Green building–help me spend some money
Marson
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
Suppose you have ten houses to rehab. Old houses, some needing new siding, some gut jobs, new roofs, heating systems, flooring, etc.
This is only somewhat hypothetical. I work for a non profit land trust, and we are currently beginning a cycle of remodelling a number of derelict homes. They are pursuing grant money for just such a use. I was asked the question the other day…what would I do with an extra 25 G’s per house for “green”? Looking for ideas.
How would you spend it? Spray foam? Exterior foam? Dense pack cellulose? Retrofit double walls? Ground Source heat pumps? Solar hot water? Lead abatement? Green carpet?
Replies
1. Great insulation. Either closed-cell foam or denspack cellulose.
2. Heat exchanger or another form of ventilation. Indoor air quality is a component of green building.
3. Passive solar. Windows, overhangs and room locations where they should be.
4. Active solar. Hot water is best bang for buck.
5. Natural materials (including metal). Plastic does not age well.
6. Source materials locally. Shipping stone counters around the world isn't green.
Alternative flooring materials, too: marmoleum, bamboo, cork. All great products. Linoleum is back in, too!
Concrete counters?
Tile work from a 'seconds' source
Hard wired compact fluorescent light fixtures.
Also exterior lighting that eliminates/minimizes night sky pollution/light trespass ... some cities actually don't allow anything but.
1.5 gpm shower heads ... been testing these ... VERY nice ... woman tested and approved!!
Recycled sheetrock product ... if available.
Do you have a source for quality used plumbing fixtures. More than half of my tubs, toilets and sinks were used ... and you'd neve know it. And I got low flow toilets, too.
Dual flush toilets ...
Energy Star appliances: washer, dishwasher, frig, stove, microwave.
Xeriscaping landscaping?
Concrete countrtops are anything but green.
While trendy and good looking and an alternative to stone or solid surface the amount of energy needed to produce portland cement is high. I'd look to other fibrous materials that reuse waste or are made from agricultural byproducts.
Edited 6/26/2008 11:54 am ET by ted
Maybe so ... there will always be something more green, probably. I was thinking concrete is more green than e.g. Italian granite. Use some recycled products for aggregate additive to give the surface some color/texture.
Admitedly I don't know if it is considered really green or not. I get tired of everything getting a green label for whatever reason ... OSB is a green material, you know. And steel is because it is recycled ... It is soooo trendy to find something green about something we already have been doing for ages.
Did you have some other specific products in mind?? This is the place to bring them to the table ... er counter ...
Well, I was just looking for ideas. Thanks for all the good ones.On the one hand, I consider myself to be basically "green", but the whole subject sure does breed cynicism in myself.Previously, we got a smaller grant for building green houses, and the focus was on the health aspects of "green". Low VOC paints, no carpet, low VOC subfloor adhesive. I thought they would have been better off in terms of greenness if we would have started skinning the exteriors in foam. That would pay back for the life of the house. But whatever. I guess that's my bias--that's why I accidentally posted this in Energy, Heating, and Insulation.Interesting comment about steel. What is the greenest siding, anyway? Our archie likes fiber cement. I point out that it couldn't be recycled, steel could, but then she pointed out that the steel siding has a PVC (gasp!) coating. Riversong touted locally grown and sawn pine, but in these parts, we'd soon be siding our houses with aspen if we went that route (it'd keep the sawyers busy--maybe that's what all those unemployed OSB plant workers can do). Perhaps someone will come up with a hemp siding, and that will keep all of em happy.
yeah ... you could smoke the waste and gain a new perspective on the rest of the project.
I didn't think steel siding had PVC coating ... I'm fairly certain a house I did in steel did NOT have PVC coating ... just steel w/ whatever paint coating they applied to it. I could be wrong, though.
I didn't think steel siding had PVC coating
I think you are right. I haven't been in the piant formulation business for a long time, but polyurethane coating, water soluable, and powder coatings were coming on strong when I left.
I guess it depends. http://www.rollex.com/pro_cat_siding.htm. The stuff I have used recently says "PVC" right on the box. Didn't realize that it was available without the PVC. I'm going to pass that one along.
the whole subject sure does breed cynicism in myself
Yep, spending an EXTRA $25K for 'green' is not green imo.
Consider myself to have always worked green from being cheap, that meant recycle, but getting paid for it, not paying out for it.
Also as others have said, wise use of insulation, etc.
PS: for $25k, I'll do consulting <G>
I dunno ... $25K sounds damn green to me ... :)
Green will cost you ... so will NOT putting ingredients into your food. Go figure.
I take it you don't have your name down for an '09 hybrid SUV?
Insulation, Efficient appliances and water heating, space heating.
How about a homeowners handbook explaining how the systems in the house work and how to maintain them? A good one would be time consuming to produce, and time costs money; could you earmark a certain ammount for each building to pay for that time?
What about rain catchment systems for irrigation? Better yet, landscaping that doesn't require irrigation?
All the above are excellent suggestions. I would add:
Low-E windows
Metal roofing
Rainwater collection
Low VOC finishes
Salvaged products like old doors, brick
Nugsy
Marson.
Insulation, foam is superior. Please don't be fooled by R ratings.. those aren't really valid real world because they are done under labratory conditions (tested at 70 degrees for example)
I would look at something other than asphalt shingles for the roof.. several problems with them.. short life and disposal issues..
I would buy local products like wood.. every state has small to medium sized sawmills and If you source the wood locally you can save both the energy it takes to ship things around as well as the waste inherate in large mill operations..
Hardwood floors are nice green solutions.. at a minimum a properly installed hardwood floor will last 2x the time it takes to grow it. Plus it makes a nice elegant statement. Instead of typical floor finishes use traditonal shellac.. Shellac is biodegradable, renewable, eviornmental and safe (you've been eating shellac on nearly every pill and piece of candy all of your life) Plus shellac is harder than other floor finishes.. (and extremely easily repaired)
Siding I would use something that doesn't need maintinace or frequent replacement.. stone or Brick.