beausoleil

Can green = cash? Part 2

It's been a busy few weeks, which hopefully is a sign that the economy is picking up! 

Part of our busyness has been getting this particular project in for permit, and having discussions with the owner, contractor, Title 24 consultant and window suppliers, to start to evaluate the potential "greening" of this home.  Now, many of you may think that "greening" means some strange design with plants on the roof, or perhaps covered in solar panels, perhaps using technology or materials that are not tried and tested, or subject to "green-washing" by manufacturers hoping to enter into the construction product market.   (How green is a countertop material that is manufactured sustainably, but comes all the way from Israel, for example?) Though these can certainly be analyzed and defined as green and be beautiful, most homeowners we come in contact with still prefer more traditional looking homes.   I wanted to start out by assuring you that this home is a very traditional French Mediterranean design with stucco walls and clay tile roof, found all over the Bay Area as well as in Europe, and its' construction materials are very traditional,  tried and true.

There are three basic requirements of a BuildItGreen Green Point Rated home that have to be met before you start to calculate any points. 

One: A2a Divert/Recycle demolition waste and construction material waste. 50% is required for the rating. 
The city in which the project is located already required 60%, so there is no additional cost required. Many municipalities in California have understood the importance of recycling/reuse and have developed their own standards. There are also companies such as The Reuse People, which will organize the demolition process for you to maximize the recycling effort and obtain tax credits for the homeowner,  which can sometimes offset all the costs of demolition, resulting in a net savings.

Two: J2. Design and Build Energy Efficient Homes - You must exceed California Title 24 requirements by at least 15%. 
This required a bit of research as the preliminary Title 24 calculations prepared and submitted for permit showed we were only 2% over Title 24.  Our consultant, Mark Madison of Energy Code Works told us that for our climate, we did not need to add extra insulation or do anything differently, we needed to take a closer look at the windows. Since for most of our projects the windows are chosen during construction by the owner and contractor in light of the overall budget, we do not have a particular manufacturer's specifications to plug into the calculations.  Mark is then forced to use a lower default value for the U-value (.58) and shading coefficients.  After getting quotes from several manufacturers for double glazed clad windows, we opted for low e glazing with a .32 U-factor (vs .43 for clear).  With a total window price of about $28,000, the clear glass would have saved about $2000, but the owners had planned to use low e so for now, there is still no additional cost incurred. Mark Madison revised the calculations, and we are now at 22.4% over Title 24, garnering 44 points, with no changes to the project design or budget!

Three: N1 Incorporate Green Point Checklist in Blueprints.  This should take about two hours of our time, to put in the list,and also add notes throughout the drawings and specifications.  Estimated cost $250.

We are currently filling out the Green Point Rated checklist and having some things priced, so this discussion will continue.  Stay tuned for part 3!

Can green = cash?

We are very fortunate to be currently working with a developer on a new five bedroom, four bath home on prime real estate on the Peninsula not far from Stanford University.  While we try to encourage all of our clients to make green choices for environmental and health reasons, in this case, the decisions need to make sense on the bottom line from day 1. 

Contractors, real estate agents, material suppliers, green point raters, designers, green homeowners, we need your help!

Over the next few weeks, we would like to analyze the project using Build It Green's rating program for new homes and try to find areas where green features can be added with little or no additional costs.  We would love input from you in the building profession as to what has worked for you in the past, or where you are seeing good deals now in this competitive economy.  Designers and homeowners who have incorporated green features in past projects, where have you seen the most bang for your buck, either in initial savings or in operating costs?  What features have given you the most pleasure over the long term?

We'd like to hear from you real estate folks as to whether buyers in the Bay Area would pay a premium if they knew that the home was Green Point Rated with points in community, energy, indoor air quality/health, resources and water.  Has real local research been done?  How would you quantify the potential financial differences between traditional vs. green construction?

Especially given the current economy where real estate sales are sluggish and prices reduced, it is all the more important to build efficiently and to price a project properly.  We know green building is important environmentally, but can it also make sense economically, even in the short term?

Please feel free to leave your comments.  We are hoping our blog will bring an open dialogue and become a resource for all.

Here are a few links to published articles/research on the topic.  The first two require payment, but the website gives basic information about their research.  If anyone has purchased these in the past, perhaps you can share your thoughts with us.

The Green Home Consumer: Driving Demand for Green Homes by McGraw Hill Construction 11/08

Shelton Group - Energy Pulse 2009

Residential Green Building Report - A Market Engagement Framework for Developers and Builders, a thesis project from the University of Michigan, 2007.

Stained or Art Glass...

 

Well, the silver lining in this recession is that having more free time on your hands can sometimes lead to time for creative artistic pursuits.  I started doing stained glass (or art glass as the preferred terminology since there is nothing "stained" about it) at MIT of all places, not as a regular credit class as part of my architectural curriculum (the only art class offered at the time in the entire school was life drawing), but through their Student Art Association.

There I learned the basics of the craft and made a nice little Christmas present for my Mom.  Over the years, I experimented on and off, not quite sure it was the artistic medium for me as it takes a lot of patience (which I am sometimes short of) and skill, as well as a good artistic sense for colors, textures and composition.    As I tend to cut myself regularly on sharp edges,  I often wondered if the flow of blood was an indication I should stop and find a different pursuit.  But then when I go to a glass shop I can hardly control myself.  Think of the young child in their first candy store.  The colors, textures, pure art within each simple piece of glass excite me so.  At least for now, with a little more time on my hands, I will follow that excitement and see where it leads!  (And besides, in one of those same glass shops, Dan a very experienced glass artist and teacher, has a box of band-aids right at the front as he admits to cutting himself multiple times in one day!)

This piece was inspired by my winter magnolia, which is the first thing to bloom in my garden every spring.  The Chinese poem talks of the hope this blossom brings, descended to the earth (from heaven) quietly with a wave of cold. (Thank you again, Lena, for the poem.)

I was rereading  Genesis this week - the ultimate work of creation.  If we are really made in God's image, then each of us has that creative spark, wonderfully unique in each of us, that so wants to explore and create.  Go do it!  You never know what you might discover about yourself!

For more images of my glass projects, including commissions, click here.

We be stylin' now

I was thinking about style the other day, while working on a new remodeling project.  I was trying to create a sort of Hawaiian / country / mountain style house for clients whose house is on a forested hillside next to a creek. They wanted an informal plan that could be opened up to outdoor living areas but which would also shelter them from the heavy rainfall in the area.  The project is in Los Gatos, not Hawaii, but as I thought of the classical Hawaiian house – walls that can be opened to the breezes on all sides, wide eaves to protect from the sun and heavy rainfall, natural stone and wood walls, metal roofing – it seemed an appropriate choice, at least as a starting point, for thinking about the look the house might have. Of course, the owner’s Hawaiian shirts, shorts and sandals might have had something to do with my thought processes...

Why do we need to think about ‘style’ for houses? What is a style?  More often than not, our clients come to us with a desire to build a certain style house (and with many functional requirements also, to be sure), generally expressed by a well-known name and generally agreed upon characteristics.  Tuscan villa (stucco walls with stone trims, clay barrel tile roof, simple forms), Craftsman (fine wood detailing and other artistic elements built into the home, horizontal lines, big porches), Contemporary (sharp angles, flat roofs, lots of metal and glass, clean articulation of forms) are typical examples. I think people use style names for the same reason that we put names to many things – as a quick, commonly accepted way to identify the characteristics of something.  It saves a great deal of explaining.

We also use styles as a way to identify with places and times that have given us pleasure. I think most people, when they set out to create a new environment for themselves, think of places where they have felt happy, or relaxed, or particularly sheltered.  Many ‘styles’ are grounded in a region’s historical methods of construction, based originally in local availability of particular materials and construction methods, and local climatic conditions.  These local conditions ensure a certain consistency of design within the region; if these regions are heavily visited by tourists – think Tuscany, Province, the Sierras, Hawaii – the local style of architecture can become attractive to people who want to recreate the feeling they had while visiting.

On a more grandiose level, style can be used as a status symbol.  Early on, the ancient Greeks used elements from Egyptian architecture to make their temples grand. The Romans copied Greek elements because to them, the Greeks were the class act of their world. Then Rome adapted the plebian arch, developed by military engineers for bridges and aqueducts, into their buildings and a new style was born.  Starting in renaissance Italy, more recent Europeans re-created this ‘classical’ architecture in homage to the great Roman Empire, and it became the preferred architecture for the great and powerful for several centuries, eventually spreading everywhere European colonization went. A similar process took place in Asia.

Thus, some of our clients want classic Palladian villas, not because they enjoyed their stay in Florence, but because the rich and powerful have lived in such palaces since the time of the Medicis.

More later…

Christine is now a Green Point Rater!

I just wanted to let you know that I passed my three exams (one written, one plan check, one field exam) with flying colors.  I am now qualified and available to give green consulting and official ratings to new single or multi-family homes.  Many municipalities in California are adding Green Point Rated requirements to new or substantially remodeled residential projects, and Build It Green's programs, which allow for both entry level and extreme green makeovers, allow for all projects to fit under the same rating guidelines.

Congratulations so far to the Bay Area municipalities listed below (and many more found statewide on Build It Green's website) who have already adopted the standards:

Alameda County
Albany
Brisbane
Hayward
Los Altos
Los Altos Hills
Mill Valley
Novato
Palo Alto
Pleasanton
San Mateo County
San Rafael
Tiburon

And congratulations to many others who have programs in the works, or are using the ratings as suggestions to improve energy use, durability, air quality, etc. in the construction in their areas.  It is exciting to see the progress in residential construction over the past few years!

10 things I learned at the Green Building Professional Training

Earlier this Fall, I attended a two day "Certified Green Building Professional" training organized by BuildItGreen.  The training was sold out and the room was packed for those two long days.  I was expecting to see other architects, contractors and design professionals, but was surprised to also see real estate agents, mortgage brokers, material suppliers, cabinetmakers and many city officials from all over the Bay Area.  It is exciting to see the changes developing in our industry and the commitment to environmental issues coming from all sectors.  It will take a concerted effort by all of us to reverse global warming, but it is possible!

Many of the topics covered in the training, such as proper building siting, planning and drainage, passive solar heating and cooling, use of efficient framing, proper insulation, use of long lasting and renewable materials are well known to architects, who are trained in building science as well as design.  I won't go into those issues here (or I would need to write a whole book), but here is a list of 10 things I learned at the training:

1. The construction industry is the number one cause of climate change. 8% of greenhouse gases come just from our use of cement.
2. In our lifetime, we will have used 80% of the earth's resources.
3. Water conservation issues will become more and more critical in the future.  Saving water saves treatment chemicals as well as distribution, pumping, and heating energy. Carefully select plumbing fixtures, check for leaks, and minimize the use of lawns.
4. Building codes and Title 24 energy regulations are a minimum guide; strive to exceed their requirements, not just meet them.  Energy costs will continue to rise as our supplies dwindle and the costs of heating and cooling will become much more critical to the cost cycle analysis of buildings in the long term.
5. The R value ( a measure of the insulative properties of a component of a building) is reduced by 1/2 in steel stud framing because of the conduction properties of the metal.  Steel is a good material in terms of its' recyclability, but the insulation details are key.  Wood framing (especially if the wood is sustainably harvested according to the principles of the Forest Stewardship Council) is still an excellent material and choice for construction.
6. Soil is a living breathing organism; one teaspoon of compost has 1 billion organisms. These organisms are similar to the plankton in the oceans.  They are the foundation for a healthy site ecology. Value and protect your topsoil that has taken millions of years to be created.  Carefully plan projects to avoid a lot of cut and fill.  Do not stockpile topsoil more than 6 feet high or the organisms may die.
7. On average indoor air pollution is 2-5 times worse than outdoor air and yet the EPA tells us we spend 90% of our time indoors.  The indoor air quality issues around green building are critical for health and productivity. Be especially careful of carbon monoxide from gas appliances and cars.  A strong vent over a stove can actually create negative pressure pulling in dangerous gases from attached garages and other sources. Install carbon monoxide detectors which will alert you to a dangerous level in your home.  A continued low level of exposure is also dangerous though.  Look for a detector that meets UL2034 and CSA 6.19 that measures both of these dangers.
8. Building materials offgas (think of that new car smell...) and some of these gases are dangerous to our health.  Urea formaldehyde (often used in interior glues in cabinets, furniture, fabrics, curtains) is the main culprit.  It is a known carcinogen and mucous membrane irritant.  The gases are sweet smelling and tend to hang at low levels, so be especially careful when you have young children who like to play on the floor.  There are other options and glues available, it is a matter of asking the question of the manufacturer you are considering. The denser the material, the longer it takes to offgas.  Particleboard can take 3-5 years... Also try to avoid soft PVC (polyvinyl chloride) products, such as sheet vinyl (the beach ball smell).
9. Carpet, especially wall to wall, which cannot be removed for proper cleaning, should be avoided wherever possible.  Here is a scary bit of data - carpet can weigh 2-4 times more when removed from a project than when put in...Just think of all those particles stored that a vacuum cleaner and carpet cleaner cannot remove...Carpet is also a source of VOC's (volatile organic compounds) that are known health risks.  If you must have carpet, try to let it offgas for 30 days before installation, or buy recycled or natural wool carpet.  With wool, double check that insecticides have not been used for moth control on imports.
10. Regular maintenance of a home, checking for leaks, replacing filters, etc. is key to maintain a healthy environment and to protect your investment in the long term, thereby increasing the usable life of the project.

Buckminster Fuller once said "The best way to predict the future is to design it."  I would like to challenge all of us in the industry to be conscientious in thinking of the future in every step and in every detail of the design and construction process.