Happy Halloween

Building Blocks

The concrete blocks arrived and the cascading corner foundation sections are being laid. Another survey will then be done to document that the house is physically on the land where it should be. If I had people commenting on the blog I might bring up how non-green I know concrete block is but because of solving the elevation issue and budget it makes the most sense in the grand scheme of things. So beyond that the house is moving forward at a brisk pace so far.

Finding Our Footing

The trenches are dug for the footers to go in. The inspector just happened to be there when we got there. We had to go but we'll know tonight if we passed because the footers will be in when we go back to Gottfried. The county comes to inspect frequently throughout each phase. The trenches were dug this morning, the inspector showed up by noon and then (hopefully) the footers will be in place later today.

Englewood Water Board Torture

I just paid $6285 to the Englewood Water District for water and sewer hook-up. Believe it or not I saved $3900 because someone in 2001 paid that amount toward the cost. Yes, it would have cost around 10k otherwise to connect to the county sewer and water. Between this cost and the impact fees, I would assume the county is glad we came along. I think of Olga next door and her struggle with the EWD. They offered to hook her up for free at a certain point. My only thought is that they are still going to have to run the pipe from the road back to our house and they run it on the North property line which borders hers. I'll just have to keep an eye on the destruction. Read more about Olga's experience at the Link.

Energy Star Tax Credits

While I am on the Energy Star Site it's a good time to also bookmark the current energy tax cuts. There is a very clear chart with all the resources to select products, find out the amount of the tax cut, what receipts/proof you'll need and finally you can print the various tax forms.

Important to note: "Home Improvements
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has provided guidance for consumers: IRS Notice 2006-26.

Tax credits are available for many types of home improvements including adding insulation, replacement windows, and certain high efficiency heating and cooling equipment. See chart. The maximum amount of homeowner credit for all improvements combined is $500 during the two year period of the tax credit. This tax credit applies to improvements made to your primary residence from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007.

If you are building a new home, you do not qualify for the tax credits for "eligible building envelope components" (windows, doors, insulation, roofs) or "qualified energy property" (HVAC & non-solar water heaters). However, the tax credit for photovoltaics, solar water heating, and fuel cells is available for homeowners building new homes."

Energy Star Home Advisor

Energy Star Home Advisor offers a page on their website where you can enter your location and current energy uses to determine ways to reduce energy use and costs. It highlights the usual list for existing homes:

sealing duct work
more insulation
upgrade windows
upgrade HVAC
programmable thermostat

Energy Star requirements are really just a bare minimum for how far you can go with R-Values and SEER ratings etc. but it is a good start to see where you fit in with home energy consumption.

Site Clearing- Day 3

Click to enlarge.

It is day 3 of the site clearing. Everything that needed to go has gone and the site is being leveled with a swale running along one side of the house closest to the neighbor. The house corners have been pegged (not yet officially) and it seems massive but then when we picture the room walls within it doesn't feel that big at all. It is basically two pods. The main part of the house is the rectangle which is 1600 sf. The square pod is 400 sf. It is marked as storage but we will finish it later into a guest suite/3rd bedroom. I'll have freedom and more knowledge to try to incorporate some of the features of the prefabs and green homes I admire. I'd like to try to keep the square pod off the grid even though it will be connected to the main space through a shared doorway. Haven't quite thought that one through yet. Basically it would have its own water and power sources set up. I want to be able to try some of these systems on a small scale.

LEAFHouse- Tankless hot Water Back-up

At the LEAFHouse, they use tankless hot water for back-up. To get started we'll be only using tankless and install solar hot water later. FL is certainly ideal for solar water heating in general.

At the LEAFHouse, "[Their] system features a tankless water heater, the Stiebel Eltron Tempra 20. Maryland’s average yearly “insolation,” or amount of sunlight available to make hot water, is 3.98, which is a little low as compared to a sunny place like California at 5.4. This means that, especially during the winter months, when insolation is low, the backup water heater will be doing its job." This tankless cost $500.

LEAFHouse- Solar hot Water

For the LEAFHouse, "Apricus water heating tubes provide all the hot water for the house, including the hot water for the radiant floor.

The tubes absorb the sun’s radiant heat in an insulating layer of air-evacuated glass. A vacuum is an excellent insulator, allowing LEAFHouse to make hot water even when it's cold outside.

While the outside of the tubes are cool, the inside the tubes can exceed 300º F. There is a pipe connecting the tubes to various appliances that require hot water throughout the house. The tubes eliminate the need for an electric or gas water heater.

Back to the LEAFHouse- Water Recycling

I've chosen the LEAFHouse- to pick apart because the website offers many details including costs. For their graywater system, "The [graywater] is held in a tank, gradually filtered through a special planter bed, and used to irrigate the landscape around the house [and wash the car]." They also harvest rainwater as discussed in an earlier post.

Water, Water nowhere

Simon Norfolk/NB Pictures, for The New York Times

My neighbor Olga believes the end of days is coming soon. She's 8 years shy of a century of living on the earth and sometimes I think she is right. Things do seem dire. I read local environmental news here. Someone in Naples shot a bald eagle last week. How stupid do you have to be to shoot a bald eagle?? There is the Atlanta drought which is translated to the rest of us through pictures of the empty lake. California is on fire and now I read this article in the Times. It's a great piece because it goes back in history to how water "works" in the Southwest since the US started regulating it. Long story short, the decreased "snowmelt" that feeds the Colorado River is causing drastic water shortages for something like 7 states including California. I know here in Southwest FL we have our own drought that I can see by looking in a pond in the back of Grandma Gottfried's house that was full last year at this time and now has about 6 inches of water in it. It takes a lot for things to sink in the minds of humans so I guess we can wait it out and see if the rising seas beat out the lowering levels of potable water.

More green walls

I am going to end up disecting the Leaf House because it has most of the cutting edge technology in place and working together with the design. They provided the green wall sponsor ELT Living Wall Systems. This is a Canadian company but the website offers all sorts of information about how, why and what to do with some great example photos. At the Link is a list of all the sponsors that helped with the Leaf House.

U of MD's LEAFHouse-

I was hoping in the future to have a green wall vs. the green roofs.. University of MD won 2nd place in the 2007 Solar Decathalon. If I could have their LEAFHouse- shipped here and put on our lot I'd be happy to move in. They explain everything they've used and done on their website so I'll have a reference for all the details. They use their exterior green wall for rainwater mitigation. "In typical housing developments, water from rooftops and paving is allowed to run offsite; storm sewers must be constructed to carry the water to the nearest body of water, carrying with it all the contaminants it picks up along the way. The LEAFHouse includes a rainwater management system that minimizes run-off and the associated environmental impacts.

Rainwater collection at LEAFHouse is a multi-layered system. At the roof level, downspouts collect rainwater that, at the post-competition site of LEAFHouse, will be directed to a cistern from which the water will be used for garden irrigation. The Green Wall will likewise act as its own downspout, directing water from the roof down to a rain garden. Finally, our decks are equipped to catch the rainwater that passes through them and direct it to a cistern for on-site non-potable uses (irrigation, car-washing, etc.)."

The ground breaking

This morning was the start of the site clearing. As I mentioned before, although it looks like a murder scene, we were fortunate to only have non-native trees and a few palm trees that needed to be removed. Since we have over a dozen palms throughout the property we were ok with giving up 2 or 3. I'll travel back this evening to see the change with the stumps and debris cleared and the space open.

mkLotusTM Bathroom

I couldn't find a picture on her website of the bathroom but the bedroom looks almost exactly like ours will look with the high windows over our bed.

Eco-Friendly Bathroom Features:
- FSC certified wood cabinetry
"Not sure we'll be using cabinetry in the bathroom."

- Floor and wall tiles contain 55% recycled glass
"I think this is going to be Home Depot small, hexagon white tile on the floor. The recycled glass can be pricey."

- Eco-friendly plumbing fixtures, low-flow shower head, mixer, and dual-flush toilet by Kohler
"Yes."

- LED lighting
"Yes."

mkLotusTM Kitchen

Eco-Friendly Kitchen Features:
- FSC certified wood cabinetry
"We're doing Ikea so it is what it is."

- Fly ash concrete, rice hull, and recycled porcelain aggregates countertops
"Looking into recycled counters of some sort but haven't decided which one."

- Eco-friendly/low-flow plumbing fixtures by Kohler
"Yes."

- LED lighting
"Yes."

- EnergyStar appliances
"Yes."

mkLotusTM Interiors

Interior:

- Sustainable layout for maximum cross ventilation and natural lighting
"We tried our best here but we think we pulled it off."

- No-VOC paint
"Yes."

- Interior sliding door panels comprised of 40% post-industrial reclaimed material
"Tough one but we'll see what's out there."

What's inside the mkLotusTM

In thinking about how to do the best we can with what we have in terms of budget, knowledge, materials and subs who could work with those materials. I am going to throw all of that out of the window and look at what makes up the mkLotus^TM. We won't be able to do all of it now but maybe we could do some of it later: (The mkLotus^TM list is below with my comments for each in quotes)

- Green "living" roof
"The slope of our roof lends itself to the possibility of a few solar panels someday and also solar water heating. However, I have heard of green "living" walls although I don't know how practical they would be. There is the side of our house that will receive the most sunlight daily and with very limited windows. If it is possible I'd like to experiment with green walls on that side at some point in the future."

- 100% solar generator power
"future goal"

- Rain and groundwater catchment system
"We won't have irrigation needs because everything is going to be native. However, we will have a vegetable garden and so we can install rain barrels to catch water from the roof to use for this purpose. I am not sure if we'll ever have a cistern but we'll start with the obvious options first."

- Gray water system: collected water from sinks and shower is recirculated to toilets
"Should be able to integrate these options as I mentioned here in a past post."

- Exterior siding: low-maintenance, long-lasting integral color cement board and FSC certified wood
"For us this would mean Hardiboard and we simply can't afford it, we'll be doing stucco in gray."

- Sheathing and floor + ceiling framing: FSC Certified Wood
"Because of cost- TBD."

- SIPS wall assembly (Structural Insulated Panels)
"This one we couldn't navigate through or afford up front. It would have been a company called E-Wall.

- High performance, energy efficient spray-in open cell foam insulation
"I desperately want to use soy-based spray foam but once again the cost is a killer."

- On-demand water heater
"We'll be going tankless."

- Energy Efficient HVAC System
"We'll have this one covered as well."

- Double pane, Low-E, wood windows and glass doors with aluminum cladding
"We'll have impact windows with a gray tint to reflect the sunlight, Low-E pushed the windows out of our budget. However, we tried our best at passive, solar design."

Prefab and FL

Before we actually left Brooklyn to move to FL, we had heard of Michele Kaufman and loved an earlier design, The Glidehouse. I had a post entitled, "Prefab We Can't Have". It's the odd thing here in FL because prefab isn't really going to stand up to strong winds and the other factors that play into a sub-tropical climate. If it were up to us, we would already be living in the Glidehouse but that model was not available to or recommended for FL. That was when we investigated the Rocio Romero LVL model which was designed to withstand 150 mph winds. The problem was it was still a stick frame house of basically particle board and stud sections. Basically we would have paid a few thousand dollars to have sections of lumber shipped from Perryville, MO. These would then have to be treated for termites and mold and then filled with insulation. By the time we would have custom designed the elevated level we needed for FEMA and fortified the prefab structure, the seemingly safe, sound prefab was going to end up being around $250 sf. It was at that point that we left the idea of prefab behind and just designed our own house. Kaufman's new design featured at the West Coast Green Conference is, however, very inspiring.

Dwell Video- Michele Kaufman

Not only stating her case but the video also highlights something we got into back in the early days with our first architects. You can use Google Sketch Up to place your home in its actual site and see how it fits in. My old architects were able to pick a time of year and a time of day to see how the sunlight ran across the house to better plan the passive solar design. I haven't yet been able to figure that one out and it may only be available on the paid version. Visit Google Sketch Up.

Buchan Airport Aviation Day

Buchan Airport is a small craft, grass runway airport. We took our bikes up to see some of the planes on display, a few of which were vintage. We also caught a few at take-off. It made for something to do close by on a sunny Saturday in Englewood.

No Love Lost on Local Gov. Idiocy

I had posted a few days ago about, Olga, my 92 year old neighbor who has lived in Englewood since the 60's. Back in January, The Englewood Sun printed her story. The Englewood Water Board apparently didn't get the concept of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". She has a cistern system that has been working off rainwater and providing her the water needs of the household for over 40 years. They water board was trying to enforce a law which demanded that she hook-up to the public water supply. I'll need to find the law makers on this one because as the news is highlighting everywhere, a blurb in the NY Times here, we are in a water crisis. Not yet quite as severe here as in Atlanta but anyone who has lived in this area for a few years has noticed it just hasn't been raining as much during the time of year when it is supposed to be raining a lot. I have so many issues with the waste of my big tax dollars locally in Sarasota County. FL embodies somehow the idea of doing things wrong the first time so that you have to go back and fix them i.e. the everglades restoration. She should be featured in every local newspaper as what you should be doing and celebrated for having done so for so many years. Why would someone who has been a water conservationist for 40+ years have to suffer anything but celebrity in the area?

Ready to Issue

It seems that we've reached a point of no return. The permit is ready to be issued. It has finally sunk in that we are going to be building a house. I still can't help thinking something will delay the ground breaking but I guess that is because it has been over a year since we've been working toward this day. All the heavy duty paperwork is behind us.

We have a Grand Tree

Indeed it is. During our tree inspection, Bryan the inspector, told us that we had a grand tree- the Live Oak above. It meets all the criteria Sarasota County specifies here. Besides having the beautiful tree which we've always admired there are a few more perks to having it on our lot. Because it is a protected tree, it goes on record with the county and in a way is landmarked. This means in the future anyone wishing to cut it down will have an impossible time (i.e developers). It is because of this unwanted red tape with future freedoms on the property that our property appraisal should be lower and our taxes could see a small reduction. These are all great bonuses for us and the property.

A few more things from the county site about Grand Trees. "Trees produce oxygen, provide wildlife habitat and play many important ecological roles. Certain trees also provide psychological benefits in response to their impressive size and great character. Such trees have been determined by Sarasota County to be “grand” in nature.

Grand Trees are an especially significant component of Sarasota County’s urban forest and have a unique and intrinsic value to the general public because of their character, age, size and ecological importance."

3 Tree Stumps and Erosion Control

We are having a final site inspection done this week. They want to insure proper erosion control along the bank of the Gottfried Creek. As it turned out, the main clearing will be 3 stumps of non-native trees that would be removed regardless. There will also be a dead slash pine removed and a cluster of 2 palms. This is a plus because of cost but mostly because we won't disturb any old growth or scrub habitat that sits mostly along the opposite end of the site.

A Tankless Job

Short of using solar hot water heaters, the option of tankless hot water is a good compromise. A good analogy came from Dwell's recent green issue, "we don't keep a kettle boiling on the stove all day for the moment when we want tea, so why do we keep water heated around the clock when all we need it for is a shower..." That makes sense. Our house is also only going to have one bathroom so this too will allow us some options in types of systems we purchase. Bosch has a good site that explains some comparisons with usage and other advantages. Through the end of the year a $300 tax credit is offered.

Here is more general information I received in a Global Green newsletter. "Tankless water heaters have either an electric, gas, or propane heating device that is activated by the flow of water. Once activated, the heater provides a constant supply of hot water distributed at the same temperature and flow rate. The maximum flow rate is determined by the type of heater being used and at what temperature the device has been set to heat the water.

Indoor and outdoor models are available. On the low end, they will deliver between .6 - 4.2 gallons per minute. High end heaters deliver between 7.4 and 9.6 gallons per minute. If your household demand is high, several heaters can be run parallel for a constant flow. When choosing a tankless heater, it is a good idea to analyze your water usages. Tankless heaters work best with low- flow faucets and shower heads. Tankless systems also work best in houses with short hot water distribution lines. Smaller capacity heaters can be installed for appliances that use large amounts of hot water. They are also well suited as boosters for solar water heating systems."

Wood Storks

Rainwater harvesting in the 1960's

The rainwater falls from the gutters into the cistern below.

It couldn't get more basic. Rainwater falls into a bucket for use here and there.

As fate would have it, my 92 year old neighbor, Olga, has been harvesting rainwater since she and her husband built their house in 1961. She has never been connected to the county water supply. I found this out the other day when she told me how they had been demanding that she hook up because it was the law. She lives alone now and has relied on her cistern for almost 50 years. She uses this water for everything in her house except drinking water. It is very expensive to run water lines from the road, as our properties are set back a few hundred feet. Not only could she not afford this but why should she have to. She was told that if she refused she would have to pay the water board $27 a month to continue to receive no service. I wonder what we'll have to go through when we build a 600 sq ft guest house completely off the grid? This is of course, part of my 10 year plan. In 10 years, I don't think we'll have a problem because the water supply will have already been depleted.

Rainwater to graywater

Dwell magazine has decided sustainability is here to stay. I think anyone who reads about architecture and home building on any level could have seen that one coming. This issue does more fine tuning of the big 2- energy and water. It is mandatory to be connected to the public water supply in Sarasota County. (More on that later) But, there is of course rainwater. Here in Southwest FL, the rainy season is usually during the late spring and summer. This would be if you didn't count this summer and drought conditions. That said by August and September the rain did pick up some slack and certainly ever drop counts. All the more reason to collect it for use later. You can follow the diagram above. For our needs and current sophistication, I could see rainwater going through a "green wall" for filtration and being used for laundry. A green wall operates similar to reed ponds in which graywater is filtered by nutrient-absorbing plants and soil. Although the one mentioned here is patented, the idea would be another backyard experiment possibly worth exploring. Find out all you've ever wanted to know about Green Wall at the Link.

Graywater use at Gottfried

At the Link (with credits) the article contains the following statement: "Graywater systems vary from simple low-cost systems to highly complex and costly systems. The technology involved in such systems ranges from the sophisticated to the crude, from engineered systems with filters and pumps to a washing machine draining directly onto oleander bushes. (Official acceptance correspondingly varies from approval to disapproval.)" We would be closer to the washing machine draining on the flowers end of the spectrum. The reason: Not being on the hardcore end with set ups such as composting toilets, cisterns etc... there are still 2 options that would suit us on Gottfried and would not require an elaborate expensive system that would exceed our budget. Also, if the graywater isn't going to be used for irrigation what are more practical uses for the recycled water. One would be (A) the sink-fed toilet tank, taking graywater from the bathroom sink and using it to fill the tank. There are self contained systems you can hook up under your sink. Also, (B) washing machine water usually spills into a utility tub. Once again there are self-contained systems that could filter this water for other uses. Although contamination and filtering are a bit more tricky depending on the use, backyard ingenuity could come into play and provide some sort of pay-off.

Back to Green- Graywater Systems

This Old House has a green issue out this month. They've done a good job explaining some basic energy concepts that I understand overall but need a little more clarification of how exactly they works. More importantly how they could be applied to our project if at all. An example of this would be a graywater system. To cut straight to the essence of this system- your house has potable water being generated into the home and non-potable being generated and pushed out of the home through a sewer line. The basis of a graywater system is to further separate the non-potable water into 2 categories: graywater and blackwater. Graywater is bathroom sink, tub and shower, and washing machine water and blackwater would be toilet, dishwasher and kitchen sink water. 2 separate water lines would be established within the home so that blackwater would not cross paths with graywater. Blackwater goes to the main sewer line as usual and graywater is collected into a surge tank. The main reuse for graywater is (subterranean) irrigation which is legal in almost every state. Since we will have native landscaping would we really need this elaborate system for watering a landscape? Check out a full overview of graywater systems at the Link.