-Guild
South Sound Chapter
Presents
The South Sound Green Tour
Innovation – Education – Inspiration

April 17th and 18th, 2010

A community event to celebrate green innovations through education in sustainable building and inspired living.
This year’s tour will showcase the greenest homes and buildings in our area that incorporate significant use of solar or other renewable energies, new and reclaimed materials, low energy consumption and water conservation technologies, and sustainable design techniques.
Educational sessions will be held at various locations and feature real life topics on how to build and live greener. See our website for more details – www.SouthSoundGreenTour.com The site will be running by January 1, 2010

The Cooper project that we have been building will be one of many homes and businesses that will be open to the public for the weekend. Mark your calenders and join us, it should be a great time

The Northwest Eco Building Guild is an alliance of builders, designers, suppliers, homeowners, and partners concerned with ecological building in the Pacific Northwest.

A vital organization, our mission is to provide leadership in education to transform the built environment and build a sustainable society.

The Eco Builders Guild \ South Sound Chapter has announced it will host the South Sound Green Tour on April 17th and 18th, 2010
The theme of the event will be Innovation – Education – Inspiration

It will be a community event to celebrate green innovations through education in sustainable building and inspired living.
This year’s tour will showcase the greenest homes and buildings in our area that incorporate significant use of solar or other renewable energies, new and reclaimed materials, low energy consumption and water conservation technologies, and sustainable design techniques.
Educational sessions will be held at various locations and feature real life topics on how to build and live greener. See our website for more details – www.SouthSoundGreenTour.com ( The site should be up and running by January 1, 2010

South Sound Green Tour is looking for participants and sponsors. If you are interested in either contact me at info@laupenhomes.com. After January we you will be able to contact us directly at SouthSoundGreenTour.com

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.

4. Ventilation: Ventilation is properly controlled in a passive house, by means of a mechanical heat recovery ventilator. Although HRV are used in most houses, passive homes use an extremely efficient one, since no other heating or cooling device is used in the house. Most passive houses use both – air to air and earth to air heat recovery systems – depending in the size of the house and climate.

5. Air-tightness: Air-tightness is an extension of the ventilation requirements. Passive houses don’t make use of any HVAC systems – only a HRV system. Thus, it becomes very important that air doesn’t pass through the house in any other way, otherwise, the HRV systems will not be able to perform optimally. Passive houses are therefore super air-tight, much more than conventional houses. The building envelope is sealed thoroughly, and so are any service components that go through it.

6. Space Heating: This is a pretty novel concept in the passivhaus technique. When all the previous measures are not enough to heat a particular house, passive houses use heat generated within the house due to electrical appliances, lights, human beings and animals to heat it. Other than this, some houses install a small or heating device (running on renewable energy) that is integrated with the ventilation system. Some houses also use a micro heat pump that can recover heat from the air escaping through the ventilation system. Together, all these ideas make a conventional heating system quite unnecessary.

7. Electrical Appliances: Passive house use low wattage electrical appliances, CFLs and intelligent installation to minimize the use of electricity.