tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45815406632364772562024-02-22T23:43:07.587-08:00Potwine Passive House BlogIs it possible to live without burning fossil fuels? We are attempting to build a zero energy house, fully powered by the sun and following Passivhaus design guidelines, to answer that question. Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-31697494983026521852017-06-02T08:40:00.000-07:002017-06-02T08:40:43.241-07:00Phys/Envst 104 Factsheets 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rK7gTA7swK0/WTCDFhfvqII/AAAAAAAABN0/NsKPv8yS-WcPzKc5Gx_tUR1_W9873gHOACHM/s9999/IMG_1238.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">In keeping with Mount Holyoke College’s <a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/sustainability/sustainability-task-force" target="_blank">Sustainability Initiative</a>, our final projects in Phys/Envst 104 this year focussed on raising awareness about planning for energy self-sufficiency in order to enable the college to disconnect from the electricity grid.</p><p dir="ltr">Why are we thinking about going off-grid when most people are just now hearing about the whole <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-energy_building" target="_blank">net zero</a> concept? Consider that within five years, battery and solar costs will have fallen to such an extent that going off-grid will be <a href="#" target="_blank">cheaper and more reliable</a> than staying on the grid. There is a real possibility of a <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/this-is-what-the-utility-death-spiral-looks-like" target="_blank">utility death spiral</a> that will threaten the reliability of the grid for everyone. Now is the time for us to begin planning for energy self-sufficiency, especially as <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/americas-electric-grid-is-far-too-vulnerable-to-extreme-weather-and-needs-an-update-624704123f28" target="_blank">extreme weather</a>, <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-california-duck-curve-is-real-and-bigger-than-expected" target="_blank">intermittent renewables</a>, and <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603262/ukraines-power-grid-gets-hacked-again-a-worrying-sign-for-infrastructure-attacks/" target="_blank">grid hackers</a> increasingly challenge the integrity of the grid. Download these eleven high resolution Factsheets and learn what you need to know to help take Mount Holyoke College off the grid!</p><p><br></p><h1>Burning money: the consequences of heat loss</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/Insulation.pdf"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Pl_TUJe_qOU/WTDPU05e0MI/AAAAAAAABOU/9LyZ7PRoE28SMZucidRQBkxoqwYXp0w1gCHM/s9999/Insulation.jpg" data-image-original-name="Insulation.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p dir="ltr"><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/Insulation.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a></p><p dir="ltr"><br>When people arrive at Mount Holyoke College they immediately remark upon the beautiful old buildings surrounding Skinner Green. The aging structures are even more apparent to the students who live in them, for they are constantly reminded of the thin walls and drafty windows. The buildings clearly lack sufficient thermal insulation, the most important aspect of energy conservation. Thermal insulation plays an important role in energy conservation, as the majority of energy waste is found in heat loss. Through insulation, unwanted heat loss or gain can be significantly reduced in a building. Wall material must have low thermal conductivity to create a “building envelope” and trap the temperature inside. Mount Holyoke College, established in 1837, is located in South Hadley, Massachusetts and has 40 major buildings which make up over two million square feet of property. Much of the campus is heated by natural gas purchased from Direct Energy, which is delivered to a Central Plant by Columbia Gas through their piping system. The college spends $1,186,396 on natural gas to heat the campus each year.</p><p><br></p><h1>There’s a great future in storage</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/storage.pdf"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iawivj4EZF0/WTDPUgLqyVI/AAAAAAAABOM/abiDefporcMVn7P_xhdlvIMGVUe3k4p9QCHM/s9999/Storage.jpg" data-image-original-name="Storage.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/storage.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a></p><p dir="ltr">How would you like to spend your winters studying by candlelight in a cold and dark library? Well, this will be your future unless a proper system of energy storage is implemented. Imagine a day when we finally transition to renewable energy sources at Mount Holyoke College, yet we have no way to store it. In the summer solar panels will bring in all of the energy you could ask for and more, but come winter when the sun is scarce, generating sufficient energy will be a challenge. Next, imagine a scenario where there was a methane leak from natural gas storage and we were confronted with a full-fledged power outage on campus. These situations could be avoided if we implemented an effective storage method.</p><p><br></p><h1>The Prospect Hall Greenhouse: a sustainable makeover for underutilized space</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4BWxCrUxHtE/WTDWEPvnUPI/AAAAAAAABOw/5iMuRVA90yIbZlUGFukiHGV1E263IayfgCHM/s9999/Greenhouse_full.jpg"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fnK_n8H-Ceo/WTDWEEh5u2I/AAAAAAAABOs/AXwe4TXEIXscJGDgZptf08gWm0QqvLT0ACHM/s9999/Greenhouse.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p dir="ltr"><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/Greenhouse.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a><br><br>With Super Blanch close to completion, Mount Holyoke is facing a lack of creativity in implementing initiatives to utilize large indoor spaces where dining halls currently are. To combat the loss of on-campus work-study dining staff jobs, and to put these gutted spaces to use in a green campus initiative, we propose that the Prospect Dining Hall be repurposed into an indoor greenhouse. Maintaining this space will resolve the issue of work-study job loss. Building the greenhouse and community surrounding it will be a job for Residential Life staff, using this space to generate conversation and student activism in an already-enthused group of residents. By combining sustainability, aesthetic appeal, and educational value, Mount Holyoke College will create a space which will improve the quality of life of students, faculty, and staff.</p><p><br></p><h1>Solar energy</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Cw9E3EAHsNc/WTDWEGUXC_I/AAAAAAAABO0/54r6DprIUUAzTLF8Ft_kGTcgu98O2v-GwCHM/s9999/Solar.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/solar.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a><br><br>As fossil fuel resources continuously deplete and exacerbate the environment, alternative modes of energy are becoming increasingly necessary. As the most abundant renewable resource, solar has the capability to harness the sun’s energy into a variety of uses, such as heating water and generating electricity. All of the Five-College campuses have already implemented solar energy except Mount Holyoke. A proposed solar system for the roof of Kendall Gym has a total size of 627.2 kW DC generating 749,613 kWh AC annually, an output which the College can utilize fully. Mount Holyoke College will thus save over $86,000 in utility costs in Year 1 and offset over 955,000 lbs. of greenhouse gas emissions annually. This factsheet introduces the potential of solar energy, the technology, as well as how it is conducive to saving funds on energy usage as electricity costs rise.</p><p><br></p><h1>Sustainability is a breeze with wind energy</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bF8g-eHbor8/WTDWEEnyu7I/AAAAAAAABO4/H_Jqnnba_DsowYWZF5LDw_dak-pnnamKACHM/s9999/Wind.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/wind.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a><br><br>Our current myopic reliance on fossil fuels has poisoned the planet with Carbon Dioxide. Humanity has reached a point where making dramatic changes is a literal matter of life or death. The Earth cannot sustain our lifestyles without the use of renewable energy. Although solar energy is commonly viewed as the most viable renewable energy option for homeowners and commercial buildings, wind is a plentiful resource that has been widely overlooked and that can supplement solar energy. Whereas fossil fuels are not only a depreciating investment that requires continued labor resources while polluting the air and damaging the landscape, wind turbines function without maintenance and can be installed wherever there is ample space and Class 3 winds, or wind that has an average annual speed of 14.3 to 15.7 mph at 50m. A 2015 study by the U.S. Department of Energy found that wind could provide 20% of U.S. electricity by 2030 and 35% by 2050 if implemented properly. Wind energy will be a significant force in the responsible energy system of the future. Where does wind fit into Mount Holyoke college’s plan for a sustainable future? Wind provides energy during the winter when MHC solar panels cannot access enough strong light. This saves on battery costs because solar energy does not need to be stored for the winter while wind energy is generated spontaneously. Wind turbines can also be placed on flat, vacant rooftops that are not compatible with solar panels.</p><p><br></p><h1>Get more use less: how to improve Creighton</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QqKRWHI33FM/WTF6HRRVFQI/AAAAAAAABP0/sZ-kRngPbvMYEe1PkB_5ZItAC7yBlwDuQCHM/s9999/Creighton.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/Creighton.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a></p><p dir="ltr">Is your building LEED Certified? Does it still consume a ton of energy throughout the day? Would you like to decrease the energy use, yet increase the comfort levels? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, Passive House is right for you! Passivhaus is a building movement first developed in Germany aiming to reduce the ecological footprint of buildings. It is a standard for energy efficiency, creating buildings that require little energy for heating or cooling, through several strategies dealing with ventilation and thermal envelopes.</p><p><br></p><h1>Education to avoid the apocalypse: it’s never too late</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dtBRo60eZIM/WTDY4WbuSLI/AAAAAAAABPA/COJpu0p3GcwE9DiRuigb2OnNL_NLPbb5QCHM/s9999/Education.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/Education.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a></p><p dir="ltr">Do you know your chances of survival by the time you’re 50? We really need this knowledge for which we urgently need a conference similar to the BOOM conference held earlier this semester. The panels and events will be based around the topics outlined in this fact sheet. Both students and faculty would be invited to present or facilitate panels and discussion. The topics that would be covered should be important and relevant to helping Mount Holyoke students become climate literate. Climate change impacts everyone , no matter what they’re studying, and a conference could be instrumental in increasing climate literacy on campus. Because Mount Holyoke is a diverse and inclusive space, putting an emphasis on the make up of industries that will be responsible for helping to fight these issues with renewable goods and technologies is important. As a community with students from 45 states and 75 countries1 we need to address the ways people in different regions will be affected by climate change differently, and this also serves to help students learn about the regions they may be focusing on in their time here. Fighting climate change requires knowledge of the opposing factors, such as the petroleum industry, and the financial and political ways real change can be hampered. Overall this conference should give students the knowledge and tools they need to be changemakers, no matter what they’re studying, and impart a sense of urgency in finding and fighting for solutions to the problems facing our world.</p><p><br></p><h1>Be accountable for your energy consumption</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IFOpa9JVjVo/WTF3kiQ4vhI/AAAAAAAABPs/UgnI8D7QWVMmXAjzeRA-UZnkp0ZeYmmxwCHM/s9999/Energy.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/energy.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a><br><br>Mount Holyoke College is filled with passionate and intelligent students that are concerned about the environment, begging the Administration to stop the madness and be a leader in the fight for divestment from fossil fuels. But, are students aware of their own wasteful and unnecessary energy consumption in their living spaces? As we turn on two different lamps at a time for a “cozy” study space and leave our laptops and phones charging overnight, we are neglecting our own responsibility for the ways in which Mount Holyoke can become a more efficient campus. In order for students to reduce their energy consumption, their wastefulness needs to be placed somewhere that cannot be ignored. It is the responsibility of Mount Holyoke College, as a private institution, to align their goals with state regulations. The call to action has passed; now we are simply behind.</p><p><br></p><h1>Biting down on climate change</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j-uu0S_x6dc/WTF3koTpv3I/AAAAAAAABPw/Xl3PvslYOTE-ruVXa7ERIyaDr_GXnwM1wCHM/s9999/Meat.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/meat.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a><br><br>Meat, particularly red meat, is one of the most environmentally costly consumption choices available. At Mt. Holyoke College in 2016, 41.7% of responding students identified as non omnivorous consumers, making MHC students some of the most environmentally conscious consumers in America! However, the dining options on campus don’t always match the dietary demands of the student body. If students took the initiative to push for less red meat in the new centralized dining area, it could astronomically lower the ecological footprint of the college! Take a look at the numbers!</p><p><br></p><h1>Cultivating the future of Mount Holyoke</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2sjQ7nUJ3eE/WTF3kSQ032I/AAAAAAAABPo/NkVHlOEzbqMRnMwlvv-4fPq-YB0DKxSpACHM/s9999/Farm.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/farm.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a><br><br>The dining halls on campus are spaces that every student at Mount Holyoke experiences frequently. But how many of the students who frequent these dining halls stop and think critically about where the food that they consume comes from? It just magically appears to be prepared by the lovely dining staff for us to enjoy, right? The truth is that a large percentage of our food comes from commercial farms across the country, which means that a great amount of energy is put into bringing that sprig of parsley to MHC so that the chefs can add flavor to those potatoes from Idaho. Commercial farming does not concern itself with the quality of food or the long term impact on the environment that it has. By moving towards growing food on campus and educating the students about the processes involved in regenerative farming, Mount Holyoke could begin to create that lasting change that we claim not to fear.</p><p><br></p><h1>Secrets your architecture firm won’t tell you: retrofit Prospect</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nFr0WfrL0F0/WTF3kOcMZeI/AAAAAAAABPk/AVh7OizkwnIZ30-eIN49QX93k0wBjWYbQCHM/s9999/Prospect.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><br><a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/prospect.pdf" target="_blank">Download PDF</a><br><br>Rather than building a new facility, retrofitting existing buildings provides a more feasible, cost-effective option to update the energy performance of building assets for their ongoing life. Retrofit involves the modifications of existing buildings that will allow the opportunity to improve multiple design objectives such as energy efficiency, energy demand, occupant health, and indoor environmental quality. Furthermore, retrofits will reduce the operational costs, particularly in older buildings. In the heart of Western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley with a castle-like Mary Lyon Hall and Hogwarts-looking library, Mount Holyoke College attracts students from all races and ethnic groups throughout the world. Along with the beauty of the campus, the palatial dorms are a big reason as to why students are drawn to Mount Holyoke. One dorm in particular, however, does not blend in with the rest. Built in 1959, Prospect Hall desperately needs to be renovated, or in other words, retrofitted.<br></p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-24246914298345209852017-05-01T11:14:00.013-07:002017-05-01T16:02:15.590-07:00House tour checklist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0nrDilMmnc0/WQd0a9eqpbI/AAAAAAAABL8/J4-swzFlGlYzpB6T9HWyJztnTodRPCS4QCHM/s9999/IMG_0583.jpg" alt="image-71" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p>Welcome to the Potwine Passive House, the first certified Passivhaus in Western Massachusetts. Follow along the checklist to make sure you see all of the features of the home.</p><p><br></p><h1>Outside</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;EDD90EEC-F5FF-4F99-91D7-73D7EB8FA9F0"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t8LTI9kGzHs/WQd7tC-59PI/AAAAAAAABMw/VY2XnyRoZI8Qcj6lvi3Jpt8Jm8bijJyxACHM/s9999/IMG_0528.jpg" alt="image-510" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p><br></p><div class="custom-html-block"><form action=""><input type="checkbox"> 2.5 kW solar PV array powers the entire home over a one year time frame<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Durable standing steam metal roof<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Gravel around the perimeter with perforated pipe collects rainwater
and discharges near the apple trees<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Air gap between siding and walls exhausts at roof apex, allows air flow to prevent moisture buildup<br><br><input type="checkbox"> South facing window glazing captured the sunlight in
the winter<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Intake and exhaust vents for the Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) are located high on the east facing wall<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Heat pump compressor<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Wild meadow managed
with regenerative techniques, trimmed with a scythe<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Cat litter compost pile (dont step in it!)</form></div><p><br></p><h1>Entryway</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aasUJHvf-ng/WQd0bfsFBhI/AAAAAAAABME/gF3adFrq914ciZuFgDdd3FzXwVMpxDHhgCHM/s9999/1493658535.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><div class="custom-html-block"><form action=""><input type="checkbox"> Passive house glass door<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Coat rack under stairs saves space<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Opening to stairway brings in natural daylight<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Half bath under stairway saves
space<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Open layout with large windows creates a feeling of spaciousness</form></div><p><br></p><h1>Kitchen</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eOaDLixxUi4/WQd0a_kbB-I/AAAAAAAABMA/VLJ0midPsz4pHuMNX68VaEICisy0dNIfQCHM/s9999/1493659070.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><div class="custom-html-block"><form action=""><input type="checkbox"> Long linear counter creates the illusion of bountiful space<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Induction stove boils water quickly and is twice as efficient as a gas stove<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Combi steam oven cooks an entire
meal quickly and all at once (full chicken in 20 minutes)<br><br><input type="checkbox"> On demand hot water heater located under sink for instantaneous hot water with minimal line losses<br><br><input type="checkbox"> IKEA cabinets store kitchen items
efficiently with convenient access<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Upper wall cabinets are absent, creating an open feel<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Vent-a-hood recirculating hood filters particulates and smells without exhausting to the exterior<br><br>
<input type="checkbox"> Exhaust vent to ERV above fridge</form></div><p><br></p><h1>Living/dining room</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gJOl9eJt84A/WQd6OaicMII/AAAAAAAABMk/ua8KYtps7_0PBiMxi5tPd89N4tLwgXiPACHM/s9999/1493660933.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><div class="custom-html-block"><form action=""><input type="checkbox"> Concrete floor absorbs heat during the day and reradiates heat at night<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Polish on concrete floor is simply mechanical, a "diamond grid sands finish" that looks great without toxic finishes and requires
no maintenance<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Tripled paned windows feel warm even when it is cold outside, enlarge the useful area of the room<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Tripled paned windows open wide for full ventilation and tilt for less air
flow (careful: do not turn handle while window is in the open position)<br><br><input type="checkbox"> On demand hot water for the shower in chase closet<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Drain water heat recovery pipe in chase closet<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Heat pump indoor unit above chase closet in quiet and efficient<br><br><input type="checkbox"> ERV is controlled by the iPad in the pantry<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Pressure valve at the south facing window door allows for monitoring of the ventilator
air flow balance<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Garden Tower Project indoor worm composting bin planted with herbs, mixed greens, and kale </form></div><p><br></p><h1>Upstairs</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xgLcNuxfbrs/WQd6OSS4sWI/AAAAAAAABMg/OwFhlvVBKUMdEIsYN5u3A0wGDd5SokrdACHM/s9999/1493662224.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><div class="custom-html-block"><form action=""><input type="checkbox"> Locally harvested Eastern White Pine floors, wide plank, face-nailed<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Window placement at end of line-of-sight draws the eye outdoors<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Double doors to the study open up
the space<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Wide hallway creates the illusion of an abundance of space<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Washer inset into wall saves space, turns hallway into multipurpose laundry area<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Gabled
ceilings make the bedrooms feel large<br><br><input type="checkbox"> LED track lighting is dimmable, efficient, and bright<br><br><input type="checkbox"> ERV vents bring filtered, fresh air to the bedrooms where it is needed the most<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Shower control allows for independent selection of the water temperature and the flow rate<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Energy monitor displays energy usage of every single item in the home<br><br><input type="checkbox"> No temperature differential
between upstairs and downstairs, regardless of the season</form></div><p><br></p><h1>Attic</h1><p><br></p><div class="custom-html-block"><form action=""><input type="checkbox"> ERV<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Blown in fiberglass insulation<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Taping at ceiling between plywood pieces<br><br><input type="checkbox"> Attic is contained within the thermal envelope</form></div>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-10077558879714990052016-05-16T12:51:00.001-07:002016-05-16T12:51:42.475-07:00Phys/Envst 104 final projects<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UKZiApoyslY/VyaVd4rhGjI/AAAAAAAAA8k/wz_jagILg3U/1462145193_thumb.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text"></div><p>Take a look at some of the amazing projects by the phenomenal students in Phys/Envst 104 this semester. Phys/Envst 104 (Renewable Energy) is a general education science course I teach at Mount Holyoke College.</p><h1>Can I get a plate of solar energy sunny-side up please?</h1><div class="embed-wrapper" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zXPp0Tzy7xg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>The air is stiflingly hot. You realize you can hardly breathe. Your skin feels like it is catching fire. Your alarm wakes you up.</p><p>It is often said that music is an escape from the reality people live in. Listeners can drift off into whatever Nirvana or fantasy they would like. Allowing the melodies and lyrics to ebb into their thoughts and<br>produce feelings they were not otherwise feeling. But what if music started to reflect people’s reality.</p><p>The lyrics and melody becomes a part of the listener so if the lyrics were to inspire change, there would be more initiative towards improving the state of our environment.</p><h1>Where does your electricity come from?</h1><div class="embed-wrapper" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xyX1MvuDsIo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>The 6:30 alarm goes off, and you roll out of bed. In that groggy, barely awake moment, what is the first thing you do? You flip on the lightswitch. This is a simple action that occurs every morning and throughout the day, but hardly ever does the average person give a second thought to what energy source is supplying power to that lightbulb or where that power is coming from.</p><p>Our project strives to highlight the differences in overall efficiencies of coal power plants and renewable energy sources, including the long term monetary benefits of switching to renewable sources.</p><h1>Lithium mining: the World’s future</h1><div class="embed-wrapper" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eHlwW1mNp0Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>With current technology, electric cars rely on lithium batteries. Because lithium batteries are the foundation of the future, it is essential to understand the process of lithium mining and its possible impacts. The purpose of this project is to provide information about the mining process itself, but also to raise concerns and explore political, environmental and economic impacts so that further improvements can be made if necessary.</p><h1>Take a bite out of climate change</h1><p><a href="https://docs.google.com/a/mtholyoke.edu/forms/d/18eas8vQdcRSe2JzPjBWJW6DA98JI7FQGUULc9Ho-Hj4/viewform" target="_blank">Take the survey</a></p><p>With the climate crisis looming over our heads, it’s easy to quickly point blame at the industrial giants and overlook our own contributions. How much do our seemingly simple day to day actions, down to what we put on our plates, have an impact on our climate? The power to create and ensure a sustainable future comes from a rather unsuspecting place: your plate. The agricultural and food industries are big players in the topic of climate crisis, and what we decide to consume can either drastically help or hurt that.</p><p>Responses:<br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="file://localhost//Users/aarango/Library/Containers/com.blogo.Blogo/Data/Library/Caches/com.blogo.Blogo/1462328867_full.png" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AgtXe0avaa8/VzoiyPjeinI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/d3I608UGUsc/1462329335_thumb.png"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="file://localhost//Users/aarango/Library/Containers/com.blogo.Blogo/Data/Library/Caches/com.blogo.Blogo/1462328904_full.png" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZKPyWP0yYyU/VzoiyLwI1wI/AAAAAAAAA-U/THvPDo52hI0/1462329248_thumb.png"></a></div><p><br></p><h1>Going going gone: the tragic tale of four truly important endangered species</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="file:///Users/aarango/Library/Containers/com.blogo.Blogo/Data/Library/Caches/com.blogo.Blogo/1463428160_thumb.jpeg" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1ulGT2w5K-Q/VzokzbsjbrI/AAAAAAAAA-k/-mo_f7edtOM/1463428272_thumb.jpeg"></a></div><p><a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/Endangered%20Species%20Bios.pdf" target="_blank">Download a pdf of the flyers</a></p><p>Pigeons scuttling across city sidewalks in the winter wind. Bees and butterflies slowly reviving spring flowers. Crickets singing in the grass on warm summer nights. Squirrels hoarding acorns in the fall. What if one day none of that happened? You’d realize something was wrong, but how late would you be? We, as humans, focus almost entirely on ourselves: how much longer will we have the resources we need? How many more people can the world support? How can we produce, transport, and store enough food? How can we make sure we survive, regardless of the cost?</p><h1>Not all burgers are created equal</h1><p><a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/FINAL%20MEAT%20BASED.pdf" target="_blank">Download a pdf of the flyer</a></p><p>Per capita meat consumption has more than doubled in the past half-century. Linked with global population growth, the overall demand for meat has increased five-fold. The meat industry has put a heavy demand on resources, limiting the availability of water, land, feed, fertilizer, and fuel. American fast food chains have thrived on the novelty of a classic burger. Long lines at the drive- thru highlight consumerism at its finest. However, does each consumer ever think of the environmental footprint that goes into creating that one burger patty?</p><h1>How accessible is solar?</h1><p>The US experiences the 4th greatest wealth inequality compared to 141 other countries. 578,424 people were reported to live without housing in 2014, and 46.7 million are living in poverty. That’s more that 14% of our population. We have all been told that solar power is going to save us. Solar power can produce upwards of 147kWh/day/person and in an ideal world; solar power would be as commonly used as gas and coal. We decided to break down the financials of installing and using solar power, in order to provide more insight as to whether it's a viable alternative as we combat climate change.</p><h1>Catching kid’s attention to advocate for change</h1><p><a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/EnergyEducationflyer.pdf" target="_blank">Download a pdf of the flyer</a><br><a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/104/EnergyEducationconferenceagenda.pdf" target="_blank">Download a pdf of the workshop flyer</a></p><p>In our curriculum we want to incorporate the knowledge on the four renewable resources and how important it is to replace fossil fuel use with solar or wind energy. We feel it is also important to cover how much we use and waste daily; how efficient our energy usage daily is, and how harmful human impacts on the environment are. We will use a hands-on approach that gets students moving and interacting with these topics, because we feel they will identify more with the issue. We ultimately want to empower the youth to take action because they are instrumental in advocating for change.</p><h1>How to respect mama earth and still get good grades</h1><p><a href="http://ecoprojectmhc.tumblr.com" target="_blank">Visit the blog</a></p><p>While complicated scientific jargon may make understanding environmental issues seem like an impossible challenge, the truth is that our everyday actions have real, important consequences for the environment, and the mission of this blog is to make climate change concrete. To show the ways in which your actions matter. We will challenge and we will educate. We will put the power of climate justice where it belongs: in your hands.</p><h1>An Ice-Breaker Introduction to Methane Clathrates</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ixlGZUBivnk/VylZdqHJjlI/AAAAAAAAA84/aMj9izpJGKw/1462325896_thumb.png"></div><p>Our current world relies heavily on conventional fossil fuels: coal, natural gas, and oil. We're expected to run out of these energy resources by the end of this century at our current rate of consumption. What will we do for energy next? Before we turn to renewable energies, we might look into more unconventional fossil fuels, one of these being methane hydrates.<br></p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-17756246924948031822015-02-07T08:28:00.001-08:002015-02-07T08:46:28.562-08:00What you need to know about electricity and magnetism<p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QeRJ4WXbh8A/VNY3I_LYBKI/AAAAAAAAAqw/phoqGZIMlHQ/s1600/ISS029-E-012564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QeRJ4WXbh8A/VNY3I_LYBKI/AAAAAAAAAqw/phoqGZIMlHQ/s1600/ISS029-E-012564.jpg" height="381" width="540" /></a></p>
<p>Most of us give little thought to the act of flipping on a light switch, much less the enormous infrastructure that must go into the vast process of bringing electricity to nearly every corner of our beautiful modern world. And what about the remarkable scientific advancements that brought us from candle light to electrification over the past 100 years? How did that happen? It’s a small dot in the history of humankind, but a time of unparalleled change that revolutionized how we live, think, communicate, treat disease, and interact with the world. Electromagnetism is probably the single-most important scientific advancement in the history of humankind, and we’ll try to understand a bit about it here, at least enough to understand why electricity and magnetism are central to our ability to end our addiction to fossil fuels.</p>
<h1>Electric cars, the solution to polluted cities, in the 1830’s!</h1>
<p>Walking through London in the 1830’s, you would have had to use a torch to see where you were going — in the middle of the day. The pollution was so bad that darkness descended on industrial cities, at certain times of the year, as it often does today in some parts of China. But at the time, people were thrilled about a new exciting discovery — the electric motor. Trains, cars and even boats would soon be powered by clean electricity rather than coal. It never happened, of course, because people soon realized that batteries didn’t last forever and were tremendously difficult to keep replacing. Despite this spectacular flop, I’m here to tell you that — this time — it’s going to be different!</p>
<h1>Why don’t your hands pass through each other?</h1>
<p>Rub your hands and you can feel the texture of your skin, the soft muscle tissue wrapped over a hard skeleton. The nuclei of the atoms in your hand contain most of the mass — the heavy part — but they are spaced a surprisingly long distance apart. Consider this: if the nucleus was as big as you are, the next nucleus would be a mile away! There’s a tremendous gap of wide open space between every nucleus in your hand, occupied by essentially nothing, except for the occasional electron. The standard picture of atoms packed tightly together, with electrons spinning around the nucleus, is totally wrong. The real picture is one of mostly empty space. Why then can’t one object pass right through the other? Why doesn’t light pass right through the desk in front of you?</p>
<p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7GmOi-A0Yng/VNY3I5AA-aI/AAAAAAAAAq4/aE9ynf8Wfwc/s1600/finger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7GmOi-A0Yng/VNY3I5AA-aI/AAAAAAAAAq4/aE9ynf8Wfwc/s1600/finger.jpg" height="381" width="540" /></a></p>
<p>The answer is: the electrons. Electrons float around in the empty space, sometimes tied to a nucleus, sometimes allowed to roam free. It is the repulsive force between the electrons in your hand, and the electrons in whatever you touch, that gives the sensation of “touch.” You are physically feeling electric repulsion — the collision between electrons that don’t want to mix. You are physically seeing the collisions between light and the electrons in the table. These electric forces are strong, they dominate how we interact with the world, and they can generate spectacular effects like the Aurora and lightning. You might wonder why electrons don’t want to mix. Unfortunately, I can’t answer that one. No scientist can — we just don’t know why.</p>
<h1>Turning on the light</h1>
<p>Electrons move extremely slowly. Getting through a wire is tough work. There’s a lot of bumping into the lattice of the nuclei. Electrons move at about one meter per hour — unbelievably slow. How is it, then, that you can Skype across the world in real time? How is it that you can flip the light switch and immediately the lights flick on? </p>
<p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6T4hITAv8b0/VNY3KTKO67I/AAAAAAAAArY/aM1xAPsgKyA/s1600/train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6T4hITAv8b0/VNY3KTKO67I/AAAAAAAAArY/aM1xAPsgKyA/s1600/train.jpg" height="381" width="540" /></a></p>
<p>Think of a long high speed train packed with people. It’s so tight that no one can move. Now try to push someone in at one end of the back car. The only way to let that person in is if someone else gets off at the other end of the train. The only movement that must occur is for everyone to shift down a bit. The actual movement of the people is slow, yet the response of everyone shifting down a bit can propagate along the train at a much higher speed. Pushing electrons down a wire is how we move energy, almost instantaneously, through wires. Plug your cell phone into the wall, and you can’t start charging until someone starts shoving electrons into the wires at a power plant miles away. It’s amazing.</p>
<h1>Magnets are magical</h1>
<p>You marveled as a little kid at the amazing forces of attraction and repulsion between two magnets, depending on their orientation. It’s a magical force, invisible yet so strong. For all of the 19th century, while the technology of electricity and magnetism was developing, scientists had no idea what was actually going on. It turns out that magnetism is, in part, also a property of electrons. Unlike electric repulsion, however, magnet repulsion has an orientation. The direction in which the electron is pointing determines if the magnetic force is attractive or repulsive. Amazingly, all the electrons in magnetic materials like iron are naturally aligned to point in the same direction. You can think of it as a conspiracy. What is their ultimately goal? No one knows, but I think they are trying to tell us to solve the climate crisis by using the powers of electromagnetism.</p>
<h1>Turning wires into magnets</h1>
<p>There’s another way to obtain a magnet other than pointing all of the electrons in the same direction. It turns out that running electrons through a wire can also produce a magnet. As the electrons move through the wire, from their perspective, the nuclei in the wire actually contract a little bit, leaving an electric imbalance between the electrons and the nuclei. This contraction is due to the very not-obvious fact that everything that moves actually get squished a tiny amount. You might have heard of Einstein. He figured this out. </p>
<p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QpclidWOm8U/VNY3J05CJjI/AAAAAAAAArI/eKNyRdu-S3U/s1600/magnet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QpclidWOm8U/VNY3J05CJjI/AAAAAAAAArI/eKNyRdu-S3U/s1600/magnet.jpg" height="381" width="540" /></a></p>
<p>The strange thing is that this electric imbalance depends on the direction in which the electrons are moving, similar to how the magnetic force depends on the direction the electrons are pointing. In fact, the direction of the force is the same for these two cases, and everything else about the two forces happens to be the same, so we go ahead and call them both magnetic forces. It’s wild, but you can create a magnet by moving electrons through a wire.</p>
<h1>Using magnets to create electricity</h1>
<p>I realize that things are starting to get pretty weird, but it gets even worse. Not only can you create a magnet by moving electrons through a wire, but you can also create electricity by moving a magnet nearby a wire. </p>
<p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tYei54bBYcY/VNY3I92_fMI/AAAAAAAAAq0/4xj3jOowPR4/s1600/electricity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tYei54bBYcY/VNY3I92_fMI/AAAAAAAAAq0/4xj3jOowPR4/s1600/electricity.jpg" height="381" width="540" /></a></p>
<p>Take a wire, and take a magnet. Move the magnet. The electrons in the wire will get pushed through the wire by the magnetic force. Essentially, the electrons are responding to the motion of the magnet by turning themselves into a magnet. You can sit there all day and wiggle the magnet back and forth and you’ll get current wiggling back and forth. And that is basically how electricity is generated.</p>
<h1>Using electricity to move magnets around</h1>
<p>We can also do this in the opposite direction. Take a wire. Run electrons through it. The wire will produce a magnetic force. Place a magnet nearby. The wire-magnet will feel an attraction or repulsion from the magnetic force of the magnet, just like a normal magnet would.</p>
<p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B_dWNhyI68k/VNY3KB5ZEKI/AAAAAAAAArM/9drzX8JeIJg/s1600/motor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B_dWNhyI68k/VNY3KB5ZEKI/AAAAAAAAArM/9drzX8JeIJg/s1600/motor.jpg" height="381" width="540" /></a></p>
<p>What’s amazingly cool is that you can wrap the wire around a shaft and, together with the nearby magnet and electricity, cause the shaft to turn! And that is basically how an electric motor works.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-80731058934689498202014-09-16T19:18:00.016-07:002021-03-21T12:40:01.093-07:00Weeks 28-30 - Interior paint, siding and back porch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a>
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Weeks 28 through 30 seemed like they were mostly spent killing time while the interior was painted. We needed to get the inside painted before the cabinets could get installed, which needed to come before the sinks could be installed, which in turn needed to come before the plumbers could show up. Since the plumbers and the electricians had to work together to get the water heaters installed, the electricity was also held up. Given that only one guy, Jeff, was available to do the painting, it took forever. I was pulling my hair out the whole time. The progress was painfully slow, but we still managed to have some exciting moments.
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Week 28 - Interior primer and exterior siding</h1>
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I was glad that the appearance of the outside began to change as the siding went up. I was worried that my neighbors were thinking that I had run out of money.</div>
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Bright and wonderful</h1>
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Inside, as soon as the primer went up, you began to get a sense for how bright and wonderful the interior of the home would be. For some reason, covering up the grey drywall with white paint changed the feel in a remarkable way, almost from a dingy prison cell to a wide open modern museum.</div>
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The most exacting siding in the world</h1>
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There’s something satisfying about siding — so perfectly straight and even. Neighbor Jesse commented that British scientists could calibrate their standard reference length of a meter off of how perfectly the siding is spaced. The drawback is that the siding is taking forever: measure a piece, cut it, try to fit it in place, measure it again, cut it again, try to fit it in place again, repeat. I can’t imagine how this is going to work when they have to climb up and down a ladder for every cut.<br />
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Week 29 - Interior paint color fiasco</h1>
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I was feeling busy so I figured I would save myself the trouble and just go with GO Logic’s standard interior color. After all, they are the experts.<br />
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Avoid Oxford White at all cost</h1>
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I knew something was wrong when I saw the paint on the wall, but I waited a day to see how it would look after a second coat. By the time I got a chance to take a look at the color again, the whole upstairs had been painted in the most disturbing tint of white that has ever been observed by any human in the history of humankind. The painter Jeff was crying with the paint brush in his hand, it was that bad. A strange green tint would appear at different angles, under different lighting, and trick you into thinking that the walls were actually green. But then you would look directly at the wall and it would innocently switch to a perfectly white looking white, just to mess with you.<br />
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Always put up multiple colors on the wall for comparison</h1>
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I ran to the paint store and discovered that every single white paint swatch looked exactly the same — no weird green tints, just white versus white versus white. By scrutinizing the colors inside, outside, in the sun, in the shade, I finally arrived at Mountain Peak. For comparison, I also took a can of Butter Pecan, which my parents have at their home. Once the colors were on the wall (above), it was clear that Mountain Peak was perfect, Butter Pecan was slightly too warm and Oxford White was to be avoided at all cost.</div>
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Lessons learned</h1>
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In the end, it worked out and Mountain Peak turned out to be a wonderfully rich and creamy white, with just enough warmth to make the inside feel welcoming, yet bright enough to make it feel expansive. The lesson learned is that it is a good idea to pick out a set of colors and paint them on the wall before (a) buying all the paint upfront and (b) painting everything before getting feedback on the color.<br />
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Always double check that you received the correct item</h1>
There was one final lesson to be learned, however. I was super happy with the color choice until I noticed that the smell from the paint upstairs was quite strong. I’ve been extremely careful to avoid finishes that off-gas, and so I specified Ben Moore Natura, a zero VOC paint. The paint guy gave me all the paint in a box, I paid for it, delivered it to Jeff the painter, took off, and the next time I returned the upstairs was all painted. Somehow I ended up with the normal paint, not the Natura, and there was nothing I could do about it after the fact. So much for the healthy home thing.<br />
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Week 30 - Best back porch ever!</h1>
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The back porch got started last week. Seemingly added on as an addendum at the last minute, it’s already one of the best features of the home. Most people assume that the main entrance is through the front main windows, but in fact it’s through the back side of the house. Hopefully the wrap-around driveway will clarify this in the future, directing you to the back porch which serves as a visual cue to the entryway.</div>
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The wide beams seem like overkill, but, aesthetically, something is so satisfying about their proportions. The siding — vertical slats of channel rustic lap siding — also seems like overkill. It is a lot of wood (pine), but it is beautiful, and somehow makes the porch feel like less of an outside space. The beams and the paneling will be coated with a natural sealer and the cedar deck boards will be left to age naturally.<br />
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Installing the standing seam roof, a neat roofing system</h1>
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Tim Copinger and his crew stopped by to install the standing seam metal roof on the porch, so I got to see the process up close. The truck in the foreground has a giant machine that produces each metal sheet one by one, supply them right as the roofers install them.<br />
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<a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;67CCABB1-8972-4100-ACAF-016C0FF53BD3"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WAf8H5wZNR0/WNkskwR60iI/AAAAAAAABJE/w_J4CQB3CAY/s9999/IMG_0041.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" width="528" /></a></div>
The spool of Galvalume (an aluminum zinc alloy) on top feeds through some sort of mechanism that rolls out the metal sheets, bends up the edges, straightens out the sheets and automatically cuts them to size. It was neat to watch. You can see the flat piece emerging at the bottom right. The seams of each roof panel fit together and conceal a third piece, a clip. The clip fits under the panels and gets nailed to the plywood, and serves to keep the metal panels attached to the roof. Water can’t get through the seams to the clips so there’s no screw hole in the panels themselves to leak or require sealing. It’s a clever system.Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-13000217407818168422014-08-05T12:47:00.006-07:002018-01-15T20:15:42.454-08:00Weeks 22-27 - Roof, blower door test, insulation & drywall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cr485TilmBI/U8UNLcEeTvI/AAAAAAAAAgk/QVmHgwcdUZQ/s1600/IMG_1092.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cr485TilmBI/U8UNLcEeTvI/AAAAAAAAAgk/QVmHgwcdUZQ/s620/IMG_1092.jpg" alt="image-389" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>So much for my plan to update the blog every week. Ive been super busy, but at the same time the project slowed down to a crawl, so Ive bunched up the past month and a half into a single post. The builder had other jobs. We were waiting for this and that. Sadly, carpenter Don came down with lyme disease, but hes doing better already after a round of antibiotics. After a month and a half, we got the roof on (1 day), the blower door test done (2 hours), the rough plumbing and electricals (3 days), the insulation (3 days), the drywall mostly up (1 week) and the exterior window framing mostly done (lots of time).</p><h1>Week 22 - Standing seam roof is beautiful, mostly</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;44BD0B65-BA8B-4225-8549-F8153A044B1E"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e7ytRR9-Ks0/WlztrS3Hf0I/AAAAAAAABaU/WhlltjsC0aECuc5GJxyc-e4_363BN1PTACHMYCw/s9999/1516039530.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>At first, the standing seam roof looked amazing, with a deep rich grey color and thin sleek seams widely placed apart. I was glad we went with the more expensive 24 gauge steal which is thicker, formed in the field, and doesnt have the more industrial looking ribbing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;95D6CA1B-B4F9-4ED4-B4A8-6E996F8AA2E3"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MgJqhJxAANk/Wl18bOximJI/AAAAAAAABdU/pRRuLptRPYoJr2AU4x0jc7grL_GH7XIXwCHMYCw/s9999/1516076107.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><br><p>But then I noticed that when the sun is high up in the sky, which happens to be a common occurrence, the roof material looks like a tin can about to crumple – kind of a cheap look for an expensive roof. Apparently, this is a common occurrence with standing seam roofs, a trade off for the extra durability and sleek look. By and large, the roof looks great from almost every angle, just not from the road during midday.</p><h1>Week 23 - The blower door test, the ultimate reckoning</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;8A3C8833-93B2-41B1-B267-499C807F3577"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G0aAbM4lmBA/Wl16AXFY49I/AAAAAAAABck/s8jLRqXxQu4CAbzIqe1FiW47X4vHGBlUACHMYCw/s9999/1516074814.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The blower door test is like a baseball pitchers earned run average (ERA), its the ultimate measure of the builders prowess. Everyone was anxious about how the test would turn out.</p><p>A critical part of the passive house concept is to seal the envelope of the building in order to prevent hot air from seeping out, and to avoid drafts of cold air from seeping in, which tends to be unpleasant in the winter. To verify the degree to which the house has been sealed up, we need to measure the flow of air passing through all of the little unsealed cracks in the envelope.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;58627B4F-08D4-4637-A932-9A66A1D510EE"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-67Uo_ZLe_mA/Wl15_-JQPdI/AAAAAAAABcg/_GjdZ1y0378Fgt1ylaf4D8ssD3pNUJUewCHMYCw/s9999/1516074900.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>To do this, we replace the front door with a fan and use it to blow air out of the house, and then measure how much air passes through the fan. The flow of air passing through the fan must be equal to the flow of air through all the little breaks in the envelope; there is no other place for the air to go. Presumably (Im guessing here), the fan is calibrated such that the air flow can be determined from the fan speed, at a given pressure between the inside and the outside. The measured flow is not necessarily the real air leakage, however. The standard pressure used is 50 Pascals, which is substantially greater than you would normally get from wind or your ventilation system, but it serves to make sure everyone is testing under the same conditions.</p><h1>Plugging up holes around the HRV</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;ACE03BF9-25FB-451C-BA84-E25AE2420577"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PBW_Ig9nqX8/Wl15_NUbjwI/AAAAAAAABcc/xP7DAbaaBwkIJia16x8rpyoguw11oQdxgCHMYCw/s9999/1516074970.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>We hooked everything up and started measuring the flow, then ran around the house feeling for drafts to plug up. We found a couple of spots in the attic around the HRV where the exhaust and inlet ducts penetrate the air barrier. It seems that the HRV got positioned too close to the wall so it was difficult to tape around the duct adequately. Also, the angle at which the ducts cross the sheathing is not ideal. Its always tough dealing with subcontractors: they dont have much interest in making sure the air barrier will be easy to seal.</p><h1>A spectacular "air changes" (ach) number, then a good ach</h1><p>After plugging everything up, we got a final flow measurement, in units of cubic feet per minute (cfm). The certification guy (Mark Newey, of CET) then calculated the number of "air changes" per hour, meaning the fraction of air that would leak out of the house during an hour, arriving at 0.23 ach at 50 Pascals, an unbelievably awesome number! The passivhaus target is 0.6 ach and almost nobody gets down near 0.2 ach. We high-fived each other and went home. Only later — when I relayed the information to the architect — did we realize that we were using the wrong number for the volume of the home. In reality, the result came to 0.34 ach, still an excellent number and a huge testament to the amazing craftsmanship of Don the carpenter and the rest of the Integrity team.</p><h1>Week 24 - The blown-in fiberglass insulation</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;3E188E92-34D1-4D66-AE30-62A51606FAA8"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6NaPAMkpjMo/Wl15-4hpMnI/AAAAAAAABcY/L7QwrmVZEOErwBb_WH00RaGS1hPSXgv6QCHMYCw/s9999/1516075033.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>At the last minute, GO Logic was running through their heating demand calculations and realized that the home wasn’t going to meet the 15 kWh/m2 per year goal set by Passivhaus. We decided to increase the thickness of the inner stud wall from 4" to 6" and to use blown-in fiberglass instead of blown-in cellulose, for its better R value. Cellulose is often recycled, but there is some concern about the fact that it is treated with chemical fire retardants, so I was glad to not have to worry about that. The fiberglass is made of recycled glass and does not need to be treated with fire retardants.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;6A7C8A45-E6BE-420B-B504-57974081E5A2"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TzBRTEAbtSk/Wl15-bloJpI/AAAAAAAABcU/L0z4eiiSgJUbmThuIkqrePwNH-6c7A4gACHMYCw/s9999/1516075069.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The first step is to put up a mesh consisting of a teflon paper type material.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;2FBCE450-0C4E-4D93-87EC-4AC982B1FBD2"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KprWIGrxn48/Wl1591_TB4I/AAAAAAAABcQ/6VvptCSBAMgAYBYr_psOw1036VmFgiXxQCHMYCw/s9999/1516075109.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The fiberglass is blown in through holes in the mesh until the stud cavity is completely filled and the fiberglass is compacted, creating a interesting artsy wall with a quilted look.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;5538A755-17BD-4C71-8E38-7320ADEBBE4B"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XwbKrJJ-FMA/Wl159ZwUgpI/AAAAAAAABcM/H-U570AlyCEPtrTdruMnAsdVCJiSJetlACHMYCw/s9999/1516075139.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>To keep the mesh from bulging outward, it is stapled at the studs, which makes for a cool stitch pattern. Too bad the walls are going to get covered with drywall.</p><h1>Week 25 - What’s the purpose of drywall?</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;5AFE43D1-4B8C-4F43-88AF-698A212AFC01"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GHXgtotk8Fc/Wl1582PNLSI/AAAAAAAABcI/2p1DdHpEsGgWztaJ9tVUTb24yYCNGaKjgCHMYCw/s9999/1516075194.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>No offense to the drywall crew, but drywall strikes me as completely useless. The amount of material used is enormous. It’s bulky and heavy and takes forever to install. It uses up space and, after it was installed, it made the rooms feel smaller. Why not just tack up a thin panelling material?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;A6CDFF0D-9D0D-4D73-8C83-57A897BEE1F8"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YDXPDM1Jc1I/Wl158R_EaPI/AAAAAAAABcE/22-Odglf3FUPfAxWLicC3-Rv1pghRIt9ACHMYCw/s9999/1516075225.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>It’s a good thing we enlarged the window to the stairway, and also good that it’s an operable window, otherwise it would have been impossible to get the massive drywall panels upstairs. Passing them through the window was still a major exercise. There must have been four or five loads, each as massive as the one you can see in the image above.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;675DD41E-2684-4F6B-8752-647B53978DBA"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xrAtZe4jmB4/Wl157zbTUeI/AAAAAAAABcA/FbQSBiTFLd4PWJ5cX_MgLyvlFV5ex5CQgCHMYCw/s9999/1516075280.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The drywall really makes the rooms feel closed-in and small, but apparently once the rooms get painted they open up again. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.</p><h1>Week 26 - Finishing the drywall</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;9CE00F6A-3051-4CDD-8337-460CFE8B0CED"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d6v2D0R8Frg/Wl157e3mF1I/AAAAAAAABb8/Ab0Vx8PTNVccr8M06Jgu65rmpDqzd_yMQCHMYCw/s9999/1516075319.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Finishing the drywall took one guy over a week, being careful with the corners and sanding down everything nicely.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;3DC58490-0B5C-41F9-A178-CA098049DA00"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yatfQZJc0Iw/Wl156q0GS3I/AAAAAAAABbw/5FUeocCLIPkIz9t3h12mEfPJoI_qSFpmwCHMYCw/s9999/1516075354.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The upstairs hallway is starting to feel like a super nice spot in the home. It feels luxuriously large for a small home — almost too large — but I think we made the right decision to keep it big. For a while I played with tightening up the hallway to give more room for the bedrooms. In the end, the bedrooms indeed came out tiny, but that’s fine. For someone like me who struggles with insomnia, you want to keep your bedroom for sleeping, a dedicated space without distractions. The hallway, on the other hand, gets a lot more usage and impacts the feel of the home in a greater way: it’s your first impression as you walk up the stairs and it’s a common space that gets a lot of traffic.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;8584F907-3AF6-4E42-9A12-E793F574416C"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mJ24I2iqrCE/Wl156gON9oI/AAAAAAAABb4/nJMa9L4MSxIMwOq7MnAyHKDQwOirnGMqwCHMYCw/s9999/1516075399.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Here’s a look at how sharp the drywall edges came out, which really helps give the windows a crisp modern look.</p><h1>Week 27 - Window framing, starting the siding</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;D90A344E-41A2-4F4D-9DA7-51284C0FD0ED"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ymla9S3I8BQ/Wl17P96t1pI/AAAAAAAABc0/J5shIZqWmqEgvSC09BbgEOXlTOMqhBHxQCHMYCw/s9999/1516075695.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Most of the week was spent finishing the window frames, a long and arduous process that seems to have taken 99% of the time spent building the house. I’ll have to write a dedicated post in the future describing the window framing. Each window required so much measuring and cutting and fitting things together — it’s like building a delicate piece of furniture, but the piece is hanging one story up in the sky and you need a ladder to access it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;74279179-FA35-4B2D-8B48-D3BF70295CA2"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tyuJfXn1vqA/Wl17P6FygeI/AAAAAAAABcw/Y7i4YCeLvck36n3Xk-qKN8eQL_bztDDvgCHMYCw/s9999/1516075738.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The aluminum flashing was formed by Don in the field and careful cut and wedged into place.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;C6D7931A-5B93-4084-B577-F0B6BB419752"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_4Pad-9LJ0c/Wl17P1qAr0I/AAAAAAAABc4/OnOsJoxgs2QahJJbLZpb3SkVRBPPVLX8ACHMYCw/s9999/1516075775.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Here’s a shot of the spacers that will keep the siding offset from the walls. The little gap between the siding and the wall allows air to flow from under the siding up into the space just below the roof, rising at it warms up and serving to prevent the buildup of moisture that can lead to rotting.</p><p>Be sure to check out the <a href="https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ">photostream</a> for more detailed images (with captions) of whats been happening. At the moment, however, the photostream is down, but hopefully Apple with have it back up soon.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-46369904582157819602014-06-15T18:04:00.004-07:002021-06-01T00:05:54.774-07:00Weeks 20 & 21 - We now have windows<p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x19r_BYSFpw/U55DjBnNrdI/AAAAAAAAAfA/qm5vd_mQiao/s1600/IMG_0978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x19r_BYSFpw/U55DjBnNrdI/AAAAAAAAAfA/qm5vd_mQiao/s1600/IMG_0978.jpg" width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>I was out of town for weeks 20 and 21, so I missed out on the whole window installation process, which was a major bummer. Kathy stopped by after week 20 and sent me some pictures of the windows, which helped prevent me from being eaten alive with curiosity. </p>
<p>Kneer-Suedfenster is a German window company that’s been around since 1932. Their windows are custom sized, passive house certified, triple pane, high quality and — surprisingly — cheaper than Marvin double pane windows.</p>
<p>Since Integrity hadn’t installed Kneer-Suedfenster windows in the past, GO Logic sent down one of their carpenters from Maine to give a demo installation and to inspect the windows after their long trip from Germany. The guys reported that the installation was easy. Most of the windows were in place after three days of work.</p>
<h1>First impression: oh wow, the frames are huge</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;554F514E-BF87-4D73-B535-ACCA206671F7
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3domqnjmS6b3vEzEfG1egRCCKCmsofrAzFz6eMmczggKi5UuG_WbB8yRm5jjX_GQzSlF4RWx78gJ4vqPEOgqqhrpx2luJFMq6qGBd8epIC-vgAPndfO8Xyflut1eUGkYWW6sAYRnHpOKZbt3Wkj9pkW=w2026-h1331-no?authuser=0 " width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Oh no! Check out how much the actual window area has shrunk! Back when the SIPs were installed, the window openings were already squeezing me in. Now I feel like I’m on an airplane looking through a port hole. I guess it’s the price we pay for energy efficiency — windows lose a lot of heat, and even the south facing windows upstairs have to be kept small to avoid over-heating on sunny winter days. The small size of the windows upstairs is probably the biggest — or maybe the only — serious sacrifice that the Passivhaus standard has brought, but it’s still hard to swallow.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;16576A72-4865-48F9-8BAE-DA26A2B745AF
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ewokbcum-zKFAAwqLDC_XQd1zroW0gEzYNGbK_M4tavPDmCoYWdxPjB9Cpywz69zviOajNl1RC-vmw4YtngcBpmS-vt-OlBAaupN-BqKm0PCqoWB9Go4AJ9j6l3JcPrDWPUn4hbEGR14q61iEkBXDf=w1280-h960-no?authuser=0 " width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The master bedroom widows, however, work well at this size. The three widows let in a good amount of light and allow a nice view of the hillside, but still give you a bit of privacy.</p>
<h1>Kneer-Suedfenster windows are pretty awesome</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;5EAE1A7B-4723-40C4-9CB3-7FD27B2110CE
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3eLh99MSUMPL0KVHKhqOmD9gQ1xI9uTX40ceQWAIqoMaUKhEBUO6kzKxHZTNsDoOlkX_lIrg4tftxgLAVnsDcXZJLWs5oq9bjPUOgHm5fmfcuTPOtBQp7tKHKKDkwZycy7JQaaPNt1JfjtKOQqF37Qu=w960-h1280-no?authuser=0 " width="70%"></a></p>
<p>Once you walk up to these windows, you notice how exquisite they are. The handles make you feel like you’re getting into a Mercedes. The feel is solid. The look is simple and elegant. The clicking and latching sound of the locking mechanism is reminiscent of a car door unlocking. There’s even a whooshing sound as the seal is broken as the window opens.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;52B2B41A-0419-419F-9CE3-982FC8EC6D30
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fpX7G5BbFvwrv8IqFQjHwTli1CvZt7MfPEPWdgLgz_GNS0jnHmpsn8wuyjUO5EGNNPT0dXgnhQFYRJNaayAI2TmuhKqEUlbS3u4zREzuMQ-cnlexCBJmeoywe00KfA2jS2fkcFMn983Ti49XO8TiFL=w1280-h960-no?authuser=0 " width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The thickness and heftiness of the window is ridiculous. It feels more like you are opening the door to a vault at the bank than a window. The triple paned glass must be almost two inches thick!</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;170C3DC7-26B5-4F4B-8593-0E74C219B803
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3e144PoGLtXTdXGLuOiLUSrxMoBxaxaU0mToRYtKo17a7yHnm59YuzWtu0gNCDhMu_yobXGhoX1u7tmhCBg5tW68BpYbnwxdw34daTTB1Cwif46mB1VL8DCxu0pMNud6ZHB0vVgGGQfAsWLY7XTQo-E=w960-h1280-no?authuser=0 " width="70%"></a></p>
<p>There are three levels of rubber seals to ensure that the window is air-tight, in addition to a bomb-proof locking mechanism that locks at multiple points all around the perimeter.</p>
<h1>Tilt and turn is fabulous</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;8CB3C1D6-111B-4247-A0ED-7EF380EECB01
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fUo2fR-lG1lVySqYTwAA6FBUO3OSRC01H09wswoJuFM8cWScQFW0Jpp6DYAejynXCADz-vV-20YYSmXf7Pb2vkQ6Wl9nHrpOGHOID-4inXHSTQ-MN-j3eqHcG8s5TdrJIVRpd-BdOespuHRB4swwr_=w960-h1280-no?authuser=0 " width="70%"></a></p>
<p>Most windows in the US either slide up or sideways, or have that little ridiculous crank handle at the bottom that is impossible to use. Tilt and turn windows, popular in Europe, open inward like a door (shown above). It’s easy, convenient and satisfying — you get a full wide open window that brings in a ton of fresh air. You can pop your whole body out the windows for a good look around. You can clean the outside of the glass and install the bug screen from the inside. </p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;BD69778A-848B-41CB-99BF-F535D243B1FA
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cd1oBhCGfqtfzTBQ0UMdi8gIcI6OJiDg27UOSz7nI0ZLo61gUfH2TAPHkb85-5_orf7JUMqbvPsyW67d4hqoIzJNpb7BdzpqUkuCv-84a-VnI5kB_QpRCd1iQgdlz4mwyb7nIhAB4z1D7db7vIdejV=w960-h1280-no?authuser=0 " width="70%"></a></p>
<p>For just a little bit of fresh air, turning the handle upward allows you to open the window from the top down — the tilt position. This is great for when you don’t want to deal with a wide open window or it’s raining outside. </p>
<h1>Not so happy about the dining room windows</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;E9B456CF-7777-4CAF-8E9E-9D388C701835
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cPx4pdYkTElQX1EOqYStQUW9rwTeV7QFGQcnIGQDuqAv-73ttyWcfCWwqHgz1voX-PetDvv6LOFiFDb6tv6Ult7c2LzFh4jGGU2pHncdzktT9Mt_cBjSRFQjY22eveZGc1A60stGLo_9Fio5QQHKYX=w1280-h960-no?authuser=0 " width="100%"></a></p>
<p>At the last minute, GO Logic panicked about meeting the passivhaus heating goal of 15 kWh/m2 per year. They decided to widen the set of three large downstairs windows which let in a large chunk of the solar heat. It made sense to increase their size, but the dining room area now feels much more wide open than I originally imagined. The inside feels too exposed to the street and the window layout feels somehow out of balance. From the outside, the vertical symmetry between the upstairs windows and the downstairs windows is awkwardly upset. </p>
<p>I might just need to calibrate myself to the new look, but I can’t help but feel that this scenario illustrates something broken with the passivhaus design process. The last minute redesign probably resulted in a tiny reduction of the actual heat load — just enough to bring us under the 15 kWh/m2 target — but it forced a number of errors and difficult compromises to an otherwise well planned project. I don’t have an easy prescription for avoiding this situation in the future, but there must be a better way.</p>
<h1>Important things to know about windows</h1>
<p>There are three important terms. </p>
<p><strong>U-Value</strong> is the thermal conductivity of the window, often given in units of [Btu/hr SF ℉]. Lower U-Value is better for keeping heat in the home. Take the inverse of the U-Value to get the R-Value, which is typically used to describe the thermal resistance of walls. Air has a much lower thermal conductivity than glass, so trapping a pocket of air between two glass panes dramatically reduces the thermal conductivity of the window. A U-Value of 0.5 is horrible. A U-Value of 0.1 is fantastic. </p>
<p><strong>Visible Transmittance (VT)</strong> is the percent of visible light that passes through the window. A higher VT is generally better, unless you want to avoid direct sunlight or glare. Lower VT windows will look tinted. </p>
<p><strong>Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)</strong> is similar to VT, but for the whole solar spectrum. One amazing fact about the solar spectrum is that heat itself is radiated in an identical way to light — as photons. Radiant heat is light, we just can’t see it with our eyes. In fact, most of the energy in the solar spectrum is in the form of invisible heat photons. SHGC describes the fraction of the <em>total</em> solar spectrum (heat plus visible light, plus other stuff) that penetrates through the window. Consider two similar windows that both look completely transparent to the eye. One might allow a lot of heat photons to pass through — giving a high SHGC. The other might fewer heat photons to pass through — giving a low SHGC. High SHGC around 0.7 is great for south facing windows because they let in a lot of heat. Low SHGC around 0.2 is great for north facing windows because they won’t let as much heat escape from the inside.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-38097226796335445562014-06-05T04:37:00.009-07:002022-01-15T08:45:34.694-08:00Week 19 -- The amazing ventillation system<p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OIDSj4liVSI/U46Fvs9zNmI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/to1uyq4Xmcs/s1600/IMG_08330-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OIDSj4liVSI/U46Fvs9zNmI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/to1uyq4Xmcs/s1600/IMG_08330-2.jpg" width="90%"/></a></p>
<p>Back from my trip to Korea and Japan, I have three weeks of exciting work on the house to catch you up on. The ventilation system went it in, although we ran into some issues about where to put some of the vents.</p>
<h1>Tightly sealed homes are more comfortable</h1>
<p>When you seal up the exterior shell of the building, it makes for a more comfortable home in addition to saving energy. When you open the front door, cold air can’t rush in — it has nowhere to go. There are no cold drafts throughout the house because cold air isn’t leaking in anywhere. If you build your house according to passive house standards, it should take 1 hour 40 minutes for all the air in the building to leak out and be replaced by new air (equivalent to 0.6 air changes per hour) (it’s not exactly clear to me why this particular number is the target). A typical home will leak out all of it’s air in 30 minutes, equivalent to leaving the front door wide open!</p>
<h1>You are getting sleepy and sickly</h1>
<p>People need fresh air otherwise they’ll start to feel a little dizzy and tired due to the build up of CO2 and lack of oxygen. At 600 ppm of CO2, it starts to feel stuffy. At 1000 ppm, you’ll start to feel drowsy. Even measurements of typically constructed homes find that CO2 concentrations in the bedrooms at night with the windows closed will often reach over 2000 ppm! The more tightly sealed the house, the worse the situation gets. Furthermore, toxic gases offgasing from glues, coatings, paints and plastics will cause long term health problems if they are allowed to build up in the home.</p>
<h1>The amazing ventilator brings in fresh air without wasting energy</h1>
<p><a href="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXvxk7bzmk4SIllksauHevd1hCLgCU6Vi7VOv47CDM5aIzpYWwnWAZiV1HtLZ7o405foZZ2n7B5_80aOE0IngPIJZ1lJASt4Kot00F_tsyhYxhfCT5PB3kKLfpYRK79IAnidEOnPEusqO_MlUU_uni3=w2297-h1537-no?authuser=0 "><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXvxk7bzmk4SIllksauHevd1hCLgCU6Vi7VOv47CDM5aIzpYWwnWAZiV1HtLZ7o405foZZ2n7B5_80aOE0IngPIJZ1lJASt4Kot00F_tsyhYxhfCT5PB3kKLfpYRK79IAnidEOnPEusqO_MlUU_uni3=w2297-h1537-no?authuser=0 " width="100%"></a></p>
<p>A ventilation system is designed to address this problem, bringing in fresh air to every room while miraculously not wasting energy. It’s ingenious and surprisingly simple, probably one of the coolest energy saving ideas ever! The heart of the system is a type of heat exchanger, a recuperator, shown above, which takes cold air from outside and flows it through tiny pores. Each pore is surrounded by another set of pores flowing warm air from inside in the opposite direction. As the cold air passes by the warm air, almost all of the heat energy (up to 95%) transfers from the warm air to the cold air. It’s easy to think that the temperature of the two air flows might equilibrate to some intermediate temperature, but that’s not what happens. </p>
<h1>The secret behind how it works</h1>
<p><a href="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_vOJ7GqhTNOr6B1XmrY_1HT5Gb5kqVhNXr_THWkoF52WLFFXVOfc8laUTh0MYK7UHxdS3_joO5_LIhSMZVLjhqTAdy_BBIAVW9VnFCfMrWwdvKCiy_QsVGQlN8xnN8NFqNVt_M0fRenIywQsGQ0oaATcXaSqARHJ3zAHcv29LFoA5DDlL_bXY9X4FkcPnoU4446HG3wCzBOz4kF9f5dz8IB89l0gjGIz6I3YUNI_yFrKO10A3LmEYazOH6RndqBy5ppaXtyfcWpPnGlxuHXiO-I5NI6iy0m8mrxdgiwHbrgPfbK3qUzW6NYcxF0g2NZC2kKzEajKPSgAd0Ir5phzfMoQTL75Q1cb6ubs6YzdTIVRwahs-jO3AP4fEcJ9D5IEcvz-hpCn_3PfWAKBZzcUJ36ujmIT2jLiCYEURjswT_KUJ5B1Yoal1B0GpJfVKsLP1HaBRFD5LocL2rzqCMmRS6Ls_D9WXbHbCpI0Kg5imNT6Bv0nRDKBEdCVwTiKi-bPDzKFuiXetjgayGvaNbMdfV-cnufnprwrKVDSfc7Usd847DTWBRSdhW4Zsf9WYzRyJwab0s-aDUfUtnQk-4s0W7PkwA8LRrjvKHoAme_gWTc5QPgJ6H0GzaaSV9WAACLrWjpOSxllUiYZMGVroyYJlvppZwa2ZUrTmiEzuS0AgHcm-7GxP82px4hYl1C71nJJP-rXgJsBX3D6qtWfpi75_t0=w1024-h724-no?authuser=0"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_vOJ7GqhTNOr6B1XmrY_1HT5Gb5kqVhNXr_THWkoF52WLFFXVOfc8laUTh0MYK7UHxdS3_joO5_LIhSMZVLjhqTAdy_BBIAVW9VnFCfMrWwdvKCiy_QsVGQlN8xnN8NFqNVt_M0fRenIywQsGQ0oaATcXaSqARHJ3zAHcv29LFoA5DDlL_bXY9X4FkcPnoU4446HG3wCzBOz4kF9f5dz8IB89l0gjGIz6I3YUNI_yFrKO10A3LmEYazOH6RndqBy5ppaXtyfcWpPnGlxuHXiO-I5NI6iy0m8mrxdgiwHbrgPfbK3qUzW6NYcxF0g2NZC2kKzEajKPSgAd0Ir5phzfMoQTL75Q1cb6ubs6YzdTIVRwahs-jO3AP4fEcJ9D5IEcvz-hpCn_3PfWAKBZzcUJ36ujmIT2jLiCYEURjswT_KUJ5B1Yoal1B0GpJfVKsLP1HaBRFD5LocL2rzqCMmRS6Ls_D9WXbHbCpI0Kg5imNT6Bv0nRDKBEdCVwTiKi-bPDzKFuiXetjgayGvaNbMdfV-cnufnprwrKVDSfc7Usd847DTWBRSdhW4Zsf9WYzRyJwab0s-aDUfUtnQk-4s0W7PkwA8LRrjvKHoAme_gWTc5QPgJ6H0GzaaSV9WAACLrWjpOSxllUiYZMGVroyYJlvppZwa2ZUrTmiEzuS0AgHcm-7GxP82px4hYl1C71nJJP-rXgJsBX3D6qtWfpi75_t0=w1024-h724-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Imagine two tubes, side by side, shown above. One has cold air entering from outside, one has warm air entering from inside. Since the two tubes are in contact, they will have pretty much the same temperature at each cross section along the tubes, warmer near the inside and cooler near the outside. As air passes through the tubes, heat is transferred between the tubes in order to maintain the temperature profile along the length of both tubes. Notice how incoming cold air is heated up to room temperature and outgoing warm air is cooled down to the outside temperature. The efficiency of this process can be very high as long as the temperature difference between the two tubes is small and the thermal conductivity of the tubes is high. The same process runs in reverse in the summer.</p>
<h1>The real life Zhender ComfoAir 200 HRV</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;BC71F29A-107F-4521-B536-6BCFB200E301
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWT4LFMUfaNt36-jMxDHqu_m64Ma66WBRQ1mla-00E0sQTh6NxqU80A2w586QLP5PmPr5oy6V6Hjb1KWxX2RVdU1W_K3M3K3WVq8ktQDWvcXU0BGk9WguNKsYBUvmaiRXyJHadxpgbapbk8bTT9Mje5=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0 " width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The actual ventilator, called a heat recovery ventilator (HRV), looks like a big rectangular box with squid-like flexible ducts going everywhere. It’s installed in the attic space and the ducts are routed down to each room. The installation seemed to be pretty quick and easy — it took two guys about two days, although we ran into an issue.</p>
<h1>Where should the ventilation vents go?</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;7E7B7364-B046-4D9D-AB20-A76E75096202
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXnXn9KAGwKoLhtD1stgE4hHzUcZfJqOOqgS3URVh5RqD_wAWLs0V5Xvocs9FyEFpK3t0EvnPsTOE3EguuKlgCMTToaEVUEp9J0V-YiISVFBqTJEYO5XMcuysJL-BK7w9jVpVAnUEnbFg9AJDHRSfKG=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0 " width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Above is an image of the ventilation vent in the kitchen. The architect and Zhender seemed to have two different philosophies about where each vent should go. The architect intended to place exhaust vents in the kitchen and the two bathrooms, and to place supply vents in the bedrooms and the main living area. Zhender seemed to think that supply vents weren’t needed in the main living area because the supply air from the upstairs bedrooms would filter downstairs. On one hand, the architect’s configuration seems like a better idea because the living area is a large space and it would be nice to have fresh air piped there directly. On the other hand, the bedrooms are the locations where CO2 buildup will be the greatest — small spaces, closed off all night, with people breathing inside — and therefore would benefit from as much fresh air as possible. </p>
<p>Three weeks later, we still appear to be at an impasse.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-32889930979470857342014-05-11T15:22:00.002-07:002021-05-31T23:53:33.702-07:00Week 18 - Driveway complete, a little bit about the heat pump<p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MXSj7TCbzBI/U27kb4VikxI/AAAAAAAAAc0/JGEmIwCpPzs/s1600/IMG_0190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MXSj7TCbzBI/U27kb4VikxI/AAAAAAAAAc0/JGEmIwCpPzs/s1600/IMG_0190.jpg" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>The driveway is done, and little bits of progress have been made here and there on the roof trim, the building wrap, the upstairs ceiling. The piping for the heat pump was installed, and I’ll tell you a little bit about the amazing science behind the heat pump below.</p>
<h1>Driveway is done, almost</h1>
<p>The most expensive part of the entire project – the essentially <a href="http://potwinepassive.blogspot.com/2014/05/week-17-more-driveway-work.html">unnecessary driveway</a> – is almost done. Normally, you want to complete the driveway first, before embarking on construction, but our project got off to a late start and the winter prevented us from doing driveway work until now.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;759062C5-A89F-4463-9CCC-C1083E095C39"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3eySi165JRblstCKXZVuSH-_AtPTUobw2IK3CFmdexRD3bqvGcK9i8bKHWLP3nIxCBoG-kzhnlc1QCxH8jXNzpJjLds_8q45XNZLK2T0OK8utLwCPLOu0ek0VKRs_Yv5I_JOotzRQfrludCkzPkK-RV=w640-h480-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Above, a sheet of fabric is put down to separate the bottom layer of dirt from the top layer of “gravel” – that’s what the guys call it even though it looks like dirt to me. I suppose keeping the two layers separate helps stabilize the driveway.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;1F6C6E65-789C-4DB0-A24C-F842CFB33A0F"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3efqVrMQlVGmbTt3Htq317pfZhGZ3uPbBdRYEXI6k9Iq8iFB9nRj7MNKvasXxGxwW2ZwQpYmhuQRcHhsGn2g96v7hErY7xnvA2pIItvKsdGeJyzWMVZjaeSUflzeFwdLB9HLengvozg-i88-oopFqpB=w640-h480-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The tiniest steamroller in the world is compacting the gravel — it’s adorable. After construction is complete, a final layer of “TRG” (I don’t know what it stands for) will be placed on top of the dirt. The TRG consists of small stones and sand that compacts well and can be plowed in the winter.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;2DFB3A01-1B4E-4D6E-9A3D-7E818A71CDD0"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ei_chBsxmCt7n_-4d7SEWpp0VD7KG39g6xxMgnzpEiSBf4fA5KNkzpyUayR4cxi_oAZZpSwRFcp1ZH2FEIq83Lj8bkmfGx1qYh_JmI_Apqcn8PU1mSRKtPMaQzdQURDXsOO1Xaggk-IfTBnYCu45oo=w640-h480-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Now that the dirt is compacted around the home, delivery trucks don’t have to worry about getting stuck in the mud. My only concern is that I want to have a vegetable garden in front of the house and I’m worried that these vehicles compacting the soil will make the ground less amenable to cultivation. The driveway guys didn’t seem to think it was an issue.</p>
<h1>Work on the roof trim</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;C35A4674-433B-4F59-A103-5D0A1CCCD8CB"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fpbj5lnNELGdOUc3fSqefePJn5rTuytepLSNCf99wnozkJmieNzw8akRflXwpq9C-E5v-hLs2YxrZOBkc5M__YePZLNGGOH9d_M9aKLDZk1oujvzKmuo-GwSrNkzcf4gPmlER9ZEfnsqnuXMnhIQVC=w640-h480-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>I’m not sure how he got up there, but somehow Don got started on the roof trim – see the white boards along the edge of the roof – without scaffolding or a ladder. When I asked him how he did it, he said: “I’m a monkey.” Next week, the metal seam roof will go up and Don is eager to borrow the scaffolding that the roofers will put up.</p>
<h1>The R100 vaulted ceiling</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;6F50B503-490D-45E8-A979-906B1C47EC8E"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ct2rY9fWV6emSOKOZcJtTJytbs6DaidbqyxYjFZNWXHykxnVE4oCOJkCX6097tpZb2RSTJ52CzQTkT82hZ9w4XRTKAHS14xIZ5P1O_1I-IB11cirip7xFdZQS97OXMsYXTo6d5YvENCufLRSJ_MGO5=w640-h480-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>You might remember that the ceiling upstairs will serve as the air and moisture barrier, with an astonishing 26 inches of blown-in cellulose as insulation on top of the ceiling (in the roof truss) giving an out-of-this-world R value of R100! The ZIP sheathing (in green) is placed face down on the underside of the roof truss. On the lower right hand side of the image, you can just barely see how the taped seal runs under the roof eave and attaches to the underside of the ceiling ZIP.</p>
<h1>The building wrap</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;56AF9B2F-95F9-42BF-A04D-0C8D2B043075"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ej8jHyVglQpzbt-u1ckJ6brXxZqYGtVgblF9ThWkglAmJ1cjKaV8ywBgC-ZA9N0PCQfEjW_SFWbwDaLoR6oaGDZfEhX5r9eYytVBbABw6avh41QhG0bvGnOdXT1FkAYewHhIeOb97jOAa-Us0J6LFA=w480-h640-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>A delicate process, reminiscent of wrapping a Christmas present, is required to seal the moisture barrier around the window openings. First, the air barrier is taped at the edge between the window frame sheathing and the SIP OSB, shown above.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;E8774FFA-8D09-4535-9CA9-D1B99EA27B2B"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fCkjyvQaDw60e6WpR2Um-rgT3PmWyXOzFxgcQewwF9fn0imNY-NubtJ9jMastDxeYMjcx-xt-UgcxWsUxAZ8Rvh-W1EsVKQPbwxKX7azOguezG_qY2Hy8Yh7gxM7JOraSEEUptslaxn-OPmbfUCxBR=w480-h640-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>Second, the building wrap is taped to the window frame sheathing.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;B2DD8096-D7BD-45D2-9DC9-4F5A8B37B2EB"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fOcg3VIGeBUZ5IGWmfn-RkULbwMH2rYHAMfUa6F8UywVZ4ttvbb7TVq5krUWHDsspORbOhh9rW3DaoiA640PaKqGknaJndG587sNy278oZ-IhIHqcE6vMFRnfWY9eIhBDMFnuyn-JLpXWQcxFCXnbG=w640-h480-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Getting the edges right is always the tricky part. An extra piece of tape goes right at the corner, running horizontally along the inside crease of the window frame.</p>
<h1>The heat pump</h1>
<p>I’ll talk more about the heat pump later when it actually gets installed, but for now, here’s a quick overview. </p>
<p><a href="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dwfQzbEyGyP9t4hyD3U4GKWaPDJ6blogBmf2Q68lkDCSPKcI6DDY8znBkVIyVaIPxvCifyDkigBjxau9BtdcDgrFCF9ul8TSAh7xlQqHLXxFbPTN0_veyUQsXkEW1rDj23YyFKR3rmHbUe7rVqO6Vz=w337-h321-no?authuser=0"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dwfQzbEyGyP9t4hyD3U4GKWaPDJ6blogBmf2Q68lkDCSPKcI6DDY8znBkVIyVaIPxvCifyDkigBjxau9BtdcDgrFCF9ul8TSAh7xlQqHLXxFbPTN0_veyUQsXkEW1rDj23YyFKR3rmHbUe7rVqO6Vz=w337-h321-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>The heat pump provides both heating and air conditioning. We’ve chosen a mini-split, dual-zone, ductless model, meaning that there is an outdoor unit (a condenser) and two wall mounted indoor units (the evaporator cassettes) connected by two refrigerant lines (a gas line and a liquid line). This is different from central air conditioning or forced air heating where a central unit in the basement blows air through ducts to each room. </p>
<h1>How does a heat pump work?</h1>
<p>It’s a complicated process — a miracle of science — and you need to know a certain amount of thermodynamics to really understand it, but here’s how a heat pump (as well as your air conditioner and your refrigerator) works, in a nut shell. </p>
<p>The outdoor condenser, which houses a big noisy fan and a noisy compressor, serves to turn the refrigerant from a liquid to a gas (when in heating mode). The refrigerant is piped inside to each wall mounted indoor unit which simply blows air over the refrigerant — turning the refrigerant back to a liquid — and in the process extracts hot air. The cycle runs in reverse in air conditioning mode, turning the refrigerant from a gas to a liquid outside and extracting cool air when turning the refrigerant back to a gas. The process can move heat around at a seemingly impossible efficiency of almost 400%, way better than a normal furnace which might be 70% efficient.</p>
<h1>The refrigerant lines</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;C4E5380C-C895-4EB4-A2F6-3975EA5832F2"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cslbQvOip2pvYWAfT3Hbame7U5iLrhocOV8Kz3YgUxfq2ALbvCtERonevJRpYDfHeyL8cx8EGcXpZKAaSZk9TrCcotmlLSFDsa8yxbr4vYiFH9kJdaRVWZ4EwLxaOZ0xaoHUBcBucWccT1i4vpanHi=w640-h480-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Here’s where the outdoor unit will go once the siding is finished. Those bunches of tubing puncturing the wall are the refrigerant lines.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;064F9F00-0E95-487F-994F-21907586484D"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3egykOewAfeiu8MNKHcLPCbgpCRL_Yt9vnffJXBhfWB-Jo7Tyaz-GSjwWXY11KC6WAITSiexlnyL__lwV1auUNd-EW9-HpLKafJe7hnj-Cwb8NMWSZ88vGxvfnPrSci5MqR9m4CJpDPS5jWyI6JFklH=w480-h640-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>Inside, the tubing snakes through the walls to the evaporator unit. A water line allows condensed water to drain away. Notice how much simpler it is to install these lines than it would be to install all of the duct work for a central heating or air conditioning unit. </p>
<h1>Why don’t we need heat in every room?</h1>
<p>The home is so well insulated and so tightly sealed that the temperature will be essentially even throughout the entire house. You just need to add a bit of hot air at one location and the heat will eventually propagate everywhere. We have one cassette upstairs for cooling in the summer and one unit downstairs for heating in the winter. The thermostat will be set to a given temperature window and a minimal amount of energy will be required to keep the temperature constant. A great feature of these heat pumps is that they can run at extremely low settings, quietly trickling in the tiniest amount of heat without having to noisily cycle on and off like a traditional system.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-31389307343508891512014-05-05T17:23:00.002-07:002021-03-21T12:09:14.372-07:00Week 17 - More driveway work<p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EjKv2zaTlG4/U2f4ShhJCiI/AAAAAAAAAcc/IG520MhFu2E/s1600/IMG_0805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EjKv2zaTlG4/U2f4ShhJCiI/AAAAAAAAAcc/IG520MhFu2E/s1600/IMG_0805.jpg" width="90%"></a></p>
<p>Continued work on the driveway prevented much of anything else from happening this week. I realized that I’m having some regrets about the whole driveway operation. But, one thing turning out perfectly is the placement of the window locations.</p>
<h1>I should have gone off-grid</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;54BE5301-625C-49ED-BD7E-C39C4FB699E2"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dxMk_-ooovnV9GsQeih5z1WFVT7ZlUHRh0ZexMeCIlr7K3a0_wshvhpcCfh-xPTlZU8pqMcAWTGk28SgX6C12kdmiTG2FvvH6fKAOlHUBmL9XcrG0cr1j3KbNf9MuVOjQGLIIWKyvyTlA4M2i9KOnT=w960-h1278-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>The driveway work is a huge operation that has been taking more than twice as long as expected. The exposed electrical, phone and cable conduit are laid down in the trench above. They will be covered up next week. Sewer and water lines have already been put down and buried. The total area that was dug up covered the entire width of the original driveway, a gravel driveway that was perfectly usable as is. At $50k, it’s the single most expensive part of the construction.</p>
<p>What if I didn’t need all those hook-ups to the street? The sewer line could have been replaced by a septic tank. Maybe the water line could have been replaced by a well. Phone and cable are basically obsolete: satellite can accomplish the same thing. The remaining challenge is to provide off-grid electricity, which would have required solar panels and lots of batteries. </p>
<h1>Off-grid might have been cheaper</h1>
<p>Given the cost of the driveway, off-grid electricity might not be as far-fetched as you might think. Right now, the cost of batteries is not subsidized and is therefore not competitive economically. However, battery costs are falling rapidly and their performance has been improving steadily. Remember when your laptop lasted only two hours on a charge? Now, thin and lightweight laptops will last all day on a single charge. According to one group, off-grid solar photovoltaics plus battery storage will be <a href="http://www.rmi.org/electricity_grid_defection">cheaper than grid electricity in five years</a> in the Northeast. </p>
<p>Assuming a well and a septic tank would have cost $25k, the remaining $25k could have gone toward solar panels and battery backup. A 2kW solar array will only cost about $8k, leaving $17k for batteries. Batteries for three days of storage (11kWh x 3 = 33 kWh) might cost about $7k ($200/kWh x 33 kWh = $7k), leaving an extra $10k in savings! Wow. It is possible that I would have needed to double the solar array size in order to account for peak demand, but still. I had no idea it would be so close. </p>
<h1>Beautiful pictures of window openings</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;D50A9711-8781-47E8-B4AE-978C7F57A095"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3c2SXfmnrYMVC38f1Hw_AQB6DHxBzuYl08EWzeLjRNhTCesK9U1QluOgOYrpoviibZweoLrxxfYQAvILu_jQSvdPRnMLpg4AQhKUGD-xeBXpWpRQ3QH3s1jve4SjWOxeh5hiLfcZFlB_GXOO223Rb0b=w960-h1278-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>A great thing happened when I was showing my neighbor, Nancy, the house for the first time. As she walked up the steps, she exclaimed: “Oh, look at the mountain!” I was beaming inside. Nancy had no idea how much thought and energy went into to crafting the top of the stairway. I can’t believe it actually worked as planned.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;9C585BAB-0965-46EF-8D6C-0A8D7E1D60AB"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cZAcMoYqbCc4Ox8pGZXQ2AhdmWK4cOo55f-TyP72wyw5IMkZGG0ALxFhvK-1T1dukHEcNslNOphImANNOB_mQvHDxIZI1k0Ys1PiSfBYTj_PPEzzLEbhN4bs_vbUrLsjr-6f8bgtMbioibuOWMosIt=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The view out the back toward the apple trees is stunning in the afternoon. You can see the damage left by the crew who put in the drainage pipe. I still have to figure out who to flatten it out.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;0BC5A2DA-F3BF-40F2-840F-C67E4C524A25"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3c8-HE_5BFN3AwFcEPsl20syH6qmJQ-PAlGg2kvRzB8uHfu3kNZP-HXYBqMWsPCfUkwAmScxlgvl1k0qf-zS9CQSAWxo8CD-oX52uNKNKlVM3cRmGksQWrKyWuMEnr-mOlp3f_qP3VBxFS6OHSdiq5v=w960-h1278-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>The front door (entrance through the back side of the house) will be a full glass door, allowing you to glimpse out the back from the kitchen and dining area.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-15343880912714626402014-04-28T05:33:00.006-07:002022-01-15T09:47:10.153-08:00Week 16 - Starting on the driveway<p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1qWqyt7FSUw/U13IZynbbrI/AAAAAAAAAbM/mA6aDLeowRk/s1600/IMG_0789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1qWqyt7FSUw/U13IZynbbrI/AAAAAAAAAbM/mA6aDLeowRk/s1600/IMG_0789.jpg" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>This week, work began on excavating the driveway to connect the utilities to the street. Everything was supposed to be done by the end of the week, but it looks like we’re only about half way there. Work on the house slowed down substantially, although some window framing got done and some of the building wrap went up.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;3990FEE5-4082-408A-B1B7-84AE7A93F6A1 "><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWcfigJcjqgJ-FJQ-euadTwwN0inYC69258vG_gLgsSW_XOFmeaej4BZFKdfz7RXOugwJ2zHWZoPiDcPzSv-Ivq1c3BIRRN_04We3Uw0yxry0Zhr_-rCe91Qc_MZif0EFPHJ3gwEOrSaroJnijvBbM2=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>On Monday, Don put up the building wrap around the first floor. The building wrap is meant to allow moisture to exit from inside the walls, but not let moisture into the walls. I have no idea how that is possible, but apparently it works. </p>
<p>Believe it or not, the building wrap that you see is one single piece! It defies logic how Don managed to string up the wrap by himself, holding it up while taping it to the wall while making sure that it is flush and wrinkle free. Not to mention, it was getting windy that day.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;C2662D33-6AAC-4D7F-9487-227D8B870A0D "><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXa6YQmjCDLdGJcItKbPw5iXAkBS1Gbomgi8nQJXhTNckIbxiFOCim8DWls02qz2qiL1Np99fmrpoA73-PiCFKGOniFNcZ5NVUScPmUHbt_sjxPRqkKdZENYvw3Sfxm-n7DUL9Ic9rmXyZjSfVINRmY=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0
" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Excavation got started on Wednesday. Tractors and diggers arrived, as did piles of gravel and engineered dirt. I missed most of the action, but the neighbors said there was lots of activity. </p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;98DB067E-9C27-45C0-BCCC-F3D101BFB777 "><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLVKnLMcH7PEo7WGKVWhcfcSr46ObXHcg7a5JJaWxFYn5FyrA-3FXmivEZ99BbfRR4sEv-F4qarp6MzzkQ16e1aS42-uImvEth0v56xS-ivBV7Dh0gt8RfMGHvtz6QYP0icWRxMF4PShAm1PLRhqtZB_=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Buried under the dirt are water lines, sewer lines, electricity, phone and cable, each spaced apart a certain distance specified by the code. The end result is a wide area that needs to be dug up even though the actual pipes aren’t that big.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;2701E0CC-182C-43A1-AA99-B24ECB333D5E"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLV3CqW_AEsZEheXfpURC5v3ZQv5mQo9TGn0I0gqfDim0nTUbKRECkjblHqqL0fpdm0LO2vCoW6fp_JVmJ05O5W1EhrfYAgS8bcO6EJAnVOkn7AR65kB9SAS7qwYS1xnzBJInTLa4i2Ige7RcHWH-0Vf=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The good news is that the sewer at the street turned out to be 15 feet deep, allowing us to drain into the sewer using gravity rather than a pump. The bad news is that it must have been quite a challenge to get down there. I’m guessing these big steel braces help keep the dirt from collapsing while the pipes are connected underground.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;4D2B959D-BBB5-48BF-AC8C-48EF69D9158B "><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLX8xL_Z2XfnbDEbtLX0HyrEJdQ4AXcTfKALJN1Ad3E7PD0S4RgBrvU8EsythI7eVoYPR0bjheRZyZMejHTRFAyC-QNa7BbnF94Lnzqmne9KVr9JneZC_nB5cyGn4KN6lPPESg__yOHLLeqAqKq5wB13=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Here’s the location of my future vegetable and native plant garden, under which lie electrical conduit. I’m hoping the soil doesn’t get too disturbed or compacted, but I guess that’s far fetched.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-60642078307085229752014-04-23T08:21:00.001-07:002014-04-23T08:23:04.951-07:00Week 15 - Roof is up, working on window framing <p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XAL0CcpLaXM/U1XzrcRDYvI/AAAAAAAAAag/kmdvBNgvdtw/s1600/IMG_0776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XAL0CcpLaXM/U1XzrcRDYvI/AAAAAAAAAag/kmdvBNgvdtw/s1600/IMG_0776.jpg" width="100%"/></a></p>
<p>The week involved finishing the roof sheathing, working on the window frames and building a temporary staircase. Things are starting to get detailed, and are taking more time. Below, I’ll show how the windows are framed since the process appears to be non-standard (and important).</p>
<h1>Roof almost done before the snow</h1>
<p><a href="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0765.jpg
"><img src="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0765s.jpg
" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Don almost had the roof complete before the wind picked up and nearly blew him off (according to how he tells it). The next day, the rain and snow ended up getting everywhere. Above, a little bit of snow is still left on the roof after the storm. I love this shot of the back of the house from the apple orchard. As architect Todd said: “the house sits nicely on the land.”</p>
<h1>A look at the scissor roof trusses</h1>
<p><a href="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0751.jpg
"><img src="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0751s.jpg
" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Here’s a cool shot of the scissor trusses. ZIP panels will be attached to the underside, forming the air barrier as well as the gabled ceiling of the two front rooms. Almost 2 feet of blown-in cellulose insulation will go on top of the ZIP panels, outside the airtight envelope. There is some reduction in the insulating ability of the cellulose due to the fact that cold air will be able to move through the insulation, but the advantage is that moisture will not get trapped.</p>
<p><a href="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0753.jpg
"><img src="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0753s.jpg
" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The roof truss at the eave sits on the ZIP air barrier. The ZIP will continue along the scissor truss. Notice how the floor joists are angled to accommodate the ZIP and drywall. </p>
<h1>It takes time to frame these windows</h1>
<p><a href="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0705.jpg
"><img src="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0705s.jpg
" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Normally, the window framing would be complete at this point (except the sill is missing in the image above). With our construction, the window frame spans two walls: the SIP wall and the stud wall, so there’s quite a bit more to do. The two walls must be bridged in a way that is airtight and moisture repellent. Don and a helper spent much of the week finishing the extra steps to frame the windows, and reported that the process was somewhat elaborate and time consuming.</p>
<p>First, if you look closely at the SIP part of the frame, you’ll see a gap between exterior OSB panel and the foam insulation. That gap is meant to allow 2 x 2 wood pieces to be wedged there, to provide somewhere to nail the rest of the framing to the SIP.</p>
<p><a href="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0739.jpg
"><img src="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0739s.jpg
" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Next, the green ZIP sheathing is nailed to the frame, bridging the two walls. Caulking is applied under the ZIP to prevent water and air from migrating horizontally. </p>
<p><a href="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0752.jpg
"><img src="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0752s.jpg
" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>2 x 10 boards are nailed to the ZIP to provide a solid wood frame, to which the window can be attached. Again, caulking is applied under the boards.</p>
<p><a href="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0777.jpg
"><img src="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0777s.jpg
" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>The entire window frame has the appearance of being over-engineered — it’s three boards thick in some places. I wonder if this bomb-proof structure is by design — to reduce load stresses and sheer stress from the windows — or if it’s just a function of having to deal with the SIP wall and stud wall discontinuity. As you might imagine, measuring all these boards, caulking and nailing takes a substantial amount of time.</p>
<p><a href="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0771.jpg
"><img src="
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1516055/Blog/IMG_0771s.jpg
" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>But we’re not finished. Outside (1st floor window pictured here), the SIP is affixed to the interior window frame with gigantically long screws, and then tape is applied where the ZIP meets the SIP. As far as I can tell, this location — the outside of the SIP — is the primary air barrier. The window will sit right on the edge of the innermost 2 x 10 boards.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-13568382415776788022014-04-13T21:26:00.004-07:002021-05-31T23:58:54.028-07:00Week 14 - Starting to look like a house<p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pVqTUmMtDZ0/U0sX-kAq0YI/AAAAAAAAAaI/-oSMOIfDQIs/s1600/IMG_0748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pVqTUmMtDZ0/U0sX-kAq0YI/AAAAAAAAAaI/-oSMOIfDQIs/s1600/IMG_0748.jpg" width="100%"/></a></p>
<p>The walls are in place and the roof trusses are up. Don and crew are now working on the roof ZIP sheathing. It’s starting the come together and look like a house! The weather has been amazing, and that might be a big reason why so much got done this week.</p>
<h1>Using the lull to raise the SIP walls</h1>
<p>The ground dried up enough so that Don could maneuver the lull through the mud, allowing him to raise the SIPs on the east and west sides. These panels are considerable bigger than those on the north and south sides. It would have been difficult to lift them by hand, so we really lucked out.</p>
<p><iframe width="550" height="310" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lEvXdK2SFqo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The movie shows the lull lifting the SIP, with a rope used to stabilize the SIP. Notice how the SIP starts to slip off the fork, and then the guys on the roof were able to pull it back into place, but not before having to walk out on the headers like acrobats. They are fearless. Keep in mind that there’s no floor under them – they are balancing on the header beams, and on one side there’s a two story drop! </p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;F6AAF2ED-9E80-4EDA-B516-CB31BA3B4FDA"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dHAzqXcJkefjOXdPqlSkWcQdaUy5IZJXjkRob7S9tbniAPfHGPjfAyatFU6WFVHjwhKmnRLU7HyeMO2zygeSydcEm728TLajMMmBDwrcziTcwJl10tCYixAsThaPkW2toYmRH8_sRojRHlXyhLzins=w1224-h1632-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>Once the lull got the SIP most of the way up, the guys on the roof were able to pull it upright against the house.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;D4563EFB-AD5C-4F24-9FBA-9FBA87365D1E"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ewmwBXMcF9MR6r7I9qvLVtj23hU4LmyKUbEK0Tsz237zRnr-sPbBV3QzU1o2NlIAtP3D2yW7krQRSJYVnk6abwjDfROZYkN2TcOF4aiLVXZ715SU20ROuCsQb6lxiecodc-2qcBvlCJhzwIdtDFOO7=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>To help lift the panel onto the foundation ledge by hand, a little plastic handle came in handy. </p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;3F7B0246-DDDA-46AC-8167-6AA5276C6C37"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cl1qZimTF-9zbuXWrRDF4WMlz0xts02quCWYf7xuoa5U4LwCsfotTJF8aPo71O-Q0ZiLzGuWNmXlO9EBNZu_bEkOt-aEu4mxJ2sSrqQizg133wCpzGU7mJH2f4IcROS-aVFb48zNFCEYpzeLRbNTSX=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Sliding these large panels over was difficult, so the lull was used to push them in place. For some reason, the panels on this side came out bowed and it was tough to get them to interlock. Using the lull to push on the panel, the guys banged furiously on the seam, gradually jostling the two panels together.</p>
<h1>Update on the views from the windows out back</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;5AF4DA66-4020-4217-B16F-7F5A98D11353"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3etuIcSuZGJah-9V0bZvWi_9a7-l1ifOwCPEnmTReNM4Q5V7gl5hGAtOLgepiGwXgoGDKRqlFvEuxWmQsO6qK53zVt_TJHXVU8h_fOhrfQ7wq7-TwFnnuqliN3WSOGfPlHkoTvosODW07Ts4p_qelJA=w1224-h1632-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>It’s interesting. Now that the walls are up, I’m more happy with the views out back. The walls do indeed obscure parts of the view that were wonderful, but now that you can’t see those parts, you don’t know they are missing. Instead, all you see is a subset of the view, but it looks charming regardless. </p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;24FB3E44-37C3-482E-A18F-09712D0DD1F4"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3feSiMrgdvQbQ0PIME0Xm9gi9X6R1AnC4GhWg6okTU0gOlNGF8yXpp1NLuQ0fZ4KEzearICGE3O6X5PcUOPifaIdMVg3CzzVMT8DmxJN5R6SXhesSz3NY2KfZX2hmtfUGzLDT5aZSv6IRUHbmY3HUUj=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>If you walk up to the rear bedroom window, you can get a pretty wide angle view, just not the whole wrap around view. Still, it would have been nice to have more windows on this side of the house, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Neighbor Jesse (an architect, coincidentally) says that sometimes it’s good to have to work for the view.</p>
<h1>Details at the window frame and roof eave</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;F163907A-41F3-4A66-AEEA-3DE0D4FAC328"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dNwNAULdzwHbxy5bOiZCbYJRHumaE1xUmQkwqp301drhcnuwOpAy2iVCxaurEu7ihnvD-Iz-MfCqGZo24jaqE8S83yKEDG5_PqGmCXkyvRhPVwHIyRlk53ilf53i2J_YuZ7eQBf2v-OHovaI3QGmxs=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>ZIP sheathing at the window opening provides a moisture resistive barrier and air barrier all in one panel. The edge of the sheathing is taped around the corner of the rough opening.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;C472A12C-2190-4B61-8204-283DE74FCCFE"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3eX8uKCRO05YPkdHcAQEjK073214QJ0qpId3w52znzv3qZn9ySpT_sLXTVQtsD07g0WjOFoU-QkLpmYedFAoZ0CDbm37XlK78belFmAVF2OQQ-_mb-r7PuNhHqC-YKSLfdLDHUiDhdOzwLPjZ0LafNK=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>At the roof eave, the ZIP sheathing is placed face down. The tape runs along the underside of the sheathing and is dangling out, eventually to be taped to more ZIP sheathing that will run under the roof truss. Lots of caulking went under the ZIP sheathing – between the SIP and the ZIP – presumably to allow the SIP to expand without lifting apart the critical ZIP barrier. More tape will go on the other corner of the ZIP where it meets the outer side of the SIP.</p>
<h1>Roof trusses arrived</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;64BD082A-BFF4-41CE-BF47-B390AB21B1CA"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cEMZzviLBBp0WzJpKHqJnyyXIg_iSZu3a3C7YvBOqfXPjtqw0466u_Elh_9LdDmZEDEE4-f0-gsfb0kO2qzYY--KinMMLbodaeqPvisEYggc11sCfNNSAm05OTWyv_yo4cDtgi_9Id7sBeeAf189Gc=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The roof trusses were manufactured off site and delivered on Tuesday. The lull came in handy for getting these up on the roof. </p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;AA9572F3-839B-4031-8865-E85AB2A2B695"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dF1ZZuxYpywh5M-roZr-1l9M8nhNAHBPAMBAl_mtapZhYwovgSs5HKnPDyGqo35DRikAUktDjD4nAvEv2ImrGKVmCpZKhlkhCpTap66K7DLVtJI9dDWw7AQIPLTtnkotpLUlTIeMnMPcF67gkszAN-=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The rest of the week was spent working on the roof, even with two extra guys for some of the time. It seemed like a lot of work went into getting this part of the roof together.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-13633554020997951182014-04-05T14:07:00.003-07:002021-02-28T08:29:32.946-08:00Week 13 - Getting the SIP walls up!<p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r2xWkk2iNQs/U0Buqx-lftI/AAAAAAAAAZg/jM0MjGNZD3c/s1600/IMG_0709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r2xWkk2iNQs/U0Buqx-lftI/AAAAAAAAAZg/jM0MjGNZD3c/s1600/IMG_0709.jpg" width="100%"/></a></p>
<p>It was an exciting week. Don finished the second floor framing and spent Thursday and Friday putting up the SIPs along the north and south walls, with the help of two younger guys. They were an awesome team to watch, constantly bantering, moving here and there, helping each other out, and communicating about tactics, problems and next steps. It’s great to see an experienced team — a fine tuned machine — working like that. They are, however, pretty cavalier about running up and down the ladders — the most jiggly and unstable ladders I’ve ever seen — which was scary to watch, but entertaining.</p>
<h1>Forklift instead of a crane, didn’t work out</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;7AB68C7C-FBE4-418A-B55A-B86569E20DC4"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fQSAi9OvJk9jUSmilHSPScJ3GuUgXnsW_pNXx03C6miaMMJ7NdKowFBE8eITYVgCJik_LOQYUDzwEv-9J3fMdbHTnH6XFLVJLwKorCoG5X_kq90s18Pask_IIT21rTAQDQ2Ag_C-qOCF8z009-yxRz=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Instead of a crane, Integrity decided to use a large forklift to lift the SIPs. A crane is more expensive than a forklift and it seemed like it would do the job just as well. Turns out that we didn’t even need the forklift. It got stuck in the mud around the perimeter of the home, and wast therefore totally useless. It’s not clear from the image above, but those tracks are at least two feet deep.</p>
<h1>Raising the SIPs</h1>
<p><iframe width="550" height="310" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-9YK2pSjg0U?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Instead, we carried over the SIPs by hand and raised them by walking it up from one end, as the video above shows. It’s pretty heavy, but doable.</p>
<h1>The whole SIP installation process</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;547ACF43-FEC0-4D45-B230-F69CBB649DA3"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fGBcnT1IGycVK_sjHoqkXmEkLBaXTUrlef3TYCHAaURb9rnj_doL_K1w2eXvb1_1j5k21QkcflZIwSvPVPzzRqzKd2-4_fi_DtJBcQpZGPcJ9xDb1LJdp-0g9xA-647tBVE72bnZZAqq-acSfZpy3X=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>First, narrow strips of OSB are measured and cut, inserted into the grove at the SIP’s edge, and nailed into place. These inserts help lock the SIPs together.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;9AC0A4B1-CD6D-40C8-B911-F2C7EFFC1025"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dkQHRtSNe_o44ZlLG8tz8Q7JqkP8YrMo1hg9OvnDyOwoAGnONW5_8EN6fByyE7lZD8IkupqEjLWXhjrZ0SsMHvADqsapB_5P7NhyTiIioviJp_SKpAZVf8iypHXMSVPvzY0BwcswLurJfejiMl9vHN=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The plastic vapor barrier is wrapped from under the concrete, over the EPS foam, back over a piece of plywood directly on top of the foam, and then up along the frame. A double strip of caulking is applied to the plastic at the ledge where the SIP will sit.</p>
<p>Once the SIP is standing vertically, it must be lifted up onto the ledge, which is awkward, but the guys were able to do it — they seem to have fingers of glue. Then the SIP is slid over against its neighbor. It is surprisingly easy to slide the SIP along the ledge, apparently due to the smoothness of the plastic and an ample amount of caulking. Banging along bottom of the SIP gets the bottom end flush with the adjacent panel (to within an eight to a quarter of an inch), where it is fixed with a nail before the top is wedged into place, bringing the whole panel flush with its neighbor.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;9C2AC4F1-DA1D-4092-A871-095D0EA29AEC"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3c-3SCDzEnkNNmyljOP4UqDG3QS0oy1wZ8LN9ea2wsEWNmwVpsro-lmSk0fQX9y-FC6QOzEYChqq2OYNz5u4oVQvnorQnVxKemM5MxHyndNTWAvXwlOjGO0OCJbEiX9B0nOLXO2zrb-Xa0X87t0vXxQ=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>The image above shows Don nailing the panel to the insert.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;5E95AADE-C950-4EDD-B4BC-40606B7C53F0"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cR3OAodg_0XCHxqXXB1XlTkAJ3uhLTmydRVAY9Iv6FUN-_PEGRkJazgbxwEujJV5UARCEnCW9gcPjYwWLpL22bd4h6aF7ghlOZQJbDI1GqDiuvuzZG8KcCleQ0llemX_Dt0VpHdycxMNSnh621X15-=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>A 2 x 8 board is laid in the grove at the top of the SIP and nailed into place.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;4D767503-4DDA-4E77-87D3-4F291EB17F0F
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3eoCHifh7JgE-sVUwoX9bmk6lwP0aVjjknKoLGPxu951cfZXmip88XoSDzOIXO0irS5dogO6GpWIuILPJk1tbmYWuIUkRDZdcHU9XLzSN8_2UYV3qcSNZv8GjJXDVWRzlmOuJ62LOBsWWa_VHS0XYsA=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0 " width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Gigantic screws fasten the SIP to the frame.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;72F5036A-DA0C-4159-8C30-A0E6823780C8"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fmsTZ8yRwRew-uoQCGLzYlE22o3beIr-JobVg_VbDj6cT7-mGiMYa8UoeIzL3mdYyFtWPaCp6yyBuOfmglx1uERvhiyK_ki1UKvkviF8FZ0TYCTjHsTc_K3OktN0I-YvWfP1kA27HvyjcW4C2V-Fb4=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>By the end of Thursday, almost the whole north wall was complete.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;33FB92C8-8B86-414E-AAFE-4B2A728591A8"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ewd9akoCigAANU8cC_CzyyOUp1xHlJNL2MzIDgx4qwRngJjS6AFOD0GvaCwsbiVbxbNDxJ6PzrMICUF4Yn-T7qm8ndPuQkRMTUDOeKjnglWjrU4yi1rudQ_v9w8Tw_EI5SV1Ev4aC7gzgQ8wSJ9OG4=w1224-h1632-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>Because of the extra spacing between each panel, about 1/2“ to 3/4” had to be cut off of the end of the panel to make it flush with the frame.</p>
<h1>Finally getting to see how the window openings look</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;3531402A-E9AF-4CFD-BDB0-9A1C7FAB8880"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cvh7423fqA9MJ4wY4405lC8-oOTt308YxR-uNDNCCyTXuZloDlqIdysY6U5frFKSRvgjzrVO51X6AaJzF4hkRbe3fFU49k9LvdsEbzBtH9UmpNZAZtDtb3qu7V6rfB2V1U_hRKB706_R6YRswPhyMQ=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>I’ve been looking forward to seeing how the <a href="http://potwinepassive.blogspot.com/2014/03/floor-plans-2.html">top of the stairway would turn out</a> for about a year now. Looking out at the window over the stairs settles it: let’s remove the shelving at the top of the stairs — the view would be interrupted too severely. The question remains: how will we make up for the lost storage space?</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;CDE38311-B980-4119-8152-96A72B825523"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cbTr56hd4oM6VKGKelTN2wDndz7ejuyR13j1d0MeAXp5Ja3EjiPjWY7EQqR8tbz-NUdjUMS6EjqDQ-qCwdC7r2oYX-6-zltwzGnQ-A8YzKVzzxVcm8cd4RECrg1uVk8Wq3bblMnYQ2Dvs_q8c2kgjt=w1224-h1632-no?authuser=0" width="70%"></a></p>
<p>Looking in the other direction, the study window feels a bit small, but the mountain is nicely framed.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;4975B86F-028C-43B2-A0A6-D39CB05F7EEA"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dgak23qWkbWz-4lMdIZPwO2cIihpzylk5LSsJa6sMPiS4FwCIVPNLduqypR0VSs_rt0-eXZqSzOvYvLtZhQoVc6igFnyvzVQkXnFQBHNXBXqxDvk9FCKD4TJC7zqb11WzS8jZnWlXPERxPFE4cuvCG=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Adding the third window in the middle really makes this view from the master bedroom work. I’m so glad we decided to go with it.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-60752763856475595222014-04-03T19:54:00.003-07:002021-02-28T07:52:57.096-08:00Eight myths about fossil fuel divestment<p><a ><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fOFghodnQibGCoayqwAJFnUAPqOt3aM0btmqCHfcCyHS2kguR6kqGPBRmqMcuNC6c09UUXd3etXcttXdSb7-N6jdotZnMwHQhXugLENjp4E-YVFeh6jgQ5WGv8IQl2qp_4xYw6hdJsoWpVPAkhN52I=w936-h566-no?authuser=0
" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>I’m giving a little talk at a fossil fuel divestment teach-in at Amherst College on Friday. There is an important way that the Potwine Passive House fits into the conversation, so I thought I would share my thought process here. </p>
<p>The concept of divestment is simple: don’t invest in the fossil fuel industry. The rationale is simple: don’t support a destructive and corrupt industry. Beyond the simple concept, a whole host of brilliant cascading effects lead me to believe that divestment is a great way to jump start the transition to a clean energy economy. </p>
<p>The complication arises when you factor in the industry-sponsored noise and misinformation that always overwhelms these types of political conversations. To counteract that noise, I started by trying to understand the points made by the industry in opposition to divestment. Then I compiled a top ten list of myths that seem to form the basis of that opposition.</p>
<h1>Myth #1: It’s your fault, not the oil and gas industry’s</h1>
<p>Who’s using electricity right now surfing the internet? Who drove around today, greedily burning fossil fuels? It wasn’t the oil and gas industry: they are simply providing a product that you want. </p>
<p>In fact, the public is not entirely responsible for our fossil fuel usage. It is true that we are all using dirty energy, but we don’t have a legitimate choice. The electricity and transportation infrastructure simply doesn’t exist right now to provide a fair choice between competing sources of energy. </p>
<p>Consider the paradox of Microsoft Office, a dominant product that is widely condemned and hasn’t improved in decades. It maintains its position in the market not by its merit, but by its ubiquity. We all use Microsoft Office even though there are more innovative alternatives (and have been for years) that would improve our lives and make us more productive, yet we can’t switch because it would involve a huge personal risk or inconvenience. </p>
<p>Likewise, the oil and gas industry offers a product that is scientifically proven to be causing irreparable harm, and yet we can’t switch to alternative energy sources — not because there aren’t better solutions, but because we are saddled with an entrenched fossil fuel infrastructure: our roads are made for cars, not bicycles; your building is heated with fossil fuels regardless of how much you turn down the heat; and if you wanted to buy clean electricity for your home, you would have to pay more.</p>
<h1>Myth #2: Fossil fuels benefit society</h1>
<p>Look around at the amazing achievements of civilization: hospitals are using electricity to cure people; buses are using gasoline to drive kids to school; construction workers are being hired to build pipelines; and so on. You want to destroy our economy and put innocent people out of work by making it harder to burn fossil fuels? </p>
<p>The perception that societal progress is due to our usage of fossil fuels is incorrect. Fossil fuels are inefficient, destructive and marginal sources of energy, retarding the advancement of society and costing far more than their economic benefit. </p>
<p>Few of us know the depth to which fossil fuel usage is horribly inefficient. The energy efficiency of an incandescent light bulb, powered by a fossil fuel power plant, is only 1%! In other words, 99% of the energy of the natural gas or coal that went into the power plant is wasted as rejected heat, transmission losses from the power plant and heat loss in the light bulb itself. Likewise, the energy efficiency of a gasoline powered car is only 1%! In other words, 99% of the energy of the oil that goes into the gas tank is lost in the engine, in accelerating and braking, in friction and in moving the entire car rather than just the driver. These inefficiencies are, unfortunately, largely unavoidable — a fundamental consequence of using heat to propel a generator or an automobile engine. </p>
<p>Not only is fossil fuel usage much more wasteful than most people think, it’s also one of the greatest public health threats on the planet. The combustion process releases small particulates and toxic impurities bound up in the raw fuel stock, causing disease, cancer and ultimately leading to <a href="http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/air_quality.php">50,000 deaths each year in the United States alone and $150 billion in health costs each year</a>. An economic analysis found that the health impacts of coal electricity <a href="http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.101.5.1649">cost society twice as much as the value added to society</a>.</p>
<h1>Myth #3: We can’t live without fossil fuels</h1>
<p>It’s useless to lament the inefficiency and widespread public health threat of fossil fuels because no form of renewable energy can support our lifestyle or lift the world’s poor out of poverty.</p>
<p>In reality, the technology exists to dramatically reduce how much energy we waste, and the available wind and solar energy resources are sufficient to fill the remaining gap. LED lights powered by solar electricity are nearly 80% efficient, 80 times more efficient than an incandescent light bulb. Electric cars are nearly 10% efficient, ten times more efficient than a gasoline powered car. An electric heat pump is twice as efficient as a gas furnace. These huge efficiency improvements are mostly due to the fact that electron-based technologies are not subject to the same heat losses of combustion-based technologies.</p>
<p>Even more improvements in renewable energy and storage technologies are on the horizon, and will certainly help in the future, but they are not essential today. We are living in an exciting time where many long sought after renewable and efficiency technologies are rapidly maturing. The cost of renewable energy has already fallen dramatically as it reaches scale. In Texas, solar electricity is <a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2014/03/13/solar-sold-less-5¢kwh-austin-texas/">cheaper than natural gas electricity</a>. In Massachusetts, the return on investment for solar panels is <a href="http://newenglandcleanenergy.com/solar-cost/faq/">twice that of the stock market</a>.</p>
<p>To help prove the point, I am building an affordable home that doesn’t use a single drop of fossil fuels, and will be powered entirely by the sun. A remarkable combination of solar heating, efficient components and super-insulation help reduce the energy consumption of the home by a <a href="http://potwinepassive.blogspot.com/2013/12/huge-energy-savings-are-possible-with.html">factor of 8 compared to the average Massachusetts home</a>. Because the home is so efficient, solar panels cover only a small fraction of the roof area, leaving plenty of room for extra solar panels to charge an electric car. Using so little electricity, backup battery systems are economically feasible, allowing the home to be disconnect from the transmission grid, an expensive source of inefficiency.</p>
<p>Underlying the home’s astonishing energy savings is the <a href="http://www.passivehouse.us/passiveHouse/PHIUSHome.html">Passivhaus</a> design method, an assortment of techniques, technologies and guidelines needed to obtain such a high level of efficiency. The Passivhaus method is not a crazy unproven idea: decades of research underpin the method; tens of thousands of successful homes and buildings have already been built; and, in many cities in Germany, the standard has been adopted as the building code. These tremendous energy savings can be obtained in nearly any building, often saving costs in the long run. My biggest surprise with the project has been that going zero energy isn’t the hard part. Making decisions without adequate information, following up on loose ends, planning, communicating, getting permitting and getting a loan were the difficult parts. Making the home zero energy was easy. As long as you commit to it, living without fossil fuels is easy.</p>
<h1>Myth #4: Existing institutions will lead the way</h1>
<p>You’ve seen the commercials. Chevron, ExxonMobile, BP are investing millions in alternative energy. Your utility company is helping people weatherize their homes. Your college is building a LEED certified building. Our institutions have made us into a great country and they will lead the way to clean energy.</p>
<p>The simple fact is that few large governmental, educational or corporate institutions are investing aggressively in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Investment in renewables is typically more of a public relations tactic than a truly disruptive mobilization. Most energy companies invest less <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/big-oils-big-lies-about-alternative-energy-20130625">than 1% of their expenditures on renewables</a>. There is no evidence that all those LEED certified buildings on campus <a href="http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201307/backpage.cfm">actually save energy</a>. </p>
<p>Our institutions are not willing to invest in renewables and energy efficiency for the simple reason that they are accustomed to and reliant on fossil fuels and therefore have no incentive to lead the shift to renewables. History tells us that large organizations are often incapable of quickly pivoting in a new direction. We cannot depend on them to willingly give up revenue, retrain their work force, or overhaul their operations for the greater good of the planet — unless they are compelled to do so.</p>
<h1>Myth #5: Don’t blame people in the oil and gas industry</h1>
<p>Many hardworking folks are employed by the oil and gas industry. It is unfair to blame them for the unanticipated side effects of fossil fuels and the failure of solar and wind to economically compete with fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Here, we should be careful to distinguish between employees who are doing nothing wrong and decision-makers at the executive level who are knowingly stifling renewable energy by <a href="http://www.alec.org/publications/net-metering-reform/">lobbying against renewable energy and energy efficiency incentives</a>, <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/31/koch-brothers-group-works-stop-nashville-amp/7100469/">lobbying against public transportation</a>, <a href="http://www.polluterwatch.com/blog/big-oil-front-group-poured-millions-lobby-against-fracking-regulation">lobbying against oil and gas regulation</a>, <a href="http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-subsidies/">securing lucrative tax breaks and subsidies</a>, and creating a vast network of think tanks and organizations that spread an incredible amount of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/20/conservative-groups-1bn-against-climate-change">misinformation about the science of climate change</a>. There is no legal way to compel oil and gas companies to operate their businesses in an ethical manner. Public pressure, however, can be an effective way to reform an industry.</p>
<h1>Myth #6: Divestment won’t make a difference</h1>
<p>If colleges and universities divest from fossil fuels, the total sum of those investments will not make a significant difference in the industry’s ability to access capital. No one can honestly believe that the most powerful companies in the world will voluntarily relinquish the trillions of dollars in fossil fuel resources that they control. Publicly traded fossil fuel companies control a small fraction of the world’s proven reserves anyway.</p>
<p>Divestment is not the only step needed to achieve a clean energy future. It is a brilliant starting point, a necessary first step that might actually be able to achieve a goal that is seemingly unattainable. The divestment movement is nominally about the moral authority of colleges and universities. However, a deeper significance exists: the ability to imagine a world without fossil fuels. Eliminating one’s financial dependency on fossil fuels helps break through a powerful psychological barrier: the belief that a dependency on fossil fuels is necessary. This is the true power of divestment. Colleges and universities who divest — and along the way purge industry advocates from their board of trustees and the administration — will be free to overhaul their operations, their curriculum and their research agendas and allocate resources in a way that is commensurate with the magnitude of the climate crisis, the single greatest challenge of our time.</p>
<p>A second goal of divestment is to build a movement that can exert pressure on the fossil fuel industry to stop spreading misinformation and stop altering the political process. Historically, large student movements have provided an effective medium for raising the profile of important issues that aren’t receiving the attention they deserve in the wider public discourse. The anti-war movement gained early traction on college campuses, and more recently the Occupy movement demonstrated how rapidly a student movement can affect the national conversation. Marginalizing the fossil fuel industry’s disinformation and lobbying campaigns will eliminate a crucial impediment to renewables.</p>
<p>The only solution to the climate crisis is to lower the cost of renewable energy below that of fossil fuels, to the extent that fossil fuel reserves are no longer economically accessible. Fossil fuels are global commodities, as are solar panels: a drop in the price of solar panels in a single country will propagate to other countries across the world. Forward thinking pricing schemes for solar energy in Germany over the past decade almost singlehandedly led to the resurgence of the solar industry and <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/12/daily-chart-19">an astonishing drop in prices by one half</a>. Over the past couple of years, China has aggressively subsidized its nascent solar industry, cutting worldwide solar panel costs in half again. These price cuts are permanent, a function of manufacturing scaling laws. Imagine what could be done if the fossil fuel industry lifted its strangle hold on the political process in the US.</p>
<h1>Myth #7: You must first green your campus</h1>
<p>How can a college claim the moral high ground by divesting from fossil fuels while continuing to use tremendous amounts of fossil fuels in its own daily operations?</p>
<p>It is perfectly rational to not eliminate your own consumption while you attempt to change the system that makes it difficult to eliminate your own consumption in the first place.</p>
<h1>Myth #8: We can’t afford to divest</h1>
<p>In these difficult financial times, when colleges and universities are struggling to cut costs while the price of a college education is at an all time high, it is dangerous to risk the financial stability of the endowment in order to further a single political position. [Similarly, a pre-recession version of this sentiment might have read:] In an increasingly competitive field of colleges, it would be irresponsible to hog-tie our highly skilled financial managers and risk slowing the growth of our endowment, possibly putting the college at a financial disadvantage.</p>
<p>The misconception here begins with the fact that money managers do not simply remove investments from a portfolio — they must rebalance the portfolio by substituting stocks that behave similarly. Energy stocks tend to hold their value better in hard times, so one must find investments that do the same, which is apparently easy to do. In the end, there is <a href="https://www.aperiogroup.com/system/files/documents/building_a_carbon_free_portfolio.pdf">essentially no difference between the two portfolios in terms of their returns</a>. </p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-9746254490943051302014-03-30T20:34:00.002-07:002021-03-21T11:47:39.475-07:00Week 12 - Second floor framing and a look at the beaver activity<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;9F6CFECB-CD12-4649-9B07-A41E8C35255D"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ekqEKjcWJwY72YNhAdgZn8SSJSQHLw1C3K-NuFX1PTjMIdowpuv34qyS6bu85di6gxnLtxE7dEXFmXuEE584SHBb5UFdcx3l2EADh7aVST7V0UNc9wpyDgJdPtB9mdCJKFeQfNmD3dnkdCAck_F7c-=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Don, the carpenter, made tremendous progress again this week, especially considering the rainy and windy conditions. It’s such an exciting time. The house looks totally different every day. At this point, most of the second floor framing is in place. </p>
<p>I got to climb up on the second floor and have a look around. It was thrilling to finally be able to see the surrounding landscape from the second floor. I’ve been so curious to check out the window placement on the second floor, to see for myself what scenic landscapes are perfectly framed by the windows, and, sadly, what landscapes are obscured by the walls. </p>
<h1>View from the second floor master bedroom</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;92DA2BED-599A-42CF-B251-7ACBE8CA4ED3"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3eSNMyjUtagiGuLxrj2zLEbWYVGpGd5pDQje1o1OJZIR999O4JqD9c7gaUeDIjDDEgDlloZ0PWS2m2JLGqHRVp1J9Kl2vc4K077iGjO5gmJkdIT71TcF7CWCxKVRU73iE6xRULSYQzlHqN8kQN3eXBD=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>In the shot above, you are looking through the three master bedroom windows. The scene is framed wonderfully, I think. I love the straight driveway, lined with a row of trees, heading diagonally across the frame, drawing the eye toward the mountain. It’s more of an Amherst suburban feel, with roads, houses, fields and a mountain in the background. It’s a little weird that bedroom is exposed to the road, however. Maybe this room will have to be an office. I’m jealous of my neighbors who live on the south side of the road.</p>
<h1>I can see Russia from my HOUSE!</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;4542BA64-AC7E-4682-AD1B-24F645E9D84C"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dFl3CmC8VpQoM6yMvNUfAKBdOGxeKZyXqaPRr6r56PZvHG67AjTRbYw7_AV3tFwBpYlX-0fa2osLRd2YN0uM923ry2MuQojxt7-dGyA4FzTfuHZ41Trs63wGfwFdSuZNyNf_MvwhNFiRYD7SqiofNZ=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Looking north, out over the top of the stairs beyond the window in the stairwell, I was slack-jawed — the view of the natural landscape is absolutely spectacular and the wildlife viewing opportunities are going to be amazing. You can’t quite get a sense for the detail and the intricacy of the landscape without a better zoomed-in image, but it feels like you are a hundred feet up in the air and you can see forever. Beyond the excavator, one can see (not in this image) the northern most beaver dam. Off to the left are apple trees, wetland, a beaver lodge, beavers swimming in the water and a beaver dam.</p>
<h1>I shouldn’t have built a passive house</h1>
<p>If you read <a href="http://potwinepassive.blogspot.com/2014/03/floor-plans-2.html">my last post</a>, you know that I’ve struggled with the limitations imposed by Passivhaus on north windows. Climbing up onto the second floor, I couldn’t escape the feeling that I have made a huge mistake. I should have gone with 100% glass walls. The best views are going to be completely blocked once the SIPs are in place. This spot calls for a viewing tower, not a demonstration to the world of an affordable and charming zero energy house. I suddenly dreaded the day when the SIPs are put up and the expansive 360 degree views will be gone. If only Amherst was located in the southern hemisphere.</p>
<h1>I’ve got a plan</h1>
<p>While I was up there, I hatched a plan — a sort of compromise that will allow me to salvage my energy efficiency fanaticism while still being able to enjoy the vistas that I feel like I suddenly can’t live without: I’ll put up a second story deck. All I need is a window door, right at the top of the stairs, to the left. The deck will run along the left wall toward the back and wrap around the back side of the house. The super-insulated enclosure is preserved, and if you need to see two raptors fighting (this happened), you can go out on the deck. I can’t afford to modify the project right now, so it will have to be an add on at a later time. Hopefully, GO Logic will think it’s possible. </p>
<h1>The magical wetlands in the winter</h1>
<p>Now that the snow has melted, I tried to capture the wetlands in their lovely wintery state of dormancy. I wanted you to see up close what I’m talking about. It’s also neat to see the remarkable transformation the beavers have wrought over the past year and a half — an engineering marvel and an expansion of habitat for aquatic wildlife — but at the cost of what once was a wonderful portion of the town trail, a treasure to the community.</p>
<h1>Definitely a beaver lodge</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;0A0C45C6-C3DC-4BC8-9F60-E5B05AA97FC6 " imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jLtPqEoAGjE/Uzc7Wx8noQI/AAAAAAAAAY0/hy68V0dkuq8/s1600/IMG_0672.jpg" width="100%"/></a></p>
<p>Check out this great peek at the beaver lodge! It’s the huge pile of sticks in the center of the shot. When I walked up to the lodge, the beaver popped right out and swam around for a bit. I can’t believe it took us so long to find the lodge — it’s in plain sight and you can literally walk right up to it. I bet the brush must have been pretty thick before it died down in the winter.</p>
<p>Beavers build their lodges with underwater openings as the only entry and exist points. You can see one of the entryways at the base of the tree. Another entrance is located on the other side of the lodge, upstream (the width of the lodge spans a narrow peninsula). The underwater entrance protects the beavers from intruders like bears and bobcats who apparently can’t figure out how to get in from underneath. Also, the underwater opening gives beavers access to the water when everything is frozen over and covered in snow. </p>
<h1>Flooded wetland</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;67509A80-1955-46E6-ADE7-034AF5E2A2C1"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fydPBDpU3k6sZ9g-njsj9qbTm2q1CZ5i3HPSuMMqWB6pq1xivWYd0fZJp0I9SJkFb7V-RmUE-en4X2RCphKqDLBoYVj5tH_JYYj0f0ShSbw4hDiJtlYInYmKSAPVxNJRxNdbtiWf2T1bIa6T9hQ71k=w2086-h708-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Click on the panorama to see the large version. You are looking east toward the house (it’s up on the hill next to the excavator — you’ll have to zoom in). The beaver lodge is on the right, out of view. The old footbridge is on the left — again, zooming needed. The massive beaver dam is also on the left, although it is hard to distinguish from this angle. Notice how the brook snakes through the area, but don’t be fooled: the whole plain is flooded. You are seeing the top of the marsh grasses that have died and fallen over. </p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;9F8BE0B7-D7DF-49D7-8EBE-520BB6591409"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fZACwIWWe8QNlg-YWuiKzm__XE3DYrnjTYquj7kvnl-kClXEPOS6jTkhIHIIERL9mOivzG0Y7plR5qDEXstN_elv0X-3KGBUlj69JbNq2wL4ZBjJe47J1LzpLOalY-2uBzZxnJlqJ0yJaO_uR6BpGY=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>For comparison, the above image was taken a year and a half ago. Now, the water level comes right up to the bridge, at times nearly submerging it.</p>
<h1>Another dam downstream</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;B44D9891-A5DF-4150-A49B-F073FBB3F7D1"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3eHlHtMgy-40jRi2NVG-N7TYpAIi1MY4in0tG-tCme1oGl07snUdyzAG-D5zjUe2Zz7EphNc4XNzZHoHRqfrvv2SS9jKakhsiu3XXzXOc6RuXFM6v-CLt6Ouce_852ob5mvOindHEGJgupEWy8s3OUY=w1729-h767-no?authuser=0" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Beavers raise the water level in steps, by constructing multiple dams. Here’s another flooded area and dam, downstream from the previous image. Notice the huge pile of sticks and the dramatic decrease in the water level. The image is facing south — you can see Mount Norwottuck and the house in the distance. Neighbor Jesse tells me that this dam has been here for a long time. The dead trees are a sign of this, as well. The water level is still pretty high in front of the dam, so I think there is another active dam further downstream. The area is difficult to navigate so I haven’t been able to get in there and look around. I need a some sort of a miniature boat, like an Inuit kayak.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-5692270550578847942014-03-23T19:20:00.004-07:002017-06-04T11:43:29.638-07:00Floor Plans 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Acna6vLTcWU/WTRU0PA--zI/AAAAAAAABSE/XOT0hrcvksw1KXkBJrg-_c8MLIENw-AXgCHM/s9999/IMG_06114.JPG" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p dir="ltr"><br>In a previous post, we talked about how the design of the <a href="http://potwinepassive.blogspot.com/2014/02/floor-plans-1.html">first floor layout</a> helps make the home feel bigger than it really is. The upstairs is a different story — we need to fit three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a washer/dryer into a small space. There’s no way to open everything up: it’s going to feel tight no matter what. The question is whether we can arrange everything to use space efficiently while keeping the floor plan as open as possible.</p><p>Much like the first floor layout, GO Logic provided fantastic <a href="http://www.gologic.us/pre-fab/house-plans/1300-2flr-3bd/">off-the-shelf floor plans</a>, and I couldn’t help but to shift a couple of things around.</p><h1>Double doors at the top of the stairs and a window</h1><p dir="ltr"><br>I love the feeling of walking into a well-designed home for the first time. Your viewpoint is obstructed by something — maybe stairs or walls — then, bam!, you see straight ahead onto an interesting space, wide open and well-lit. It’s a great feeling: emerging from a tight space to observe a striking view.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L04GudlAOTw/WTRUzwQb-8I/AAAAAAAABSA/2SivquKmABAy9Gn_KV3r2aeD8UqyTPf2QCHM/s9999/IMG_06113.JPG" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">I wanted to go for a similar feeling with the stairway, in a much more modest way. The image above gives the perspective as you walk up the staircase and look straight ahead toward the study. We added double doors to the study entrance so that the top of the staircase would feel expansive, and so that you get an unobstructed view out the window in the background. The small landing at the top of the stairs gets to function as an extension of the study rather than a closed off space.</p><h1>A lovely view north, but no north-facing windows?</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5fx_S_fwOGk/WTRQ7fdjbKI/AAAAAAAABRo/SAcjyD2crIk2eV5rH9mJzTOb_QIi4Y15QCHM/s9999/IMG_0081.JPG" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><p>The view north overlooks an apple orchard, marshland, great blue herons, egrets, hawks, beavers and more — it’s awesome. The property is a rare treasure for its proximity to wetland, conservation land and hiking trails. But north-facing windows are heat losers, with no solar gain, and should be minimized in passive houses. Should I sacrifice the passive house design principles in order take full advantage of the surrounding views of wildlife and conservation land?</p><p dir="ltr">Looking out over the property, the architect, Matt O’Malia, turned to me and said: “You know, we don’t have to build a passive house. We can face north. It will be a house that performs well, but doesn’t meet passive house standards.” I thought about it for a bit. In the end, I couldn’t give up two things: the bragging rights of a passive house and the wonderful feeling of having abundant sunlight streaming into a room.</p><h1>Some north-facing windows are OK</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WJ2zcASSJxg/WTRQ7FUy6TI/AAAAAAAABRc/ud0iqcKmZmMgfSU797fN5aka83sgUF2ygCHM/s9999/IMG_06111.JPG" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><p>As a compromise, we increased the size of the north facing window over the stairs and added a west-facing window at the landing, but kept our adherence to the passive house standard. Our Kneer-Südfenster windows are so good that these changes didn’t incurring much of a heat demand penalty anyway.</p><p dir="ltr">The image above shows the stairway landing, as seen from the study. The west-facing window (on the left) will be a great spot for wildlife viewing and watching the sunset while also serving to illuminate the hallway. The north-facing window over the stairs is sufficiently large to provide a nice view from the landing.</p><h1>More storage or more views?</h1><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">The built-in shelving is one aspect that I’m still on the fence about. On the one hand, storage space is limited and I’d like to use the space at the top of the stairs effectively. On the other hand, the shelving is blocking the view to the north window from the landing and the study, and might be closing off the top of the stairs awkwardly. The compromise that the builder and I came up with is to wait until the second floor and the walls are up, then have a look around and see if we can come to a decision.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;093FCB50-1154-41CC-A02C-97100C4D3A11"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PaNbVCw6LvA/WTRQ7KEFnuI/AAAAAAAABRg/6Hx0Gdz0sOs7fjMVwCU3P6ZCLbFKyYIfACHM/s9999/IMG_06110.JPG" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p dir="ltr"><br>Here’s a look at the same perspective as above, but with the shelving removed, leaving a direct line of sight to the rear window. What do you think? Why sacrifice the heat loss through a large northern window and yet not take full advantage of the view out that window?</p><h1>Small washer/dryers save a lot of space</h1><p dir="ltr"><br>Go to Best Buy or Home Depot and look at the washer-dryers; they’re enormous! How am I going to find a place for these behemoths? Luckily, the Europeans came to the rescue, once again.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3gDhCgs8MIE/WTRQ7CwkIjI/AAAAAAAABRk/0wk0clwgMaw-d-660gjsqvfHIt3MYtKSwCHM/s9999/miele_laundry_bundle__miele_w3048_washer__miele_t8033c_electric_ventless_dryer_with_stacking_kit_2.jpg" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">These are the <a href="http://www.mieleusa.com/products/models.asp?cat=4&subcat=24&menu_id=19&oT=47&active=Our%20Products&subm=Home%20Appliances&thirdL=Laundry%20Care&fourthL=Dryers">Miele washer/dryers</a>. They’re compact, efficient, yet accommodate a surprising volume of laundry, and they look neat. They can fit right into a hallway without taking up too much space. The downside is that they are unbelievably expensive. I ultimately decided it was worth it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;5F21CC2F-246E-4FDC-8B54-45A21A0D67DD"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tHVK2Ny0MtQ/WTRUXy_vg4I/AAAAAAAABR4/Q4llv9kj1X80vjetzPIGP4KI4Hj6NIRogCHM/s9999/IMG_0623.JPG" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p><br></p><p>The image above is looking down the hallway back toward the landing and the west-facing window. Notice how the washer/dryer stack is flush with the wall — no doors or a separate laundry room to needlessly take up space. The bathroom is off to the right. Both the washer and the shower are fed hot water from a single on-demand water heat located in the utility closet on the first floor, right beneath the hallway. The close proximity of the water heater, the washer and the shower helps reduce the length of the hot water pipes, giving instant hot water and reducing wasted heat.</p><p dir="ltr">I also love the fact that the west facing window at the end of the hallway will let afternoon light percolate deep into the hallway. It’ll be a great spot to watch the sunset. In the summer, however, there will be a cooling load penalty: the afternoon sunlight will warm up the home somewhat. I think the window adds so much to the hallway, however, that I’m willing to use a little more energy in the summer to cool the home.</p><h1>Extra windows for the master bedroom versus overheating?</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;623A8AB4-AE99-45E2-B1EB-653DF5BD8DC1"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E240bkj_s5M/WTRUX97NTfI/AAAAAAAABR0/aVNND7ax6YY1ck6DqTe1c3bsdmazaWQ8wCHM/s9999/IMG_06112.JPG" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p dir="ltr"><br>The architect had originally planned for two windows in the master bedroom, having determined the right amount of south facing window area needed to heat the upstairs while avoiding overheating. But I argued that overheating in the bedroom was less of a concern for me than to have a wide open view, a more open bedroom and more of a connection to the outdoors. A midday nap in a warm bedroom on a sunny day doesn’t sound that bad to me, anyway. I don’t tend to use the bedroom during the day, though, so I think we’ll be OK even if overheating is an issue.</p><h1>An open feeling in a small bedroom</h1><p><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;AB85B594-2A6C-4A71-A8E6-83F674AB9502"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dkhCnxJaacw/WTRUX583urI/AAAAAAAABR8/E-jP1EVeP1cBVUWa6vs3if6r9JuRnIQAACHM/s9999/IMG_0622.JPG" width="528" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p dir="ltr"><br>A couple of neat tricks help make the bedrooms more feel spacious even through they are tiny (the master bedroom is only 136 sq ft while the typical American master bedroom is 256 sq ft). First, vaulted ceilings provide extra space overhead and also look cool. Second, the closet doors were removed in favor of an open closet with a closet system. Third, the position of the door to the third bedroom across the hall allows you to peer across the full width of the home when sitting in the reading chair, the viewpoint from which the above image was drawn.</p><p dir="ltr">The walls on the second floor are going up this week, so it won’t be long until we get to see how it all comes together!<br></p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-42563847482027954052014-03-22T19:53:00.007-07:002021-03-21T10:44:42.989-07:00Week 11 - First floor framing completed<p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQYuddJRxS0/Uy3i-RZww5I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/HSJPUda2iEg/s1600/IMG_0670.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQYuddJRxS0/Uy3i-RZww5I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/HSJPUda2iEg/s1600/IMG_0670.jpg" width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>Don, the carpenter, got a lot of work done this week. He said he had help for one day, but I’m impressed. The second floor subflooring is in place and you can see the boards for the second floor walls up on the roof. I forgot to ask how they got up there, but I’m guessing they used the excavator. I took some pictures earlier in the week as everything came together — it’s neat to see how the frame is setup.</p>
<h1>Beams and joists</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;D087935B-13B3-435D-8590-331CC01CE12A"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cPHbGnq4KRJ4m38CoEqEuulhFZvEXvrdUrv7NCpNhd95fiTbJUIam2akz2jdhQFymqF5QD8fQqKmNqvoWuk_DUgI1otCl2fy0mimNCbwXIxsN3SoQoOApW_1hTkkKeAzfWdD5jhpB4HvBIl9d3ITUn=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0" width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>Starting with the ceiling over the kitchen, a laminated veneer lumber (LVL) beam provides support for the horizontal 2 x 8 boards, called joists, onto which the second floor flooring will be placed.</p>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;42B0D339-1F41-42A5-A8ED-C1FD463F928D"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3foemWymIlOQCx3TMtSDSRYaw0X4uj0eV0XRTnGDGAjzNK5KGcMwsU-Un2yaxfD__X1IFUQ0yOTXbg_VFoCXMCeiADkv_TreEtpJeUWdAE1a86qv08AMMLiH7yoZb4I3VOg1vmHpyCotYHkJLfeUvOM=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>Looking from the front door, you can see how the LVL beam spans the width of the kitchen. Off in the distance, by the way, is Mount Norwottuck, directly accessible from the trail across the street. The diagonal posts are there for stability — they’re temporary.</p>
<h1>Subfloor is done</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;9E44C6DC-3864-4663-81A3-41F3D3BF3822
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cZb_8_S9nvLIXthCz8EGHv5xLVG3xn-E7jRavFJ-H1wooub4UnMoHk1rj_rR2gLKapEAmNktkf1q7u9Ps6Vnnychp0HWogfICpa1gfibPm6c3hqiD7a8ih4TB-DrzZNp1laZMKAa8SCI04ZRbGsA_s=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>By Tuesday, most of the joists were in place and Don was getting started on the subflooring, which consists of OSB panels. By Friday, he was all done.</p>
<h1>Beams over windows</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;7CF08CDC-5A12-4D2F-A82E-06DD3AC17812
"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3eRq-za0bHkcSYXatL7enqqUphgVx35bXOquSnkbyw9Rco6qbciE9Zd9oRwFnbmrJllsNkqXIq1kJAplhHzOzsnS3oEwHzFE81tGtRPM_1t6cwKvB40xgkRgBLsCMZz8qgL0eDsbE4b5DCeMSwEf9l_=w1704-h1278-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>Another LVL beam is placed over the large windows in the dining room, to keep pressure off the windows — you don’t want them to buckle over time and loose their seal.</p>
<h1>Joist brackets</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;0D463003-A5B2-4824-9E48-6A7566D2324A"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3dq5aLKoCi_HndV30gnBc8wFaZFBoL_MENWaxEn7Yn3GSx3I337hvl1xzyZw6dYlMCNWvl5QKJcZw7ttc9iEmOyWCwF4AifiOTEvwrO7BXkP9cm_GNEP5qm6_5DD1QvpPIjEIsY5tVE-8P91YspjXrV=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>Another way to support the joists is to use metal joist brackets, shown above. This is right over the stairs. They don’t look that sturdy, but I guess they do the trick.</p>
<h1>Double joists for the bathroom</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;7F39155A-4012-4481-8EFF-1829F29B3B81"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fTzdeWANvC_iLcEmCmsp7kEPi7E_JA7I2ac4VvoPqGvVbzGlBx15RP5UIXonJ619kry6j_BEBLsoFoEvDr73NKKXqB-dqZ_2l7afPXIEofcp0cYc4iS4cK62UG4rGMAegzMoIviHC62nKXKuVSrAsi=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>The image above shows the double joists underneath the bathroom. See how the joists look thicker: there are two of them. If the bathtub is full of water, you’ve installed tile everywhere, and ten people are crowded inside to see how nice it looks, you want extra support under the bathroom. Also, bathrooms tend to have pipes under the floor, requiring holes through the joists, which can compromise the strength of a single joist.</p>
<h1>Floor joist blocking</h1>
<p><a href="
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;5FCDDB24-B735-41BD-BA7D-9E6980C93FEA"><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ekG-IdZsgmv5CWPI7AxhwxqOismZN99Bxv0VMppL6Jvf1NJK7xXI7Q4aVrNvjDjyS9PYB7UjHRDU4MApBwymf2A8YkwfBGoIhhxfzZAP2lbf4B4dM_jPBsiUwyKuvLXVYcK5GGC7KvrCpQFFNF3H9w=w1632-h1224-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>The little 2 x 8 boards running perpendicular to the joists are called blocking. They serve to even out the floor load and to provide something solid to nail the upstair wall into. Staggering the blocking allows you to nail straight through the joist into the blocking.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-36228348287475268842014-03-15T14:42:00.002-07:002021-03-21T09:13:42.309-07:00Week 10 - First floor framing<p><a href="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ex2YKKInP0giFC_f9kvgZSuMQW6wJejOZEf4XShXgzyP2haudVKlSZg7a-xirWHUy3stLTf2qDn1Q6d5q42T7LVktlx6jtU_lHxOvxc4pkafCiSFkOzohuWBfJiAnCUn0O5XTzih-UsbK5D9AammYs=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ex2YKKInP0giFC_f9kvgZSuMQW6wJejOZEf4XShXgzyP2haudVKlSZg7a-xirWHUy3stLTf2qDn1Q6d5q42T7LVktlx6jtU_lHxOvxc4pkafCiSFkOzohuWBfJiAnCUn0O5XTzih-UsbK5D9AammYs=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0" width="100%" /></a></p>
<p>Don, the carpenter, was able to get a bunch of work done early in the week before the weather turned cold and stormy. He’s basically got most of the first floor framing done. </p>
<h1>Interior framing first, then exterior walls will go up</h1>
<p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1y2BscrkVno/UyS-YuVE-RI/AAAAAAAAAXk/v5oRUZ4SyWk/s1600/IMG_0089.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1y2BscrkVno/UyS-YuVE-RI/AAAAAAAAAXk/v5oRUZ4SyWk/s1600/IMG_0089.jpg" width="100%" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://potwinepassive.blogspot.com/2014/03/week-9-sips-wall-panels-are-here.html">Last time</a> I talked about how the walls for the home are SIPs walls — prefabricated walls panels. So now why is the carpenter putting up walls the old fashioned way? Let me explain. </p>
<p>The architect has designed the walls to consist of two components: the exterior walls, which are the SIPs walls, and the interior walls, which are constructed onsite with 2 x 6 lumber. The interior walls will contain extra insulation and provide a frame onto which the SIPs can be attached. Also, the first floor walls will hold up the second floor. Once the first and second floor framing is complete — probably in 2–3 weeks — the SIPs will be installed with a crane and attached to the interior walls.</p>
<h1>Why two walls?</h1>
<p>I’m not exactly sure why the architect decided to go this route, but the hybrid interior-exterior wall design seems to have a number of advantages. First, the interior wall increases the total wall thickness, boosting the R Value significantly. I’m assuming that it would be tremendously difficult and expensive to fabricate and install a wall panel that was 14 inches thick — the total thickness of both walls. Second, the interior wall will accommodate plumbing, wires, outlets and light switches, so that the integrity of the outside wall can remain intact without needing to drill channels in multiple locations. Third, the interior wall assembly is vastly simpler than a conventionally framed wall because it only contains studs and plates — it doesn’t need nogging for extra support.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-3833174857101283502014-03-10T11:19:00.010-07:002018-01-15T09:45:39.998-08:00Week 9 - SIPs wall panels are here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;3EEDCB60-5F22-43ED-8117-EE817986AC86"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0bYSV9WeUtE/WlznbDf1O6I/AAAAAAAABZ4/UKOExCxD-WwMlf1O5ZoBflL8Ii2I0UNzwCHMYCw/s9999/1515627169.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>I got a text on Friday from my trusted neighbor-spy Jesse saying "SIPs just rolled in!" I was out of town, but on Sunday I got to check them out — notice the stacked, thick white panels sitting on the ground. Also, the tent for the concrete came down, so I got to check out the concrete in the full sunlight. It looks good — a huge relief!</p><h1>SIPs are awesome!</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SORwziOpWNM/Ux0tPpLVRvI/AAAAAAAAAW0/CcxtoPRiLOM/s1600/IMG_0647.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SORwziOpWNM/Ux0tPpLVRvI/AAAAAAAAAW0/CcxtoPRiLOM/s620/IMG_0647.jpg" alt="image-2363" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The image above shows a stack of five <strong>Structural Insulated Panels</strong> (SIPs), soon to be lifted by a crane and installed as the walls of the building. I mentioned SIPs in <a href="http://potwinepassive.blogspot.com/2014/01/hello-neighbors-postcards_957.html">my overview post</a> a while back, but let me tell you a little bit more about why these types of walls are such an important part of energy efficient design.</p><h1>Why make walls in a factory?</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="file://localhost/Users/aarango/Library/Containers/com.blogo.Blogo/Data/Library/Caches/com.blogo.Blogo/Wood-framed_house.jpg"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HtEFOKmz0U0/WlznbKBlXFI/AAAAAAAABZ0/VGKi1snOnOU0QwTTd_2qU9ZDFXThUL0PwCHMYCw/s9999/1516036008.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Youve probably seen a traditionally framed wall at a construction site, a web of 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 lumber going in every direction. Long horizontal boards, called plates, are placed along the top and bottom of the wall, vertical boards, called studs, run the height of the wall and little horizontal pieces, called nogging, are placed in between the studs. You have to be careful to lay out everything so that the window and door openings are taken into account and adequately reinforced. Plywood goes on the outside once the lumber is in place.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.prowall.com/structural_insulated_panels.htm"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PZfd5e49xGA/WlznaAQvg9I/AAAAAAAABZo/XXQfMT221PMOEvVlOsHYXsluHt0ni37KQCHMYCw/s9999/1516036130.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>On the other hand, our SIPs walls are fabricated in a factory in Vermont. The panels are huge, consisting of a single 8 inch thick slab of EPS foam sandwiched between two long pieces of oriented strand boards (OSB), and measuring 4 feet wide and two stories tall. The foam and OSB are held together with urethane glue.</p><p>Fabricating the panels in an indoor setting adds a number of advantages: automated machinery cuts and laminates the panels quickly and precisely without generating much waste; the shape and layout of the panels are digitally uploaded to the manufacturing equipment without the need to interpret drawings onsite; the quality of the panels can be tightly controlled and verified before shipping; and construction times are shorter because the panels can be made while the foundation is being constructed.</p><p>The end result is a monolithic panel that is airtight and super-insulated. The panels interlock, but you still have to seal the edges with tape. Although some builders use only the panels themselves as the walls, we will be adding 2 x 6 interior wall studs and blown-in fiberglass insulation to increase the R value of the walls and to provide space for electrical wiring.</p><div class="embed-wrapper" data-url="www.youtube.com/embed/YN51-HsF0MY" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YN51-HsF0MY" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN51-HsF0MY">youtube</a><p>In the video above, Matt OMalia describes the process of installing the SIPs at the GO Home.</p><h1>Concrete floor looks great!</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;8AFF5BD9-252B-485E-AAA3-D502D8D2665B"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b4wNELb9-7g/WlznaA7PpUI/AAAAAAAABZw/Yh9DRirc3FwkOzTaPVzOybM1Z6Lwit-RQCHMYCw/s9999/1516036357.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>After a worrying about the concrete floor <a href="http://potwinepassive.blogspot.com/2014/03/week-8-concrete-poured-beaver-lodge.html">last week</a>, I was excited to see how the surface of the concrete turned out. I think it looks great – it has a nice matt finish to it, some interesting texture and the color is pleasing. I guess it will add more of an industrial feel to the home rather than a fancy shiny granite look, which is cool — maybe even better than a polish.</p><h1>This is better than polished concrete</h1><p>There appear to be multiple definitions of "polished" concrete. The architect and builder told me that the actual grinding part of the polish – the part that gives it its mirror like shine – wasnt planned for, or included in the price. That step can be done later, if desired, but it would add a substantial amount to the cost of the floor. In the end, I think the builder went with the best of all possible options. Its the economical option because the expensive grinding process was omitted. Its the healthy option because we didnt use a chemical sealer. Plus, its the durable option because we used a densifier to harden the concrete.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;43EAE71C-6E42-4C74-94AA-B6053C873121"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lD8U-Clq0bw/WlznaJGDk9I/AAAAAAAABZk/Fd9u_CWQ_m4p6rQ510_do3vzK8wxqfRdgCHMYCw/s9999/1516036431.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The image above is a closeup of the concrete control joint, a cut in the concrete that promotes cracking underneath the joint, instead of along the surface. You can also get a better sense for the texture of the surface — its pretty smooth to the touch. Im not sure what part of the texture will wipe off when its cleaned, but Im feeling good about it, regardless.</p><h1>Backfilled around the perimeter</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;8E26E091-A39D-4A70-A4B8-609B45E57AA6"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zwpCjTgkrqM/WlznaHF15QI/AAAAAAAABZs/UY1XxmrLHqkzuZzga2VmOc_-uh8wOIJBwCHMYCw/s9999/1516037288.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Heres an image of the EPS foam, having been lined with a black covering — the ice and water shield — and backfilled with dirt. Buried under the dirt is another EPS panel, a "wing" that serves to insulate the ground under the wing from frost. The gray plastic is the poly vapor barrier that forms a continuous seal underneath the concrete.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-29199143507472968962014-03-02T11:55:00.002-08:002018-01-28T16:36:54.408-08:00Week 8 - Concrete poured, beaver lodge located<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;78211C60-1F97-4E1C-9E82-BD05E7793623"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a4r5bJ_G4_Q/Wm5sn4ehA2I/AAAAAAAABec/llCiiLvEj4UyWzKCy5radpO-7AbHEbFygCHMYCw/s9999/1517182908.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Suddenly, we have made major progress this week, despite the continued frigid temperatures! On Monday, the rebar was set into place and on Tuesday the concrete was poured. Everything seems to be going well, but not without some misunderstanding. Also, I think Ive finally located the beaver lodge.</p><h1>Pouring the concrete</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oP9BLq-DKHs/UxJJqce3TKI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/F57vZid5-Vk/s1600/IMG_0627.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oP9BLq-DKHs/UxJJqce3TKI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/F57vZid5-Vk/s620/IMG_0627.jpg" alt="image-9" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>When I showed up, the first concrete truck had just finished pouring its portion of the concrete and the guys were spreading out the concrete and leveling it. The second truck was on it’s way, but I had to take off.</p><h1>Power troweling the concrete all night</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;1A13BCDB-D3A3-4C7B-9486-BA199F498F6A"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MsiEkIQbVDs/Wm5snWV0KZI/AAAAAAAABeY/PJoDnXTDZ2Y6ZbiXr647OpKgX1YFpoNbgCHMYCw/s9999/1517183311.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Later that night, I dropped in to find the concrete guy floating the concrete, using the power troweler on the right. After waiting for the concrete to cure until it was hard enough to walk on, he repeatedly ran the power troweler over the concrete until he was satisfied with the sheen. The process apparently took all night — it had to be done before the concrete hardened any further. Hopefully, the neighbors weren’t bothered by the sound of the generator.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;E0EF5F4D-23E8-4C5E-A6C9-C440B9D408D5"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ylHk8lRDYl4/Wm5sm7eDj0I/AAAAAAAABeU/xthK7lZ2-IksYJ1aY7pkXF2DVyHsZVYrwCHMYCw/s9999/1517183449.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Here’s the floor in the morning. It looks smoother, but what’s all that white stuff?</p><h1>Is this polished concrete?</h1><p>The concrete process seems to be deviating from what I expected, and I’m not exactly sure what is going on. We had decided on polished concrete floors — an agonizing decision because of a the $5/sq ft premium over traditional concrete, with a total cost of $15.6/sq ft. For comparison, $14/sq ft is the cost of a high-end wood floor. The concrete doubles as the foundation, so it’s not a fair comparison, but still — it’s not cheap.</p><p>Polished concrete has the advantage that it does not require chemical sealers or annual waxing, and apparently the look is better. As I understood it, the process for polished concrete follows these steps:</p><ol><li>Once the concrete hardens, it is ground down to a smooth finish, exposing the aggregates in the concrete.</li><li>A densifier is applied to the concrete to harden it, providing a hard surface that does not need maintenance. The densifier is a non-toxic mixture of silicic acid, potassium salt and water that reacts with the concrete to produce calcium silicate hydrate, a super-strong material.</li><li>The hardened concrete is ground down to a progressively finer finish until the desired polish is achieved.</li></ol><p>It looks like the concrete guy is actually going down a much different route, which might end up fine, but I’m worried about getting a floor that looks like a basement rather than something that suits a living room. One aspect that concerns me is the troweling process, described above. Apparently this process buries the aggregates under the surface of the concrete, giving a more homogenous appearance that is typical of a concrete floor. But the texture that the aggregates provide seems to be partly what makes polished concrete look so good. I’m crossing my fingers that it will turn out OK. I’m also wondering where the $5/sq ft premium went.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;98BBD4A6-6C66-478E-9F6E-57D70971BEA2"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7O1FuK2SpLQ/Wm5smDYaDqI/AAAAAAAABeE/gwc3-Tq7T_wlh94eH8HxppS5cCWfTAOJwCHMYCw/s9999/1517184987.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>On Friday, after a couple of days of curing, the densifier was applied. I’m hoping that those scuff marks are not permanently engrained in the concrete. I guess there’s no turning back now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;7D473F4D-03D8-4096-89B1-D8B58377B22B"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dtsTJ9ouXbc/Wm5smTgb-xI/AAAAAAAABeM/e4WIWsVrMg0ktfk1FCfFrvvMTcpwtI0JQCHMYCw/s9999/1517185535.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>Here’s one of the two massive propane burners, running 24/7 for a week now to keep the concrete warm.</p><h1>Did I find the beaver lodge?</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;5595F4CD-4D13-4802-8A81-A7334BD857FA"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mDI2l46kYAM/Wm5smZSlJ9I/AAAAAAAABeQ/Hv3FIg7aOloLC42TtvGlqKRUWhf3M2HxQCHMYCw/s9999/1517185874.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>To relieve my worry about the concrete floor, I decided to go check on the beavers. I think I found their lodge, but I’m bothered by the fact that it is so close to the trail — it seems like I would have seen it earlier. Notice the pile of sticks covered in snow, right at the center of the photo. It could be a random pile of sticks, but the location makes me think it is a lodge. Look at how the lodge is situated right at the crux of the stream’s <a href="http://waterschool.brazos.org/post/What-is-an-oxbow.aspx">oxbow</a> — this is exactly the same positioning as an abandoned beaver lodge further down stream. My guess is that theyve installed two entryways, one downstream and one upstream.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#A45oqs3qdl8rJ;69A113DD-CC9D-45CE-BE4E-137AE2FE3934"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oUvSEc1sf8k/Wm5sme7OkxI/AAAAAAAABeI/99h6lYO86ac-3fqhCOtKrpVFi3-yIkTZQCHMYCw/s9999/1517186143.jpeg" alt="img-alternative-text" style="max-width: 100%;"></a></div><p>The beaver dam is still holding up well. This most extensive dam in the area. Starting from the lower right side of the image, the dam runs diagonally and then continues to zig zig into the distance, making its way to the hillside that you can see in the background — a massive work of engineering.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-2217580294786118862014-02-24T05:50:00.001-08:002014-02-24T11:28:53.058-08:00Weeks 6 & 7 - Getting ready for the concrete<h1>Week 6 brought more snow</h1>
<p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZZ_7y-ZGwPY/UwlvQCnmCEI/AAAAAAAAAVI/3Pj9e3WM_7c/s1600/IMG_0612.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZZ_7y-ZGwPY/UwlvQCnmCEI/AAAAAAAAAVI/3Pj9e3WM_7c/s1600/IMG_0612.jpg" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Cold temperatures and endless snow made it impossible to get any work done in week 6. It’s hard to believe how wintery this winter has been, especially since the fall was so warm. Now the project is buried deep in snow, seemingly halted indefinitely.</p>
<h1>Week 7 - a tent for the concrete</h1>
<p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VIRZyi9xlWo/Uwlsw30U4VI/AAAAAAAAAUs/CsQYGGKh2Aw/s1600/IMG_0615.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VIRZyi9xlWo/Uwlsw30U4VI/AAAAAAAAAUs/CsQYGGKh2Aw/s1600/IMG_0615.jpg" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Wow! The builders saw an opening in the weather and scrambled to put up a tent. Check out the major snow removal operation they pulled off. We must have had an accumulation of at least two feet of dense wet snow, yet they somehow shoveled all that snow off of the EPS foam and also plowed extensively around the perimeter. </p>
<p>The purpose of the tent is to keep the concrete warm enough so that it can solidify and be polished, and to protect it from the elements. The polishing process is done under water (to protect the crew from harmful dust particles), so the temperature must be kept well above freezing. You can see a large propane tank off to the right. We’re probably using more energy to keep that tent warm than will be used by the home for many years. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly with the concrete and it will be done soon. </p>
<p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Lhlpr6cXNc/UwuckydYnJI/AAAAAAAAAVc/hob1KSEuV60/s1600/IMG_0075.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Lhlpr6cXNc/UwuckydYnJI/AAAAAAAAAVc/hob1KSEuV60/s1600/IMG_0075.jpg" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Here’s what it looks like inside the tent. The structural fill has just been compacted, burying the plumbing, conduits and radon mitigation piping. Now, rebar must be installed prior to pouring the concrete, which should happen tomorrow.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-24025736198170133292014-02-09T19:14:00.004-08:002018-01-15T09:56:03.555-08:00Floor plans 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TxW-jXxnuEo/WTIiEn_QXVI/AAAAAAAABRA/90fUaNCXb2A-DQ41hvRjRYW4a5sOM6BXQCHM/s9999/IMG_06010.JPG" alt="image-315" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><h1>Many thanks to GO Logic</h1><p>I expended a tremendous amount of energy fussing with the floor plans of this home, much to the terror of my wonderful team of architects at GO Logic (<a href="http://www.gologic.us/practice/people/">Matt OMalia, Todd Boyd, and Svea Tullberg</a>). Even though GO Logic provides <a href="http://www.gologic.us/pre-fab/house-plans/">off the shelf plans</a>, I felt the need to demand certain changes to their plans, then promptly reversed those changes, only to eventually reinstate the original changes. In the end, we must have gone through at least six iterations of the floor plans. I owe many thanks to Matt, Todd and Svea for their amazing patience, professionalism and talent.</p><p>I learned a lot through the process and I thought I would share why I settled on the floor plan pictured above, which I believe is going to be terrific. Im including only the first floor in this post, the second floor is just as cool, but it will come later.</p><h1>How to make a tiny home feel gigantic</h1><p>I’m not an architect, but over the years I’ve noticed a few tricks that seem to make a small boxy space feel bigger than it really is. A few years ago, I attempted to use these principles in the <a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~aarango/Arango_Lab/laboratory.html">layout of my lab at Mount Holyoke College</a>, a small 600 sq ft research space for next generation solar cells — and the results were <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhc/7840129454/in/photostream/">fantastic</a>.</p><ol><li>Open up the floor plan as much as possible</li><li>Make sure that the line of sight from any location extends as far as possible, preferably the full length of the house</li><li>Use long straight lines or spaces wherever possible to simplify visual clutter and emphasize elongated forms</li><li>Substitute sliding or double doors where possible, to be able to open up or close off the floor plan as needed</li><li>Use well placed widows to illuminate all areas and open up smaller areas</li></ol><p>Below, I’ll explain how I went about implemented these design rules.</p><h1>Using 3D renderings to plan the layout</h1><p>To get a feel for the floor plan, I generated 3D renderings of the interior using the mac app "Live Interior 3D Standard Edition." The app lets you draw a floor plan and then creates a 3D space that you can navigate through. I didn’t like the tacky color and faux realism of the renderings, so I used my iPad to trace some of the critical scenes as line drawings. The simple black and white lines might be a little difficult to look at at first, but they allow your mind to fill in the extraneous details.</p><h1>The dininitchen room</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lkKVEghnOT0/WTIiEpkXGSI/AAAAAAAABRE/xmoQo-bxdpcMwr1yaL8xh4wQAajaSlujwCHM/s9999/IMG_0619.JPG" alt="image-314" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p>The entrance leads directly into a single open space that serves as both the kitchen and dining space (above) — hence the dininitchen — a large area for gathering, cooking and eating. Three large windows behind the dinner table open up the space even further. The kitchen counter spans the left wall, with the induction cooktop and range hood almost spilling into the dinning area, blurring the distinction between the two rooms. A small built-in counter and shelving area to the right will serve as a pantry.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XKOQ0DmM3u0/WTIiEgGss5I/AAAAAAAABQ8/jat7TUxHr6sNGa94HNVStNIamhF2hHycgCHM/s9999/IMG_0618.JPG" alt="image-313" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p>Off to the right of the entryway is the mud room and a half bath. A small bench to remove your shoes sits in front of a removable bookshelf, giving access to hidden storage under the stairs. An opening in the upper wall looks through to the staircase landing, helping to bring in light from the large window in the stairway. I wanted the bathroom to be tucked away from the kitchen and the living room, and to be easily accessible from the outside.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vsHya9T7R34/WTIiEkvrwjI/AAAAAAAABQ4/dj4s2pLwifcNqynjtIY2IR-Ca_yIYBXHQCHM/s9999/IMG_0617.JPG" alt="image-312" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p>Looking from the dining room back at the entryway (above), notice how the kitchen counter follows an L shape along the wall — the layout allows for ample counter space while giving easy access to the front door, half bath (to the left of the door), the pantry, the dining area and the living area. The straight line of the countertop along the right wall lengthens the kitchen area, creating a sense of an usually large kitchen.</p><p>The closet off of the living area doubles as a storage space and utility room for two of the on-demand hot water heaters, the heat pump wall unit and the drain water heat recovery (DWHR) pipe.</p><h1>An efficient dinner assembly line</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fGf69DbZ2xI/WTIiEkfjmAI/AAAAAAAABQw/1DAD2BGLbbMQaWxf50cL9dtoJ7o3JOqEgCHM/s9999/IMG_0616.JPG" alt="image-311" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p>The kitchen is laid out to maximize the efficiency of manufacturing dinner. The cooking process moves from left to right, starting with the vegetables in the fridge, moving to the counter, washing in the sink, cutting on the next counter, frying on the cooktop, and then serving at the dining table. Cleanup follows the same linear pathway in reverse: dirty dishes move from right to left; from the dining table, to the counter, to the sink, and into the dishwasher.</p><h1>Handling sunlight throughout the day</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y5f2JcIxBRE/WTIiEgosu0I/AAAAAAAABQ0/nz98lgJFbVEOpEfeUEe0IsTKnzpx8zHUACHM/s9999/IMG_0615.JPG" alt="image-310" style="max-width: 100%;"></div><p>One aspect that I love about this design is how sunlight moves throughout the space over the course of the day. The image above is looking at the living area from the kitchen.</p><p>The morning sun from the east filters into the kitchen window through the row of trees on the east property side. Breakfast at the table is warmed by the morning sun as well. Later in the day, the sun might be too strong at the dinner table — a tremendous amount of energy is captured by the three large south facing windows — but the living room offers a refuge with some protection from the sun. Afternoon sun keeps the living area illuminated continuously as the sun moves from the south facing window to the west facing window later in the day. In the afternoon, the kitchen will be free of sun, so cooking in the heat of the sun is not a problem.</p><p>Stay tuned to find out if the design actually works in practice!</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-76054694016219699122014-02-08T14:21:00.002-08:002022-01-15T08:49:28.038-08:00Week 5 - Snow<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXxA9FNuwOfcOy-QdMoiKa94Ntek4h7zSpYc0vq-F1TWLoRnWcNv8guF49Jmx-i43isBI9Qez_yREuQY6ohMXrVMnKUZLrprnPGzPgufL9rTsGmyBZI4up4QNYCAiCS76cSgwhImvne9DohHCIUP-m5=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXxA9FNuwOfcOy-QdMoiKa94Ntek4h7zSpYc0vq-F1TWLoRnWcNv8guF49Jmx-i43isBI9Qez_yREuQY6ohMXrVMnKUZLrprnPGzPgufL9rTsGmyBZI4up4QNYCAiCS76cSgwhImvne9DohHCIUP-m5=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0g" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>We have no progress to report this week, again due to the snow and the cold temperatures. I thought I’d post a picture of the lot covered under a foot of snow. Looking at the forecast, temperatures are set to stay cold for at least a month — keeping us stalled for a while. Kyle (the builder) is apparently hatching a plan to install a tent and some sort of heating system in order to create the right environment to pour the concrete and finish the surface properly. It sounds like an ambitious plan. I’m eagerly waiting to see how it turns out.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4581540663236477256.post-82324647435007805192014-02-05T21:39:00.006-08:002021-02-28T07:33:53.630-08:00Why are passive houses so cute and boxy?<p>OK, now it’s snowing like crazy. Looks like there won’t be any progress on the construction for a while. In the meantime, I thought I would begin to explain some of the special traits of the Potwine Passive House in more detail. In the next post, I’ll show the floor plans, but first we should talk about why the home is shaped the way it is.</p>
<h1>
Passive houses tend to be cute and boxy</h1>
<a href="
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<p>I love the look of passive houses. Pictured above are <em>Little Compton</em> (<a href="http://www.zeroenergy.com/p_valette.html">Zero Energy Design</a>); <em>Lancaster High Efficiency</em> (<a href="http://garlandmill.smugmug.com/Projects/Lancaster/20331683_D8dt2N#!i=1633490605&k=HcHgqkv">Garland Mill Timberframes</a>); <em>Urban Green</em> (<a href="http://salaarc.com/portfolio/urban-green/">Sala Architects</a>); and <em>R-House</em> (<a href="http://www.aro.net/#r-house">ARO and Della Valle Bernheimer</a>), clockwise starting from the upper left. </p>
<h1>
Less surface area saves energy</h1>
<p>You might have noticed a common theme — these houses take the form of a box, more or less. Here’s why: it’s an attempt to achieve a <strong>low surface area to volume ratio</strong>. Imagine a square box versus a long rectangle, but make sure that both are sized such that they each enclose the same amount of volume, as shown in the drawing below:</p>
<a ><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fBi5Ywm1ZYMjUjuas2yMEEOvFFBrq3lXKODvuu4BkOW9gU3NdhM4-1oBlmZ3xXHW3HB1XqE3h1kNeDMp7KBBh5hY69EEzs0vRkTXYNljzZtHLo95QUtA68SXeND0dGjyMuTN1HdXTDKHjCI1VxXZDl=w1024-h724-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a><br/>
<p>In this example, both the cube and the rectangle have the same volume, but their surface area is different. It turns out that the cube will always have less surface area than the long rectangle, regardless of whatever volume we choose. Similarly, a box will have less surface area than a series of partially detached smaller boxes, which might remind you of most house designs.</p>
<p>The problem is that heat energy is lost through the surface area (the walls, roof and windows), so more surface area will allow the same volume of space to cool down faster. Passive houses often employ boxy designs because they yield better thermal performance.</p>
<a ><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3ere3OBZvPwgcb-arXZB-DeDq2bXzGKeUe1PnbPI7ehrmPcfIt6KwT8kVamyraqdNQgso2tt_2-PTGz4sv03S5_GXEELf1cOuFEjrxJiLJXd2eVP5sCpJB-MyhlOrzXY3exgy5LrfiDVgN6fvzu4PhI=w640-h380-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a><br/>
<p>I’m sure that many would find the typical boxy passive house to be extremely limiting, but that’s where the brilliance of architect Matt O’Malia’s <a href="http://www.houzz.com/projects/193853/The-GO-Home-Passive-House">GO Home</a> is apparent (pictured above): he’s made a boxy and plain structure seem open, interesting and bigger than it really is. </p>
<h1>
Choosing the exterior form factor and the square footage</h1>
<a ><img src="
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3eDvjFedULv1yZN8mHyFwEdhZaFy2LvSTdFRRFuwbDgGWPCToH7a1pFxySK7Qi0mCIvDcTC70g_kqa8vffS3ER6Rg7Pz5iS-aUJtxLQcNf6gc9TC6HZS0fEScDeIsgvY5Vz5nhj1hY1tCWj_uC8qFRx=w1984-h1478-no?authuser=0 " width="100%" /></a><br />
<p>One of the project’s first steps was to choose among the preset house designs and floor plans available on <a href="http://www.gologic.us/pre-fab/house-plans/">GO Logic’s website</a>, which offers single story 1000 sq ft plans up to double story 2500 sq ft plans. I initially came to the project thinking that I would want to live in a bonafide <a href="http://www.houzz.com/tiny-house">tiny house</a> — a romantic dot on the landscape surrounded by expansive open space — but the thought of raising a family in a tiny house eventually scared me off. I gravitated toward a three bedroom design, partly due to the recommendation of my real estate agent, <a href="http://westernmassproperties.com/">Mike Seward</a>: three bedroom homes tend to be easier to sell. A second story appealed to me because I felt that views of the surrounding landscape and wildlife would be enhanced by the extra height, and more space around the home would be available for a vegetable garden.</p>
<p>After discussing my budget with Matt O’Malia, it was clear that the 1300 sq ft model was the most I could afford. Although I didn’t know it at the time, the actual usable square footage is even smaller: 1100 sq ft, about half the size of the average home in the US. At this point, most people would balk at the idea of a passive house: they could have a standard 2200 sq ft house for the same upfront cost! Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that a passive house is more expensive. The <em>upfront</em> costs are higher, but the <em>monthly</em> costs are lower (almost zero) — one of many ways in which greener products are unfairly financially disincentivised. </p>
<p>The next step was to figure out how to make the most of that 1100 sq ft.</p>Alexi Arangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815595069429593678noreply@blogger.com1