December 01, 2008
September 16, 2008
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.
September 03, 2008
Good timing for our fruit trees
Labels: landscaping
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
Buckets full of water
Labels: landscaping, water
Getting back to my roots
Labels: landscaping
July 29, 2008
Category 1: Energy- Design, finishes and amenities
Click Image to EnlargeThis 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
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
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.
July 21, 2008
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
April 30, 2008
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
April 29, 2008
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
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
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
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
April 22, 2008
Sticking to the Pink
April 08, 2008
The next chapter
Labels: exterior, landscaping
February 09, 2008
Green washing
-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
February 08, 2008
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
A frustrating blog
Thanks to Damon, a fellow Floridian building green- visit their blog here for always checking in AND sharing a love hate relationship with another FL couple's building of a home near us in Englewood on Anna Marie Island in Sarasota. It's the New York Times' Dream Home Diaries and it can drive a sane person mad. Both of us have been following I believe since it started. i am personally jealous that I do not have The Times sponsoring this blog just for all the feedback I would receive. The reason the blog is annoying is because they aren't building anything special, certainly not green or a unique design, they have a budget of 700k, and they don't respond to the readers comments except once monthly and only to just a few. Basically it is a waste of the readership although I still find myself reading it usually just for the comments and to confirm that although my house is my house at least I tried to think things through a little bit. If I'd have had the 700k budget I could have had the dream home we originally set out to have with all the high-end green this and green that, not to mention a true passive solar design. Anyway, I am not one to judge, I guess it is just jealousy of their opportunity with all that cash and exposure to do something really interesting and instead be completely absent-minded about almost every detail. The Times has many interesting reports on current trends in building and design, I always wonder if they ever read the paper they work for... as writers, aren't they curious about what's new out there?
Labels: blogs
February 07, 2008
Rethink the pink
Eco this and Eco that
Labels: appliances, kitchen
White on white
Labels: kitchen
Radiant Heat vs Induction Cooktop
Labels: appliances, kitchen
Lovin the oven
Labels: appliances, kitchen
A little vanity
Labels: bath
February 05, 2008
We have Tankless Water
Labels: appliances, Energy, water
January 24, 2008
Seeing white
Labels: appliances, interiors
Paperstone
Labels: countertops, interiors
January 14, 2008
Bamboo floors
Toto Eco UltraMax®
Ceiling fans
Labels: ceiling fans, Energy
Interior painting
The pace has picked up for us as the final things are awaiting there place. Much of putting things in place requires the painting be completed. We painted over the weekend using an interior paint from Scott Paint's EcoCare line. We are painting everything white to keep it simple. Since we are doing the painting ourselves it adds to the pressure of timing but so far we should be able to keep up.
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.
January 07, 2008
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.
Kitchen Cabinets
Labels: interiors
January 02, 2008
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
December 13, 2007
Stucco
Labels: building envelopes, materials
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
Gottfried Green