designing and building a more sustainable home

The Green Home Remodeling Guide includes many ways to integrate green ideas into your residential remodel. Whatever your budget or personal preferences, you can meet your goals while minimizing your impact on the environment. The guide is loaded with expert tips, checklistsand how-to information about:

• Saving energy and water

• Using renewable energy

• Protecting rainwater and streams from pollution

• Recycling and reusing construction materials

• Selecting low-impact materials

• Reducing indoor pollutants, including mold and toxic chemicals

• Durability and long life

• Reducing maintenance

This helpful 92 page guide is downloadable for free online, and is available in hardcopy for $9 at:

ecohaus
819 SE Taylor St, Portland
(503) 222-3881

The ReBuilding Center
3625 N. Mississippi Ave, Portland
(503) 331-1877

the truth about waste

“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.” Buckminster Fuller

cardboard interior

bubblewrap lace curtains

best home energy analyzer

national grid has a very comprehensive, easy to use energy analyzer and guide for changes you can make to make your home more efficent. Check it out when you have a few minutes.

energyguide

solar hot water

looking for a local supplier and installer of solar hot water systems?

http://www.neshw.com/index.html

     

“This sketch shows a basic Solar hot water system for heating your household hot water.
The three main components are; a roof or ground mounted collector, a pump and control station, and a solar cylinder or storage tank. In this set-up, a pre-existing boiler or hot water heater provides back-up heat.

Bright sunshine is not necessary for your system to work.
On cloudy days and in hazy conditions there is usually sufficient solar energy for the system to provide the required amount of heat. Moreover, the solar collectors work well in New England and will still provide sufficient hot water on the coldest winter day.

A basic solar hot water heating system will cost around $6000 installed.
However, there is currently a 30% Federal tax rebate and numerous state incentives that bring this cost down substantially. Massachusetts, for example, has a sales tax exemption as well as an additional 15% state income tax credit. So in Massachusetts, your system will cost you ‘out of pocket’ about $3300 with no sales tax. Other states offer even more incentives.

After the state and federal government help you pay for your Solar hot water system, you will have made the best possible alternative energy investment possible- no other ‘green’ investment is even close.
By way of comparison, a roof top mounted photovoltaic (PV) system to provide electricity for your home will cost around $20,000and take at least twice as long to pay for itself even after all the federal and tax rebates.”

Best Value

“A call to NESHW will result in a prompt visit (within 24 hrs) to asses both potential sites for the collector itself and the state of your existing hot water system. Then, depending on such factors as the number of family members and your general hot water usage patterns, a system is sized and designed to accommodate your existing plumbing components and design. A quote will be returned (by fax, email or FedEx) within 24 hours of the site assessment.

We will also guide you through the various rebate programs as well as special 0% loan options that are available for these systems.

There are a handful of other companies who offer similar products and services. In most cases, these competing firms also offer many other ‘green’ energy products such as wind turbines and the expensive photovoltaics (PV) arrays to produce electricity. These companies offer a ‘boutique’ type service specializing in very expensive installations where the customer is more interested in the peace of mind and prestige associated with a renewable energy supply. Return on investment or payback period are not primary considerations in these situations.

Space heating (Radiant floor heating)
Solar radiant heating uses hot water from collectors just as with a domestic Solar hot water system. Much more water is needed, so more collector area is used. The back-up heater can be a standard tank type water heater and be fueled by gas, oil, or electricity or a gas fired on-demand water heater. In existing radiant system, the Solar hot water system can be plumbed to the existing hot water source which will then serve as a back-up.”

Interested in learning more? Check out their website, or contact them at:

New England Solar Hot Water  |  781.536.8633  |  677 Temple St, Duxbury, MA 02332

art, poetry and music

“Art, poetry and music are matters  of survival. They are guardians and makers of the unbroken chain of what’s oldest and first in the human spirit.” Larens van der Post

parents and educators should keep this in mind when the difficult decisions come up concerning elementary and middle school curriculum; cutting art and music is truely cutting the chain of what is essential- our abilitiy to express what is important.

the creative spark that is ignited by the arts in a childs early years is what will give him or her the creative edge to be successful in our fast paced, ever changing future. As a society we must finally recognize that the arts are equally, if not more, important than the three Rs of past generations.

we should be thinking in terms of the 4 Rs of modern education: reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmatics and finally,  ‘rts

air car

 while the MDI citycat, a car run on compressed air might not be available in America any time soon (lightweight fiberglass construction probably won’t meet safety standards) the concept is amazing…

a car run on air- no pollution, no waste products from production and it’s practically free (compressing the air obviously involves some energy costs).

it may not be architecture, but I’d love to see these in everyone’s garage! air car

residential energy credit on IRS taxes for 2007

tax rebates -residential energy credits

even though tax time is a few months away, you might want to start collecting up the receipts now for work you did on your house in the last year

to see if you project qualifies, and for more information on the tax credit for energy efficient windows and for other home energy efficiency improvements, view the websites of:

• The Internal Revenue Service

• The Alliance to Save Energy

• The ENERGY STAR site

you may be able to take these credits if you made energy saving improvements to building envelope components installed on or in your main home located in the United States that you owned in 2007:

residential energy credit form 5695

ten daylighting myths

sunscreens

what is GOOD daylighting?

good daylighting creates beautiful, appropriately lit spaces while saving energy. A successfully daylit building is the result of a combination of art and science, of architecture and engineering. It is the result of an integrated design process, and is not simply a technology that is installed once the building is complete.

daylighting myths

don’t let myths obscure your view. Learn how successful daylighting works today. See ten daylighting myths—unclouded:

daylighting myths

about the daylighting collaborative

the Daylighting Collaborative was initiated by the energy center of Wisconsin and its sponsoring members as a source of why-do and how-to information for daylighting using windows.

vision

light every building using the sky.

mission

empower all building designers and owners to incorporate daylighting into every project by providing with them with a single source to locate all information they need: the Daylighting Collaborative advanced design that respects the natural environment and creates energizing spaces for people.

experiencing home

looking out

“It seems to me that emotions deriving from built form and space arise from distinct confrontations between man and space. The emotional impact is related to an act, not an object or a visual or figural element. The phenomenology of architecture is founded on verbs rather than nouns. The approaching of the house, not the facade, the act of entering, not the door; the act of looking out of the window, not the window itself; or the act of gathering around rather than the hearth or the table as such seem to trigger our strongest emotions.”  

JUHANI PALLASMAA,  IDENTITY, INTIMACY AND DOMICILE

nature challenge

The David Suzuki Foundation has researched the best actions you can take to protect nature and improve your quality of life for the future. The good news is that simple changes can make a real difference! Sign up for the Nature Challenge and see how many of the following actions you can do!

1. Reduce home energy use by 10%
An energy-efficient home will lower your utility bills and reduce your environmental impact. Heating accounts for nearly 60% of energy use in the average Canadian home.

2. Choose an energy-efficient home and appliances
R-2000 homes use 30% less energy than standard homes. Modern appliances are better for the environment.

3. Don’t use pesticides
Small children and pets are especially vulnerable to the dangers of chemicals.

4. Eat meat-free meals one day a week
The production and processing of grains requires far less water and land than does meat.

5. Buy locally grown and produced food
Try buying local food for one month a year. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from food transportation.

6. Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle
A typical SUV uses almost twice the fuel of a modern car, although both seat the same number of passengers.

7. Walk, bike or take transit to work
The air we breathe inside our cars can be up to 10 times more polluted than the air outside.

8. Choose a home close to work or school
If you live in a convenient location, you’ll lower your emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

9. Support alternative transportation
Transit lines and bike paths mean less pollution, less gridlock and urban sprawl.

10. Learn more and share with others
We can inspire our elected leaders to incorporate environmental conservation into public policy.

We invite you to sign up for the Nature Challenge and you’ll receive our monthly newsletter full of news and handy tips to protect the environment.

 

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/

global warming

 “Man created the problem and therefore man should solve the problem,” Virgin’s Branson told a news conference  today where he presented his $25 million incentive program.  “Unless we can devise a way of removing CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the earth’s atmosphere we will lose half of all species on earth, all the coral reefs, 100 million people will be displaced, farmlands will become deserts and rain forests wastelands.”

  
Scientific American: Virgin’s Branson offers $25 mln global warming prize

DNA Stairs

 Check out this new spiral stair that flows elegantly from one level to another …

DNA 

Concept… The Strand

The single defining feature of the DNA stair is that it should look like a DNA strand. This look is achieved by the central staircase support and balustrade, which I have dubbed the ‘strand’. The domestic DNA strand consists of 3 main elements:

• A large diameter helical tube which supports the treads and inner balustrade.
• A small diameter helical tube that forms the inner handrail.
• Balusters which support the handrail and links the two helical tube

http://www.dnastair.co.uk/index.html

sustainability- LEED for homes workshop

November 1st 2006, attended LEED for Homes workshop

Summary: Work toward efficiency. Avoid unnecessary waste. Keep our environment clean. Seek creative solutions.

This workshop focused on the fact that as architects we play a large role in the stewardship of our environment, and we have a responsibility to act as a resource to homeowners, builders, and the community on how to preserve and protect this environment. Topics covered key sustainability issues involved in the siting, design and construction of new homes. (To view a copy of the LEED for Home Checklist, see  LEED )

Currently, a whopping 40% of the worlds energy and resource are linked to the construction and maintanence of buildings! We should be looking for any way possible to reduce this figure.

If you share our concerns about environmental waste, related health concerns, global warming, and the massive problems we are facing as a result of our reliance on foreign oil, here are a few websites to check out:

http://inhabitat.com/blog/category/greenbuilding-101/

http://www.greenhomeguide.com/

http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-wordplay6jan06,0,11681.story (understand the terms being used)

Take action:

http://www.globalgreen.org/programs/climate/pledge.cfm ( The Pledge of Allegiance to American Energy Independence)

greenteedesign   wear a fun t-shirt that comments on ways to reduce waste

help save the rainforest   click daily

Sustainable Materials:

http://www.fscus.org/

http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/design/construction.html#purchasing

In the Boston area:

Recycle construction materials-

http://www.bostonbmrc.org/bostonbmrc/donate_3_guidelines.html

Gas Stones- an alternative to fake logs

While the gas stove popularity has grown significantly over the past ten years, the look of fake logs just doesn’t do it for many homeowners. There are options now, and the alternative of beach stones can be used in interiors that are both natural and modern.

“Gas Stones are clean, crisp and contemporary.  They are like a breath of fresh air in the hearth industry.” says Holly Markham, owner of European Home.  Very popular in Europe and designed by Gavin Scott Design of England, Gas Stones consists of a natural gas or propane burner, ceramic basket in white or black, a set of hand painted ceramic beach stones and a remote control.

Gas Stones are $1200 retail plus $50.00 shipping.  Gas Stones can be purchased through some fireplace retailers or directly through European Home, based in Melrose, MA.

http://www.europeanhome.com/product/gas-stones-vent-free/

enchanting recollections of travel

Notre Dame, Paris

Camello Sitte, an urban planner in the late 1880s was disturbed by the radical changes modern planning was having on the urban fabric of Europe.

He believed that, through the understanding of how cities developed over time, planners could continue to build beautiful spaces that also reflected the lifestyles of a new Industrial Age.

After our recent return from Europe,  I found his reflections expressed a certain truth that still applies today:

“Enchanting recollections of travel form part of our most pleasant reveries. Magnificent town views, monuments and public squares, beautiful vistas all parade before our musing eye, and we savor again the delights of the sublime and graceful things in whose presence we were once so happy.

To linger! If we could but linger again in those places whose beauties never waned; surely we would then be able to endure many difficult hours with a lighter heart, and carry on, the strengthened, in the eternal struggle of this existence…Anyone who has enjoyed the charms of an ancient city would hardly disagree with this idea of a strong influence of physical setting on human soul.”