beausoleil

Our first negative PG&E bill!

Yippee!  Our current monthly electric charges from PG&E are at a record low -$0.34!  Keep in mind that we only designed our solar system to offset about 55% of our typical usage.  Hooray for that "beau" soleil, and hoorah for the long summer days of June. 

Yesterday was our record day so far with 20.41 kilowatts generated by our 2.7kwh system.

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.

San Francisco Green Business Awards

The award ceremony for the new green certified businesses in San Francisco took place last week in, appropriately, the Green Room at the War Memorial building across from City Hall.  Beausoleil was recognized as one of 60 newly certified businesses in the last year.  This brings the total to 160 green businesses in a city of over 10,000 total. 

We are very proud of our award, seen above, printed with eco friendly soy based inks, using recycled pallets and glass from a hotel demolition for the frame, put together by ecoimprints, another fabulous San Francisco Green Business.

We encourage you business owners out there to check out the green business program in San Francisco  or the larger Bay Area.  Their process was incredibly helpful in finding new ways to save money and further green our business practices.  Besides the immediate environmental benefits, this could prove to be an even more important step in these difficult financial times to set your business apart from the competition!

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!

July Solar Update - SF fog vs. sun...

Forget June gloom, we actually had a nice June this year with over 455 kwh generated and a PG&E electric bill record low of only $3.04!

Now that the fog is really here for our typical cold San Francisco summer, I thought I would post the solar data from two back to back days, one sunny, one foggy.

The first is from this Tuesday, July 14, a glorious clear summer day with 19.42 kilowatts generated.

The second is from Wednesday, July 15, a thick foggy summer day with 8.58 kilowatts generated.

The fog definitely puts a damper on solar generation, but it still generates a respectable amount.  We'll let you know how it averages out when the bill comes a the end of the month.

If you haven't yet seen it, pick up a copy of the local paper, the Ingleside Light, with a prominent story on our system, our savings, and our first solar party!

San Francisco Solar Map

The City of San Francisco has a goal of 10,000 solar photovoltaic installations by 2010.  To track these installations and to give businesses, nonprofits and homeowners a place to see what has already been installed in their neighborhood, they have developed a website called the  San Francisco Solar Map.  Here you can get an idea of the size and annual savings of systems in your own microclimate.  To also help you determine if going solar might be right for your property, the website includes an interactive tab "What can solar do for you" that will give you a quick analysis of potential savings based on your address and roof size.  Links to local solar installers, tax credits and the fabulously generous  San Francisco Solar Initiative, which currently gives immediate credits of  $2000-10,000 for installing a system, can be found on their site. 

The solar map has just been updated for the first time in over 6 months (sadly budget cuts have affected their ability to keep up to date more regularly with new installations).  Our own installation is finally listed on the map, which helps bring the total to 1311 documented installations - a good start, but still very short of the 10,000 goal.  We know that not all systems are on the map as we have one neighbor in Westwood Park not listed.  We encourage you to contact the organization if you don't find your installation listed, and if you haven't yet considered solar for your property, contact any local installer for a free site specific estimate.  They will look at your PG&E bills and your roof layout and give you a much more accurate assessment for no charge.  The credits are great right now, but with the budget cuts our governments are facing, there is no guarantee of how long they might be available.

May Solar Update

Thank you to everyone who attended our solar party last month.  We had over 30 people in attendance throughout the course of the day, including reporters from the local Ingleside Light paper.  We'll let you know when the story is published!  For those of you who couldn't be there, let us know and we can set up a private tour, or organize a second party if there is enough interest.

Thank you again to Solar City for their presentation on solar photovoltaic systems and for the refreshments.  Thank you to Building Solutions for information about home energy testing and solar water heating.  I learned that SolarCity is the only company around providing lease options instead of a pure purchase for solar panels.  This program is what made solar finally possibly for us as our upfront costs were only $29.  Their program is apparently widely popular as they now have an 8 month waiting list for leased systems (direct purchases can be processed and installed much faster).  All the more reason to look into solar soon and get on the list!  Just announced this week is a partnership with US Bank that creates a tax equity fund that should hopefully speed up leases.  Check out the press release.

On a personal note, our PG&E electric bill last month was $12.03, down from $99 the year before.  Our total savings to date $615.03 and 3453 pounds of CO2 offset!

San Francisco Green Business Program

The San Francisco Green Business Program has recently launched their new website where environmentally savvy shoppers can be directed to companies that not only offer green products and services, but whose business have also been certified as meeting green practice goals.  From local bars to environmental consultants, from architects to office supplies, from chocolates to dentists, you can find a growing number of firms that have shown their commitment to the environment by going through the program.

Beausoleil was certified as a green business a few months ago and we have been waiting for the new website to proudly announce our certification. Our link can be found under services/architects and engineers/Beausoleil Architects or you can click here: Beausoleil

We had a wonderful experience through the certification process, where the staff not only reviewed our practices, from recycling, purchasing, and marketing, to energy and water use, but also offered concrete simple suggestions to further improve our processes and save money.  The water audit, provided free by the SFPUC (San Francisco Public Utility Commission) as part of the process showed that our toilets had slow leaks and our landscape irrigation was set for a few minutes longer than necessary.  They adjusted our toilets on the spot and gave us free low flow showerheads and sink aerators.  We've seen our water bill cut by 1/3 since their visit. On the electrical side, though we were already more than compliant with our recently installed solar system, they also suggested a plug load controller by Wattstopper that had outlets tied to a motion sensor.  Our computer monitors, printers and task lighting are now connected, ensuring that there is no power wasted through staff forgetfulness or vampire loads. We've also found new local sources for our office supply products that are competitive with the national brands and offer excellent service. 

We'd like to encourage you and your business to explore the Green Certification process, for our planet and for your bottom line!

10 things from the GreenV Sustainable Center grand opening

The Greenv Sustainable Center  of South San Francisco just opened for business under its new name and new sponsorship, and I took the opportunity to visit their grand opening event last Saturday. Points of interest:

1. The GreenV Sustainable Center of South San Francisco is a mixed-use green marketplace. Housed under one roof are alternative vehicles, sustainable building components, green retail, education, and events for the public and private sectors to access. They are a dynamic community resource for local governments, green businesses, and the public to utilize. The Sustainable Center is a networking junction for people to co-op their skills and marketing to advance the growth of the new green market.

2. The Center is located just off of El Camino Real and across from the South San Francisco Recycling Center. It’s a short walk from Bart. For more info contact: Evan Herceg, Green Building Exchange, 1 Chestnut Avenue, South San Francisco, CA 94080. Tel. (650) 588-1113, eherceg@greenbuildingexchange.com

3. The ‘GreenV’ in the Center’s name is from its major sponsor. GreenV is the manufacturer of the Apex-Block, an environmentally correct and sustainable advanced ICF (insulated concrete form) wall system. Unlike many similar products, Apex-Blocks are made of cement and recycled polystyrene foam. They are formed into large 51 pound homogeneous recyclable blocks (think fewer, larger parts to put together) with interlocking surfaces and networked inner cavities for filling with reinforced concrete. They form a load-bearing, shear resistive grid and can even be used for retaining walls. The blocks can be sawn, routed out for electrical installations, fastened to, and plastered inside and out.

4. Apex-Block details:
Fire Resistant: Tested to 4 hours at 2000 degrees F, the Apex-Block system does not burn or develop smoke. Unlike steel, it does not soften or bend in extreme heat.
Energy Efficient: Apex-Blocks are impervious to continuous frost and cold cycles. With a lab tested thermal value of R-52, buildings constructed with Apex-Blocks use up to 50% less energy to heat, and up to 60% less energy to cool (compared to traditional wood framed structures).
Healthy Environment: The Apex-Block does not absorb or retain moisture, instead - sheds it. The ability to keep dry makes it resistant to mold and mildew. Apex-Blocks will not rot, even in the wettest of environments, and provides optimal vapor release by allowing the building to breathe.
Infestation Resistant:Apex-Blocks are made from materials that are inhospitable to insects and rodents. For more info, contact Rick Rios, GreenV, rrios@verdevinc.com, (650) 588-1113

5. Keynote speaker David Gottfried was quite inspirational, talking not only about his involvement in founding the USGBC and the World Green Building Council, but about his struggle to ‘green’ his own personal life.  It’s not ultimately about buildings and technology, but about our life as human animals on the planet. Read David’s book “Greed to Green”.

6. David was the founder and the first staff president of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The USGBC has been quoted as the leading global green building organization, having the greatest impact on climate change. In 1998 Gottfried invented and incubated the World Green Building Council, now with established and emerging green building councils in approximately 50 countries. Collectively, the world's green building councils have likely done more for climate change reduction than any organization. USGBC is considered the fastest growing non-profit in the world, now with almost 20,000 organizational members and 80 U.S. chapters.

7. One of the Center’s main functions is to host classes. They have a year-long commitment to working with the Solar Living Institute to house their classes on solar and renewable energy, alternative fuels and vehicles, gardening and permaculture, and so on. (707) 472-2450.

8. Fluid Stone finishes made from minerals, recycled aggregates and flexible, low VOC acrylic binders, were interesting.  Can be used on walls, floors, roof decks, driveways, decorative surfaces. Contact: (619) 491-0671 .

9. I also liked Liberty Valley Doors, Inc., (707) 795-8040. They have a line of beautiful doors made from recycled ‘rediscovered’ wood.

10. Freebies you missed if you didn’t make it to the party: 1.5 GPM Evolve ‘Gecko’ shower head; compact fluorescent lamp; California Poppy seeds; Green Zebra savings coupon book.