Monday, December 29, 2008

Dr. Zhivago Lives Here







As you can see from the accompanying photos, the green home looked decidedly white during Christmas. A major storm roared into the Salt Lake Valley on Christmas Day, bringing up to 21 inches in neighborhoods near Cedarhurst Cove (the site of the Bulson green home). When we visited that day, the wind was howling and drifts were piling up on both levels. We couldn't help but think of those beautiful scenes from Dr. Zhivago. But it was so cold, I doubt even Dr. Z could have stayed long there, let alone write poetry. Not very inviting, so we stayed only long enough to take a few pictures and to show the progress to our friend, Gene Stangel, who is an engineer. Gene had lots of engineer type questions that we will be seeking answers for later, like: how do you attach electrical conduit to ICF blocks? Stay tuned for the answer.






Three days later, on Decemeber 28th, we returned to Dr. Zhivago's house and conditions had improved markedly. The snow had been shoveled out and most of the main level windows had been installed. The main floor seemed almost inhabitable. The windows are another green feature of the home. They are insulated low E argon gas windows. They have low-conductivity gas (argon) in the space between panes of glass in sealed insulated units. The insulating value of argon is 40 percent higher than that of air (R-7 vs. R-5 per inch). The windows combine low-conductivity gas fill with low-E coatings that, in effect, insulate as well as a fiberglass insulated 2x6 wall. And, what's more, they keep the wind out quite nicely. We are looking forward to seeing them all installed, which will make the house a whole lot greener.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

A Roof Over our Heads







A lot of progress has been made in recent weeks on the Bulson green home, despite the arrival of winter weather. A hardy crew of builders have been working away putting up the roof and finishing the framing.



We have been able to tour the inside of the framed structure, including the lower level and are fascinated with the possibilities. The great room with its huge windows already welcoming the rays of winter sun is awesome. It is shaping up as a sunny and inviting place to be someday. And the view from those windows as well as the ones to the east is spectacular.



We were fascinated as well with the large steel beams that were affixed to supports in the lower level. They will help hold up the unique roof and clerestory.



The clerestory is one of our favorite green features copied from the Utah house. It will add to the natural lighting of the great room and master bedroom. Windows in the upper level will open to allow air circulation and a natural air filtering process. The windows are scheduled to arrive next week, with installation underway in time for Christmas. Hopefully, that will help reduce some of the chilly breezes that now flow through the structure.



For now, all is well and pretty much on schedule.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

We've Been Framed!!






The images accompanying this blog show the latest progress on the green home. One of the key green features of this home is the use of advanced framing techniques. The goal of these techniques is to minimize energy consumption by using less wood and more insulation. This approach uses 2x6s rather than 2x4s, thereby allowing for more insulation. The studs are installed further apart--24 inches on center--rather than 16 inches on center as occurs in converntional framing. The average insulating value of a wall using advanced framing techniques is R-16.0 (compared with R-15.1 with standard framing).
The first image posted above also illustrates two other important green features of this home--passive solar heating and the use of natural daylighting. The two large windows, which open onto the great room on the main floor, are oriented south-southeast so as to take advantage of sunshine during the winter months. Eventually a sunshelf will be installed above the windows to block sunshine during the summer months when the sun is higher in the sky. The lower level continues this concept with large windows opening onto a family room. The space outside the lower level windows will be terraced with stone and xeriscaped. (More on that much later). Although it is not depicted in these images, the home will also have several solar tubes that provide intense natural lighting. Finally, the lower levels have large windows with window wells in each of the rooms, again allowing more natural light to enter. In later posts, I will describe another exciting feature of this home--a clerestory that provides further natural lighting, as well as air circulation, to the rooms on the main floor.

Radon Mitigation

One of the hidden features in this quickly progressing greenbuilt home is a radon mitigation system. Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that occurs naturally in many soils. EPA estimates that radon is the number-two cause of lung cancer in the US, next to smoking. It is estimated to be responsible for 20,000 deaths per year. To mitigate the possibility of radon entering the living space, our builder installed a vent pipe system in the lower level before the concrete slab was poured. The system consists of a network of perforated plastic pipes with a vent pipe through the basement floor slab. The system allows for depressurization of the area under the slab and outside the foundation walls to keep radon and any other gases from leaking into the house.