Straw

Ooh-arr, straw appears to be the sustainable material of choice at this year’s Ecobuild. The natural material features in board form in the latest home design from eco-architect Bill Dunster, in prefabricated panels in a turnkey retail building from Modcell and there is even a series of straw bale workshops for those planning to build homes, schools and offices from the readily available agricultural by-product.

Specifier

For the StramitZED house (right), Dunster has teamed up with straw board manufacturer Stramit to produce an eco-house in two-, three- or four-bedroom configurations, all of which meet the latest Lifetime Homes and London Housing Design Guide standards. Its design is based on Dunster’s code level 6, RuralZED development at Upton in Northampton. The homes are assembled from cassettes of strawboard combined with Welsh timber and recycled newspaper insulation.

Hot water and electricity are generated by solar photovoltaic and solar thermal panels, with surplus electricity sold to the grid. The homes costs upward of £135,000, a figure claimed to be £20,000 less than the normal cost of constructing a code level 6 house.

Straw bales are at the heart of Modcell’s retail solution too. This uses prefabricated panels (left) made near the costruction site, in a leased workspace or barn. The panels are assembled from untreated, locally sourced straw set into a panel frame assembled from sustainably sourced timber, which is then plastered with a protective lime render. The turnkey solution is claimed to save energy, money, carbon emissions and build times.

For those that want their straw raw and not pre-assembled, there will be plenty of opportunities to learn all about both load bearing and non-load bearing straw bale construction techniques at the straw bale workshops, which take place twice daily at Ecobuild – for further details and timing check out www.ecobuild.co.uk.

spec04

Phase change materials

If straw is too rustic and high-tech is more your thing, then check out the various phase change materials (or PCMs in techie-speak) at this year’s show. A good starting point is the Cool Workspace, which is one of the interactive attractions on the exhibition floor. Sponsored by Capita Symonds, the attraction has been designed to showcase how cutting edge materials and technologies can be used to create a more sustainable workplace.

PCMs are just one of the technologies on show. The advantage of these materials is that they can be used to store both heating and cooling energy. In the Cool Workspace, PCMs are embedded in the walls and ceiling tiles where they will absorb heat to help keep the workspace cool and reduce the need for air conditioning.

Specifier

If you want to know more about the technology visit both the BASF and DuPont stands.

BASF’s Micronal PCM has been incorporated into the Racus ceiling tile system for both new build and retrofit applications. Developed by Datum Phase Change, the tiles feature microcapsules of a special wax developed to store latent heat as it absorbs heat during the day, changing from a solid to liquid – . At night, when the temperature drops, the wax gives out heat and returns to being solid. The tile system has been used in the Victorian terrace refurbishment project at BRE in Watford.

DuPont’s phase change offering is called Energain. It is available in lightweight panels developed to enable thermal mass to be added to lightweight structures. The company claims that using the material can reduce indoor temperature peaks by up to 7ºC, optimising comfort and decreasing air conditioning costs.

Sustainable towers

With the world’s population becoming increasingly urbanised, the need for a fast, economic, high-rise, sustainable solution is becoming ever more urgent. One solution could be to build upwards using timber. As part of the fringe session, Advantage Austria is presenting a case study of a modular high-rise timber construction system designed for energy-generating buildings of up to 20 stories. Not sure about timber high-rise? Hear the discussion at South Gallery 10 at 12.30 on Wednesday 2 March.

Specifier

The results of a student competition to design sustainable towers located in the Greenwich South district of Lower Manhattan, New York will also be announced at the show. The design must encompass Isover Multi-Comfort principles, which are based on Passivhaus ideas of high levels of energy efficiency and comfort for the occupants. Wolfgang Feist, founder of the Passivaus concept and the Passivhaus Institut in Germany, will judge the competition and will attend the award ceremony on Isover’s stand N260, where the winners will be announced at 3pm on 2 March. See below for the shortlisted designs.

Shortlisted designs

Manhattan Sky Podium: a design which aims to connect Greenwich South with its surroundings through a series of elevated pedestrian routes which meet to form a significant green podium in the sky.

Social Tower Experiment: a tower designed to foster vibrant communities and social interaction at height.

The Green Ramp: a design which aims to integrate Lower Manhattan’s green spaces into the city fabric with a building that forms a ramp from Battery Park to theGreenwich South site, culminating in a Passivhaus skyscraper.

Solar Slice: a tapered tower that evolved through consideration of New York’s sun paths, it respects the solar rights of the existing 88 Greenwich Street tower to the north of the site by carving a huge slice out of its mass.

Green Canyons: a prototype to counter the depleting quality of life in vertical urban sprawl.

Green Tower: a design which takes into consideration the forms of surrounding towers and icons such as the Statue of Liberty.

Windgate (below): a tower which aims to make maximum use of wind energy while also utilising the building design to form a new gateway into Manhattan.

windgate2

Vertical Sunspace Tower: taking inspiration from the Denby Dale Passivhaus, this design features a series of stacked, south facing sunspaces to maximise passive solar gain, daylight penetration and to create social spaces at height in the city.

The three winning UK teams will receive cash prizes of up to £1,000 and will go on to compete in the seventh international final, which takes place from 18-21 May 2011 in Prague and features a top prize of €1,500 (£1,263).

Wolfgang Feist will also be participating in two fringe sessions taking place on 1 March from 4pm to 5pm (North Gallery Room 9) and 2 March from 4pm to 5pm (North Gallery 6 & 7). The sessions will provide an insight into the Passivhaus and Isover Multi-Comfort House concepts.

Bees and biodiversity

bee

With wild bee populations facing a growing number of threats including pests and diseases such as the varroa mite as well as a growing lack of wild flowers to provide food and habitat, is it time for the urban beekeeper to come to the rescue? A small back garden or access to a rooftop is all that is needed to keep bees. What’s more, there is a rich variety of plants in urban gardens, parks, railway sidings and tree-lined roads, all of which can be turned into delicious honey by our pollen and nectar eating friends.

The idea is not as crazy as it first sounds – probably the most exclusive address for bees anywhere in the world is the roof of upmarket grocers Fortnum & Mason in London’s Piccadilly. Even the beehives have been given a distinct architectural style and some rather elegant gold details (www.fortnumandmason.com/fortnumbees.aspx).

Honey bees rely on a diverse range of garden and urban flowers for their diet, which means it is important to create an environment in the city that not only safeguards existing wildlife but also encourages further diversity and food for bees. Helping designers and planners incorporate biodiversity and meet new regulations is just one of the topics in the Cityscape programme, along with a biodiversity surgery.

For further details and timings, check out the Cityscape area on the Ecobuild website www.ecobuild.co.uk.Alison Benjamin, co-founder of Urban Bees, will be offering top tips for potential urban beekeepers on Wednesday 2 March, in Cityscape theatre two, at 11am.

Sustainable materials

In addition to the hundreds of products already made from recycled materials that are on display at Ecobuild, Kingston University will be looking for the construction industry to use sustainable materials seen in other sectors but little used in design and construction.

spec05

Rematerialise, a library of 1,200 samples of sustainable materials from 15 countries, is being launched by Kingston University. The materials have been selected to provide an environmentally responsible alternative to more resource-hungry materials and include post-consumer and post-industrial waste streams, scrap and refuse otherwise destined for landfill. The library holds information on a material’s recycled content and its sustainable attributes along with technical data and examples of current applications for each material. The database was recently used to advise retailer Marks & Spencer on the use of appropriate sustainable materials for its new headquarters.

spec06

Part of the collection – including finished products manufactured from sustainable materials – will be showcased at Ecobuild to inspire further collaboration with industry and to bring to designers’ attention to sustainable materials not yet used in construction.

spec08

by Andy Pearson.
On January 18, 2011, in Observations, by Bob Borson – What is creativity? That was the question presented to a group of us who participate in a event where we are write on the same topic. It is an interesting exercise and one that I take part of quite frequently. So what is creativity? That is a leading question simply because creativity can manifest itself in many forms. Writing this blog 3 or 4 times a week takes an obscene amount of creativity if I do say so myself. In an effort to help define what creative can define, let’s consider some synonyms:

 cleverness   ingenuity   originality   imaginativeness

 Who doesn’t have these traits in some form or another? When I was younger, being “creative” simply meant you were artistic and that you used your creativity to produce items of visual merit. I don’t feel that way anymore – not since I met my wife Michelle – the resident Borson household genius with the masters degree in Mathematics. I am constantly amazed by how smart she is and how her brain processes information. I’m not going to say she is always right but it is hard for me to win an argument against her. My debating technique has more to do with misdirection and confusion but she can rationally and logically peel away what I am saying and befuddle me. Truth be told, that’s one of the reasons why I married her, because I love how she thinks.

I started thinking that creativity has more to do with how a person thinks, views, and processes information rather than their ability to draw or paint well. As a result I think some of the most creative people are scientists – people who don’t generally come to mind when the topic of creativity comes up. These are people who conceive of the unthinkable and envision the unknowable. People like Ernest Rutherford, Niels Bohr, and Robert Oppenheimer, among many, many others. If you are unfamiliar of these men and what they did, take some time and look them up on Wikipedia. If all you know is their work on the Manhattan project, you are considering only a small part of their story. Besides developing concepts that made things like the atom and hydrogen bomb a reality, these people were visionary thinkers.

But you don’t have to be a genius level intellect to have demonstrate creativity. Sometimes it’s about being clever and noticing what’s around you and realizing that you can do something with what you see. Like Velcro.

Close Up Of Velcro

Most people have heard the story about how Velcro came to exist. The idea for Velcro is credited to a Swiss engineer, George de Mestral … in 1941. Apparently the idea came to him one day after taking his dog for a walk and saw all the burs that were sticking to his pet’s fur. He examined them under a microscope and noticed that the burs were made up of hundreds of hooks that were catching on anything that had a loop. Despite not being taken seriously, Mestral continued to develop the idea for Velcro. In the end, it took over 10 years before he was able to create a mechanized process that could recreate the hook and loop system he saw under his microscope years prior.

How about a composer how couldn’t hear? Ludwig can Beethoven was born December 17, 1770 and started losing his hearing in 1796 when he was 26 years old. He lived and continued to compose music for until his death in 1827 having decided that despite his profound hearing loss, he would continue living for and through his art. At the premiere of one of his most recognizable and famous pieces, the Ninth Symphony, he actually had to turn around after conducting the performance to see if people were clapping or not. For someone as interested in music as I am, I can’t convey how unbelieveable that is to me.

Creativity surrounds all of us everyday and there are no uncreative people. How people interact with their world shapes their experience – positively and negatively – but it is unique to their own doing.

Source: LifeAsAnArchitect

 

 

While conjuring up comfort in the home seems like a basic principle, it’s a far more complex process for architect & remodeling guru Sarah Susanka, who believes that comfort can significantly influence the sustainability of your personal abode. With her mantra of “build better, not bigger,” Susanka promotes quality over quantity whenremodeling a home. Through transforming your living space into a more beautiful and comfortable environment, Susanka says that any home’s occupants will automatically take better care of their space in a more sustainable way. We sat down with Susanka to get the low-down on how to do more with less when revamping your space.

TIP 1 – Re-evaluate the Space You’re Working With

Remodeling is often associated with building an addition onto a home. However, Susanka is a strong advocate of re-evaluating the space that your home already contains and working within that original floor plan whenever possible. As she says, it’s important to ask yourself how you can make your existing house more tailored to the way you live. Instead of jumping ahead and planning a structural addition without any thorough thought, take a moment to consider whether or not you could work within the space you already have available. Ask yourself these questions: Do you really need more space? How much space do you need to be comfortable in your home? Can you borrow from the adjacent space to conjure the extra square footage you need? Then, as a last resort, consider a bump out or a small addition.

Unfortunately, most people start at the last resort instead of first weighing the other more economical and quality-generating options. Remodeling can be a difficult and often stressful project, so if you doubt anything along the way, look into hiring a professional to assist in the process. As Susanka says, “When we are having surgery, we normally don’t do it ourselves. Remodeling your home is one of the most expensive investments of a lifetime so we want it done well.” If you are in the market for a pro that understands Susanka’s philosophy on renovation, check out her Home Professional Directory for an expert in your area.


TIP 2 – Get an Energy Audit

When you start engaging in a remodeling project, one of the first things to check off the list is an energy audit. This helps you identify some of the most cost effective ways to make your home more sustainable, and those shifts can easily be incorporated into the changes throughout the rest of the renovation process.

Susanka tells Inhabitat that 20% of carbon emissions come from existing housing stock. By incorporating energy audits into the renovation process, not only will you end up with economical savings, but you will also contribute to the larger home emissions issue. This will help make your home easier to maintain as well as reduce your carbon footprint. It’s a win-win situation for both you and the environment!

TIP 3 – Invest in Quality Over Quantity

When you get home and enter a space that exudes quality and character, you automatically feel more at home. On the other hand, if you go overboard with quantity because it’s the knee-jerk response to generate change, you end up with a lot of uninspiring stuff. What Susanka reiterates throughout her books is the importance of utilizing the space you have to its highest potential. By creating a room that’s comfortable to be in, we are motivated to care for and sustain its beauty. Instead of tossing dollars around to quantify space, use your budget to induce quality elements that address your particular needs and aesthetics.

Ask yourself what will add more of your own personality into your space. What colors, shapes, or artwork do you enjoy looking at? Which rooms do you spend the majority of your time in? Do you have good heating and cooling systems that maintain a comfortable atmosphere in your home? These thought-generating questions will help you determine the best ways to approach the concept of quality over quantity.

TIP 4 – Use Lighting to Amplify Perspective

The way you introduce light into a space can have an enormous effect on an environment, hugely improving its quality and character. Susanka can’t say enough about how reflective surfaces can influence rooms throughout your abode. Reflective surfaces help bounce light around, augmenting the presence of natural light within a space.

One less obvious way to do this is by adding a built-in bookshelf near a window. The shelving edges act as reflective surfaces, bouncing extra light into the room.

Another option is to place a window adjacent to a perpendicular wall, instead of in its typical central location; that wall then becomes a reflective surface as well. Finally, placing soffits above windows can help transfer light into a room. All of these alternative lighting sources help with the ambiance and feel of a space.

TIP 5 – Enhance Your Space With Color

The way the light falls on different colors can completely transform a room. Determine the most important wall in each room — the place to which you want to draw peoples’ attention — and paint it to your heart’s desire.

This is the point in remodeling that can allow for personal freedom of expression in your home. Susanka points out that there’s no need to be shy in this process; be creative and experiment with a variety of colors to sense how they each make you feel in the space. Paint large pieces of paper in all the colors you could imagine and even all the colors that you’d never expect to use. You might just find that the brightest or most unexpected shade fits perfectly on your favorite wall.

Images from Sarah Susanka and Mark Vassallo’s book, Not So Big Remodeling, published by Taunton Press in 2009; by photographer Randy O’Rourke.

Green Remodeler – Sarah Susanka

Sarah Susanka, FAIA, is the leader of a movement that is redefining the American home and lifestyle. Through her “build better, not bigger” approach to residential design she has demonstrated that the sense of “home” we seek has to do with quality, not quantity.  A thought leader and acclaimed architect, Susanka is the best-selling author of nine books that collectively weave together home and life design, revealing that a “Not So Big” attitude serves not only architectural aims, but life goals as well.  Her books have sold well over one million copies.  Susanka’s most recent book, More Not So Big Solutions for Your Home, was released in February, 2010.  Join her online community at www.notsobig.com.

Article taken from Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World – http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/5-tips-for-a-green-home-remodel-from-eco-architect-sarah-susanka/

Contributor: Michael Strong

Green Building Up Despite the EcomonyHOUSTON, TX–Not making money on your money? Saving is the new best investment strategy–so many people are investing their funds in future savings with green remodeling. Recently released data shows that in Seattle, in 2008 (the most recent data available), where nationally certified green homes were sold and compared as follows to non-certified homes sold during the same period:

  1. Median sales price was 6% higher!
  2. Time on market was 29.4% shorter!
  3. Price per Squre Foot was 9.3% higher!

That should come as no surprise because it makes sense that a more energy efficient, durable, lower maintenance, healthier home is better built than the obsolete counterpart built only to meet minimum “code.”

With the 2009 debut of the NAHB Green Remodeling Standard, www.nahbgreen.org, anyone can and should make their home greener during a remodel. This is the first and only national green remodeling standard in the U.S. and it should be a homeowner’s blueprint for any remodeling project. Whether you are remodeling a kitchen or a bathroom, adding space or converting an attic, this Green Remodeling Standard is your guide to a healthier, more energy efficient home that will lower your living costs and enable you to sell your home faster and at a premium.

Homeowners have unprecedented choices when remodeling to create their dream home. Quieter, cleaner, lower maintenance homes with smaller energy bills and the best indoor air quality options in U.S. construction history are more popular than ever. Here are my top five choices for making your existing home greener:

  1. Apply a radiant barrier paint to your roof deck. By applying E-Barrier paint from Sherwin Williams http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pro/green/index.jsp to the bottom of your roof deck from inside your attic, you can expect to repel up to 70% of the sun’s radiant heat from ever entering your attic.
  2. #mce_temp_url#Be prepared for water usage price hikes by installing new Water Sense certified plumbing fixtures and commode during your next remodeling project. Whether made by Kohler http://www.us.kohler.com/savewater/products/landing.htm or another manufacturer, Water Sense certified fixtures work and will save you water. Install an Energy Star rated digital thermostat. They are easy to installhttp://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGroup&pgw_code=TH and can save you about $180 a year by properly setting your programmable thermostats and maintaining those settings.
  3. Add more insulation to your attic. Blow it in to make sure you cover up all the cracks and leaking holes in your attic. You can do this yourself or hire a professional but make sure you reach R-38 when you are done. Your contractor or equipment rental company will tell you how deep it needs to be to hit that golden mark.Use only Energy Star rated appliances like Miele www.Miele.com in your next kitchen remodel. Regardless of the price range you are considering, these high efficiency, German engineered appliances will save you more energy and water than their non-rated appliances. Plus they are so quiet you can’t hear them and they are the snazziest looking products on the market today!

These wise choices make your home efficiently more cost effective to live in and more desirable at resale. With the current real estate market in flux, many homeowners are opting to add on for more space or just freshen up their current home instead of moving and this is the perfect time to invest in future cost savings.

The www.nahbgreen.org website is a valuable tool—almost as valuable as an experienced Green Builder or Remodeler. Green building is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide with new and improved products being introduced at a rapid pace. Many of the techniques and products that will give you the greatest return on your investment can be recommended by the professionals who work with them on a real time basis and who keep up with the new trends and technology.

Think Green, Live Green, Build Green—it’s the right thing to do.

    —30—

    To comment on this article, please email Michael Strong

    Source: The New Era Times

Structural Insulating Panels for Roofs and Walls

Introduction to SIPs

  • Buyer Benefits: Two years ago, Norm Abrams of This Old House stated on TV and wrote in articles that he wouldn’t build his own house any other way than with SIPs. See the reasons below
  • Builder Benefits: SIPs can be a little intimidating to builders who haven’t used them. But experienced SIP contractors sing their praises. Many have switched exclusively to panels,citing the following reasons for their decisions.

SIP Benefits for Buyers

  • Extremely strong structure. There is considerable evidence that homes with SIP wall and ceiling panels have survived natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, straight-line winds and earthquakes better than traditional stick-framed homes right next door.
  • Lower energy bills. Discounting the “human factor”-thermostat settings and so forth-a number of side-by-side tests show that between 15% and 40% less energy should be needed to heat and cool a home with SIP wall and ceiling panels. In tests by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, SIP walls outperform fiberglass walls by over 50%.
  • Improved comfort. Thanks to extra R-values and tight construction, the wall and ceiling surfaces in a SIP home will stay warmer than in stick-framed homes. The warmer those surfaces are, the more comfortable the home is.
  • “Freeze proof.” What happens if the power goes down? During the late 1990s, several New England SIP homes survived over a week without power or a wood stove and never came close to freezing.
  • Indoor Air Quality. While there is no guarantee here, most homes built with SIPs are tight enough that builders can’t ignore upgrading mechanical ventilation compared to that found in a standard home. In many studies in North American housing, the best indoor air quality is found in homes that are tight and equipped with upgraded mechanical ventilation.
  • Green building product. On a life-cycle basis, a more energy-efficient house built with SIPs will be less damaging to the environment, in terms of overall resource consumption. Much less dimensional lumber is used in a SIP home than in a traditional framed structure.
  • Interactive systems benefits: For example, a more energy-efficient home may cost slightly more to build but in turn can be heated and cooled with smaller equipment that costs less to install.

SIP Benefits for Builders

  • Speed of construction. You can order the panels with all pre-cutting performed in a factory. They show up on the jobsite all pre-numbered, ready for assembly corresponding to numbers laid out on a set of shop drawings. On most jobs you should be out of the weather and dried in sooner. Time is money.
  • Fewer framers. A crew can consist of one lead framer assisted by minimally skilled helpers. Whenever a job involves craning panels up to frame a roof, it helps to have two people familiar with panels: one on the roof and one on the ground.
  • Shell installation option. If you’re having a tough time locating skilled carpenters, a growing number of manufacturers have regular crews who will install a shell on your foundation for you to finish.
  • Rigid frame. It’s easy bracing SIP walls. In fact, once you have two corner panels up, you can lean a ladder against the panels when needed.
  • Less jobsite waste. If you’ve ordered a set of panels with all rough openings for windows and doors pre-cut at the factory, the only true waste you’ll have is taking a few cases of empty tubes of adhesive caulk containers to the dump. And the factory can efficiently collect and recycle their cut-outs much more effectively than you can at the job site.
  • Less theft. While 2x4s and 2x6s are prone to “walking off” unsecured job sites, panels are too specific to the site’s building system to be worth hauling off somewhere else.
  • Cost competitive. While most builders say they pay a little more for SIPs than for the comparable framing and insulation package in a stick-built home, as a group they believe the benefits are worth the costs. The amount extra they pay varies; while a few say it costs them an extra $1 per square foot of finished floor area, the amount may be higher when roof panels are used. However, when roof panels enclose extra living space in a loft, the price per square foot is surprisingly competitive. If at the design stage you optimize a structure to use panels, the most experienced SIP builders then say a house framed with SIPs should cost about the same as a house framed with comparably sized dimensional lumber, and maybe even a little less.
  • Easier to hang drywall. There is solid backing for all drywall against exterior walls, which means there is less cutting, faster attachment and less waste material.
  • Fewer framing callbacks. Wall panels go in plumb, square and straight. Once in place, a SIP won’t warp, twist or check.
  • Increased referrals. A fair number of small builders report their marketing efforts have decreased ever since they started using SIP building systems.

Reprinted from http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/buildcentral/sip/benefits.aspx

OSB SIPs

Structural Insulating Panels (SIPs) are a composite building material consisting of a panel of insulating material, usually foam, sandwiched between two wooden layers. The wood can be oriented strand board (OSB) or plywood. Sometimes more exotic materials, such as sheet metal or concrete board, are substituted for the wooden layers. SIPs replace several components found in conventionally framed buildings including studs, joists and insulation. SIPs are most commonly used to construct exterior walls and roofs but may have other applications, such as insulated ceilings beneath conventionally framed roof truss systems.

Structural Insulating Panels have a history dating back to the 1940s when structural wall panels were first invented. Over the years the technologies and materials incorporated in SIPs have improved. In addition, computerized CNC cutting machines allow SIP panels to be factory manufactured and then cut to the exact size needed for construction, providing a certain level of prefabrication not seen in conventional construction.

Panels for Walls and Roofs

Homes using SIP panel construction tend to have a very tight envelope. Air infiltration, or draftiness, is eliminated and the walls themselves have a very high insulating quality. SIPs may cost more than conventional framing, but because they bring extreme energy efficiency to buildings, they lower operating costs. SIP panels are often combined with post and beam construction where the panels drape the frame creating an extremely durable and energy efficient structure. Trilogy Partners utilizes SIP panels in all of its Timber Frame and Post and Beam homes.

When Breckenridge homeowner Kyle M. decided to build a Net Zero home in Breckenridge, he knew the process could be daunting – but he was up for the challenge. He cared enough about reducing his energy usage that he searched and found an experienced team of Summit County professionals who would commit to his goal of building a zero energy home.

As we mentioned in our story yesterday, when our Breckenridge homeowner purchased his lot on Timber Trail Road, he knew that the overall design of the home would need to fit into the upscale theme of the Timber Trail neighborhood. Bringing the experience of having successfully reduced the energy consumption in his 10,000 sq. ft. Boulder home, he found a green building development team that could design and build a custom 8,000 sq. ft. home which would be as energy efficient as possible. Kyle selected Trilogy Partners of Breckenridge who were already well known for their expertise in designing luxury homes, interior design and construction management while incorporating environmental solutions and features into houses.

What follows is the journey of the home starting from the inside and covering the home’s energy modeling, insulation and framing.

Energy Modeling

First challenge: how to work with a and intricate architectural design and meet the goal of Zero Energy. Among the first professionals engaged for the Breckenridge Net Zero Home was Andy Walker and Renee Azerbegi of Ambient Energy of Denver. Ambient developed a net zero energy model which provided an analysis of how much energy is needed to power the home’s lighting, heating, coolingand other daily living needs. “Our greatest challenge was making a significantly-sized home energy efficient and renewably powered,” said Renee of Ambient Energy. “Based on the energy efficiency and net zero energy modeling and analysis, we determined how to reduce the life cycle energy use of the home and save over $58,000 in energy costs over the life of the home. We used an hourly energy use simulation model to calculate how to provide 100 percent of the house’s energy use from on-site renewable energy systems,” said Walker of Ambient Energy. The energy report recommended a combination of a large solar electric PV array along with a geo exchange system for space heating.

Framing and Insulation

However, before the team focused on the renewable energy systems it was important to make the home as energy efficient as possible to reduce the need for additional energy in the first place. The team turned to Joe Sundquist of Sundquist Design Group, Inc. in Conifer, Colorado. “To address the owner and builder’s desire to make this building energy efficient, we wanted to minimize unnecessary framing, while allow for increased insulation wherever possible,” said Sundquist. The home design utilizes manufactured lumber products purchased through The Breckenridge Building Center. Heavy timber members were used to create the structural framing system. Exposed wood beams were functioning as structural support elements to minimize redundancy within the framing system. Boise Cascade engineered wood products were chosen for framing purposes. Engineered wood products eliminate the waste associated with inconsistencies found in traditional wood products and typically uses only half of the wood fiber compared to ordinary lumber. “Boise engineered floor joists are 54 percent stronger and 33 percent stiffer than traditional lumber, yet use 48 percent less wood fiber, “said Jeff Sexton out of Boise Cascade’s Denver office. “The stronger engineered lumber allowed for increased stud spacing and greater insulation coverage,” said Sexton. By increasing the distance between the studs, the home was able to have approximately 30 percent more insulation.

Once the framing was complete Shane Aschan, owner of The Foamers, Inc. based in Silverthorne, Colorado, managed the insulation process. To ensure the inside of the structure was insulated to the highest degree possible and that the in-floor radiant heat would perform efficiently, Aschan sprayed a high density closed cell foam insulation with an R-value of R 14 under all slabs of the home before the concrete was poured. The Foamers insulated the exterior walls of the home with 3 to 3 1/2 inches of polyurethane closed cell foam with an R value of R 21 and insulated the roof with 6 1/2 inches of polyure- thane closed cell foam with an R value of R 40. “One of the building criteria we needed to meet was to produce an even flat surface of the finished foam to help the other subcontractors do their work efficiently,” said Aschan. Continuing on the insulation, Colorado Building Company insulated the exterior of the home using Dow Building Solutions Styrofoam Residential Sheathing. “One square foot of properly installed Styrofoam insulation of one inch thick can avert over one ton of CO2 emissions during the average life of a building,” said Karen Durfee, senior account manager with Dow Building Solutions, based in Denver.

More tomorrow on the Breckenridge home’s renewable energy systems and how an automatic lighting program functions as an energy management system.

Zero Net Energy (ZNE) structures use only as much power as they are able to produce. For instance most structures use electricity. A ZNE building might have photovoltaic solar cells on the roof to produce that electricity.

During the summer months, when the panels produce more electricity than the structure requires, the excess is sold back to the utility grid. During the winter months, when the solar panels are less efficient or even covered with snow, electrical energy that was originally sold to the grid would be purchased providing the needed electrical energy. In this manner, the net consumption of grid tied energy is zero. And because most electrical utility grids rely on carbon based fuels, the carbon energy footprint of the structure approaches zero, something most would agree is good for the environment.

Oftentimes a variety of different systems power and support the ZNE structure. Take for example a zero net energy residential structure. Many decisions about what systems to incorporate into the home will be decided during the design phase often many months before construction actually begins. One focus of the design process is concerned with energy management and conservation while another focus of the design process is energy production and harvest. For instance, conservation focuses on developing super insulated wall and roof systems to prevent the loss of heat energy or to reduce cooling needs. To further recude the homes energy requirements, energy control systems such as automated lighting controls, occupancy sensors, and consumption monitoring systems, are designed. For energy production and harvest, passive and active solar systems are often utilized. Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels may occupy much of the south facing roof surfaces. Geothermal, which harvest heat from the earth, may also be employed to heat the structure. Solar panels may also be used to heat water for domestic use or heating purposes. Small wind turbines may also be used to help power the structure.

One of the most important aspects of creating the ZNE structure is energy modeling. This takes place early in the design phase. It’s important to estimate accurately the energy requirements of the finished structure. An energy census is completed and sophisticated computer modeling is employed. Once the energy needs of the structure are estimated, systems can then be employed to provide enough energy to the structure so that it consumes no more than it produces and can indeed be called a ZNE building.

Shane Aschan, owner of The Foamers Inc., which is based in Silverthorne, managed the insulation process for Breckenridge’s first custom Net Zero home. He sprayed a high-density closed cell foam insulation under the slabs of the home before the concrete was poured.

image001

We wanted to ensure that the inside of the home was insulated to the highest degree possible and that the in-floor radiant heat will perform efficiently.

The exterior walls of the home were insulated with 3 to 3 ½ inches of polyurethane closed cell foam. The roof was insulated with 6 ½ inches of polyurethane closed cell foam.

Ashcan says: “One of the builder criteria we needed to meet was to produce an event flat surface of the finished foam to help the other subcontractors do their work efficiently.”

Colorado Building Co. insulated the exterior of the home using Dow Building Solutions Styrofoam Residential Sheating.

Karen Durfee with Dow Building Services, which is based in Denver, says that one square foot of properly installed Styrofoam insulation of one inch thick can avert more than 1 ton of CO2 emissions during a building’s average life.

FREE Seminar

FREE Seminar

965 N Ten Mile Dr. , Unit A1 Frisco, CO 80443
Phone: 970-453-2230

Email: information at trilogybuilds dot com
Facebook: TrilogyPartners
Twitter: @trilogybuilds
Instagram: trilogybuilds
Youtube: The Trilogy Partners Channel
Houzz: trilogy-partners