To Be Free

In the midst of feeling the country going to hell in a hand basket, I am reminded of some 2006 posts on this blog. I started basically trying to understanding what green meant to me and why I suddenly cared about the environment in a new way. By attempting to build a structure green you are considering all the natural aspects that go into and surround the building. You are forced to acknowledge the natural world and your shared existence there. This concept opens up new ways of thinking about things beyond just what goes into building a house. Their are 2 new books in my radar, the first being Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L Friedman. It talks of an idea that has been rolling around in my mind as I learned more about the green movement. There was the Industrial Revolution, then the Information Revolution and now Friedman introduces the Energy Revolution. The basic idea is as with the 2 previous revolutions, the fundamental way we experience life on earth would changed with rapid economic growth and cultural shifts (for better or worse on the last one). This Energy Revolution promises to save the U.S. if only we would take up arms in the form of invention, innovation, and entrepreneurial endeavors focused on alternative energy and energy conservation. To focus on this grand scale would provide new jobs, cut our dependence on foreign oil, assist in national security and re-establish some sort of U.S. credibility in the world. People question whether we can do this in 10 years. If Americans only new the industrious history of America. Human nature promotes the idea of change but want nothing to do with causing it to actually occur. Bottom line: a country will be the leader in these new technologies and conservation techniques and if it isn't us then we simply aren't going to be around in say 2050. Just a guess.

The second book, How to be Free by Tom Hodgkinson is a jaunt comparing a the new trend lifestyle of getting back to nature with a little twist. The author tries to debunk the myths of and promote the benefits of the Medieval lifestyle. Hodgkinson writes about the book, "On first sight, this idea seems bonkers. Surely the medieval age was a time of bad diets, corrupt priests and abject serfdom? Well, no. This view is actually a calumnious caricature. When I started to write How To Be Free, I decided to read Mutual Aid by the great 19th- century anarchist Prince Petr Kropotkin, described by Oscar Wilde as one of the most cheerful men he had ever met. In Mutual Aid, published at the same time as Darwin’s Origin of Species, Kropotkin argues that cooperation is an essential part of animal and human life and development. He also reminds us that it was in the medieval age when the great free city-states such as Florence were created. The medievals, he says, valued craftsmanship, cooperation and justice. Mutual Aid led me to read other books on medieval customs and culture, and what I found was a society that made a sustained and conscious attempt to live fairly and justly." The idea is the Victorian age coupled with the industrial revolution wiped out our connection or understanding of our true place on earth- as part of the natural world. Medieval lifestyle certainly could be describe as down and dirty.

Good timing for our fruit trees

We now have all the traditional Fl fruit trees on their way to producing. We planted 3 new trees: lemon, grapefruit and temple orange just in time for their roots to soak up the daily rain we've been having this summer. This should give them a good start. We also planted a smaller lime and Valencia orange tree. We scattered them along the drive down to the house. We thought it would add a sense of welcome when coming down the drive.

Pretty rainwater collection

Flickr photo by watercache.com. [via Jetsongreen.com]

While I was researching rain barrels I couldn't find any of the big tanks that didn't have to ship from far away at great cost. That is why I just did the best I could with home depot bins. On Jetson Green I see a much better options and more of what I have in mind. He provides a great website www.harvesth2o.com for info. Once again, where can buy this tank? one of my main problems with this entire green endeavor has been sourcing the materials and items I like close to home.

Buckets full of water

With a bit of disgrace, I present my current rain water collection system. It has been raining so much this summer that I really need more of a cistern set up. I can't use the water fast enough because anything that does need water in the landscape is getting plenty of rain. It has helped with some of the other outdoor water needs i.e. car washing and cleaning the compost bin.

Getting back to my roots

I was getting a bit off track with the compilation of my green home certification application. I only have a few things left to do. There is a lot of supporting documents and photos needed and it's proving somewhat tedious for me lately. As a way to get back into the lifestyle aspect of all this, the fun part, I just wanted highlight some of the other things going on around the house lately. We finished our center garden. It was thrown together this weekend. The palmettos were original to the property and we saved them during construction. It was as if they fit perfectly with how we use the drive. We just filled in the other areas with some native plants some of which grow naturally on the lot and we replanted. For the border we used Australian Pine logs we had cut earlier. These are an invasive species and we didn't want them alive in the landscape. As a border where the wood continues to bleach in the direct sun they seem to work fine for now.

Category 1: Energy- Design, finishes and amenities

Click Image to Enlarge

This list is the second part of the Energy Category: Design, finishes and amenities and the total points for the Energy Category were 42 out of a possible 75 maximum. Hopefully I can catch up in a few other categories.

Category 1: Energy

In Category 1: Energy, the FGBC offers 2 points for each HERS Index point below 100. I scored an 88 as my HERS Index which means I receive 24 points on the FGBC checklist in the Energy category 100-88=12 and 12x2=24 points.

Where the HERS took some hits

I spoke with Calcs Plus who did the HERS rating on the house. I wanted to know a little more about what I could have done to receive a better index. One of the main hits was taken in having the ac duct work under the house and not within the envelop. This is energy efficiency 101 because with the ac ducts outside the insulated envelop the conditioned air in the ducts is exposed to fluctuating outside air temps. In my defense I have the ducts wrapped with insulation on the outside so they are not completely vulnerable. Also, the tankless water heater uses too much electricity. I chose tankless, on demand hot water because I thought it was more efficient than the traditional hot water storage tanks. Instead of heating water 24/7 in the storage tank with a tankless you only heat the water as needed and therefore use less electricity. The problem is that the intensity of electric needed per use turns out to be higher; at least in the tankless unit I have.

HERS Rating not as good as expected

The energy rater had estimated the house should score around 80 and in fact the house come in at 88 which is not very good. I am going to have an energy modeling done to see where I could have improved on some of my decisions. It has to be said, however, that I did the best I could working with subs etc. who had only vaguely heard of green building and had no interest in it beyond that. Energy modeling allows you to run hypothetical scenarios into the Energy Gauge software and see how your results come out differently based on changes you make. For example, my spray foam insulation only had a R value of 15 vs. the desirable R19. This I can't change of course but it will be helpful to see where I could have improved. In my reading I thought it did have the R19 value... so I'll learn more on that later. As for the FGBC checklist, with a HERS rating of 88 I will receive 24 out of the 74 maximum points for the energy category.

Category 1: Energy- HERS Index

FGBC uses a whole house energy performance rating called the HERS (Home Energy Rating) Index vs. an exhaustive list of energy saving alternatives. The energy rater just left this morning and it looks like the house will score ok. The list above shows what's involved in the rating. It takes into account not just heating and cooling and water heating but also, lighting, appliances etc. I receive the HERS score in 4 weeks.

Prerequisite 2

The entire waterfront is covered in White, Red and Black mangroves. There are a few areas that were previously cut back. Whatever happened in the past they are currently protected by the FL DEP.

Prerequisite 1

We currently do not have a pool but this is Florida and it is something we may do soon. Although people really into green think a pool is sacrilege, pools can be done on varying extremes of green consciousness. What's listed above is almost standard these days in new pool so either way we are covered.

I'll offer a brief overview of the process I will follow to get my home Certified Green by the Florida Green Building Coalition. It is a points based system. The requirements for a new home are to:

comply with 2 prerequisites
obtain the minimum points indicated in each category
obtain a total of 100 points

There are 8 categories:
Energy
Water
Lot Choice
Site
Health
Materials
Disaster Mitigation
General (misc)

Along with simply checking things off on a list under each category, some items require additional verification. I am going to put everything I'll need to submit within my posts for each item and store all these related posts under the FGBC Green Home Checklist category here on my site. My hope is to save paper and hassle and also have everything online for easy reference.

Green Card Carrying Member

Although, I passed the exam last year I finally received my official Registered Certifying Agent Card. I'll take this as a sign that now is the time to finally begin getting the house certified.

Sticking to the Pink

While I am still being kept away from this blog taking care of other things, I couldn't stay away on Earth Day. My goal for the blog is to begin tracking my progress to get the house certified green by the Florida Green Building Coalition but family matters, a loan refinance and needing to buy a car keep things up in the air. I want to be grounded when I begin the process and have all this organizing and routine in place. SO hopefully next week I can begin the hard core credit crunching involved with the FGBC checklist. Being all over the place didn't stop me, however, from putting down FLOR tiles in little Miss Gottfried's room. I originally hated the shade of pink I picked for the walls (I still do) but I decided to make the best of it for now because there is just too much more to do overall. The tiles feels great to the touch and make her play area much more comfortable. My housemate in Brooklyn actually turned me onto FLOR when she used them in her place back in 2005. It couldn't be a better fit for the floors here in FL.

The next chapter

We've been moving in building a large pile for the Salvation Army. It seems to be a never ending process. We still have some trim to finish and windows to clean but basically we are in and mostly settled. We've recently painted the front door to match the windows and have been working on a center garden to bring some color into the driveway. We also bought a lime tree and an orange tree. There has been a good rain everyday so far and the free water on young fruit trees is very helpful. We will also be planting a lemon tree and and another orange tree next week. These are just some random photos to get me back into the swing of posting again. I still have the daunting task of submitting the info to get the house certified green by the FGBC. That I hope to start next week after I get the office organized.

Green washing

There is something I found in FL called scratch and dent and I was able to get this LG wm2487 Tromm for half the price around 500 bucks. It will exist in a small room so I do not care about a scratch or a dent and it left me more cash to over spend elsewhere probably recklessly. Anyway, although Mr. Gottfried's job is a little less corporate these days he still needs shirts without wrinkles. We've been doing the ironing ourselves because dry cleaners are toxic not to mention expensive in FL campared to Brooklyn's a dollar a shirt deal. Anyway, this washer has "SteamFresh
-LG's innovative SteamFresh cycle makes it possible for you to refresh and reduce wrinkles in up to 5 garments at one time
-Running late for work with no time to iron? Load a cotton blend shirt into the SteamWasher and select the SteamFresh cycle. You'll be ready to go in just 20 minutes." I guess we'll see if this feature gives us any new freedoms from ironing. True green washing would be using rainwater in a bucket with a scrub board.

Picking appliances

I am the type of person who really needs to be thorough when comparing prices with pros and cons when purchasing big items like appliances. I become obssessed not wanting to pay more for less. This is the second time we've done new appliances and so I did have a handle on brands I knew I liked already- Bosch and LG. I started with Bosch knowing I would do a repeat of a dishwasher and oven that we had purchased for our first house. Although now after visiting energystar.gov I was given an overview and if that failed I just looked for the energy star label. I used a site like homeclick.com that allowed me to narrow down my search based on things I knew such as size and color. Then when I found a few models I was able to look into the information and first of all see what had the most efficient energy label. My final step was to have about 3 to choose from and then just pick based on features I knew made sense for our use. With Energy Star appliances, you can recoup some extra cost for higher-end models over the first few years, especially water savers like dishwashers and washing machines. For my LG fridge and my LG washing machine, I actually went to a scratch and dent sale that offered a regular warranty but there were a few dings etc. I wrote down the model numbers went back home and researched those specifically and they worked out to be models I would have purchased anyway. I think I saved about $800 which allowed me to upgrade to an induction cooktop. I plan on posting each energy star label and the cost and comparing water and electric bills to past use etc to see if it really makes a difference. Also, we didn't even bother buying a dryer because we don't use one. If push comes to shove we can always make that purchase in the future.

A frustrating blog

Thanks to Damon, a fellow Floridian building green- visit their blog here for always checking in AND sharing a love hate relationship with another FL couple's building of a home near us in Englewood on Anna Marie Island in Sarasota. It's the New York Times' Dream Home Diaries and it can drive a sane person mad. Both of us have been following I believe since it started. i am personally jealous that I do not have The Times sponsoring this blog just for all the feedback I would receive. The reason the blog is annoying is because they aren't building anything special, certainly not green or a unique design, they have a budget of 700k, and they don't respond to the readers comments except once monthly and only to just a few. Basically it is a waste of the readership although I still find myself reading it usually just for the comments and to confirm that although my house is my house at least I tried to think things through a little bit. If I'd have had the 700k budget I could have had the dream home we originally set out to have with all the high-end green this and green that, not to mention a true passive solar design. Anyway, I am not one to judge, I guess it is just jealousy of their opportunity with all that cash and exposure to do something really interesting and instead be completely absent-minded about almost every detail. The Times has many interesting reports on current trends in building and design, I always wonder if they ever read the paper they work for... as writers, aren't they curious about what's new out there?

Rethink the pink

The only input little Miss Gottfried, who is 4, had on the project was that she have a pink room. I took this literally with no questions asked and somehow ended up with Barbie pink. She loves it of course because it is pink afterall but when you look down the hall or down the lanai there is a pink glow emanating from the room distracting from the otherwise natural vibe of the green surroundings. If I have time I am going to repaint before the floors are finished in that room this weekend. Maybe I can come up with a compromise where I can keep a little pink on the walls but turn it down overall.

Eco this and Eco that

It seems looking back that if it was a brand I already knew and they threw the word "Eco" into the product description, I went for it. Here, next to the oven, the dishwasher is the Bosch Integra 500 Series 4 Cycle Dishwasher w/ EcoSense. No doubt it is a good one but many of their other models are as efficient as well. As with the toilet, I could only do so many comparisons before I just bought something. We did look at the Fisher & Paykel double drawer but the more I read comsumer reviews the more I heard about this mechanical quirk it had. I'd already had a Bosch and loved it and so in the end the decision was easy.

White on white

The idea in the kitchen overall was to have everything have the same white gloss finish. This was achieved with the ikea high gloss cabinets and the standard white finishes of the appliances. The fridge will also have this same finish. The hood and a small part of the cooktop represent any lingering need I have for stainless. When the floors are down we hope all this white remains anchored between counter and floor. Plus there is an island to be added. More on that later.

Radiant Heat vs Induction Cooktop

We went with a Kenmore Induction Cooktop for a few reasons. An induction cooktop uses electromagnetic energy allowing faster heating times while using less energy conventional cooktops. Basically it cooks the food and not the pot then the food. Since electric is required here in FL we also liked that there were no knobs to get dirty and awkwardly stick up on the cooking surface. The black surface works well with the dark paperstone counter.

Lovin the oven

For our Brooklyn remodel we did stainless appliances, expensive marble and pietra cardoza countertops and although it wasn't custom, higher end wood cabinetry. It was really beautiful and was a big factor in our sale price. But that was Brooklyn, a different sensibility in an old townhouse and before I discovered green. I decided that when we did the kitchen here in FL things would different. Florida lends itself to a more streamlined, modern, clean feel which is why I am baffled that most of the new homes are over the top with McMansion lust. We moved to Florida to be outside more and enjoy our surroundings. The last thing we wanted was a house that felt heavy with bells and whistles. Clean lines and a simple look was the goal which brings me to my white Bosch oven. I love the look of this oven with its white knobs popping out of all the rectangles of the cabinets etc.

A little vanity

Our bathroom is complete with our Toto Eco UltraMax® and this small vanity from Ikea. I measured incorrectly and the vanity could have been one size larger. In the end it works fine and leaves the room open with a little more elbow room. This is the only bathroom in the house currently but we've left a room to add a master bath in the future. Anything I find I can't live with in this bathroom I can make changes in the next one.

Faucets and flow rates

I really struggled to find kitchen and bath faucets that were less than the 2.5 (gallons per minute) standard and then I found Hansgrohe. They had the sytle I was looking for at 2.2 gpm. They offered this flow rate in both the kitchen and the bath faucets.

We have Tankless Water

I've been slow to post as things are happening quickly. I am going to try to post more updates this week. It looks like we will be in the house by the end of Feb. Our water heater is installed but there is no electric to the house yet so it hasn't been used. It sits under the house below the current bathroom and our future master bath. Even though it is on demand water heating, the distance the water travels to the fixtures matter because when the fixture shuts off whatever water left sitting in the pipe between the fixture and box will of course cool down. The farthest journey for water to travel is into the kitchen about 40ft away. We don't tend to let the kitchen sink water run hot before we used it for something so I don't think this distance makes much difference for us overall. As for the bathrooms where hot water is used more often the distance is about 4 ft. Although there are more involved systems used to make water hot i.e. solar water heating, the tankless is a great middle of the road solution for new builds and definitely remodels. At the Link is an earlier post explaining more about on demand water.

Dust is starting to settle

Here is a few from the top lot looking back at the house over the lagoon. It does seems to be nestled from this angle.

Seeing white

After doing the stainless thing already in Brooklyn, we were a bit over the hard to keep clean stainless appliances and decided to full high gloss white with appliances and cabinets. The stainless would spot and would never come clean for us even with stainless cleaner. At least the white when dirty or smugged is smooth and we can use less harsh cleaners to give it back its shiny sheen. The white Bosch oven I think has a great look with its white buttons popping out of the black.

Paperstone

I finally found a company in Tampa that offered Paperstone and was able to deliver on short notice. Tampa is about an hour and a half from where we are. They were training someone new and so I was given 3 different price quotes and they tried to add on an extra shipping charge even though they already had the piece I wanted in stock. It was a 12'x5' slab of Obsidian and it arrived weighing 500 lbs. The retailer decided to forgo giving me all the details about the weight because I was already upset that the price quote went from 1600 to 2k. So instead of telling me all the details of just how heavy it really was, he decided to let me find out the hard way. A terribly run business with some sort of juvenile demeanor and I will find paperstone needs elsewhere. So once that was over a local fabricator my contractor knew was able to take the piece to his shop and them fabricate it for our needs. We love the material. It is basically compressed paper and resin. It has a great look and even better feel- somewhat like soapstone.

Bamboo floors

I just ordered the flooring today. I really did look into all the affordable green options but in the end we really like the bamboo and feel that the interior needs a floor to anchor all the open space. Plus the decking will be dark and so the indoor to outdoor might flow better together. The darker bamboo sample I found online at Eco-Friendly Flooring. The lighter smaller bamboo was from Home Depot. I was shopping for price and color. Both of these came in at $4 sf but the one from ecofriendlyflooring.com had the darker color we liked. This was going to be an expense for after we moved in and caught up on cash but as with anything in building it is less of a hassle to have the flooring in now for when we move in our things. there is some criticism of bamboo as not being green. I pick my battles with the budget and resources we have available but we really think in this subtropical vibe down here the "wood floor" look still works. We'll shall know for sure soon enough.

Toto Eco UltraMax®

I went with the Toto Eco UltraMax® one piece toilet. "Sleek high profile elongated one piece toilet with 12" rough-in. E-Max Low consumption (4.8 Lpf/1.28 Gpf) siphon jet flushing action." We were going to do a dual flush but when I saw this listed at a simliar price I assumed this was an upgrade from Toto. There is a whole world of toilet technology out there and I can only grasp so much before I just outright buy a product from Toto with "Eco" and "UltraMax" in the name. They have so many models now and I don't have time to find out what their differences are and therefore better or worse.

Ceiling fans

When I took the Fl Green Home Designation course at the Fl Solar Energy Center I saw a display of a fan they designed called the Gossamer Wind. I found them at the Home Depot and they had 2 models. These 60" industrial fans which require a 10ft ceiling so they can be used on the lanai. They also had a 52" model I can use inside the house. I had to get a total of 8 but for many days down here in FL having a good fan means keeping the AC off. From their website, "The advanced ceiling fan blades of the "Gossamer Wind" allow the use of a smaller ceiling fan motor. The combination reduces ceiling fan energy use by approximately 40% while reducing noise and wobble. The average ceiling fan using 25 - 100 Watts is in operation 6-12 hours or more each day. The "Gossamer Wind" will save the typical consumer $10-$20 per year in reduced energy use. Further, the improved comfort can allow the cooling thermostat to be raised. Conventional premium ceiling fans cost more. However, the similarly priced "Gossamer Wind" can pay for itself through real savings in household energy use while providing improved comfort and convenience."

A 360 view of hall and pantry

Interior painting

The pace has picked up for us as the final things are awaiting there place. Much of putting things in place requires the painting be completed. We painted over the weekend using an interior paint from Scott Paint's EcoCare line. We are painting everything white to keep it simple. Since we are doing the painting ourselves it adds to the pressure of timing but so far we should be able to keep up.

Exterior paint complete

I am just able to post the completed exterior. It was painted with an EcoCare acrylic put out by a local paint company, Scott Paint. This has been done for a few weeks now but I haven't had time to post much since we've been busy collecting appliances, lighting, cabinets, flooring etc. For the exterior I invested $250 in a product called Insuladd which is supposed to act as another layer of insulation. here's what it says on their website, "The Insuladd® insulating paint additive has unique energy saving properties that reflect, resist, and dissipate heat. The hollow ceramic microspheres reflective quality affects the warming phenomenon called "Mean Radiant Temperature," where heat waves from a source such as direct sunlight cause a person to feel warmer even though the actual air temperature is no different between a shady and sunny location. It is the molecular friction within the skin caused by the sun's radiant energy waves which makes the body feel warmer." I have no idea if it works but for $250 I thought I would give it a try.

Introducing Gottfried Green HOME

Since our project is nearing completion I started another blog which will be devoted specifically to the application process we will be going through to see if the house qualifies for a Green Home Designation from the Florida Green Building Coalition. It follows a very specific checklist in 8 categories: Energy, Water, Lot Choice, Site, Health, Materials, Disaster Mitigation, and a General category. Check in with Gottfried Green Home to follow our progress in receiving the designation.

Kitchen Cabinets

Before the painting begins, we set up the cabinets to make sure they fit. We did opt for Ikea cabinets mostly based on price and look. They will be high gloss white fronts which we hope give the kitchen a clean open look.

Becoming a Green Home Certifier in '08... Check

As New Year's resolutions go, rarely have a I accomplished one right out of the gate. On Monday, I received, in the mail, my Certificate of Completion for the Florida Green Home Designation Course. This allows me to become a Green Home Certifying Agent under the Florida Green Building Coalition. The next step is to submit this proof of course completion to the FGBC and I will be registered as an agent. A green home certifying agent is basically the facilitator of all the information needed to get a home certified green by the coalition. The requirements aren't quite as strict as the US Green Building Council's LEED standards but it is a start in cracking the code of green building especially here in FL. Also, by becoming an agent, I can submit my own package for review so that our house could receive a green designation from FGBC. I only need to submit a disclosure that I am the owner.