2nd story addition green ideas
Jim_Allen
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
We are proposing a 1300sf second story addition that will have a full bath. It’ll be a “man cave” and have a patio attached. Besides a tankless water heater, how would I “green” this thing up? It will be stucco type exterior and I’m open to suggestions.
If I can do a little bit to save the earth for the grandkids, help me out.
We are going to use foam insulation and some form of engineered joists.
Bob’s next test date: 12/10/07
Replies
There aren't really many ideas for a green 2 story addition are there? Maybe this green movement is hype after all!
I could use groud up denim for insulation....
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Edited 2/18/2008 4:03 pm by Jim_Allen
Are you serious? or trying to lure riversong out?where did you here that a tankless heater is necessarily green?
Barry E-Remodeler
I'm trying to learn from those that are more in tune with "green". Ya'll can complain or you can teach. Are you saying that we should install a gas water heater instead? Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I'm just saying that a tankless isn't always the greenest choice. The way I learned it one has a big tank with a small flame the other is a small tank with a big flame.If you have teenagers who take long showers, a tankless isn't saving it's costing. I guess you gotta ask your mancave guy if he likes long showers.Mike has a pretty good list to which I might add recycle your demoed materials if possible. Reuse them in the project, donate anything you can and watch what's going in the landfill.It's not necessarily the grand gestures that make it a better green, it's the small steps. Mike covered the main ones...energy & water efficiency, resource conservation and indoor conditioned space quality. Green building is about quality, in design and construction practices. You're a step ahead if I remember you are all about saving material in the framing process?
Barry E-Remodeler
You can talk to a good architect about passive solar and thermal mass which keeps an appropriate amount of heat from the day inside to be released at night.
I'm in Texas and we are all about eliminating solar gain! Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Denim makes pretty good insulation but densepack cells is better and foam is betterer.
When you stucco the outside, be sure that you do NOT add any herbicide/fungicide to the mix. Further, if any exterior paint is used, no microbicides.
That way, moss can grow on the north face, and if you're lucky, green mildew will cover the rest of the house.
Now that is about as green as I can think of.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
When you say "patio attached" do you mean a deck or balcony, or does the second floor lead to a higher level in the back? A patio (hardscape) is "greener" than a deck or patio, IMO, but not usually feasible on a second story.
In no particular order you could use:
Daylighting (reduce need for electric lights)
Low flow water fixtures
Locally produced materials (keep it to a 500 mile radius)
Low- or no- VOC finishes. Check out http://www.americanclay.com/ for a cool interior wall finish.
Recycled, or reusable materials. No composites that will be hard to recycle down the road.
Mike, the raised patio might end up being concrete. Is that a "hardscape"?Thanks for that link to the wall finishes. That is precisely the kind of tip I was looking for. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Mike, the raised patio might end up being concrete. Is that a "hardscape"?
I'm not sure--I think of hardscape as some sort of pavers, either concrete or stone.
If you're using concrete, adding fly ash or furnace slag is a green action. I forget what exactly each of them does for the concrete, but they don't hurt it any and it gets rid of an industrial waste product.
Check out This Old House - Austin...you'll start finding some green building info in and around Tx