Gottfried Green

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 gives a great website to use www.harvesth2o.com for info. Only 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At the LEAFHouse, they use tankless hot water for back-up. To get started we'll be only using tankless and install solar hot water later. FL is certainly ideal for solar water heating in general.

At the LEAFHouse, "[Their] system features a tankless water heater, the Stiebel Eltron Tempra 20. Maryland’s average yearly “insolation,” or amount of sunlight available to make hot water, is 3.98, which is a little low as compared to a sunny place like California at 5.4. This means that, especially during the winter months, when insolation is low, the backup water heater will be doing its job." This tankless cost $500.

Labels: cost, Energy, materials, water

For the LEAFHouse, "Apricus water heating tubes provide all the hot water for the house, including the hot water for the radiant floor.

The tubes absorb the sun’s radiant heat in an insulating layer of air-evacuated glass. A vacuum is an excellent insulator, allowing LEAFHouse to make hot water even when it's cold outside.

While the outside of the tubes are cool, the inside the tubes can exceed 300º F. There is a pipe connecting the tubes to various appliances that require hot water throughout the house. The tubes eliminate the need for an electric or gas water heater.

Labels: design, Energy, water

I've chosen the LEAFHouse- to pick apart because the website offers many details including costs. For their graywater system, "The [graywater] is held in a tank, gradually filtered through a special planter bed, and used to irrigate the landscape around the house [and wash the car]." They also harvest rainwater as discussed in an earlier post.

Labels: cost, materials, water

Simon Norfolk/NB Pictures, for The New York Times

My neighbor Olga believes the end of days is coming soon. She's 8 years shy of a century of living on the earth and sometimes I think she is right. Things do seem dire. I read local environmental news here. Someone in Naples shot a bald eagle last week. How stupid do you have to be to shoot a bald eagle?? There is the Atlanta drought which is translated to the rest of us through pictures of the empty lake. California is on fire and now I read this article in the Times. It's a great piece because it goes back in history to how water "works" in the Southwest since the US started regulating it. Long story short, the decreased "snowmelt" that feeds the Colorado River is causing drastic water shortages for something like 7 states including California. I know here in Southwest FL we have our own drought that I can see by looking in a pond in the back of Grandma Gottfried's house that was full last year at this time and now has about 6 inches of water in it. It takes a lot for things to sink in the minds of humans so I guess we can wait it out and see if the rising seas beat out the lowering levels of potable water.

Labels: global warming, Nature, water, wildlife

I am going to end up disecting the Leaf House because it has most of the cutting edge technology in place and working together with the design. They provided the green wall sponsor ELT Living Wall Systems. This is a Canadian company but the website offers all sorts of information about how, why and what to do with some great example photos. At the Link is a list of all the sponsors that helped with the Leaf House.

Labels: design, landscaping, materials, Nature, water

I was hoping in the future to have a green wall vs. the green roofs.. University of MD won 2nd place in the 2007 Solar Decathalon. If I could have their LEAFHouse- shipped here and put on our lot I'd be happy to move in. They explain everything they've used and done on their website so I'll have a reference for all the details. They use their exterior green wall for rainwater mitigation. "In typical housing developments, water from rooftops and paving is allowed to run offsite; storm sewers must be constructed to carry the water to the nearest body of water, carrying with it all the contaminants it picks up along the way. The LEAFHouse includes a rainwater management system that minimizes run-off and the associated environmental impacts.

Rainwater collection at LEAFHouse is a multi-layered system. At the roof level, downspouts collect rainwater that, at the post-competition site of LEAFHouse, will be directed to a cistern from which the water will be used for garden irrigation. The Green Wall will likewise act as its own downspout, directing water from the roof down to a rain garden. Finally, our decks are equipped to catch the rainwater that passes through them and direct it to a cistern for on-site non-potable uses (irrigation, car-washing, etc.)."

Labels: building envelopes, design, interiors, materials, water

In thinking about how to do the best we can with what we have in terms of budget, knowledge, materials and subs who could work with those materials. I am going to throw all of that out of the window and look at what makes up the mkLotus^TM. We won't be able to do all of it now but maybe we could do some of it later: (The mkLotus^TM list is below with my comments for each in quotes)

- Green "living" roof
"The slope of our roof lends itself to the possibility of a few solar panels someday and also solar water heating. However, I have heard of green "living" walls although I don't know how practical they would be. There is the side of our house that will receive the most sunlight daily and with very limited windows. If it is possible I'd like to experiment with green walls on that side at some point in the future."

- 100% solar generator power
"future goal"

- Rain and groundwater catchment system
"We won't have irrigation needs because everything is going to be native. However, we will have a vegetable garden and so we can install rain barrels to catch water from the roof to use for this purpose. I am not sure if we'll ever have a cistern but we'll start with the obvious options first."

- Gray water system: collected water from sinks and shower is recirculated to toilets
"Should be able to integrate these options as I mentioned here in a past post."

- Exterior siding: low-maintenance, long-lasting integral color cement board and FSC certified wood
"For us this would mean Hardiboard and we simply can't afford it, we'll be doing stucco in gray."

- Sheathing and floor + ceiling framing: FSC Certified Wood
"Because of cost- TBD."

- SIPS wall assembly (Structural Insulated Panels)
"This one we couldn't navigate through or afford up front. It would have been a company called E-Wall.

- High performance, energy efficient spray-in open cell foam insulation
"I desperately want to use soy-based spray foam but once again the cost is a killer."

- On-demand water heater
"We'll be going tankless."

- Energy Efficient HVAC System
"We'll have this one covered as well."

- Double pane, Low-E, wood windows and glass doors with aluminum cladding
"We'll have impact windows with a gray tint to reflect the sunlight, Low-E pushed the windows out of our budget. However, we tried our best at passive, solar design."

Labels: building envelopes, cost, design, materials, prefab, water

Not only stating her case but the video also highlights something we got into back in the early days with our first architects. You can use Google Sketch Up to place your home in its actual site and see how it fits in. My old architects were able to pick a time of year and a time of day to see how the sunlight ran across the house to better plan the passive solar design. I haven't yet been able to figure that one out and it may only be available on the paid version. Visit Google Sketch Up.

Labels: cost, design, prefab, siteplan, software, water

I had posted a few days ago about, Olga, my 92 year old neighbor who has lived in Englewood since the 60's. Back in January, The Englewood Sun printed her story. The Englewood Water Board apparently didn't get the concept of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". She has a cistern system that has been working off rainwater and providing her the water needs of the household for over 40 years. They water board was trying to enforce a law which demanded that she hook-up to the public water supply. I'll need to find the law makers on this one because as the news is highlighting everywhere, a blurb in the NY Times here, we are in a water crisis. Not yet quite as severe here as in Atlanta but anyone who has lived in this area for a few years has noticed it just hasn't been raining as much during the time of year when it is supposed to be raining a lot. I have so many issues with the waste of my big tax dollars locally in Sarasota County. FL embodies somehow the idea of doing things wrong the first time so that you have to go back and fix them i.e. the everglades restoration. She should be featured in every local newspaper as what you should be doing and celebrated for having done so for so many years. Why would someone who has been a water conservationist for 40+ years have to suffer anything but celebrity in the area?

Labels: Englewood, permits, water

Short of using solar hot water heaters, the option of tankless hot water is a good compromise. A good analogy came from Dwell's recent green issue, "we don't keep a kettle boiling on the stove all day for the moment when we want tea, so why do we keep water heated around the clock when all we need it for is a shower..." That makes sense. Our house is also only going to have one bathroom so this too will allow us some options in types of systems we purchase. Bosch has a good site that explains some comparisons with usage and other advantages. Through the end of the year a $300 tax credit is offered.

Here is more general information I received in a Global Green newsletter. "Tankless water heaters have either an electric, gas, or propane heating device that is activated by the flow of water. Once activated, the heater provides a constant supply of hot water distributed at the same temperature and flow rate. The maximum flow rate is determined by the type of heater being used and at what temperature the device has been set to heat the water.

Indoor and outdoor models are available. On the low end, they will deliver between .6 - 4.2 gallons per minute. High end heaters deliver between 7.4 and 9.6 gallons per minute. If your household demand is high, several heaters can be run parallel for a constant flow. When choosing a tankless heater, it is a good idea to analyze your water usages. Tankless heaters work best with low- flow faucets and shower heads. Tankless systems also work best in houses with short hot water distribution lines. Smaller capacity heaters can be installed for appliances that use large amounts of hot water. They are also well suited as boosters for solar water heating systems."

Labels: appliances, Energy, water

The rainwater falls from the gutters into the cistern below.

It couldn't get more basic. Rainwater falls into a bucket for use here and there.

As fate would have it, my 92 year old neighbor, Olga, has been harvesting rainwater since she and her husband built their house in 1961. She has never been connected to the county water supply. I found this out the other day when she told me how they had been demanding that she hook up because it was the law. She lives alone now and has relied on her cistern for almost 50 years. She uses this water for everything in her house except drinking water. It is very expensive to run water lines from the road, as our properties are set back a few hundred feet. Not only could she not afford this but why should she have to. She was told that if she refused she would have to pay the water board $27 a month to continue to receive no service. I wonder what we'll have to go through when we build a 600 sq ft guest house completely off the grid? This is of course, part of my 10 year plan. In 10 years, I don't think we'll have a problem because the water supply will have already been depleted.

Labels: permits, water

Dwell magazine has decided sustainability is here to stay. I think anyone who reads about architecture and home building on any level could have seen that one coming. This issue does more fine tuning of the big 2- energy and water. It is mandatory to be connected to the public water supply in Sarasota County. (More on that later) But, there is of course rainwater. Here in Southwest FL, the rainy season is usually during the late spring and summer. This would be if you didn't count this summer and drought conditions. That said by August and September the rain did pick up some slack and certainly ever drop counts. All the more reason to collect it for use later. You can follow the diagram above. For our needs and current sophistication, I could see rainwater going through a "green wall" for filtration and being used for laundry. A green wall operates similar to reed ponds in which graywater is filtered by nutrient-absorbing plants and soil. Although the one mentioned here is patented, the idea would be another backyard experiment possibly worth exploring. Find out all you've ever wanted to know about Green Wall at the Link.

Labels: landscaping, materials, water

At the Link (with credits) the article contains the following statement: "Graywater systems vary from simple low-cost systems to highly complex and costly systems. The technology involved in such systems ranges from the sophisticated to the crude, from engineered systems with filters and pumps to a washing machine draining directly onto oleander bushes. (Official acceptance correspondingly varies from approval to disapproval.)" We would be closer to the washing machine draining on the flowers end of the spectrum. The reason: Not being on the hardcore end with set ups such as composting toilets, cisterns etc... there are still 2 options that would suit us on Gottfried and would not require an elaborate expensive system that would exceed our budget. Also, if the graywater isn't going to be used for irrigation what are more practical uses for the recycled water. One would be (A) the sink-fed toilet tank, taking graywater from the bathroom sink and using it to fill the tank. There are self contained systems you can hook up under your sink. Also, (B) washing machine water usually spills into a utility tub. Once again there are self-contained systems that could filter this water for other uses. Although contamination and filtering are a bit more tricky depending on the use, backyard ingenuity could come into play and provide some sort of pay-off.

Labels: water

This Old House has a green issue out this month. They've done a good job explaining some basic energy concepts that I understand overall but need a little more clarification of how exactly they works. More importantly how they could be applied to our project if at all. An example of this would be a graywater system. To cut straight to the essence of this system- your house has potable water being generated into the home and non-potable being generated and pushed out of the home through a sewer line. The basis of a graywater system is to further separate the non-potable water into 2 categories: graywater and blackwater. Graywater is bathroom sink, tub and shower, and washing machine water and blackwater would be toilet, dishwasher and kitchen sink water. 2 separate water lines would be established within the home so that blackwater would not cross paths with graywater. Blackwater goes to the main sewer line as usual and graywater is collected into a surge tank. The main reuse for graywater is (subterranean) irrigation which is legal in almost every state. Since we will have native landscaping would we really need this elaborate system for watering a landscape? Check out a full overview of graywater systems at the Link.

Labels: water

Image via New Scientist (via BLDBLOG)I had just cancelled my subscription to New Scientist because it is a weekly magazine and it costs $45 bucks a year. That's a lot of paper and a lot of cash even for some interesting reading. So I found on BLDBLOG a post with a "cities under water in a 100 years maps" from New Scientist. Since the actual article is subscription only, read the BLDGBLOG post at the Link, it is a fresh perspective on how these predictions fulfill some twisted fantasy of actually living to see cities like, Miami, New York, London and Shanghai underwater someday. These "future" satellite images bring to mind all sorts of scenarios especially if you're one of the ones underwater.

Labels: global warming, water, weather

Click on any photo to enlarge.
We have our site and drainage plan needed for the building permit application. We do have access to public sewer so thankfully no septic system will be needed. The existing land where the house will be is 6 feet above sea level. I guess that puts everything into perspective about how vulnerable FL really is to flooding or losing its coastline. The house is set on an angle for the sun and wind locations. For drainage purposes there will probably be about 2 ft of fill-dirt which raises the house to 8 ft above sea level. The livable space is required to be a total of 12 ft above. Although we technically only need to raise another 4ft to be at the total of 12 ft, we are increasing the height to have usable space underneath. It makes sense but it does cause the house to look a bit over-sized on the ground. Let's put it this way, if we didn't have to raise it we wouldn't. It's also where most of the extra cost will come from.

Labels: siteplan, water

We will be getting a boat once we get down to FL algthough we have no idea what type-if only there was a solar powered boat. Briton's solar ferry transports travelers across a lake in Hyde Park. "This is the most technologically advanced shuttle in the world right now," said designer Christoph Behling, who also designed the world's largest solar boat in Hamburg, Germany. "It is made of entirely stainless steel which means it never gets old. It will pave the way for future boats and trains and other means of transportation," Behling said.

Labels: Energy, water

inhabitat.com's green building 101 series is a gem. It is extremely informative as far as laying out the main categories and then itemizing the specifics for each. Last week was Location (which I am sure our lot would be in question according to some standards) and this week it's Water. Now here's an area we plan on trying to win some green points. There are so many ways to reuse water and it isn't that complicated either building from scratch or with an existing home. "The first step for increasing water efficiency at home is to reduce the use of drinkable water for non-consumption purposes. There are two ways to do this: collect rainwater and reuse indoor wash water. You can install cisterns above or below ground that will collect and store run-off from rooftops and other impervious surfaces; as well as from laundry machines, dishwashers, bathtubs and sinks (this is classified as grey water, meaning that it does not include human waste or sewage)." Read more from inhabitat.com at the Link.

Labels: water

Here's one I think everyone could do easily. Just catch your rainwater in a container and reuse it- outside of course. At the link are a few FAQs from a site rainwaterharvesting.org.
This is a practice that had been used about 2000 years ago but fell out of favor. They did it back then even without these handy containers with a spout on them.

Labels: water