Green Building is an issue I’m very passionate about. I believe that builders should build responsibly which includes placing a quality product on the ground. Now that there are many proven Green Building techniques, it is the builder’s responsibility to implement them and the consumer’s responsibility to demand them. Educated consumers can also make the governmental changes needed to make true Green Building commonplace. I plan to continue to write on this topic but will begin with the basics.
Estimated monthly utility cost: $80 for 2385 sq. ft.The Banister House in Grapevine, Texas
http://www.bannisterhousetexas.com/
Fact: Green homes require less maintenance, keep you healthier, and are often designed very beautifully.
Fiction: Well insulated homes are efficient homes.
Fact: Well SEALED homes are efficient homes.
The City of Austin has requirements for new homes to have certain “R-values”. These R-values are related to the thickness of insulation installed in the home. This legislation was passed down to us from those in New York and has little use in our climate. Instead of stuffing your walls with fiberglass and filling your attic with cellulose, Green Builders will spray a water-blown foam on your walls and roof that minimized air leakage. A sealed house makes for a healthier home too. Check out http://www.icynene.com/ for more information. Just don’t go running out and throwing all of the fiberglass insulation away. It has to go somewhere so it might was well be left alone until your home is rebuilt or renovated.
Fiction: The direction your home faces has little do do with efficiency.
Fact: Sadly, few know that the first step should be proper orientation to the sun.
Green Developers seek streets that travel east-west. How many do you know of? The principle behind this idea is really very simple. You want the bulk of your windows to face north or south to keep direct sunlight out of your home. The green-pushing citizens of Central Austin are mostly on streets that run north-south bringing the morning and afternoon sun right in through the beautiful windows that primarily line the front and rear of the homes that sit so close to each other on the sides.
Fiction: Morning sun is not as hot as afternoon sun.
Fact: The temperature outside is independent of the sun’s power, morning and afternoon sun are just as powerful.
Longer roof overhangs and architectural features designed to shade windows will keep your house cooler but allowing fewer UV rays inside. Your house is a home, not a greenhouse.
Fiction: Compact-fluorescent bulbs are ugly and do not fit all fixtures.
Fact: Have you been to Home Depot lately? These energy-saving bulbs come in so many shapes and sizes and are made to look like traditional bulbs.
They may take a few seconds to warm up, but replacing your old-fashioned bulbs with these saves more power than you think. Over the lifetime of the bulb, you will save about $30 and use 75% less power to use your light. Now multiply that by all the bulbs in your home… and your neighborhood… and Austin. Think before you go replacing all of your perfectly good bulbs with company fluorescents. Is it worth it to fill the landfills with light bulbs that you rarely used but replaced anyway? If you’re going to replace bulbs that haven’t gone out, start with the ones you use frequently like your kitchen and bathroom. Just stay away from halogen lights! That will be a topic for another post.
So be smart, do your research. This Green Building / Green Living movement is picking up steam. You are the consumer, you make the demands. Don’t buy products that harm the environment pre or post consumer. Think before you needlessly replace products. If you expect Builders and manufacturers to work responsibly, live responsibly to create the demand. This is a grass-roots effort that can – and is – making a difference.
Aria McIntosh
Builder, Realtor®, e-Pro
Corias Homes, Inc. & BridgeOne Properties
(512) 771-1776
aria@ariamcintosh.com
ariamcintosh.com
coriashomes.com
bridgeoneproperties.com
I’m all over this stuff, but there’s two things which stood out like a sore thumb:
1. Well-sealed houses promote mold growth, because it’s very hard for wet stuff to dry. No real problems here in our really old drafty houses.
2. Compact fluourescents are most definitely NOT available for every shape – there’s still no realistic options that fit in many overhead fixtures, for one. I use them everywhere I can, so I’d be putting them up there if it was remotely possible – but the ones with enough wattage (100-watt equivalent to replace existing 100-watt incandescents) are too porky to fit inside the cover.
A great deal of what we “know” about keeping houses properly humidified and mold free came from the northeast where they struggle to keep heat in.
Well-sealed houses never get moisture in so there is never any mold growth. I’ve heard that a thousand times as well, but it is a common misconception. They must be done correctly with flashing applied shingle style (overlapping and placed on top of each other) with house-wrap. Window seals and footings should be angled so that water runs off.
Homes that grow mold have a point at which water can enter. This can be because flashing is not applied properly or when housewrap/vapor barrier is not used (especially on brick or stucco houses).
Bathrooms and kitchens should have vents (the kind you turn on with a switch).
Attic fans are not used in green homes because they bring moisture in and reduce the effectiveness of all types of insulation. If there is no way for moisture to get into your home, there is no way for it to turn into mold.
Just ask leading “Green” architects like Peter Pfeiffer here in Austin and you will hear that a sealed house with bathroom and kitchen vents prevents mold by keeping your indoor environment at an optimum 30-60% humidity.
No condensation can form on foam insulation with further reduces mold.
All of these steps must be used together, but they do prevent mold. Many mold problems occurred in the 80s when these products were in experimental phases and were not done to the effective, efficient standards that we know today.
I stand by my statement that a well-sealed home prevents mold growth even if it is contrary to common opinion. I believe this will be proven in projects ahead.
I my home (built in 2006), all of my fixtures except for my dining room chandler (which is off 99% of the time) fit compact fluorescents so it seems that at least the lighting products being today are working well with the new bulbs. This, again, is up to the consumer to create a demand.
It sounds like the operating assumption is that you’ll never have a leak, or a spill, or anything else which might introduce water from any form other than from the outside. That’s what I was referring to – not water through the roof, but what happens when my 3 year old dumps a cup full of water out of the bathtub.
Super-sealed homes are also now thought to contribute to the higher rate of allergies seen in today’s children, by the way.
Compact fluorescents are also not the end-all and be-all of incandescent replacements. There are LED-based replacements which use much, much less power than even the CFLs now. You may have to look further than Home Depot, but they’re out there.