Gottfried Green

Caregory 2: Water

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:05 AM 0 Comments

To Be Free

In the midst of feeling the country going to hell in a hand basket, I am reminded of some 2006 posts on this blog. I started basically just trying to understanding what green meant to me and why I suddenly cared about the environment in a new way. By attempting to build a structure green you are considering all the natural aspects that go into and surround the building. You are forced to acknowledge the natural world and your shared existence there. This concept opens up new ways of thinking about things beyond just what goes into building a house. Their are 2 new books in my radar, the first being Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L Friedman. It talks of an idea that has been rolling around in my mind as I learned more about the green movement. There was the Industrial Revolution, then the Information Revolution and now Friedman introduces the Energy Revolution. The basic idea is as with the 2 previous revolutions, the fundamental way we experience life on earth would changed with rapid economic growth and cultural shifts (for better or worse on the last one). This Energy Revolution promises to save the U.S. if only we would take up arms in the form of invention, innovation, and entrepreneurial endeavors focused on alternative energy and energy conservation. To focus on this grand scale would provide new jobs, cut our dependence on foreign oil, assist in national security and re-establish some sort of U.S. credibility in the world. People question whether we can do this in 10 years. If Americans only new the industrious history of America. Human nature promotes the idea of change but want nothing to do with causing it to actually occur. Bottom line: a country will be the leader in these new technologies and conservation techniques and if it isn't us then we simply aren't going to be around in say 2050. Just a guess.

The second book, How to be Free by Tom Hodgkinson is a jaunt comparing a the new trend lifestyle of getting back to nature with a little twist. The author tries to debunk the myths of and promote the benefits of the Medieval lifestyle. Hodgkinson writes about the book, "On first sight, this idea seems bonkers. Surely the medieval age was a time of bad diets, corrupt priests and abject serfdom? Well, no. This view is actually a calumnious caricature. When I started to write How To Be Free, I decided to read Mutual Aid by the great 19th- century anarchist Prince Petr Kropotkin, described by Oscar Wilde as one of the most cheerful men he had ever met. In Mutual Aid, published at the same time as Darwin’s Origin of Species, Kropotkin argues that cooperation is an essential part of animal and human life and development. He also reminds us that it was in the medieval age when the great free city-states such as Florence were created. The medievals, he says, valued craftsmanship, cooperation and justice. Mutual Aid led me to read other books on medieval customs and culture, and what I found was a society that made a sustained and conscious attempt to live fairly and justly." The idea is the Victorian age coupled with the industrial revolution wiped out our connection or understanding of our true place on earth- as part of the natural world. Medieval lifestyle certainly could be describe as down and dirty.

Labels: books, Nature

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 5:35 PM 2 Comments

Good timing for our fruit trees

We now have all the traditional Fl fruit trees on their way to producing. We planted 3 new trees: lemon, grapefruit and temple orange just in time for their roots to soak up the daily rain we've been having this summer. This should give them a good start. We also planted a smaller lime and Valencia orange tree. We scattered them along the drive down to the house. We thought it would add a sense of welcome when coming down the drive.

Labels: landscaping

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:21 AM 0 Comments

Pretty rainwater collection

Flickr photo by watercache.com. [via Jetsongreen.com]

While I was researching rain barrels I couldn't find any of the big tanks that didn't have to ship from far away at great cost. That is why I just did the best I could with home depot bins. On Jetson Green I see a much better options and more of what I have in mind. He provides a great website www.harvesth2o.com for info. Once again, where can buy this tank? one of my main problems with this entire green endeavor has been sourcing the materials and items I like close to home.

Labels: landscaping, water

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:12 AM 0 Comments

Buckets full of water

With a bit of disgrace, I present my current rain water collection system. It has been raining so much this summer that I really need more of a cistern set up. I can't use the water fast enough because anything that does need water in the landscape is getting plenty of rain. It has helped with some of the other outdoor water needs i.e. car washing and cleaning the compost bin.

Labels: landscaping, water

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:02 AM 0 Comments

Getting back to my roots

I was getting a bit off track with the compilation of my green home certification application. I only have a few things left to do. There is a lot of supporting documents and photos needed and it's proving somewhat tedious for me lately. As a way to get back into the lifestyle aspect of all this, the fun part, I just wanted highlight some of the other things going on around the house lately. We finished our center garden. It was thrown together this weekend. The palmettos were original to the property and we saved them during construction. It was as if they fit perfectly with how we use the drive. We just filled in the other areas with some native plants some of which grow naturally on the lot and we replanted. For the border we used Australian Pine logs we had cut earlier. These are an invasive species and we didn't want them alive in the landscape. As a border where the wood continues to bleach in the direct sun they seem to work fine for now.

Labels: landscaping

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:49 AM 0 Comments

Category 1: Energy- Design, finishes and amenities

Click Image to Enlarge

This list is the second part of the Energy Category: Design, finishes and amenities and the total points for the Energy Category were 42 out of a possible 75 maximum. Hopefully I can catch up in a few other categories.

Labels: Cat1Energy, FGBCchecklist

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:46 AM 0 Comments

Category 1: Energy

In Category 1: Energy, the FGBC offers 2 points for each HERS Index point below 100. I scored an 88 as my HERS Index which means I receive 24 points on the FGBC checklist in the Energy category 100-88=12 and 12x2=24 points.

Labels: Cat1Energy, FGBCchecklist, HERSindex

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:21 AM 0 Comments

Where the HERS took some hits

I spoke with Calcs Plus who did the HERS rating on the house. I wanted to know a little more about what I could have done to receive a better index. One of the main hits was taken in having the ac duct work under the house and not within the envelop. This is energy efficiency 101 because with the ac ducts outside the insulated envelop the conditioned air in the ducts is exposed to fluctuating outside air temps. In my defense I have the ducts wrapped with insulation on the outside so they are not completely vulnerable. Also, the tankless water heater uses too much electricity. I chose tankless, on demand hot water because I thought it was more efficient than the traditional hot water storage tanks. Instead of heating water 24/7 in the storage tank with a tankless you only heat the water as needed and therefore use less electricity. The problem is that the intensity of electric needed per use turns out to be higher; at least in the tankless unit I have.

Labels: HERSindex, tankless

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 7:06 AM 0 Comments

HERS Rating not as good as expected

The energy rater had estimated the house should score around 80 and in fact the house come in at 88 which is not very good. I am going to have an energy modeling done to see where I could have improved on some of my decisions. It has to be said, however, that I did the best I could working with subs etc. who had only vaguely heard of green building and had no interest in it beyond that. Energy modeling allows you to run hypothetical scenarios into the Energy Gauge software and see how your results come out differently based on changes you make. For example, my spray foam insulation only had a R value of 15 vs. the desirable R19. This I can't change of course but it will be helpful to see where I could have improved. In my reading I thought it did have the R19 value... so I'll learn more on that later. As for the FGBC checklist, with a HERS rating of 88 I will receive 24 out of the 74 maximum points for the energy category.

Labels: FGBCchecklist, HERSindex

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:54 AM 2 Comments

Category 1: Energy- HERS Index

FGBC uses a whole house energy performance rating called the HERS (Home Energy Rating) Index vs. an exhaustive list of energy saving alternatives. The energy rater just left this morning and it looks like the house will score ok. The list above shows what's involved in the rating. It takes into account not just heating and cooling and water heating but also, lighting, appliances etc. I receive the HERS score in 4 weeks.

Labels: FGBCchecklist, HERSindex

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:14 AM 2 Comments

Prerequisite 2

The entire waterfront is covered in White, Red and Black mangroves. There are a few areas that were previously cut back. Whatever happened in the past they are currently protected by the FL DEP.

Labels: FGBCchecklist, prerequisite

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 5:19 PM 0 Comments

Prerequisite 1

We currently do not have a pool but this is Florida and it is something we may do soon. Although people really into green think a pool is sacrilege, pools can be done on varying extremes of green consciousness. What's listed above is almost standard these days in new pool so either way we are covered.

Labels: FGBCchecklist, prerequisite

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 1:03 PM 0 Comments

I'll offer a brief overview of the process I will follow to get my home Certified Green by the Florida Green Building Coalition. It is a points based system. The requirements for a new home are to:

comply with 2 prerequisites
obtain the minimum points indicated in each category
obtain a total of 100 points

There are 8 categories:
Energy
Water
Lot Choice
Site
Health
Materials
Disaster Mitigation
General (misc)

Along with simply checking things off on a list under each category, some items require additional verification. I am going to put everything I'll need to submit within my posts for each item and store all these related posts under the FGBC Green Home Checklist category here on my site. My hope is to save paper and hassle and also have everything online for easy reference.

Labels: FGBCchecklist

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 12:40 PM 0 Comments

Green Card Carrying Member

Although, I passed the exam last year I finally received my official Registered Certifying Agent Card. I'll take this as a sign that now is the time to finally begin getting the house certified.

Labels: FGBC

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:13 AM 0 Comments

Sticking to the Pink

While I am still being kept away from this blog taking care of other things, I couldn't stay away on Earth Day. My goal for the blog is to begin tracking my progress to get the house certified green by the Florida Green Building Coalition but family matters, a loan refinance and needing to buy a car keep things up in the air. I want to be grounded when I begin the process and have all this organizing and routine in place. SO hopefully next week I can begin the hard core credit crunching involved with the FGBC checklist. Being all over the place didn't stop me, however, from putting down FLOR tiles in little Miss Gottfried's room. I originally hated the shade of pink I picked for the walls (I still do) but I decided to make the best of it for now because there is just too much more to do overall. The tiles feels great to the touch and make her play area much more comfortable. My housemate in Brooklyn actually turned me onto FLOR when she used them in her place back in 2005. It couldn't be a better fit for the floors here in FL.

Labels: flooring, interiors

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 12:36 PM 0 Comments

The next chapter

We've been moving in building a large pile for the Salvation Army. It seems to be a never ending process. We still have some trim to finish and windows to clean but basically we are in and mostly settled. We've recently painted the front door to match the windows and have been working on a center garden to bring some color into the driveway. We also bought a lime tree and an orange tree. There has been a good rain everyday so far and the free water on young fruit trees is very helpful. We will also be planting a lemon tree and and another orange tree next week. These are just some random photos to get me back into the swing of posting again. I still have the daunting task of submitting the info to get the house certified green by the FGBC. That I hope to start next week after I get the office organized.

Labels: exterior, landscaping

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:58 AM 0 Comments

Green washing

There is something I found in FL called scratch and dent and I was able to get this LG wm2487 Tromm for half the price around 500 bucks. It will exist in a small room so I do not care about a scratch or a dent and it left me more cash to over spend elsewhere probably recklessly. Anyway, although Mr. Gottfried's job is a little less corporate these days he still needs shirts without wrinkles. We've been doing the ironing ourselves because dry cleaners are toxic not to mention expensive in FL campared to Brooklyn's a dollar a shirt deal. Anyway, this washer has "SteamFresh
-LG's innovative SteamFresh cycle makes it possible for you to refresh and reduce wrinkles in up to 5 garments at one time
-Running late for work with no time to iron? Load a cotton blend shirt into the SteamWasher and select the SteamFresh cycle. You'll be ready to go in just 20 minutes." I guess we'll see if this feature gives us any new freedoms from ironing. True green washing would be using rainwater in a bucket with a scrub board.

Labels: appliances

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:38 AM 3 Comments

Picking appliances

I am the type of person who really needs to be thorough when comparing prices with pros and cons when purchasing big items like appliances. I become obssessed not wanting to pay more for less. This is the second time we've done new appliances and so I did have a handle on brands I knew I liked already- Bosch and LG. I started with Bosch knowing I would do a repeat of a dishwasher and oven that we had purchased for our first house. Although now after visiting energystar.gov I was given an overview and if that failed I just looked for the energy star label. I used a site like homeclick.com that allowed me to narrow down my search based on things I knew such as size and color. Then when I found a few models I was able to look into the information and first of all see what had the most efficient energy label. My final step was to have about 3 to choose from and then just pick based on features I knew made sense for our use. With Energy Star appliances, you can recoup some extra cost for higher-end models over the first few years, especially water savers like dishwashers and washing machines. For my LG fridge and my LG washing machine, I actually went to a scratch and dent sale that offered a regular warranty but there were a few dings etc. I wrote down the model numbers went back home and researched those specifically and they worked out to be models I would have purchased anyway. I think I saved about $800 which allowed me to upgrade to an induction cooktop. I plan on posting each energy star label and the cost and comparing water and electric bills to past use etc to see if it really makes a difference. Also, we didn't even bother buying a dryer because we don't use one. If push comes to shove we can always make that purchase in the future.

Labels: appliances

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 12:13 PM 3 Comments

A frustrating blog

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 11:46 AM 1 Comments

Rethink the pink

The only input little Miss Gottfried, who is 4, had on the project was that she have a pink room. I took this literally with no questions asked and somehow ended up with Barbie pink. She loves it of course because it is pink afterall but when you look down the hall or down the lanai there is a pink glow emanating from the room distracting from the otherwise natural vibe of the green surroundings. If I have time I am going to repaint before the floors are finished in that room this weekend. Maybe I can come up with a compromise where I can keep a little pink on the walls but turn it down overall.

Labels: interiors, paint

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 11:27 AM 2 Comments

Eco this and Eco that

It seems looking back that if it was a brand I already knew and they threw the word "Eco" into the product description, I went for it. Here, next to the oven, the dishwasher is the Bosch Integra 500 Series 4 Cycle Dishwasher w/ EcoSense. No doubt it is a good one but many of their other models are as efficient as well. As with the toilet, I could only do so many comparisons before I just bought something. We did look at the Fisher & Paykel double drawer but the more I read comsumer reviews the more I heard about this mechanical quirk it had. I'd already had a Bosch and loved it and so in the end the decision was easy.

Labels: appliances, kitchen

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 11:13 AM 0 Comments

White on white

The idea in the kitchen overall was to have everything have the same white gloss finish. This was achieved with the ikea high gloss cabinets and the standard white finishes of the appliances. The fridge will also have this same finish. The hood and a small part of the cooktop represent any lingering need I have for stainless. When the floors are down we hope all this white remains anchored between counter and floor. Plus there is an island to be added. More on that later.

Labels: kitchen

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 11:05 AM 0 Comments

Radiant Heat vs Induction Cooktop

We went with a Kenmore Induction Cooktop for a few reasons. An induction cooktop uses electromagnetic energy allowing faster heating times while using less energy conventional cooktops. Basically it cooks the food and not the pot then the food. Since electric is required here in FL we also liked that there were no knobs to get dirty and awkwardly stick up on the cooking surface. The black surface works well with the dark paperstone counter.

Labels: appliances, kitchen

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:54 AM 0 Comments

Lovin the oven

For our Brooklyn remodel we did stainless appliances, expensive marble and pietra cardoza countertops and although it wasn't custom, higher end wood cabinetry. It was really beautiful and was a big factor in our sale price. But that was Brooklyn, a different sensibility in an old townhouse and before I discovered green. I decided that when we did the kitchen here in FL things would different. Florida lends itself to a more streamlined, modern, clean feel which is why I am baffled that most of the new homes are over the top with McMansion lust. We moved to Florida to be outside more and enjoy our surroundings. The last thing we wanted was a house that felt heavy with bells and whistles. Clean lines and a simple look was the goal which brings me to my white Bosch oven. I love the look of this oven with its white knobs popping out of all the rectangles of the cabinets etc.

Labels: appliances, kitchen

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:28 AM 0 Comments

A little vanity

Our bathroom is complete with our Toto Eco UltraMax® and this small vanity from Ikea. I measured incorrectly and the vanity could have been one size larger. In the end it works fine and leaves the room open with a little more elbow room. This is the only bathroom in the house currently but we've left a room to add a master bath in the future. Anything I find I can't live with in this bathroom I can make changes in the next one.

Labels: bath

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:21 AM 0 Comments

Faucets and flow rates

I really struggled to find kitchen and bath faucets that were less than the 2.5 (gallons per minute) standard and then I found Hansgrohe. They had the sytle I was looking for at 2.2 gpm. They offered this flow rate in both the kitchen and the bath faucets.

Labels: bath, kitchen, water

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:06 AM 0 Comments

We have Tankless Water

I've been slow to post as things are happening quickly. I am going to try to post more updates this week. It looks like we will be in the house by the end of Feb. Our water heater is installed but there is no electric to the house yet so it hasn't been used. It sits under the house below the current bathroom and our future master bath. Even though it is on demand water heating, the distance the water travels to the fixtures matter because when the fixture shuts off whatever water left sitting in the pipe between the fixture and box will of course cool down. The farthest journey for water to travel is into the kitchen about 40ft away. We don't tend to let the kitchen sink water run hot before we used it for something so I don't think this distance makes much difference for us overall. As for the bathrooms where hot water is used more often the distance is about 4 ft. Although there are more involved systems used to make water hot i.e. solar water heating, the tankless is a great middle of the road solution for new builds and definitely remodels. At the Link is an earlier post explaining more about on demand water.

Labels: appliances, Energy, water

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:02 AM 0 Comments

Dust is starting to settle

Here is a few from the top lot looking back at the house over the lagoon. It does seems to be nestled from this angle.

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:37 PM 0 Comments

Seeing white

After doing the stainless thing already in Brooklyn, we were a bit over the hard to keep clean stainless appliances and decided to full high gloss white with appliances and cabinets. The stainless would spot and would never come clean for us even with stainless cleaner. At least the white when dirty or smugged is smooth and we can use less harsh cleaners to give it back its shiny sheen. The white Bosch oven I think has a great look with its white buttons popping out of the black.

Labels: appliances, interiors

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:30 PM 0 Comments

Paperstone

I finally found a company in Tampa that offered Paperstone and was able to deliver on short notice. Tampa is about an hour and a half from where we are. They were training someone new and so I was given 3 different price quotes and they tried to add on an extra shipping charge even though they already had the piece I wanted in stock. It was a 12'x5' slab of Obsidian and it arrived weighing 500 lbs. The retailer decided to forgo giving me all the details about the weight because I was already upset that the price quote went from 1600 to 2k. So instead of telling me all the details of just how heavy it really was, he decided to let me find out the hard way. A terribly run business with some sort of juvenile demeanor and I will find paperstone needs elsewhere. So once that was over a local fabricator my contractor knew was able to take the piece to his shop and them fabricate it for our needs. We love the material. It is basically compressed paper and resin. It has a great look and even better feel- somewhat like soapstone.

Labels: countertops, interiors

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:19 PM 0 Comments

Bamboo floors

I just ordered the flooring today. I really did look into all the affordable green options but in the end we really like the bamboo and feel that the interior needs a floor to anchor all the open space. Plus the decking will be dark and so the indoor to outdoor might flow better together. The darker bamboo sample I found online at Eco-Friendly Flooring. The lighter smaller bamboo was from Home Depot. I was shopping for price and color. Both of these came in at $4 sf but the one from ecofriendlyflooring.com had the darker color we liked. This was going to be an expense for after we moved in and caught up on cash but as with anything in building it is less of a hassle to have the flooring in now for when we move in our things. there is some criticism of bamboo as not being green. I pick my battles with the budget and resources we have available but we really think in this subtropical vibe down here the "wood floor" look still works. We'll shall know for sure soon enough.

Labels: cost, flooring, interiors

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 8:15 PM 0 Comments

Toto Eco UltraMax®

I went with the Toto Eco UltraMax® one piece toilet. "Sleek high profile elongated one piece toilet with 12" rough-in. E-Max Low consumption (4.8 Lpf/1.28 Gpf) siphon jet flushing action." We were going to do a dual flush but when I saw this listed at a simliar price I assumed this was an upgrade from Toto. There is a whole world of toilet technology out there and I can only grasp so much before I just outright buy a product from Toto with "Eco" and "UltraMax" in the name. They have so many models now and I don't have time to find out what their differences are and therefore better or worse.

Labels: toilets, water

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 8:00 PM 0 Comments

Ceiling fans

When I took the Fl Green Home Designation course at the Fl Solar Energy Center I saw a display of a fan they designed called the Gossamer Wind. I found them at the Home Depot and they had 2 models. These 60" industrial fans which require a 10ft ceiling so they can be used on the lanai. They also had a 52" model I can use inside the house. I had to get a total of 8 but for many days down here in FL having a good fan means keeping the AC off. From their website, "The advanced ceiling fan blades of the "Gossamer Wind" allow the use of a smaller ceiling fan motor. The combination reduces ceiling fan energy use by approximately 40% while reducing noise and wobble. The average ceiling fan using 25 - 100 Watts is in operation 6-12 hours or more each day. The "Gossamer Wind" will save the typical consumer $10-$20 per year in reduced energy use. Further, the improved comfort can allow the cooling thermostat to be raised. Conventional premium ceiling fans cost more. However, the similarly priced "Gossamer Wind" can pay for itself through real savings in household energy use while providing improved comfort and convenience."

Labels: ceiling fans, Energy

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 7:45 PM 0 Comments

A 360 view of hall and pantry

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 7:44 PM 0 Comments

Interior painting

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 7:09 PM 0 Comments

Exterior paint complete

I am just able to post the completed exterior. It was painted with an EcoCare acrylic put out by a local paint company, Scott Paint. This has been done for a few weeks now but I haven't had time to post much since we've been busy collecting appliances, lighting, cabinets, flooring etc. For the exterior I invested $250 in a product called Insuladd which is supposed to act as another layer of insulation. here's what it says on their website, "The Insuladd® insulating paint additive has unique energy saving properties that reflect, resist, and dissipate heat. The hollow ceramic microspheres reflective quality affects the warming phenomenon called "Mean Radiant Temperature," where heat waves from a source such as direct sunlight cause a person to feel warmer even though the actual air temperature is no different between a shady and sunny location. It is the molecular friction within the skin caused by the sun's radiant energy waves which makes the body feel warmer." I have no idea if it works but for $250 I thought I would give it a try.

Labels: exterior, paint

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 7:03 PM 0 Comments

Introducing Gottfried Green HOME

Since our project is nearing completion I started another blog which will be devoted specifically to the application process we will be going through to see if the house qualifies for a Green Home Designation from the Florida Green Building Coalition. It follows a very specific checklist in 8 categories: Energy, Water, Lot Choice, Site, Health, Materials, Disaster Mitigation, and a General category. Check in with Gottfried Green Home to follow our progress in receiving the designation.

Labels: blogs, FGBC

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:34 PM 2 Comments

Kitchen Cabinets

Before the painting begins, we set up the cabinets to make sure they fit. We did opt for Ikea cabinets mostly based on price and look. They will be high gloss white fronts which we hope give the kitchen a clean open look.

Labels: interiors

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:28 PM 0 Comments

Becoming a Green Home Certifier in '08... Check

As New Year's resolutions go, rarely have a I accomplished one right out of the gate. On Monday, I received, in the mail, my Certificate of Completion for the Florida Green Home Designation Course. This allows me to become a Green Home Certifying Agent under the Florida Green Building Coalition. The next step is to submit this proof of course completion to the FGBC and I will be registered as an agent. A green home certifying agent is basically the facilitator of all the information needed to get a home certified green by the coalition. The requirements aren't quite as strict as the US Green Building Council's LEED standards but it is a start in cracking the code of green building especially here in FL. Also, by becoming an agent, I can submit my own package for review so that our house could receive a green designation from FGBC. I only need to submit a disclosure that I am the owner.

Labels: FGBC

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:24 AM 0 Comments

Stucco

The stucco has really pulled the house together. We went with a sanded finish which isn't the norm in our part of FL. Usually the stucco has a more thrown together finish. We are very happy with this look and it also makes the house seem less enormous then it felt with bare blocks.

Labels: building envelopes, materials

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:28 AM 0 Comments

Interior kitchen walls

No not really. With a bit of nostalgia for nyc I posted this picture of a newly discovered graffiti wall with drawings by original graffiti subway artists Fab Five Freddy, Futura 2000 and some traces by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Ironically, it was discovered on a building that is set to be turned into luxury condos. It looks like there is a spot for the dishwasher right there in the center.

Labels: interiors

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:18 AM 0 Comments

More window views

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:42 AM 1 Comments

Low Solar Heat Gain

The big slider windows are in and they look gorgeous. Here's the skinny on the numbers above.

A low U-factor is useful during cold days when heating is needed. A low U-factor is also helpful during hot days when it is important to keep the heat out, but it is less important than SHGC in warm climates. Select windows with a U-factor lower than 0.65 and preferably lower than 0.60.

Select windows with a SHGC of less than 0.40. A low SHGC is the most important window property in warm climates.

Select windows with a higher VT to maximize daylight and view.

For this climate the concern is mostly to keep spaces cool so the rules are different. These sliders allow only 39% of solar radiation through. Also to point out, it is winter now and that small amount of warming in the bedrooms could benefit us as we use the bedrooms in the evening when the temperatures drop. I have to experience this to really know but I think by summer the sun will start to set behind the tall trees that sit on the northwest corner of the house. (Right now the winter sun is setting more towards the southwest corner.) This could help shade that area from summer sun which would have a more severe effect on comfort and AC use.

Labels: materials

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:39 AM 0 Comments

Passive solar design and sunset views?

I failed a bit on the placement of the house on the site. Ideally all of your big window walls should be south facing to receive the least amount of sun light. Of course you'd want minimal windows facing east and west as they get direct sun in the morning and late afternoon. But we have the water and sunsets we wanted off our deck and so the sliders basically fall prey to the direct heat from the setting sun. As an attempt to counter this there is a 12ft roof which protects the silders up to a point then the sun gets its straight shot. All is not lost however. Because of the shade from both trees and the part of the house that sits out from the rest, the two big sliders that are the main living space in the house do not receive any of this sun (at least right now during the winter months). It is basically the 2 bedrooms that are effected. The Glide House Sunshade idea could be one option. From the Michele Kaufman website, "On warm days, keep the sunshades drawn and create a cross-breeze by opening the sliding glass doors and opposite clerestory windows (above the storage bars). This will cool the space while letting natural light in. On cooler days, open the exterior sunshades and keep the sliding doors and windows closed. This will allow the sun to heat the space while you enjoy the beautiful views!"

Labels: design

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 11:28 AM 0 Comments

Light Reflectance Value

The exterior of our home is stucco. As we are going to try to get our home certified green by the FGBC, beyond being Low-VOC or no-VOC they also require an exterior paint with at least a 50% reflectance value. What does this mean? "Light Reflectance Value (LRV) is the total quantity of useable and visible light reflected by a surface in all directions and at all wavelengths when illuminated by a light source.

LRV is a measurement that tells you how much light a color reflects, and conversely how much it absorbs. LRV runs on a scale from 0% to 100%. Zero assumed to be an absolute black and 100% being an assumed perfectly reflective white. An absolute black or perfectly reflecting white do not exist in our everyday terms. The average blackest black has a LRV of approximately 5% and the whitest white is approximately 85%. Some yellows can measure up into the 80's or 90's as well." (from colorstratagies.net)"

I am going to start small on this one and go to the home depot and see what is already mainstream. All paints have a LRV rating right on the container apparently.

Labels: glossary, materials

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:52 AM 0 Comments

Green Home Designation Course- FGBC

So I drove to Cocoa, FL last week to take the Florida Green Building Coalition's Green Home Designation Course at the Solar Energy Center. It was a long day. I had to stay over to be able to make the 8am start. The class went to 4pm followed by a series of timed tests for each category covered in the course. The instructor was thorough to say the least. You can view his bio at the course link above. Basically the Solar Energy Center facilitates the course for the FGBC. This give the information a strong integrity with the science to back it up. If you pass the course you are able to become a green home certifying agent who submits the required information needed for a home to be designated green under the FGBC standards. The standards are set up to meet and exceed standard building here in FL. That said, it isn't incredibly hard for builders to go green. The beauty of the program for the green building movement is that it offers an in for every builder considering green without feeling overwhelmed. Beyond that it presents green options side by side making it easy to opted for a new method or material for whatever area. The view is that if builders would incorporate at least some items from each category:

General
Disaster Mitigation
Materials
Health
Site
Lot Choice
Water
Energy

then they are helping promote the cause and will most likely begin to implement further elements as they learn more and source more green materials. It's a process that would only move builders further into green as competition has begun to dictate.

Labels: FGBC

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:41 AM 0 Comments

Bio+diesel = 1980 Mercedes 240D

So we jumped on the bandwagon of trying to solve our automobile needs without buying a prius. The answer for many is a diesel car that needs no conversion to run on biodiesel fuel which is American made but obviously not at every corner gas station. We secured our ride for $1400 and it runs and it has the colored hub caps we were trying to score. For now the closest biodiesel station is in Tampa an hour away. We could make our own one day or resort to the vegetable oil solution which requires a conversion kit. The idea for us is that we recycled a car and of course once we can find our best biodiesel solution we can finally kick oil and enjoy the "luxury" a 1980's mercedes has to offer i.e. no power windows.

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 3:37 PM 1 Comments

More 360 interior

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 3:35 PM 0 Comments

Gottfried 360

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 4:18 PM 0 Comments

Rooms with a view

This is the view so far. There are many Australiam pines that are non-native nightmares. They grow like weeds up along the bank at farthest end of the lot. They get in the way of everything on the ground and in the air. We'll also cut back some of the mangroves which is allowed with a permit. We won't touch most of them but a few areas would be nice to open up. Other than that this view is only going to get better.

Labels: landscaping

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 4:01 PM 0 Comments

Outside the box

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 3:51 PM 0 Comments

Being elevated

The house sits up about 12+ft. It feels strange at first to be up that high.Jasper is already guarding his castle.

Labels: landscaping

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 3:39 PM 0 Comments

Inside the box

Here is the view from the southwest corner of the house looking across what will be the deck and then back into the ac space through the openings where the glass doors will go.Or you can walk through this door from the same space to enter the main space.

Labels: building envelopes, interiors

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 3:29 PM 0 Comments

The Florida House Revival

This is where it all started for us- The Florida House in Sarasota. This was my tenth post on Gottfried Green back in June of 2006 when I first read about the learning center online. We were still in Brooklyn and only just closed on the property. I remember that first on my list when we arrived was to visit The Florida House. It was 12 years old but still was packed with a lot of innovation. We tracked down the architect Osborn Sharp Assoc in Sarasota and they created this beautiful design that was passive solar and had a grey water system. My Green Buildings was bidding our project- who at the time were the only green builders doing more custom and remodel vs. a few builders who were doing model green homes (which after visiting a few I found it hard to see what was green about them). Everything would come full circle. Osborn Sharp and My Green Buildings met through the bidding of our project and now they are the dream, green team in Sarasota working together to restore The Florida House at its new location. With all the greenwash out there, I can honestly say that they are the real deal in green in FL. They really care about the design as the fundamental aspect of what makes a building green. Design is also half the fun of this whole transition into a new way of designing and building with all the common sense to back it up.

Labels: cost, design, Sarasota

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:28 AM 3 Comments

Progress

Here is a view as you would see driving up to the house from the road.
This is the Northwest corner of the house where our bedroom sits back from what will be the lanai.
This will be the length of the lanai which stretches 60x20 along the water facing side of the house. Since there is a 12ft overhang most of the late day sun will be blocked by this overhang while still allowing for us to catch the sunset.
The house looks massive from across the top lot looking over the lagoon. This has to do with the required flood elevation. The actual ac indoor space is 2000sf. As far as footprint we did our best. With a partial green roof and maybe some green exterior walls, I can further insulate and reduce how massive this house feels.

Labels: building envelopes

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:52 AM 0 Comments

Example: a second home in Oregon

The NYTimes wrote about a couple who suffered through some hardships building a small, second home in Hood River Oregon but not because of the reasons you'd think. I'm sure it didn't hurt to have backgrounds in architecture, sustainable design and to be building in Oregon (more progressive in this sort of thing?). They did run into similar problems that we found here in FL which surprised me. The county, the bank and the appraiser all had problems because their design wasn't big enough and Tudor style like the others near by and didn't have a 2 car garage. Our bank had a problem with no pool, no concrete driveway, only one bathroom and wanting to wait to add a cooling system. I have to admit I gave in a little more and sacrificed some of what I wanted (without the AC they wouldn't give us the loan and unfortunately for me they were the easiest bank I found to work with us on anything and have a decent interest rate). Without the architecture/green design experience it proved impossible to find all the knowledge and experience to build green in the way that I had hoped and so I am stuck with trying to keep as much of the project for later as I could. It's not saying what the building envelop is but some of their green ideas are in the article, "A KEY concept for the house was “to literally have no footprint,” Ms. Donohue said. The roof is engineered to sustain plants and soil to absorb rainwater. Planters with native grasses, which are embedded in the cedar deck and walkway, also help absorb rainwater while screen-covered inserts in the concrete storage units allow floodwater to flow in and out. “There’s the idea that nature is running through the building,” Mr. McKean said. Other features include tigerwood flooring certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a vegetable wax finish, a water-conserving toilet, an on-demand water heater and in the bathroom a solar tube — a type of skylight that intensifies natural light — to use in place of a regular electrical fixture."

Labels: cost, design, prefab

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:05 PM 2 Comments

The Greenest Building on the Planet

From the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, "The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center has received Platinum LEED ® Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Following a rigorous assessment, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program awarded the Legacy Center 61 points of 69 possible points, more than any other building yet rated in the world." Elements like Photovoltaics, Earth Tubes, Radiant Floor, Wood Heat make up the renewable energy systems. Also, here are some low tech solutions for energy savings from the site:

Low tech solutions yield about half of our energy savings:

Of the energy used by conventional buildings, half typically goes to heating, cooling, and lighting.

Bringing in daylight reduces interior lighting needs.

Higher than standard levels of insulation in the walls and ceiling keep the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than typical insulation would.

Promoting cross ventilation—and providing windows that open and close—allows air to flow freely and allows us to turn off the mechanical ventilation equipment.

Overhangs allow the sun in during the winter yet block the hot sun during the summer.

A “thermal flux zone” reduces heat flow between the main office and the outdoors.

Altogether, savvy design reduces the work load on the mechanical systems, and the smallest, most-efficient equipment was selected to do the job.

Labels: building envelopes, design, Energy, materials

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 10:24 AM 0 Comments

Buried Alive

I can't say how many times I've had to stop and help a gopher tortoise to cross the road. It's always a wrong time wrong place situation for the tortoise. If they could only keep to digging their burrows and remaining safe. I guess even then they find themselves between a rock and a hard place literally. A friend sent me news about the practice of "entombment" where developers build on top of the burrows and the tortoises are left buried alive ultimately unable to dig through the concrete and asphalt laid on top of them. To spell it out more directly here is a quote from the article in The Washington Post, "Trying to dig out, day after day, but not being able to, it's got to be pretty horrible," said Matthew J. Aresco, a biologist at a 50,000-acre conservation area in Florida who helped bring the tortoises' cause to light. "It's truly appalling." This has turned out to be a win win situation as the fine the developer would have had to pay to bury the tortoises was more expensive then having them relocated. When it works out this way it makes for one less excuse when destroying the environment for the sake of development. Visit Nokuse Plantation for more information about the rescue effort. From the site: "Nokuse Plantation is 48,000 acre private conservation initiative in the Florida Panhandle conceptualized and funded by M. C. Davis and Sam Shine. It is designed to be both a model and a catalyst for future landscape level conservation projects, which is the only way to preserve nature’s intrinsic biodiversity."

Labels: permits, wildlife

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 1:00 PM 1 Comments

Fighting for Florida-Friendly Yards

Mr. Gottfried seems to have lost the camera so I won't have any new photos until next week. In the Herald Tribune, another story about water use and the lack of common sense. I should have a daily section on the blog about how FL bites its nose to spite its face. A couple decided to forget lawns and go with a Florida-Friendly Yard, one that conserves water and needs almost no fertilizers or pesticides. Given the drought you would think this would be made an example of here in Southwest FL. Well, it is being made an example of- what you shouldn't do. The homeowners assoc. of their subdivision says they are violating their rules and will be required to pay a fine of 15k if they do not relay sod in their front yard. They should be able to get out of it using a 2001 state decision that homeowner's assocs can not ban Florida-Friendly Yards.

Labels: landscaping, water

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 11:32 AM 0 Comments

Distant view

There is a small area of the lot partially cut off by a lagoon. This is a view of the house looking in from this part of the property.

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 1:54 PM 2 Comments

Building Up Walls

Progress continues as the stem walls are appearing quickly. This is the view from the waterfront. The outer most part is the support where the lanai will sit.

Labels: building envelopes

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 1:48 PM 0 Comments

Happy Halloween

Labels: Englewood

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 9:44 PM 0 Comments

Building Blocks

The concrete blocks arrived and the cascading corner foundation sections are being laid. Another survey will then be done to document that the house is physically on the land where it should be. If I had people commenting on the blog I might bring up how non-green I know concrete block is but because of solving the elevation issue and budget it makes the most sense in the grand scheme of things. So beyond that the house is moving forward at a brisk pace so far.

Labels: building envelopes, materials, permits

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 3:27 PM 0 Comments

Finding Our Footing

The trenches are dug for the footers to go in. The inspector just happened to be there when we got there. We had to go but we'll know tonight if we passed because the footers will be in when we go back to Gottfried. The county comes to inspect frequently throughout each phase. The trenches were dug this morning, the inspector showed up by noon and then (hopefully) the footers will be in place later today.

Labels: building envelopes, permits

posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:44 PM 0 Comments

Englewood Water Board Torture

I just paid $6285 to the Englewood Water District for water and sewer hook-up. Believe it or not I saved $3900 because someone in 2001 paid that amount toward the cost. Yes, it would have cost around 10k otherwise to connect to the county sewer and water. Between this cost and the impact fees, I would assume the county is glad we came along. I think of Olga next door and her struggle with the EWD. They offered to hook her up for free at a certain point. My only thought is that they are still going to have to run the pipe from the road back to our house and they run it on the North property line which borders hers. I'll just have to keep an eye on the destruction. Read more about Olga's experience at the Link.

Labels: cost, permits, water

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:14 PM 0 Comments