Choose green for your next reno project.
The best two things a home builder/renovator can do in the name of energy efficiency is to insulate and seal a house. It’s almost too bad, what with our culture’s obsession with everything high tech. When people ask me about the Mill Creek NetZero Home (MCNZH), they’re often expecting to hear about technology’s magic answers. When I start talking about insulation levels, eyes start to glaze over, but the truth is that 75% of the difference between this house and a conventional one is that it’s sealed as tight as a plastic bag and it’s super-insulated. Read the rest of this entry »
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She’s a Big’n
October 18th, 2008 by andrea in Blogs - Mill Creek Net Zero Home, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes, Living Spaces, Uncategorized
I remember viewing a home on the ecosolar home tour a few years back that had just been expanded to 3000 ft.² plus a full basement. I walked away from that home shaking my head - can we really call 1000 ft.² of living space per person green?
The Mill Creek NetZero Home (MCNZH) is now fully framed, and it’s looking pretty big on the streetscape. We built a pretty big house, and I wanted to document some of the considerations that went into the decisions we made.
The official square footage of the MCNZH is 2280 ft.² With a full basement, that’s 3267 ft.² of living space. For four people, that’s definitely more space than we need. I am not a believer in the “techno-fix”. Technology will not save us from having to make changes to our lifestyle. We will have to considerably scale it down to start fixing the problems that we’ve caused.
So, while I acknowledge that our new home will be luxurious by world standards, here are some of the mitigating factors for its size:
- It’s actually only 2064 ft.² of living space by conventional measurements. Because the walls are 16″ thick, we lose 10″ of space per wall versus a regular 2×6 wall.
- Once it becomes legal to have suites in our neighbourhood, which should be in December 2008, two thirds of our basement will become a suite. This will increase the population density of the house by effectively making it two houses in one.
- The home is being built to “flex” to our needs. Once the children leave, we will be able to quite easily turn the upstairs into a separate suite. This way, there will always be four or more people living on the main and second floors.
- This house is a hedge against future uncertainty. I believe that we are going to have to move back to the multi-generational household at some point. Having more room will be better when the tough times hit.
- After much deliberation, we decided to add a loft - essentially a half-story - to the home. What put me over the edge in favour of the space was the heat-loss computer modelling that I did. It showed that the extra 306 ft.² from the loft would only cost us 400 kWh per year in heating energy. The flexibility that the extra space gives us was worth it.
I’m sure that we could have cut back on more space somewhere, but when you’re spending your life savings on something it’s tough. The incremental cost to add more square feet is so low once you’re building already…I guess that’s how everyone thinks, and that’s how our houses got so big.
We are very excited to move into the MCNZH. It’s going to be more space than we need, but we’ll try to use it fully and wisely.
(cross-posted at greenedmonton.ca)
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MCNZH - Progress (part 1)
October 3rd, 2008 by Conrad in Blogs - Mill Creek Net Zero Home, Energy Conservation, Green Building & Design, Green Building Blogs, Living Spaces
We tore down the house at 9805 - 84 Avenue about 45 days ago, and Peter Amerongen and Habitat Studios have made a lot of progress since.
The very beginning was quite stressful due to some difficult neighbour relations, but we go through that (for now). In the meantime, our foundation is poured and backfilled:
and the framing is well underway:
Adam the framer frames the double-walled exterior walls. Once filled with insulation and sealed, they will provide an amazing R56-rated resistance to heat flow to the outside.
The east and west walls completed, with a pile of reclaimed two-by-fours from the old pink house that Adam and Nick, the framers, will reuse as backing.
Rim detailing: Adam seals the gaps between boards to reduce air movement around the floor rim. This rim would normally remain exposed, leaking air for the entire lifetime of the house.
Adam finishes the rim detail by stapling a strip of Tyvek over the floor rim board. Attention to details like this, which Adam and Nick are very conscientious about, is very hard to come by in Alberta’s slap-it-up-quick building industry trades culture.
The framing is probably the most revolutionary part of this NetZero Home, which is ironic because it adds the least amount of cost compared to the other innovations. Insulation and good sealing have no moving parts - they will save energy 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, and never break.
The second floor should be done by the end of this week!
(Cross-posted at greenedmonton.ca)
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Steve & JD’s Green Home
September 2nd, 2008 by andrea in Green Homes, Living Spaces, Reclaimed & Recycled Materials, Renewable Energy, SolarWant to be inspired? Check out what Steve and JD accomplished two years ago as they deconstructed and rebuilt their US home in the greenest way possible. Here’s just a sampling of their home’s ecofeatures. The couple:
- spared materials from the dump by reusing them in the final product
- reused much of the core and shell of the original building
- purchased Forest Stewardship Council certified wood
- insulated using soy-based spray foam insulation
- installed recycled content products
- incorporated solar electric and solar water heating technology
- …I’ll leave a few surprises so you can enjoy the videos
The videos themselves are really well done, so enjoy!
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Humble Homes, Humble Lives
July 25th, 2008 by andrea in Community, Energy Conservation, Green Homes, Inner Spaces, Lifestyle, Living Spaces, Solar
Are you a humble person? So many of us answer ‘yes’, and yet our homes and possessions tell another story. One of the central pillars of personal sustainability and green living is fulfilling needs over wants, and doing so in non-material ways when possible.
Why? Because producing ‘things’ requires energy and resources, not to mention the toll it takes on the environment throughout the ‘thing’s’ production, use, maintenance, storage and disposal. But weeding out those ‘wants disguised as needs’ and finding non-material paths to fulfillment demands a certain amount of honesty, creativity and courage.
Shay Salomon, author of ‘Little House on a Small Planet’ sheds light on the growing small house movement, and how humble dwellings can offer financial relief, greater social contact, clutter-free spaces, more leisure time, and an abundant sense of home and personal fulfillment.
Sound intriguing? Try on Shay’s view via this Peak Moment interview or borrow her book from the library.
Resources
Small House Society - Some great tools and resources!
Mountain Equipment Coop Ecological Footprint Calculator - Take the test and repeat yearly to track progress and prevent footprint growth.
Carbon Zero Emissions Calculator - Just because you aren’t consuming stuff, doesn’t mean you aren’t consuming energy!
Do you live in a small house? If not, would you consider living in one?
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Step 5 - Stucco (Update)
July 7th, 2008 by greenspree in Blogs - Shire Strawbale Home, Community, Green Building & Design, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes, Living SpacesThe stucco is taking much longer than anticipated, the weather in May and June being so dismal being part of the problem and just the shear amount of work to do on the stucco. We’ve had some great help the past few weekends from great friends and family though and are making headway! We’ve started work on the finish coat this past week and got a good start on the north wall. After troweling it on you sponge it to seal the surface and heal any drying cracks. It turns out looking fantastic and looks just like adobe. (gallery below the fold)
Finish Coat Fun Times Bucket Man
New Recruits New Recruits New Recruits
Shade Mixing Finish Coat
Layers Hanging Out Old and New
More Infill Quick Drying Smooth Corner
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Green Builder Profile: Quake-tested Dome Homes
June 20th, 2008 by andrea in Green Building & Design, Green Homes, Living Spaces, UncategorizedWhat’s round, sturdy, stunning, affordable, earthquake and hurricane resistant, made in Canada from waste wood and frameable in under 8 hours?
I give you the Canadian Wooden Dome, an invention of Vancouver engineering firm Altus Engineering Ltd.
Green Building Company Profile: Canadian Wooden Domes (CWD)
Company Name: Altus Engineering, Ltd.
Location: Vancouver, BC
Company Mission Statement
“To successfully provide affordable, aesthetically pleasing, energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and
durable structures that are highly resistant to natural disasters.”
Dome Basics
Domes are nothing new. Think the Pantheon (Rome – 125 AD), the Taj Mahal (1653), and St. Paul’s Cathedral (London – 1708). It’s domes in modern North America that are uncommon to most. And though the average Canadian surely hasn’t imagined living in one, the beauty, comfort, affordability, security, and environmental benefits may soon woo a great many of us.
(Image Source: Wikipedia)
Simply explained, a CWD is made from 2 x 4 lumber ends cut to a precise size and shape to form panels or sections. When fastened together, these sections become progressively smaller concentric rings, and presto – you have a dome. Watch the video to help wrap your head around it.
(Image Source: Canadian Wooden Domes)
Domes in Canada
Altus Engineering’s CWD building experience reaches 8 years back including prototype development. Currently, one CWD tourist lodge and few cottages have been built in New Denver, BC. Of all the company’s potential clients, it is the government of Mongolia that is signed up for up to 14,000 affordable housing units.
(Image Source: Canadian Wooden Domes)
What Makes a CWD Energy Efficient?
- “A dome contains approximately 30% less air volume compared to a traditional stick built building with the equivalent floor area, because walls and ceilings are sloped not angular – so there is a smaller air volume to heat and cool.
- Angled walls and ceilings create dead airspace that inhibits natural air circulation and warm air tends to pool at the ceiling. With the sloped walls, ceiling and open spans, domes facilitate more natural air circulation with more even heating or cooling.” (Canadian Wooden Domes)
Dome walls are built to 5.5 inches thick, but a greater thickness can be achieved for those striving for higher insulation values. Using basic insulation ratings, dome walls should perform at about R-36 with sprayfoam insulation, or R-20 with cellulose insulation.
Ecofeatures
| Recycled or Reclaimed Content | Framing is made from 2×4 or equivalent lumber ends that would otherwise be chipped or used for finger jointing. |
| Durability | The 24′ dome prototype, passed a series of 9 earthquake tests of increasing intensity while bearing a weight of 5.5 tons. Expected life span is 2 to 5 times that of traditional frame buildings. |
| Toxicity | Depends on finishing materials chosen. |
| Company Location | Delta, BC |
| Water Conservation | Like conventionally built homes, CWDs accommodate rainwater capture equipment. |
| Energy Conservation | Estimated 30-50% energy savings compared with a conventional home of equal square footage due to the lower volume of air. Like conventional homes, domes accommodate renewable energy equipment. |
| Production Impact | A CWD requires 30% less material than a home with comparable square footage. Site disruption is minimized because dome sections are factory built, then transported for assembly. |
| Corporate Social Responsibility Program | No |
| Independent Certifications | No, however the system has earned several awards. |
Dome Construction & Finishing
Altus Engineering Ltd. manufactures the Canadian Wooden Dome (CWD) sections and assembles them on the construction site. This gets you a fully framed and assembled dome with all external sheathing. Because the sections are pre-fabricated and ready to assemble, a dome’s frame can be raised in a single day. The dome featured in the above video link at the University of British Columbia was erected in just 6 hours.
As for windows, roofing, and the rest of the work, the company recommends that post-assembly steps be contracted out, or completed by the homeowner. Of course, finishing can be included at an extra cost.
In addition to single and two-story structures, domes can be built with or without basements, and as additions onto conventionally built houses. While exterior and interior building materials are not limited to those shown in photos, the company lists recommended and compatible materials within their technical specifications.
Budgeting for a Dome
Base prices for dome frame assembly depend on the complexity of the structure but as a guide are as follows:
- a 26’ diameter hemispherical one-storey dome: $21,142.66
- a 26’ diameter hemispherical two-storey dome: $28,196.67
- a 33’ diameter elliptical one-storey dome: $35,420.42
Prices include on-site assembly but not taxes.
Contact
Canadian Wooden Dome Group
1311 Howe Street, Suite 600
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6Z 2P3
T: 604-691-1758 / F: 604-691-1759
Toll free: 1–877-982-3322
Resources
Canadian Wooden Domes
Monolithic Dome Institute -Click on ‘homes’ to see photos of dome homes around the world, some even for sale.
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