Thinking of New Windows? Choose Wisely!

If you’ve been following the progress of Sunset Green Home, you have already seen images of the house almost completely framed.  So what comes next?  Energy-efficient and durable windows.  We’re about to place the order for IZ3 low-E Integrity® Wood Ultrex windows by Marvin®.  In plain English?  A coastal window with a set of features that is just perfect for Sunset Green Home.

Integrity Wood-Ultrex Casement Window

Before I describe why we selected that particular window for Sunset Green Home, it might be useful to present a primer of sorts on window characteristics that affect performance.  And understanding these characteristics is critical.  After all, windows comprise the building system with the greatest potential impact on your home’s energy efficiency and comfort.

How a Window’s Energy Efficiency is Described

A window’s energy efficiency is described by two values: the U-Factor and the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient. 

According to the LEED® for Homes Reference Guide, “the U-Factor is a measure of the thermal resistance to heat flow of the overall window.”  The lower the number, the better the window insulates.

The Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) measures how much of the sun’s energy is transmitted in through the window.  The lower the SHGC, the more a window will block the sun’s heat.  In warm climates, homeowners will likely want windows with a low SHGC, while in colder zones, higher SHGC will allow the sun’s rays to warm a room, thereby reducing the load on the home’s heating system.

The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) has developed rating and labeling standards that allow consumers to compare windows across manufacturers, based on their U-Factors and SHGCs. 

NFRC labeling standards allow consumers to compare window qualities across manufacturers

Several variables play a part in determining these important window rating values, and may include:

Window Frame Materials

Windows come in a variety of materials – wood, aluminum, vinyl, fiberglass and combinations of these materials.  Wood offers versatility and can be painted or stained.  Vinyl is a durable, lower cost window material.  Fiberglass is extremely strong, is dimensionally stable – particular with large temperature swings – and requires less maintenance than other materials. Aluminum is strong and rigid and can be configured for very large panes.

The frame material and the ratio of glass to framing will impact a window’s energy efficiency.

Number of Glass Panes

The more panes of glass, the more the window will insulate a home and block the sun’s UV rays.  Modern windows typically consist of two panes of glass (the leaky windows in the turn of the 20th century house where I grew up were single pane windows – now thankfully obsolete). Homes in regions with extremely cold winters or in noisy urban areas may elect to install triple pane windows.  Triple pane windows can be significantly more expensive than double pane windows.

Panes of glass are separated at the edges by a spacer bar.  Specially engineered Warm Edge Spacers can improve a window’s energy efficiency by up to 5%.

Gas Filling Between the Panes

The space between the panes can be filled with air or may be injected with a gas (krypton, xenon or argon) that provides better insulation. 

Low Thermal Emissivity (Low-E) Coating

Manufacturers may apply a thin film to one or more of the glass panes to reduce the amount of ultraviolet light (which may cause furnishings to fade) and infrared light (which heats up a room in the summer) that passes through the glass without compromising the visible light that is transmitted to the interior. 

One More Window Option to Consider – Impact Resistant Technology

Although it doesn’t have a significant effect on energy efficiency, choosing an impact resistant window is critical in certain parts of the country – particularly those in a hurricane zone.  Impact resistant windows are engineered to withstand the forces of flying debris at high wind speeds.  Window modifications may include shatter-proof lamination, heavier frames, and special installation assemblies.  They are generally rated for one of several geographic “impact zones.” 

So Many Options…How to Choose?

With so many options, how does one choose a window? 

ENERGY STAR® labeled windows are a good place to start.  ENERGY STAR window labels are region-specific, so they factor in the most important drivers of energy efficiency by climate zone. 

ENERGY STAR Climate Zone Map

Southern zones will be more concerned with heat gain, as indicated by the SHGC.  Northern zones require better insulation, as described by the U-Factor.  These considerations are reflected in ENERGY STAR's zone-specific qualification criteria.

ENERGY STAR Criteria by Climate Zone

If you’ve read our House Tours articles, you know we’ve written about several extremely energy efficient homes.  James Whittaker, developer of the LEED Gold home we profiled in Grand Cayman tells me that “we now use SIW exclusively.  We vetted their product quality extensively and we are very happy with the results.  We think it's the best value for money for this hot humid hurricane zone. U-Factor doesn't matter much in this climate.  All the windows and doors we use are impact rated to at least 150mph.”  The windows that Whittaker specifies are double pane, impact windows that are either casement style or fixed.  In the hot environment of the Cayman Islands, opening a window to let in the breeze isn’t a requirement.

By contrast, U-Factor was the most important consideration for the LEED Gold home in ski country that we wrote about last winter.  Frank Navarro used triple pane aluminum windows by JELD-WEN with significant insulating properties that make sense for a colder climate.  The aluminum frames made it possible to incorporate very large windows that maximize the home’s views.

View through one of the large JELD-WEN windows in a LEED Gold home in Colorado

For the Passive House in Queens that we profiled more recently, the owners "seriously researched" five window manufacturers, before selecting Schuco triple pane PVC windows both for their insulating properties and because of their ability to block out street noise.  And, according to the owner, Architect Tom Paino, "the PVC with special UV coating stands up better than any other material (aluminum clad, etc.) considering the air pollution" of New York City.

Triple pane Schuco windows provide insulation and muffle street noise in this urban row house built to Passive House standards

It’s important to think about how you’re going to use the windows.  Sunset Green Home is in a breezy coastal location, where temperatures are moderate for more than half of the year.  We enjoy opening the windows and letting the breeze into the home.  So we’ve chosen a double hung configuration for many of the windows.  All of Sunset Green Home’s windows will open and close.

If your region is prone to severe weather, check to see if your building code requires impact resistant windows or if your insurance company will lower your premium if you voluntarily elect to install them.  In some cases, homeowner insurance policies may not pay for damage repairs unless precautions have been taken – so arm yourself with information about your policy before you choose your windows. 

Finally, budget will also drive your choice of window. Purchase the best windows you can afford!

Sunset Green Home’s Windows

So why did we choose IZ3 Low-E Integrity Wood Ultrex windows by Marvin for Sunset Green Home?

• IZ3 denotes impact resistant glass for Impact Zone 3, represented by coastal areas in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast states.  Sunset Green Home is on a waterfront lot whose previous home was damaged by two hurricanes, two years in a row.  Flying debris is a real consideration, so the old house that Sunset Green Home replaces was boarded up in preparation for both storms.  Attaching plywood meant drilling holes around the windows – which has the potential to undermine the airtightness and water tightness of the building envelope – not an option for Sunset Green Home, whose LEED certification hinges on having a very tight building envelope.  By choosing an impact resistant window, Sunset Green Home will always be storm-ready
• Sunset Green Home’s principal façade faces south to take advantage of a water view and to provide for a large south-oriented roof to accommodate solar panels.  We selected Integrity’s LowE2 glass – with two layers of silver oxide – that minimizes solar heat gain from the summer sun while allowing light to pass into the house
• Integrity from Marvin’s Ultrex pultruded fiberglass construction has several features that make sense for Sunset Green Home.  Unlike aluminum, which may “chalk,” and wood, which requires considerable maintenance under salt air conditions, Integrity’s patented Ultrex material resists corrosion and is the ideal material for a coastal area.  Ultrex also makes sense in Sunset Green Home’s northeast climate, which experiences hot summers and cold winters.  Because Ultrex expands and contracts at nearly the same rate as glass, the windows are more resistant to leaks and seal failures. 
• ENERGY STAR considers Suffolk County, New York, where Sunset Green Home is located, to be in the “North-Central Climate Zone” (use ENERGY STAR’s Zone Finder to find your zone).  With U-Factors of 0.31 and 0.32, Sunset Green Home’s windows are ENERGY STAR compliant and considered “Exceptional” according to LEED for Homes.

Windows represent an extremely important building system.  They account for the greatest opportunity for heat gain and loss through a building’s envelope.  So, whether you’re renovating or building a new home, it’s important to select windows that meet your project’s specific needs.  There are many windows to choose from, and many window manufacturers that make high quality products.  So, get educated.  And pick the best window for your project and your pocketbook.

House Tours: A Passive House in the Heart of NYC

Walk through the streets of New York City, and you’re immediately aware of the ethnic and cultural diversity of its people.  Then look up – and study the buildings.  You’ll see the same sort of diversity in the city’s housing stock.  From 19th century tenement buildings to 21st century steel and glass towers, from single-family homes to high-rise apartment buildings, New York City has it all!  But, despite their apparent diversity, what most of these homes have in common is their lack of energy efficiency and environmental mindfulness.   

But that seems to be changing.  Around New York City, we are seeing residential buildings being built or renovated according to green building standards.  I recently had the opportunity to tour the first "row house" home built to Passive House standards in the borough of Queens.

Because the Sunset Green Home project is registered under the LEED® for Homes program, I generally write about LEED projects.  So what is the difference between LEED and Passive House?

Façade of the Climate Change Row House

Both LEED and Passive House (which is also known as Passivhaus, as it originated in Germany) comprise a body of standards for sustainable building.  In the case of LEED for Homes, the standards address many categories in addition to energy efficiency, including – among others – indoor air quality, the project’s location and links to its surrounding community, materials and resources used in its construction, and education of the homeowner.  Passive House is a narrower set of standards that focuses primarily on energy efficiency, and seeks to minimize energy demand, heating and cooling requirements, and envelope tightness (air leakage).  Passive House requires more of a project than LEED in terms of energy efficiency; LEED requires more of a project in terms of other important sustainability categories.

Google the two terms and you’ll find a lot of people opining on which of the two is “better.”  Although I am a LEED AP Homes (credentialed by the Green Building Certification Institute), I don’t have a dog in this fight!  I applaud anyone who voluntarily elects to participate in either one of the programs (emphasis on “voluntarily”…since current building codes are considerably less stringent than either of these two standards). 

Back to the “Climate Change Row House” (so named by its owner, architect Thomas Paino) – the first multifamily row house home built to Passive House standards in Queens.  Sunset Green Home and the Climate Change Row House have one thing in common: Flood zone requirements had a profound influence on both projects.  Although Paino’s home was not flooded by Superstorm Sandy, which blew through New York City in October 2012, its living spaces needed to be elevated nearly four feet in order to comply with current flood zone requirements.  Conventional house lifting doesn’t work when you have side walls in common with your neighbors.  So Paino, an architect who has worked for two decades in sustainable architecture, got creative.  He redesigned the home by raising each of the floors and keeping the walls intact.  The façade was completely rebricked (the house had undergone a 1970s renovation and had a featureless white brick façade when Paino purchased it; while some have dubbed the Climate Change Row House one of the ugliest in Queens, its current façade is a vast improvement over what Paino started with). 

The Climate Change Row House boasts a host of design features that make it one of the most energy efficient homes in the city.

Triple pane Schüco windows not only combat heat gain and loss through the building’s envelope, but they also provide extraordinary sound insulation.  On my tour of the house, I was completely unaware of outside noise.

Triple pane Schuco windows with Argon gas for superior insulation

Passive House homes have minimal penetrations to the outside.  So Paino's kitchen has a Best by Broan range hood that does not exhaust to the outdoors, but that instead uses two recirculating charcoal filters to eliminate cooking smoke and odors. And because Passive Homes do not have combustion appliances - so a fireplace and gas range were excluded - the kitchen features an induction cooktop by Bosch. 

Bosch induction cooktop with Best by Broan recirculating range hood above

Passive Homes are so well insulated and sealed that they do not require much in terms of heating and cooling systems.  All of the mechanical equipment for the Climate Change Row House fits into a small closet on the main floor, and includes a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV), which exhausts stale air and feeds preconditioned air into the house. 

HRV exhausts stale air to the outside and provides fresh air to the indoor environment

A small Mitsubishi heat pump system is on hand if supplemental heat and cooling are required.

Mitsubishi heat pumps provide supplemental heating and cooling capacity

Paino cautions that "when you seal up a house, you have to be very aware of materials" to make sure that they don't "offgas" toxins into the indoor environment - particularly important given the tightness of the building envelope (click here to read my earlier article on the impact of 21st century building practices on indoor air quality).  MDF doors from TruStile contain no added urea-formaldehyde resins.  Paints contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and the handsome wormy maple floor was finished on site using a UV sealing technology that creates a durable surface without any harmful offgassing chemicals.

TruStile NAUF MDF doors painted with no VOC paints in colors inspired by a western evening sky

The Climate Change Row House also collects rainwater from 50% of the roof into a cistern that was designed especially for urban homes.  Paino uses the water to irrigate a sizable vegetable garden that he has planted in the double backyard formed by the home and an adjacent brownstone building that Paino also owns (and rents out to a tenant).  He starts seedlings in the home's rooftop greenhouse.  By growing produce on site from seed and irrigating with harvested rainwater, Paino reduces his household's consumption of fresh vegetables that must often travel great distances to reach the New York City market.

A rainwater harvesting system collects rainwater from 50% of the roof to water the home's sizable vegetable garden

A “Green Roof” garden, planted with several varieties of sedum, serves as a layer of insulation that keeps the rooms below it cooler in the summer than if the house were built with a conventional roof.  The roof garden also absorbs rainwater, which means less stormwater runoff into the city’s already overburdened sewers.  According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, “In addition to being cited as a major source in one-third of all impaired waters, urban/stormwater runoff is noted as a major source of contaminants in 36% of all waters that experience lesser, but measurable, minor impacts to water quality, and a contributing source in nearly half (47%) of waters with minor impacts.”  Paino’s design is an example of how urban dwellers can work to protect local waterways. 

Six varieties of sedum comprise the home's green roof garden

Also on the roof is a solar thermal panel that generates the majority of the home’s hot water.

Solar thermal collector on the roof and hot water tank in the greenhouse below

Not only is the green roof attractive, but sitting on Paino's roof deck, one has a spectacular view of Manhattan just across the river.

Evening view from the roof of the Climate Change Row House

Because of the extent of the changes Paino needed to implement in order to conform with the flood codes, the City of New York designated Paino’s house as "new construction" rather than a renovation.  The result of this designation?  Paino told me that his ultra-efficient home would no longer be a candidate for Passive House certification by the Passive House Institute US (because the existing brick side walls would be maintained, Paino had originally designed the home to meet EnerPHit, Passive House Institute's renovation standard, which recognizes the challenges of refurbishing an existing structure and it less stringent in terms of envelope leakage).  But that doesn't matter.  The Climate Change Row House is still a superb example of how urban homes can be constructed for energy efficiency and minimal environmental impact.

*                *                *                *                *

Want to learn more?  The New York Times scooped me on this story!  Here's what they wrote: "Easy on the Environment, but Not Necessarily the Eyes" (August 18, 2014)

Practical Sustainability: No More Catalogs, Please!

Did you know…

• Each adult American receives approximately 41 pounds of junk mail annually, according to 41pounds.org
• About half of the junk mail we receive goes straight to the landfill…unopened.  That’s over 5 million tons of unwanted ads and catalogs
• Included in the tally are unopened preapproved loan and credit card solicitations – a boon for identity thieves
• The industry responsible for the largest use of water in manufacturing activity is the pulp and paper industry
• The response rate to all of this resource hogging direct mail is a paltry 4%

Fairly recently, I opened a plastic shrink-wrapped collection of catalogs from a direct mailer who claimed to be mailing all of its annual catalogs at one time in order to reduce its carbon footprint.  The only problem?  The catalogs weighed over 15 pounds in total and I dumped all but two of the multiple “books” directly into my recycling bin.  Not a very environmentally friendly marketing strategy, IMHO. 

And this is what I came home to today...2.2 pounds of junk mail (for the record, we have two adults in our household, so if every day were like today, we'd receive about 300 pounds EACH of junk mail annually):

One day's junk mail...2.2 pounds of catalogs and direct mail solicitations

This month’s Practical Sustainability column offers tips that you can use to reduce the junk mail you receive, shrink your carbon footprint and save our forests. 

First, tap into the direct mail industry’s free resource, the National Do Not Mail List.  Operated by DirectMail.com, a service provider to the direct mail industry, enrollment in the service takes just a few minutes.  DirectMail.com doesn’t promise that the service will eliminate all unwanted mail (they specifically don’t handle mail addressed to “owner” or “occupant”), but the company maintains the list and says that “mail-order companies don't want to waste their money sending mail to people who don't want to receive it. They'll gladly take your name off their lists when they're asked to do so.”

DMAchoice.org (which is operated by the Direct Marketers Association, a consortium of direct marketers) says its nearly 3,600 member companies “must follow the DMA member guidelines, including honoring a consumer's request to be removed from future mailings.”  The service is free if you sign up on line (there’s a small fee if you want to submit your preferences by mail).

I signed up for both services, each of which only took a few minutes.  Note that you’ll have to verify your email address when you set up your account – and the first email I received from DMAchoice.org went into my spam filter!

OptOutPrescreen.com, operated by the major consumer credit bureaus, provides a free service to manage the “preapproved” offers you receive for credit cards and insurance products.  Senior citizens, who may already have all of the credit and protection products they need, are good candidates to opt out of future mailings, as seniors are more vulnerable to identity theft and therefore may want to reduce the number of preapproved offers they receive. 

CatalogChoice.org is another free service that allows you to communicate your preferences to direct mailers.  Its parent company is TrustedID, a for-profit identity theft protection service.

Want to stop receiving Yellow Pages and other telephone directories?  Visit the National Yellow Pages Consumer Choice & Opt-out Site to opt out. 

There are several direct mail management services that you need to pay for, like StopTheJunkMail.com and 41pounds.org.  They claim to contact direct mailers individually on your behalf, so may be more effective than the free services.  As with any paid service, check user reviews before you make a purchase and understand exactly what the service is going to do for you.

While this article addresses the catalogs and direct mail solicitations that clog your physical mailbox, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) publishes information on how to stop unsolicited phone calls and emails as well.  You can access their report here.

By reducing the volume of junk mail you receive, you’ll be saving our forests and our water supplies, and will reduce the carbon emissions from manufacturing and transportation.  Now that’s what I call Practical Sustainability!

Get to Know LEED®: Indoor Air Quality

A friend just completed an elegant gut renovation – down to the studs – of her home.  She did everything right in terms of energy efficiency – installing insulation with an R-value considerably greater than what was required by Code, new windows and a geo-thermal heat pump.  The work included new sheetrock, hardwood floors and interior doors.  A fresh coat of paint and new draperies and furniture finished off the renovation.  The end product is a lovely home that will bring her pleasure for years to come.  But right now, her renovation is just one big headache…

After living in the home for just a week, she couldn’t figure out why she was having persistent headaches.  Her doctor ran some tests.  Everything was negative.  And then he asked if she had made any other major changes in her life.  Her doctor’s diagnosis upon hearing that she had just moved back into her renovated home?  Your house is making you sick.

Americans spend 90% of their time indoors.  So, if you’re building a new house or doing work on your existing home, there are some things you can – and should – do to make sure that the air you breathe inside your home is fresh and clean.

Image courtesy of Idea go at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In general, 21st century homes are very “tight,” which is great from the standpoint of energy efficiency.  We’re not paying to heat or cool air that then finds its way outside the home through leaky windows or walls.  But this also means toxins that enter our homes have a much more difficult time finding their way back out.  In fact, the LEED for Homes Reference Guide states that indoor “levels of pollutants run two to five times – and occasionally more than 100 times – higher than outdoors, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency” (EPA).

Indoor Environmental Quality is one of the major credit categories in the LEED for Homes green building program.  Sunset Green Home is selecting building materials and installing mechanical systems to ensure that the air inside the home is fresh and healthy. 

LEED proposes three strategies for creating healthy indoor environments:

• Source Control – making sure that contaminants do not enter the home
• Source Removal – capturing pollutants that are already inside a home
• Dilution – ventilating a home using fresh air and exhausting pollutants to the outdoors

But you don’t need to go for LEED certification to have high quality air inside your home.  Here are some practical ways that you can apply all three strategies within your home…

Source Control.  Be aware of potential toxins and keep them from entering your home. 

Many paints, adhesives and varnishes contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that have the potential for dangerous offgassing inside your home.  Read the labels!  And choose low- or no-VOC coatings wherever possible.  Many of us know that a “new paint” smell is not healthy.  Low- and no-VOC paints are now produced by all of the major paint manufacturers such as Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams and Valspar. 

And dangerous toxins are lurking in other materials that we don’t think about. Furniture, carpeting, wall coverings and interior doors may also emit toxic gases into your home. 

TruStile certified 75% recycled MDF doors with no added urea-formaldehyde (NAUF) featured in the 2014 New American Home, co-sponsored by NAHB and Builder Magazine

Take the time to learn what building materials are being used in your home, and specify those with the lowest offgassing potential.  For example, medium-density fibreboard (MDF) is a very stable material that doesn’t warp.  Given Sunset Green Home’s coastal location and proximity to the water, we plan to specify MDF interior doors.  But we’re specifying MDF doors made by TruStile that contain “no added urea formaldehyde” (NAUF) resins, as urea formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. 

In fact, the LEED green building program is so concerned about VOCs that many low-emitting building materials can earn a project ½ point each toward certification.

Radon gas is another dangerous pollutant that is linked to increased risk of lung cancer.  The EPA publishes a radon risk map and a Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction, and recommends that all homes be tested for radon gas.  If your home is found to have an elevated level of radon, you will need to hire a qualified radon mitigator to install a system that will pipe the radon from under your home to prevent it from finding its way inside.  LEED for Homes requires homes in the highest radon risk areas to incorporate radon-resistant building methods and offers credit to homes in lower risk areas if they voluntarily include such strategies.

Keep mold and mildew from forming by running bathroom fans, venting attic spaces, and maintaining relative humidity in the home in the range of 30% - 50%.  The LEED green building program offers credits for projects that install bathroom fans with occupancy and/or humidity sensors that operate automatically when conditions warrant.

Broan QT Series Humidity Sensing Fan

Delta BreezSignature Ventilation Fan

Panasonic WhisperGreen Fan

Pesticides and fertilizers are widely used outdoors and can be tracked inside on the bottoms of our shoes.  One simple way you can prevent these toxins from entering your home is to remove your shoes or use walk-off mats just inside the door.  In fact, LEED for Homes awards one point toward certification to projects that create a dedicated shoe storage area just inside the home.

Beach Style Entry by Lewes Home Builders Lane Builders LLC

Source Removal.  If toxins find their way indoors, find a means to remove them. 

For example, use high quality filters to remove pollutants from the air that circulates through your heating and air conditioning systems.  Clean or replaces the filters regularly.  LEED awards points to project that use high quality HVAC filters that remove very small particles from the air that circulates throughout the home.

Dilution.  Introduce fresh clean air into your home to dilute any pollutants that are circulating in your air.  If the air outside your home is clean, open your windows to bring in fresh air.  If you live in a newly built home with a very tight building envelope, consider installing a mechanical ventilation system - an Energy Recovery Ventilator or a Heat Recovery Ventilator - that exhausts stale air and introduces fresh air into your home.

And, if you’re like my friend and have a recently renovated or new home, consider following the LEED protocols for a Pre-Occupancy Flush.  According to the LEED for Homes Reference Guide, “flushing the house removes VOCs, ureaformaldehyde, and other air pollutants that remain after construction.  These pollutants are mostly caused by off-gassing paints, adhesives, and sealants.  Flushing the home also removes some of the dust and particulates that remain from construction.”  Flush the house with fresh air for at least 48 hours by taking these steps:

·         Open all windows and interior doors (including closets and cabinets)

·         Run all fans (bathroom, kitchen and central air/heat system)

·         Use additional fans to circulate the air within the home

·         Clean or replace all central air/heat system filters at the end of the preoccupancy flush

Regardless of whether your home is LEED certified, you’ll breathe easier knowing you did what you could to improve your indoor air quality.

10 Energy-Efficient and Environmentally Sound Ways to Control Your Pool Maintenance Costs

A shorter version of this article by Kim Erle was published on bobvila.com earlier this month as 10 Energy-Wise Ways to Lower Your Pool Maintenance Costs. 

Whether you're building a new swimming pool or retrofitting your existing pool, there are things you can do to make sure that your operating costs don't break the bank.  As a bonus, most of these measures save energy and are better for the environment too.  So go ahead…take the plunge!  Consider these 10 strategies:

1.  Install a variable speed pool pump.  Retire your single speed pump in favor of an ENERGY STAR certified variable speed (VS) pool pump.  According to the US EPA’s ENERGY STAR web site, on average VS pumps result in savings of over $300 annually (and potentially even more in warm climates where pools are used throughout the year or when the newest and most efficient models are installed).  In fact, according to the ENERGY STAR web site, “If all pool pumps sold in the United States were ENERGY STAR certified, we would save about $113 million per year and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 140,000 cars.”  VS pumps are so energy efficient that many utilities offer rebates to pool owners who install them.

In 2013, Pentair's IntelliFlo VS pump was the first in the pool industry to be ENERGY STAR certified.  Since then, many other have followed suit.  Click here for a list of ENERGY STAR certified pool pumps.

Image courtesy of Pentair

2.  Use a Pool Cover. By installing an ASTM-approved automatic pool safety cover, not only will you have a safer pool environment, but closing the safety cover when the last swimmer comes out of the pool can save up to 70% in heating costs, and will reduce as much as 50% of a pool’s evaporative water loss and 60% of pool chemical consumption according to the US Department of Energy (DOE).  In fact, the DOE publishes estimates of savings by region from using a pool cover.  In New York, a pool cover reduces the average cost of seasonal heating from $1,220 down to $200 for pools heated with a heat pump. For a more cost-effective solution, consider a solar bubble-type cover that can be folded and set aside when you are using the pool.  The Coverstar model pictured here works well for new construction, where hidden rails and a buried housing can be part of the pool planning.

Photo courtesy of Coverstar

3. Plant a hedge or install a barrier to act as a wind break for the pool.  Wind increases the rate of evaporation of your pool’s water.  Stop the wind and you’ll stop the loss of water that you’ve already paid to heat and sanitize.  Tim Rumph, of Araiys Design on Long Island, designed this deer-resistant hedge, which provides privacy and doubles as a wind break for the homeowner’s pool.

Photo courtesy of Araiys Design

4. Upgrade your heating system.  Heat the pool water using a high efficiency heater.  According to the DOE, you can save $315 for every $1,000 you spend annually to heat your pool by switching from a 65% efficiency gas heater to one with 95% efficiency.  For even greater energy savings and less environmental impact, consider a heat pump (particularly if you live in a warm climate) or solar hot water panels.  John Tortorella, CEO of Tortorella Group, a luxury pool contractor on Long Island, designs his clients' pools with “deep heating.” Since heat rises, heat the pool from the bottom rather than at the top to avoid losing the pool heat into the air.  At 95% efficiency, the Jandy Hi-E2 pool heater pictured here is the highest efficiency gas heater available.

Image courtesy of Zodiac Pool Systems

5. Use larger pool filters.  Larger filters have greater surface area for pumped water to flow through. This means that your pump can push the water through the filter at lower pressure and doesn't have to work as hard.  Larger filters not only reduce the electrical draw on your pump, but may also extend the life of your pool pump. Cartridge filters like the one pictured here are the most water efficient technology, as they do not require backwashing and use a fraction of the water required for cleaning a traditional sand filter.

Image courtesy of Pentair

6. Install LED Lighting for better illumination with operating cost savings of 80% or more.  And, since LED lights last up to three times as long as incandescent lights, you will save time and money on lighting maintenance. Check with your local utility for rebates when you install LED pool lights.  And use this web tool by Pentair to calculate your potential savings.

Photo courtesy of Tortorella Group

7. Design the pool’s plumbing system correctly.  An energy efficient pump is no good if it’s trying to push water through a pipe that is too small or is fitted with tight curves.  Getting the hydraulics right will improve the efficiency of your pump, as water will be able to move effortlessly through the system.  Tortorella Group's engineers carefully design their clients' pools with wide plumbing sweeps instead of tight corners, and with pipes sized to work in concert with the pool pump.

Photo courtesy of Tortorella Group

8. Change your sanitation system to one of the newer technologies - such as salt chlorine generation or UV Ozone - that requires fewer chemicals and less time for pool maintenance.  Salt generators, which produce chlorine on site, virtually eliminate the need for additional chemicals.  Fewer chemicals mean lower pool maintenance costs.  Ozone and UV Ozone systems require considerably less supplemental chlorine than traditional chlorine-only systems. Kevin Woodhurst, President of Precision Aquascapes in Phoenix, Arizona notes that using an ozonator will extend the life of the filter’s pleats if your pool uses a cartridge filter.  And, he even recommends using several of these strategies in tandem. Using a UV ozone system, like the DEL Ozone unit pictured here, along with a salt generator will extend the life of the generator's salt cell.  Lower maintenance costs aren’t the only benefits of these newer technologies; users say their pools are more comfortable than traditional chlorine-only pools. 

Image courtesy of DEL Ozone

9. Consider pool automation. Use pool automation to run your pool pumps when electricity rates are lowest or to adapt your pool equipment schedules as the seasons change. Jandy's iAqualink Controller pictured here, and accessible from your mobile device, has an Energy Saving Program that automatically adjusts the pool's filtration, purification and other features for optimal energy performance.

Image courtesy of Zodiac Pool Systems

10. Choose a high performance finish.  A darker colored pool will absorb more of the sun's heat, and will reduce your heating costs.  In addition, you can lower your maintenance costs by choosing a long-life pool finish.  John Zita, Northeast Territory Manager for CL Industries, cautions that “the challenge with any pool finish is the substrate” used to adhere the finish to the pool.  “The cement needs to be a good quality cement, which is critical to the bond of the finish.”  John’s company sells pre-blended finish products with proprietary additives that fortify the cement and strengthen the overall finish.  The elegant Hydrazzo Oceana Blue finish pictured here carries a lifetime warranty if properly installed and maintained.

Photo courtesy of CL Industries

Sunset Green Home Progress Update: Sanitary System is Installed and Inspected!

I visited the site on Friday with Sunset Green Home's builder, Chris Mensch of Coastal Management LLC .  He gave me a tour of the week's progress, which included the installation and inspection of Sunset Green Home's sanitary system.             

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Most of us never think about where our wastewater, laundry water, dishwater, or bathwater goes when it leaves the house.  But if it's not being taken away by a municipal waste system, it has to go somewhere...and that somewhere is just beneath our feet. 

Nearly one-quarter of American households are served by septic systems.  Properly functioning sanitary systems pose little risk to human health.  However, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "when improperly used or operated, septic systems can be a significant source of ground water contamination."  In fact, failed septic systems may release contaminants such as viruses, bacteria, phosphorous, and nitrogen into drinking water supplies and recreational water bodies.  These contaminants are responsible for making people sick and damaging delicate animal and plant habitats.

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“Over 75% of the nitrogen pollution coming into Shinnecock Bay comes from waste water (meaning septic tanks).”

— Christine Santora, Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program

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At Sunset Green Home, we are particularly concerned about building a robust sanitary system, as the project is located on the shores of the Shinnecock Bay - an important recreational waterway and habitat for eel grasses and shellfish beds.  As we wrote in a previous post, failed septic systems may account for harmful brown tides that our bays have seen in recent years. In fact, according to Christine Santora, Program Coordinator for the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program, "over 75% of the nitrogen pollution coming into Shinnecock Bay comes from waste water (meaning septic tanks).”

So what is a septic system anyway?

A septic system is a highly localized waste treatment facility with three components: a septic tank, a leaching field, and the soil beneath the leaching field.

Sunset Green Home's septic field, tank and leaching pools, ready to be installed

The septic tank, a watertight box generally made of cast concrete, receives wastewater as it leaves the home.  Solid waste settles to the bottom of the tank and forms a "sludge" layer, where bacteria set to work breaking it down. Liquids form a middle layer, and are directed out of the tank via piping to the leaching field.  Oils and other substances that are lighter than water form a layer of "scum" that rises above the liquid in the tank.

Sunset Green Home's septic tank set into place

As new waste enters the septic tank, the liquid effluent already in the tank is displaced out to the leaching field.

Leaching pools control the release of effluent into the leaching field, where the effluent is filtered as it percolates through the soil and where soil-borne bacteria further break down any organic material within it.  Eventually, some of the effluent reaches groundwater. 

Sunset Green Home's septic tank and leaching pools

Sunset Green Home's leaching field comprises several cast concrete leaching pools, each of which is set atop a layer of pure sand and is kept a minimum of three feet above ground water. 

Completed septic system, back-filled and trenched for retaining walls

Sunset Green Home's compact septic system was designed with rectangular leaching pools and located as far away from the Shinnecock Bay as possible.  Because our water table is so high, our septic system had to be elevated above the property's current grade, and then covered with sand and clean fill.  Now that the septic system has been inspected and approved by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, we can build the retaining walls that will surround the system.

Shinnecock Bay in front of the Sunset Green Home project

We look forward to canoeing and kayaking with the confidence that our sanitary system is doing its job of keeping harmful contaminants out of the bay!

Induction Cooking: Functional AND Energy-Efficient. What's not to Love?

Are you contemplating a kitchen renovation?  From both a functional and an environmental standpoint it’s time to consider induction cooking as an alternative to both conventional electric and gas cooking.

Thermador 36-inch Masterpiece Series Freedom Induction Cooktop (model CIT36XKB).  Photo: thermador.com blog

My mother-in-law died recently after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.  She was an extraordinary cook, and we often traded recipes and menus.  Here’s what I wrote in my tribute for her Memorial Service:

Four years ago, when we purchased a weekend cottage with an antiquated kitchen that we didn’t plan to renovate, Joan took me to Zabar’s and bought me a set of pots and pans as a housewarming gift.  She also bought me a plug-in induction burner to supplement what the old electric stove could do.  By the time Joan bought this gift for me, she was already showing symptoms of the cognitive impairment that would take a greater toll on her more recently.  But back then it manifest itself in odd ways – and one of those ways was her frequent and dogged questioning of me about that burner.  In truth, I only used it twice.  My kitchen was small and the burner lived in its box inside a cabinet above my fridge.  Most of the time I forgot it was there.  And, frankly, I didn’t really know much about induction cooking. 

Many of you know that our home was made uninhabitable by Hurricane Sandy…and that now we’re getting ready to break ground on our new house.  I only wish Joan were here so I could tell her that two weeks ago, when I finally settled on my kitchen appliances, I decided to forego gas altogether…in favor of induction.  Joan was a pioneer.  And truly a woman before her time.  When I use my induction cooktop for the first time, I’ll think of her.

And it’s true.  I WILL think of her.  And she WAS a woman before her time.  And now that time has come.  Time to think about induction not only as the cutting edge in cooking technology, but as the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly choice as well. 

With an induction cooktop, as much as 90% of the energy used goes directly to heating the pan.  Contrast that to a gas stove, where up to 50% of the heat produced dissipates into the air around the stove.  Even though - regardless of your heat source - cooktop energy consumption is relatively low compared to other home appliance energy hogs like your refrigerator, water heater and clothes dryer, the energy efficiency and greenhouse gas generation of all major appliances should still be considered - particularly if you are undertaking an upgrade or major renovation. 

However, for something as personal and important as the cooktop, energy efficiency can’t be the only decision factor.  I’m convinced that induction makes great functional sense as well.

I attended a cooking demonstration last week at the Bosch showroom in Manhattan.  The in-house chef took the Bosch 36” Benchmark cooktop with Flex-induction (model NITP666UC) through its paces.  I watched a pot of water at a rolling boil instantaneously come to a simmer at the push of a button.  That level of responsiveness just isn’t possible with gas or conventional electric cook tops.

Searing scallops on a teppanyaki pan and steak using the grill accessory on the Bosch model NITP666UC induction cook top

And, when the chef removed the pot from the stove, he placed his hand directly onto the cooktop, which was already cool enough to touch.  For those of us who have children or grandchildren in our homes, it’s wonderful to have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that there won’t be any hot surfaces in the kitchen to burn little fingers.

We entertain A LOT!  It isn’t unusual for us to have 12 or 14 people around our dinner table on the weekends.  Since I generally cook everything myself, I’m often in the kitchen when my guests are socializing.  Which is why we’ve designed our home with an open floor plan – perfect for casual entertaining.  One of the nicest features of an induction cooktop is that it doesn’t heat up the kitchen.  I won’t be “wilting” while standing at my stove after my guests have arrived.  And, since the ambient air in my kitchen will stay cooler if I'm using induction cooking, I'll also save on my air conditioning and ventilation usage and costs. 

Speaking of entertaining…when I cook for a large group, I often need a large cooking surface.  Many induction cooktops have “bridging” features or cooking areas that adapt to a pot’s size and shape.  Thermador’s Freedom™ Induction Cooktop (pictured at the top of this post) is the most flexible induction cooktop I’ve seen, and it provides for up to four pieces of cookware – from as small as 3” to as large as 13” x 21” – to be placed anywhere on its surface.  This is the unit we're planning to install in the Sunset Green Home kitchen.

Lastly, cleanup is easy with an induction cooktop.  The smooth glass surface is easily wiped clean.  And because the surface doesn’t heat up like the grates of a gas cooktop do, there’s less likelihood that spills and spatters become baked on messes.

Induction cooking is only “nearly perfect” – so it wouldn’t be fair to extol its virtues without discussing its flaws.  First, unless you purchase a special induction wok burner, wok cooking is less satisfying than with gas.  If you like to flip and toss, you may be frustrated when the wok cools down as you lift it off the cooking surface.  Although I love to stir fry, I think I can live with this.  And an induction cooktop won’t function during a power outage.  But – I have a gas grill and we will have a generator, so this is another risk I’m willing to live with.  Lastly, induction cooking requires special cookware with magnetic conductivity.  But since my mother-in-law had the foresight to buy me a set of induction ready pans as a housewarming gift those several years ago, I’m good to go.

Happy cooking!

Practical Sustainability: Hello Sunshine! Goodbye Dryer...

Laundry on the line in Dubrovnik, Croatia

We just returned from our summer vacation, where we visited friends and stayed at private homes booked through AirBNB.com in several European towns and cities.  Each of our homes-away-from-home had one thing in common: they had washing machines, but none had dryers.  Once I got used to having to wait a day for dry clothes, I started to wonder if it might make sense to import this practice back to the USA, where over 83% of American households own a dryer, according to a report published by the US Census Bureau.

So what does drying our clothes really cost in environmental terms?  It turns out that a clothes dryer is the third biggest energy-hogging appliance in most US households (behind water heaters and refrigerators).  By ditching our dryers, which use 71% of the energy required for a load of laundry and produce 127 million tons of CO2 per year, we could eliminate the equivalent carbon emissions of approximately 30 coal-fired power plants annually.  And while eliminating or reducing our dryer use will clearly help the environment, there are other benefits to hanging our clothes to dry:

• Saving energy means saving money.  According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a typical US household spends $100 on its annual utility bill to operate an electric dryer and $40 to operate a gas dryer.  But our household is not “typical” and we estimate our costs to be significantly higher.  In fact, I calculated our per load costs based on my utility bill using this calculator and discovered that – depending on whether or not I amortize the utility connection fees and taxes in my calculation – it costs between $0.30 and $1.30 to use our gas dryer for 45 minutes (or $0.70 – $0.90 if our dryer were electric).  Multiply that by the number of loads you do in a year, and that represents real potential for savings.
• Reduced dryer use translates to less wear and tear on your clothes.  Have you ever thought about the lint in your filter?  That's a layer of your clothing literally tumbling away.  And heat causes shrinkage.  Hanging your clothes to dry will protect them from shrinking.
• There are indirect savings to be captured as well.  If you hang your clothes indoors in the winter, you'll have a free source of humidity as moisture evaporates into the air.  And if you forego the use of your dryer in the summer, you will save on the cost and environmental impact of your air conditioners as well.

What if you just can't bear the thought of ditching your dryer?  Or you live in a community that doesn't allow you to hang your laundry outside to dry?  There are things you can - and should - do to reduce the environmental impact of your laundry practices...

If You're In the Market for a New Dryer

If you're in the market for a new dryer, consider a highly energy efficient unit.  According to a report released last month by the Natural Resources Defense Council, simply raising US dryers to standards already in place overseas, Americans could save $4 billion dollars annually on their utility bills. By switching to the most energy efficient dryers, American households could prevent 16 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere every year.  That's equivalent to the carbon dioxide sequestered by nearly 12 million acres of US forests per year (I used this EPA calculator).

Until 2014, heat pump dryer technology – the most efficient available, and already commonplace outside the US – wasn't available here.  That seems to be changing with LG's announcement of its model DLHX4072V heat pump condensing dryer. According to LG, “using a heat pump to preheat the air coming into the dryer recovers this heat and saves electricity, because it takes less electricity to move the heat than to create it with a conventional heater…In conventional dryers, all the energy that is used to evaporate the moisture in the clothes is vented outside and lost. The hybrid dryer technology is able to recover some of this wasted energy and use it to evaporate more moisture, saving energy.”  According to Consumer Reports, energy savings for the LG model may be as high as 50% versus conventional dryers. 

Starting next year, clothes dryers will be able to seek ENERGY STAR certification, which will require that they be 20% more efficient than standard models.  At a minimum, look for an ENERGY STAR rating when you’re shopping for your next dryer.

If You Can't Part with Your Existing Dryer

If replacing your current dryer isn't an option, then take the following steps to be as environmentally mindful as possible:

• Use a drying rack and hang as much to dry as you can.
• Clean your lint filter before every load.  Yes...EVERY load.  Pushing hot air through a clogged lint filter uses as much as 30% more energy than is required by a dryer with a clean filter.  It's that simple.
• Use the highest spin setting on your washing machine that your clothes can tolerate.  Washing machines are much more efficient than dryers.  If you take the water out of the clothes with the washer, your dryer won't have to work so hard.
• Use your dryer’s moisture sensor setting and remove the clothes when they're just slightly damp.  Your clothes will last longer than if you over-dry them.  And, if you hang them up right away, they'll require less ironing.
• Dry multiple loads in succession.  It costs less to dry two loads one after another because you're able to use the heat you've already generated in the drum to dry the second load.

We’ve been back for two days now and I’ve cycled quite a number of loads of our family’s laundry…and have happily hung our clothes out to dry.  Go ahead…give it a try.  Hello sunshine!  Goodbye dryer…

Practical Sustainability is a monthly column that offers ideas and tips for things we all can (and should!) do to live a more sustainable life on a limited budget. Past articles have addressed low flow shower heads, LED light bulbs, and cleaning the air filters on air conditioners and household appliances.

Adaptive Reuse and Deconstruction, Roman Style: Lessons from the Ancients

I have just spent a wonderful week with my family in Italy, where we traveled through Sicily and then to Rome.  From the perspective of sustainability, I think we could learn a lot from the Romans.  Not the 21st century inhabitants of Rome, but the ancient ones, as well as their immediate predecessors and successors...

According to the Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA), "the construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings in the United States leads to the generation of 170 million tons of waste materials, more than half of which goes straight to the landfill." And materials aren't the only resources wasted during demolition.  Sara Badiali, Board Chair of the BMRA writes in the organization's February 2014 newsletter, "to demolish a 5,000 square foot building they typically use 6,000 gallons of water.  That comes out to roughly 1.2 gallons of water per square foot of building. That is over a gallon of clean water for every square foot of building that is being demolished to keep air quality on a demolition site legally safe."

So what would they have done 1,500 years ago?  It turns out that the ancient Romans were masters of reclamation and recycling.  And early adopters of the concept of Adaptive Reuse - meaning the reuse of a building for a purpose other than what was intended when it was initially constructed.  We see evidence of these practices all over Italy.

We toured Palermo, including La Martorana, a Norman church with exquisite Byzantine mosaics whose original construction dates to the middle of the 12th century.  In the 16th century, its structure and Byzantine mosaics were preserved while the building was expanded and a Baroque altar and facade were installed.  Rather than tearing down the old to build the new, the 12th century building remained in place and was enlarged without wasting the original structural materials.  

La Martorana (Palermo, Italy)

In Agrigento's Valley of the Temples, many attribute the survival of the spectacular Temple of Concordia - constructed by the Greeks ca. 440 BCE - to its renovation and subsequent reuse as a church at the end of the 6th century under Pope Gregory, when the space between its columns was enclosed and archways were created in the walls of the cella.

Temple of Concordia (Agrigento, Italy)

We encountered another example of in situ reuse - of an even older building - in the Ancient Greek/Roman town of Siracusa (Syracuse), where the vast columns and other structural elements of the Temple of Athena, a Greek Doric-style temple dating to ca. 470 BCE have literally been incorporated into the walls of the cathedral that today serves as the town's main cathedral.  Even its nave, which was constructed in the 7th century, incorporates the cella from the Temple of Athena.  While Agrigento's Temple of Concordia is no longer in use, the ancient Temple of Athena remains actively in use thanks to the practice of Adaptive Reuse.

Temple of Athena, now Siracusa's Main Cathedral, Side Exterior Showing Reuse of Greek Columns (Siracusa, Italy)

In Rome, at nearly every turn, we encounter examples of reuse - of whole buildings as well as reclaimed building materials.  

It is known that, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Colloseum - which had been built in 70 AD at the height of the Roman Empire - became a squatters village.  During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, many of the large stone blocks that comprised its upper tiers and the marble used for its seats were carted off to be reused in other buildings.  Notably, portions of the Colloseum were reused in the construction of St. Peter's Basilica.

Interior of the Colloseum (Rome, Italy)

Not all of Rome's city planners were as sustainability-minded as those who sought to reuse what they could.  We see a prime example in the Victor Emmanuel monument that today houses Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Solider.  We see evidence that an ancient Roman "apartment complex" - which our guide, an archaeologist, pointed out was probably housing for poor Romans - was demolished to make way for the monument that was built in 1861 to celebrate Italy's first king.  All that remains is a section of the ancient Roman building tucked into a corner between the monument and Michelangelo's steps that lead to Rome's Capitoline Hill.  What we don't know is if the builders of the "Vittoriano" sought to reuse the materials that were removed to make way for the new construction.

Remains of Roman Homes Tucked Between the Vittoriano and Michelangelo's Steps (Rome, Italy)

So what can we learn from the ancients?  If you've been following Sunset Green Home, you'll know that we advocate taking the time and energy to plan a "deconstruction" rather than demolition.  Doing so will keep the reusable materials out of the landfill.  And, we are proponents of Adaptive Reuse to contain urban sprawl and save precious resources.  

I'll leave you with a present day example.  Consider the attractive and functional Green Building, a 100+ year old former dry goods store that was redeveloped into Louisville's first LEED Platinum certified commercial building.  

The Green Building in Louisville (Ted Wathen/Quadrant Photography, Courtesy The Green Building)

Building a Durable and Energy Efficient Pool: A Conversation with John Tortorella

I sat down recently with John Tortorella, a designer and builder of custom gunite pools in Southampton NY, and the CEO and founder of the Tortorella Group, to discuss pool durability and energy efficiency, two qualities that are “top of mind” for the Sunset Green Home project. 

John Tortorella (photo courtesy of Tortorella Group)

If you’ve been following our story, you know that the old house on the site of the Sunset Green Home project was made uninhabitable by Hurricane Sandy.  The property didn’t have a swimming pool, but the new Sunset Green Home will have one.  So, just as we have been thinking about durability and energy efficiency for the Sunset Green Home itself – which we hope will earn LEED Platinum certification at completion – we are thinking in parallel about the same issues for the swimming pool.

Like many coastal properties, Sunset Green Home will be built on pilings that are approximately 10 feet above current grade.  The pool will be set into a deck at the level of the ground floor of the house.  On the one hand, this means we won’t have to do any excavation.  On the other hand, it also means that the entire pool structure has to be constructed above the ground…which is somewhat complicated.  

Our pool construction, just like that of the house, starts with pilings that are driven deep enough into the ground that they can support the load of the pool structure with no movement.  The pool contractor will then build steel (rebar) and concrete grade beams that span the piles in order to distribute the pool load over the piling system.  

Durability is critical!  Think of it this way: at 70 degrees, one gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds.  Multiplying by the volume of the pool, we estimate that the Sunset Green Home pool will hold over 143 TONS of water (we used this pool volume calculator).  That’s a lot of weight.  And now imagine a similar storm surge to that of Hurricane Sandy, which would send a velocity flow of water right into the vertical wall of the deep end of Sunset Green Home’s pool. 

So how does one build a pool to withstand these types of forces?  And, if we’re going to be as energy minded about the pool as we are about a home that is seeking LEED Platinum certification, what should we do about energy efficiency?  These are the questions Kathryn Cannon (Sunset Green Home’s sustainability consultant) and I posed to Mr. Tortorella.

The first thing he did was pull out his mobile phone and show us a photo of a pool he had built just prior to Hurricane Sandy, which the homeowner's insurance adjuster believes may very well have saved the owners’ oceanfront home.  The pool had been built on helical piles just up against a dune.  After the storm, when 100 feet of dune had been washed away, what was left was the exposed underside of the pool structure – which was completely undamaged.  THAT, John Tortorella said, is a durable pool.  And, because the pool withstood and deflected the forces of the storm, the house behind it was undamaged.

Photo of Exposed Pool Structure Following Hurricane Sandy (photo courtesy of Tortorella Group)

So what makes a durable gunite (i.e., pressure sprayed concrete) pool?

Gunite Pool Under Construction (photo courtesy of Tortorella Group)

• The quality of the rebar used for framing of the grade beams and pool walls.  Tortorella uses 1/2”  and 5/8" thick rebar (and thicker rebar in some cases) versus the industry standard 3/8” thick steel on even his standard pools, and his crew takes care to bend – not splice – the pieces where angles are required
• The design of the rebar caging for grade beams and pool structure.  Depending on how high the pool is built above grade, the rebar structure may vary from a single cage of 1/2" rebar at 10" on center, to as much as a double cage of rebar for a pool that one can literally walk beneath.  To avoid cracks, Tortorella reinforces his pool structures with rebar under and around the pool skimmers
• The density of the concrete walls.  It’s not enough to specify a particular thickness of gunite.  Tortorella nozzlemen receive extensive training and are certified for gunite application, which Tortorella says results in a uniform, dense application that contains no “voids” within it.  It’s the uniformity of coverage and proper encapsulation of the steel rebar that gives the gunite its strength
• Sizing the pipes correctly.  The durability of the pool pumps and other equipment depends on smooth flow of water through the system.  Undersizing the pipes or including too many twists and turns will cause the pump to overwork, resulting in  shorter equipment lifetimes and increased - unnecessary - electricity use
• Including pool components that work holistically to deliver a safe and comfortable aquatic environment.  Salt water pools are the state of the art, and their salinity is approximately equal to that of a human tear.  Such pool chemistry, if properly balanced, will feel better on skin and eyes, and provides for more pleasurable swimming.  The salt in the pool is also used to create pure chlorine via a salt generator.  But Tortorella warned that the process of generating chlorine from salt will raise a pool's pH - so using a salt generator alone is not recommended.  He cited a trio of Pentair products – Intellichem (the "brain" that continuously measures and tests chlorine and pH levels), Intellichlor (which produces chlorine from salt) and IntellipH (which balances the pool's pH level) – that work together to adjust and maintain a pool’s chemical balance.  But he warned that using the salt generator alone, which some customers do to control first costs, may be penny wise and pound foolish...doing so may result in rough and unsightly scale buildup on the pool walls and may deteriorate the pool heater's heat exchangers.

And what about energy efficiency?  There are things that pool owners can – and should! – do to reduce a pool’s energy use and environmental impact.  

• Install an ASTM-approved automatic pool safety cover…and then use it!  Not only will this habit result in a safer pool environment, but closing the safety cover when the last swimmer comes out of the pool can save up to 70% in heating costs, and will reduce by as much as 50% a pool’s evaporative water loss and 60% of pool chemical consumption according to the US Department of Energy
• Include an ENERGY STAR certified variable speed pool pump.  According to the US EPA’s ENERGY STAR web site, on average such pumps result in savings of over $300 annually (and potentially even more in warm climates where pools are used throughout the year or when the newest and most efficient models are installed; John cited a savings of as much as $1,800 - $2,000 for local installations using the Pentair model).  In fact, according to the ENERGY STAR web site, “If all pool pumps sold in the United States were ENERGY STAR certified, we would save about $113 million per year and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 140,000 cars.”
• As above, design the pool’s plumbing system correctly.  An energy efficient pump is no good if it’s trying to push water through a pipe that is too small!  Getting the plumbing right means that the pool pump won’t have to work so hard to move the water through the system.
• Heat the pool water using solar panels (which work best during the warm sunny months of the year) instead of gas heaters (which burn fossil fuels and contribute to global warming).  And install solar PV panels to generate electricity for supplemental pool heat (check for federal, state and local rebates and tax incentives).  Design the pool with “deep heating” – heat rises, so heat the pool from the bottom rather than at the top to avoid losing the pool heat into the air

If you’re building a new swimming pool, make sure to ask your contractor to incorporate these and other best practices into its construction and operation.   

Happy swimming!

Practical Sustainability: Clean Your Filters Before You Use the A/C

There is evidence everywhere around us that spring has sprung.  Flowers are blooming, the trees are in full leaf, and my asparagus patch is almost finished for the season.  And…it’s been warm enough on a couple of days already that we’ve started to use our air conditioning.

And this reminds me that it’s time to clean my filters.  Clogged filters can lead to higher energy bills, excess strain on air conditioners and other appliances that require air filtration, and a drop in indoor air quality.

So here’s my mea culpa.  I am guilty of allowing filters all over my home to get unbelievably nasty.  And that’s why this month’s Practical Sustainability column is about spring cleaning…of all of the filters in my home.

I started with the window air conditioner from my home office, whose filter was almost completely clogged.

My home office window air conditioner filter before...

...and after.

And then I moved on to my daughter's through-wall air conditioning unit that contains two side by side filters.  I cleaned the one on the left.  Before I did so, it looked just like the one on the right.

Two filters from my daughter's through-wall air conditioner - one before and one after cleaning

And this is what my refrigerator coils looked like.  Not so bad, since I had a service call a couple of months ago and the serviceman vacuumed the condenser area. 

The refrigerator condenser fins before...

But the fan side was still pretty dirty and the coils definitely needed some vacuuming.  The serviceman warned me to turn the refrigerator off before cleaning, and to be careful not to crush the condenser fins while cleaning them.  Here it is after a careful vacuuming with the dusting attachment of my vacuum.

...and after cleaning

Most of our apartment is served by a central air conditioning system, whose washable filters are located near the two air handlers.  I replaced those as well.  And cleaned the dishwasher-safe baffle filters of my range hood.  I replaced the filter on our water jug.  I even cleaned the filter on the back of our hair dryer to make sure it was running smoothly.  And lastly, I replaced the vacuum cleaner’s filter! 

The best part of this month’s Practical Sustainability activities?  It cost me nothing and took only a few minutes of my time.  The LEED green building program recommends replacing heating system and air conditioner filters every 3 – 12 months (and according to manufacturer instructions). 

So what are you waiting for?  Look around your home for everything that has a filter.  And then go clean it!  You’ll breathe easier.  Your appliances will thank you.  And your energy bill will reflect the effort.

Happy cleaning!

Sustainable Sites and Raising Oysters…What do These Have in Common?

This past weekend I attended an event sponsored by the Moriches Bay Project™ where participants helped to build oyster cages and set up an oyster farm off the dock of a local family's property.  So what does this have to do with the LEED® for Homes green building program?  A lot, as it turns out. 

Photo courtesy of Moriches Bay Project

The Sustainable Sites category of the LEED for Homes program addresses issues of erosion and surface water runoff, and aims to protect bodies of water in and around a LEED project site.  Why is this important?  As people move closer and closer to bodies of water, the potential for human activities to interfere with delicate ecosystems increases.  In the case of our local bays, non-functional septic systems, the use of lawn fertilizers, and application of chemical pest controls have deposited harmful non-point source pollution into the local waterways (see boxed information from the United States Environmental Protection Agency web site).

“A full grown healthy oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water in one day.”

— Laura Fabrizio, Director, Moriches Bay Project

 As a result of these factors and other human activity, water quality in the Shinnecock and neighboring Moriches bays, has deteriorated to the point that the bays have experienced episodes of harmful algal blooms, and a dying off of eelgrass and shellfish populations. 

Moriches Bay Project's Dwight Surgan, right, demonstrates how to build oyster cages and set up an oyster farm

But programs established by the Moriches Bay Project and the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program are aiming to reverse the harmful effects of human activity in the local waterways. 

Christine Santora, Program Coordinator for the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program,  tells me that "over 75% of the nitrogen pollution coming into Shinnecock Bay comes from waste water (meaning septic tanks). So, this is actually a solvable problem (with a lot of effort and political/community will obviously!).  We are trying to provide an 'in the water solution.'  We know that changing our land-based problems will take a dedicated, longstanding effort, and will be expensive.  In the meantime, we are implementing some positive change within the bay which will not only restore important shellfish populations and habitat such as eelgrass, but could perhaps even buy some time until land-based problems are properly addressed." 

Each of these organizations sponsors important aquaculture programs that enlist local residents to set up oyster “farms.”  According to Laura Fabrizio, Director of the Moriches Bay Project, “a full grown healthy oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water in one day” thereby helping to repair the damage caused by human activity. 

The Sunset Green Home project is located adjacent to an undeveloped waterfront lot on the Shinnecock Bay.  So what are the strategies that Sunset Green Home will use to reduce the likelihood that we cause any harm to the local waters?  We’re going to:

• Build a new septic system that is elevated away from ground water
• Incorporate dry wells and rainwater harvesting to contain storm water runoff
• Landscape with drought tolerant turf, and native and adaptive plants – which require less fertilizer and water than invasive species
• Create a 75 foot native vegetation buffer between the home and the adjacent waterfront lot, which is designed to further protect the bay from potential runoff
• Include non-toxic pest control strategies – like non-toxic termite baiting – to reduce the need for poisons to control insects and other pests

Incorporating these and other strategies will help us satisfy LEED prerequisites and earn points toward our LEED certification. 

And, in addition, we’re talking to the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program about setting up our own oyster farm.  I've already recruited one of our neighbors to participate.  The next thing I need to do is recruit my remaining neighbors so that we all do our part to keep our bay healthy.

Happy Farming!

House Tours: A LEED® Gold Caribbean Idyll. And That's Just the Beginning...

29, The Venetia, Grand Cayman - a LEED for Homes Gold certified home

James Whittaker, a Caymanian with a background in finance and CEO of the GreenTech Group, a conglomerate of sustainable companies based in the Cayman Islands, has set out to green the Caribbean, one project at a time.  Completed in 2010 and certified in 2012, GreenTech's Sailfish Estate home, a LEED Silver 5,000+ square foot luxury private residence, was the first LEED certified home outside the U.S. and Canada.  Participating in the program's international pilot, it edged out a LEED certified residence in China to win this honor by mere days.  Since then, Next Design & Development, the design, management and development company in James' portfolio of sustainability-related businesses, has either built or has on the boards a handful of residential developments, each of which will seek certification under the LEED for Homes program.  His partners includes architect and LEED Green Rater, Stace McGee, a New Mexico based sustainability expert (who is also on the faculty of USGBC) who spends one week each month on the Island, and Ryan Ostendorf, a real estate and development expert and project manager.

The latest GreenTech project to achieve certification won that honor this week - at a level of Gold certification.  The residence is one in a development that requires homeowners to stick to an approved 3,000 square foot stock floor plan.  Every house looks the same from the outside, but the 29 Venetia home isn't like those that surround it.  Completed in 2013, its homeowners haven't paid an electric bill yet - in contrast to their neighbors, who spend $800 per month or more with the Caymanian electric utility.  To achieve this level of energy efficiency, the home was constructed with insulated concrete forms, and included solar PV, solar thermal and a dehumidification system to protect the home from the Caribbean climate. GreenTech provided the LEED for Homes certification services and sustainability consulting for the project. Images courtesy of GreenTech (Cayman) Limited.

Like many of us who have embraced sustainable development, James isn't only in it for the profits – although he acknowledges that green building can earn a careful developer a premium over a traditionally built home (while James estimates that a LEED home costs him 8% more to build than a traditional home, it can fetch up to a 20% premium on its selling price).  He told me "I'm optimistic that we can do a lot of really great things in sustainability in Cayman and the Caribbean." 

And those great things aren't all about designing and developing LEED homes.  James recently launched Project Green School as a pilot at the Triple C School in George Town, Grand Cayman to provide a "meaningful and fun perspective on sustainability."  The program is introducing a sustainability and renewable energy curriculum in the school.  Another of James' portfolio companies, GreenTech Solar, has installed solar panels at the school, and the students are being given solar kits.  Two additional schools are waiting to pilot the program, and once they're up and running, Project Green School will host solar decathlons and inter-scholastic competitions.  James expressed a hope that Project Green School will eventually encompass all the local schools and result in schoolchildren in the Cayman Islands growing up thinking about careers in the green economy.  Eventually he would like to see Project Green School embraced in other schools across the Caribbean. 

Another of James' initiatives is facilitated by SMART Energy, another group company, which brings sustainable energy services expertise to the Cayman Islands.  Among other essential services offered, SMART Energy transforms existing and inefficient commercial and residential buildings into highly efficient ones that become more profitable, less costly, more productive and sustainable places to work and live.  

James and I toured Grand Cayman for several hours, stopping at GreenTech Group projects at various stages of completion, ranging from empty lots to construction sites to completed homes.  James explained that one of the keys to his success is his team's deep understanding of building science and sustainability.  And when he hasn't been able to find the right green technology locally, he uses another of his portfolio companies, GreenTech, to import and manage the distributorship of the products he needs.  James cited the example of Logix ICF.  When he couldn't find ICFs locally with a high enough R-value (R26) for certain LEED Gold or Platinum projects, he negotiated for GreenTech to become Logix ICF's local distributor, thereby creating the supply chain integration that ensures the GreenTech Group can design and build to the highest LEED for Homes standards.

He also talked about his projects' durability planning elements, which are designed to protect the homes from severe weather events like Hurricane Ivan, which devastated the island in 2004 and damaged 83% of the island's housing stock.  Some of GreenTech Group's key durability measures include:

• Designing homes a minimum of one foot higher than Hurricane Ivan's flood level
• Installing dehumidification systems to fight the effects of coastal living
• Using recycled plastics and composite materials on exteriors to counter the effects of tropical sun and island weather
• Building with ICFs and steel, and incorporating double hurricane strapped standing seam metal roofs
• Including 12"- 18" of cement board or waterproof sheetrock to minimize damage should flood waters reach the homes' interiors
• Using the highest quality impact rated and insulated windows and doors

James Whittaker, Founder, Next Development Group

Toward the end of my tour of GreenTech's projects, James and I spoke about legacy.  He expressed his desire to help transform the Cayman Islands into a "hub of sustainability in the Caribbean."  He says he has grand plans and small plans - that range from a $2 billion plan to stop the urban sprawl of the capital city of George Town to developing affordable housing to continuing to create luxury private homes, forming key industry organizations and educational programs.  While his team often talks about highly attractive projects on other Caribbean islands, James asks them to stay focused on Cayman.  "Let's focus our resources and perfect the model here first – and then take the show on the road." 

Practical Sustainability: It's Time to Change Your Lightbulbs!

You've heard about LED light bulbs.  But you're still using incandescent bulbs?  It's time to make a change!

When most of us think about "going green," we imagine ripping open our walls to accommodate new insulation, spending thousands of dollars on solar panels, or perhaps hiring an electrician to install smart thermostats. 

One 60W Cree LED bulb in each of the bedside lamps and three 75W Cree LED bulbs in the overhead fixture

These may all be worthwhile investments.  But they’re projects that take planning and motivation.  And the LEED for Homes program (in which Sunset Green Home is participating) rewards projects for both large and small sustainability measures.  So in this month's Practical Sustainability column, I say start with something easy.  There’s one thing that you can do today - right now, even! - to reduce your impact on the environment without breaking the bank. 

What I'm talking about is changing your light bulbs.  And I don’t mean CFLs.  Frankly, I've never been a fan of them.  And they still come fraught with disposal problems (and woe to you if you break one and have to deal with a mercury spill). I'm talking about LED light bulbs.  They've come way down in price, emit light that is comparable to your existing incandescent bulbs, and - if you happen to be a card-carrying member of the AARP - they'll last long enough that you may never have to change your light bulbs again!

Between February 2012 and March 2013, the US Department of Energy conducted a three-part study that evaluated the life-cycle impact of LED replacement bulbs versus CFLs and traditional incandescent lamps (you can read a summary of the study here).  On almost every dimension evaluated, LED light bulbs come out ahead. 

On an apples-to-apples basis, life-cycle energy consumption of LED bulbs (including the energy used in manufacturing, packaging and transporting the bulbs, in addition to the energy consumed when they are in use) is roughly equivalent to mercury-containing CFLs, and only one quarter that of traditional incandescent bulbs.  2015 LED performance targets, if met, would decrease their life cycle energy use again by half, making LED bulbs the clear winners in terms of energy consumption.

We are choosing LED light bulbs for the Sunset Green Home project for several reasons.  In addition to their energy efficiency, LED light bulbs produce light without the heat of incandescent bulbs.  Less heat means a lower cooling load, and that will enable us to reduce the size of our HVAC equipment.  So, we'll save money over time with the lower energy consumption of LED light bulbs and we'll save money up front by purchasing less cooling capacity in our air conditioning system.

I have been trying out LED light bulbs in my apartment so that I'll know what to buy when the Sunset Green Home is completed. I've replaced my incandescent light bulbs with Cree's soft white (2700K) 60W and 75W equivalent standard LED bulbs, and TCP's 40W equivalent candelabra LED bulbs from Homedepot.com (I also tried 3000K LED bulbs from a "big box" store, but I prefer the Cree and TCP bulbs' color and light quality; there are still many brands that I haven't tried). My dimmer switches are over 10 years old, and I've had no problem dimming any of these bulbs. These bulbs cost me on average less than $10 apiece.

In fact, although this article was scheduled for later this month, I was motivated to publish it now because I just learned that Homedepot.com is having a sale on the Cree bulbs that have worked so well for me! Click on the image or the link below to take advantage of the sale on Home Depot's 6-pack of 75W equivalent Cree LED bulbs.

Cree 75W Equivalent Soft White (2700K) A19 Dimmable LED Light Bulb (6-Pack) BA19-11027OMF-12DE26-1U110

My parents visited me recently and were impressed with the look and light quality of the LED bulbs in my apartment. When my mother, who is in her 70s, described placing a step stool on top of their mattress and then trying to keep her balance while changing the bulbs over her bed, I thought "never again!"  We walked to my local Home Depot and bought her some of the Cree LED light bulbs so that she can replace the bulbs over her bed and in her kitchen recessed light fixtures – and I can rest easier knowing that I won’t get a phone call about how she broke a bone falling off a ladder while trying to change a light bulb!

If you’re looking for justification for changing to LED light bulbs, here you go:

1.     They’re more energy efficient.  Over their lives, they’ll save you money

2.     They’re friendlier to the environment than CFLs and even traditional incandescent bulbs

3.     LED light bulbs should last for years – so putting them in hard-to-reach places is a “no brainer” – you may never have to change the bulbs again…and this is great news if you are more “senior” and don’t want to risk falling from a ladder!

Having had such success replacing my incandescent bulbs, I have decided to replace the light bulbs in 22 recessed low voltage halogen fixtures too.  These bulbs are more expensive, but I've had trouble with the halogen bulbs' light output and dependability (not to mention that they're energy hogs!), so I'm eager to try something different, and LEDs appear to be the best option.  At around $30 per bulb, I'm going to replace them in batches, starting with my recessed kitchen fixtures.  I'll report back when I have a final result!

So what are you waiting for?  This is Practical Sustainability...It’s time to change your light bulbs.  And LED light bulbs are the answer!

Practical Sustainability: Change To Low Flow Shower Heads

One of my subscribers recently commented that she hoped I would post some practical tips for making an older home more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.  So today I’m launching the first of a monthly series I’m calling “Practical Sustainability” – things we all can (and should!) do on a limited budget.  This month’s column is all about showers - specifically, changing to low flow shower heads.

Our newly installed low flow shower head

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), showers account for 17% of residential indoor water use.  If your shower heads were installed prior to 1994, their flow rate may be as high as 5 gallons per minute (gpm), or 2.5gpm if they were installed after 1994 (and nobody tampered with their flow restrictors).  Today’s water-saving low flow shower heads that have earned the EPA’s “WaterSense” label have a flow rate of no more than 2gpm.  If each member of your family of four takes an eight minute shower, you could save as much as 16 gallons of water PER DAY if you swap out your old 2.5gpm shower head for a WaterSense shower head.  That’s almost 6,000 gallons of water annually…

Now that I have your attention, what does this really mean in terms of your impact on the environment?  First, if you’re like me, you probably prefer a warm shower to a cold shower!  And that means you’re using energy to heat all of that water.  The EPA estimates that if every household in the US installed WaterSense low flow shower heads, we’d save $2.6 billion in energy costs for heating water alone.

And now think about where that wasted water comes from and where it goes after it heads down your drain.  If your water comes from a municipal source, the water was treated at a water treatment plant and then piped to your home.  By using less water for showers, you’ll reduce the size of your water bill and lower the stress on our treatment and sewer systems.  California and other western states are experiencing a severe drought this year – a continuation of the conditions that earned 2013 the dubious honor of being the “driest year in recorded history for many areas of California.” So, saving water isn’t only about the impact on our wallets – but it’s also about recognizing that water is a scarce resource that we need to conserve.

And yet…haven’t we all encountered a cheap plastic hotel shower head that barely provided enough pressure to rinse the shampoo off a bald person’s head?  And is THAT what we’re signing up for if we switch to WaterSense labeled shower heads?  I recently embarked on a very unscientific search for an answer. 

As it turns out, we had a leak a couple of months ago from our master shower into the apartment below us.  We had to demolish the shower in order to replace its leaky shower pan.  We had renovated our apartment about 10 years earlier and had installed – and were very happy with – 2.5gpm Speakman Anystream shower heads in all of our showers.  Unfortunately, for some inexplicable reason, our shower head started spraying water from the perimeter of its faceplate following the shower stall repair.  Since we need to select shower heads for the Sunset Green Home, I decided to look at this as an opportunity to “test drive” Speakman’s low flow 2.0gpm Anystream shower head (Sunset Green Home will earn one point under the LEED® for Homes rating system by installing shower heads whose average flow rate is 2.0gpm or less).

I’m an Amazon.com junkie (ever since I purchased their Amazon Prime service, which gives me free two-day shipping on nearly everything).  So I turned to Amazon, where I found the S-2252-E2 low flow shower head for $66.48 (a 34% discount from the list price…and as of the date of this article the price has fallen even further, so I'm about to purchase a second one for my children's bathroom).  It came with plumbers’ tape and took about 45 seconds to install.  All I needed was a set of pliers.

And while my trial of a single shower head certainly can’t claim to be representative of an entire product class, I’m happy to report that the low flow Speakman Anystream shower head delivers on its promise.  It provides a stream of water that handily rinsed the shampoo out of my long thick hair.  Did I notice that the water flow is lower than with my old shower head?  Yes.  But did I find it problematic?  Not at all.

So go ahead…change to low flow shower heads.  Do something for the environment that won’t break the bank.  And check back next month for another Practical Sustainability column!

Leave a comment and share which low flow shower head works for you!

Fire Safety Part I: Residential Fire Sprinkler System for the Sunset Green Home?

In planning for the Sunset Green Home, we have done a lot of thinking about durability.  We lost our previous home to flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy, so we have a lot of respect for Mother Nature.  That's why the new house will be nine feet higher than our old home.

And in choosing to build to LEED® for Homes green building standards, we have used the LEED framework to devise durability strategies for non-toxic termite control, managing moisture inside, outside and between the walls of the house, and to mitigate the effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes.  All of these important durability measures are designed to protect our home and keep us safe from pests, nature and environmental toxins.

Image courtesy of digitalart/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Naturally, having lost our home due to flood, we've spent a lot of time thinking about water.  But lately, we've also been thinking about fire safety.  While our house was rendered uninhabitable by Hurricane Sandy’s storm-surge induced flood waters, 135 homes in Breezy Point, NY and several in Greenwich, CT were destroyed by fire in the same storm. 

According to the U.S. Fire Administration (a division of FEMA), "More than 3,400 Americans die each year in fires and approximately 17,500 are injured. An overwhelming number of fires occur in the home. There are time-tested ways to prevent and survive a fire. It's not a question of luck. It's a matter of planning ahead."

Building codes mandate the installation of smoke detectors, and the Sunset Green Home is going the extra step of having them tied into our home security system's central monitoring service.  But, for a two-story single family residence, should we be doing more to plan ahead?  Would it make sense to install a residential fire sprinkler system?  How should we evaluate the choice to do so?

We can think about the decision in terms of the Triple Bottom Line, which goes beyond a traditional economic-only bottom line analysis to include an assessment of the value in terms of environmental impact and impact on people (see my earlier post for more of the vocabulary of sustainability). 

 In terms of economics, Newport Partners’ 2013 Home Fire Sprinkler Cost Assessment report examined 51 homes in 17 communities and found that the average system cost was $1.35 per sprinklered square foot (down from $1.61 in 2008).  At just under 5,000 square feet (considering the main residence and an accessory structure on the site of the project), that's somewhere around $6,750 in total for the system (though we received one bid at $2.75 per square foot, which is more than double the report’s findings).  Our insurance agency tells me that insurers look favorably at residential sprinkler systems, and that we might see a reduction in our homeowner's policy premium if we install one.  What is unclear is how much we might save by doing so.  A 2007 NAHB study titled Fire Sprinklers and Homeowner Insurance suggests that the savings are in fact quite small – the best savings was reported in Florida and was only $95 per year.  If this is the case, the payback period could be very substantial.  And our situation is further complicated by our coastal location, where standard insurance carriers do not write policies.  

Should we experience an actual fire, the economics become compelling.  According to the American Fire Sprinkler Association, “most fires are completely controlled with the activation of only one or two sprinklers. Fire hoses, on average, use more than 8 times the water that sprinklers do to contain a fire.”  U.S. Experience with Sprinklers, a 2013 study by John R. Hall, Jr. studied the cost of damage from fires reported during the period 2007 – 2011.  For homes (including apartments) without sprinklers, the average damage per fire was $20,000, which was reduced to $7,000 when Wet Pipe Sprinkler systems were present.

The environmental impact of having a residential fire sprinkler system can be thought of as a combination of the added impact of the system materials themselves and the opportunity cost of not having the system should the home experience a fire.  There's an upfront environmental cost of the PVC pipes and system controllers.  However, according to a 2010 report by FM Global, the environmental benefits of automatic sprinklers are significant.  The report presents the findings of large-scale fire tests where fires were controlled by two methods: fire service intervention vs. a single residential fire sprinkler.  The study found that in the event of a fire, residential sprinklers could reduce water usage by as much as 91% and greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 98%.

Lastly, the human benefits of adding a residential fire sprinkler system are significant.  In the event of a house fire, a home sprinkler system might provide enough fire suppression to allow the home's occupants to exit the building safely.  By treating the blaze before firefighters can arrive on the scene, the system will reduce the risk to the first responders, who often put their lives in danger when they enter a burning home.  In fact, while “more than 8 in 10 fire deaths occur in homes…the likelihood of someone dying in a home fire is cut in half when sprinklers are present,” said Gary Keith, NFPA’s vice president of field operations, in a 2008 press release.

Municipalities are getting on board.  I spoke with a representative from the New York State Division of Building Codes and Standards, who told me that the International Code Council has already mandated residential sprinkler systems in one- and two-family residences regardless of their height.  New York generally follows the International Codes.  So it may just be a matter of time before all new homes in my state are required to install them.  While Sunset Green Home has a choice regarding a home fire sprinkler system, builders of new homes may not as early as next year. 

We haven't made a final decision about a residential fire sprinkler system; we are waiting for additional proposals from licensed installers so that we can understand the costs in greater detail.  And our decision also involves understanding our personal fire risks.  I do a lot of cooking, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cooking is the leading cause of house fires.  However, the CDC also notes that smoking is the leading cause of fire-related deaths, and we do not have any smokers in our family.

Stay tuned.  We'll post an update when we make our final decision.

Early Spring Salad in a Jar – Grow Your Own!

Spring is in the air!  Today was a picture perfect day for gardening and I spent the morning planting radishes, spinach, arugula, peas and several other early spring crops.  In just a few weeks, we’ll be eating salad that we grew ourselves.  After our seemingly endless northeast winter, I’m really looking forward to the rebirth of my garden.

I had dinner a couple of weeks ago with my friends Taryn and Lisa.  Taryn had just returned from vacation where she had been served a salad in a canning jar.  I love that idea!  Jars are reusable and travel well.  No plastic containers to discard.  And, since I’m a fanatical canner, I have tons of empty jars taking up space in every drawer and cabinet in my kitchen (from last year’s pickles, chutneys, sauces…which we used throughout the winter).  So, I figured I’d give salad-in-a-jar a try…

I remembered that my favorite canning site, Food in Jars, had written a post about a handy insert that separates a canning jar into compartments, so I ordered one from Amazon figuring that I could use it to hold the salad dressing.  Here’s my early spring salad – in a regular wide-mouth Ball jar and with the dressing in a Cuppow BNTO lid insert.

The only thing better than this will be when the salad and veggies come from my own garden!  Just a few more weeks to wait.

Happy gardening and happy eating!

Spring salad in a canning jar, with a Cuppow BNTO insert to separate the salad and dressing.

Back by Popular Demand - DIY Raised Garden Beds!

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Click on the image above for Rasied Bed Corners from Gardeners.com

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Click on the image above for Aquacorners from Gardeners.com

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Many of you have reached out to me about building raised garden beds this summer.  After our seemingly endless winter, the sun is shining today and our temperature should top 60 degrees.  It's really time to start gardening! 

I swear by the method of dense companion planting in raised beds (read Sally Jean Cunningham's Great Garden Companions - it's my "go to" gardening bible).  Planting your crops close together, with herbs and flowers interspersed amongst them, will eliminate the empty spaces where weeds might take root.  And if you line your beds with "hardware cloth" (1/2" wire mesh that you can find at Home Depot or Lowe's), the burrowing critters won't be able to find their way to your crops.  Most importantly, raised beds will save your back when you're tending the garden!

Original raised bed on the right; expansion materials and new bed half completed at center.

I've built two types of raised beds and they're both attractive and durable.  The first type - which is less costly, but more labor intensive (perfect for experienced DIY-ers) - was described in detail in an earlier post. 

The second type uses Raised Bed Corners and In-Line Connectors from Gardener's Supply Company and assembles in minutes. For a 12" high bed, all you need are the 12" raised bed corners and two rows of 2x6 lumber (see photo above of our expansion, half completed, with one row of 2x6 lumber already in place). Size possibilities are endless and you can even create beds that have sections of varying heights. Just make sure to purchase lumber that corresponds to the size of the corners and connectors that you intend to use. Include the in-line connectors if you plan to construct beds that are longer than 8 feet.

I used untreated cedar, but the National Gardening Association says that new ACQ pressure treated lumber is safe for vegetable gardens too.  My local lumberyard, Speonk Lumber, cut the cedar boards for me so that all I needed to do was slip each board into the slots in the raised bed corners and insert a screw to hold it all together.

Once I assembled my garden beds, I combined equal amounts of organic topsoil and compost from my local garden center (ordered for my initial beds by the cubic yard, which is far less expensive than purchasing by the bag), along with some peat, and shoveled everything into the beds.  To figure out how much soil mix I needed, I multiplied together the length, width and height of my bed in feet, and then divided by 27 to obtain the number of cubic yards of soil mix.  For my first beds, which were 18" high and 4' wide by 8' long, I needed (1.5 x 4 x 8) / 27 = 1.8 cubic yards of soil mix.

The only thing I had left to do was add water and seeds.  Providing a regular supply of water to your garden beds is critical.  In my 4' wide beds, I have three parallel lengths of drip hose running down each bed to ensure that every plant in the bed has access to an adequate water supply (see photo).  My irrigation operates on a timer, and I water before sunrise each day to ensure that the water goes directly to my plants' roots and doesn't evaporate in the heat of the day. Gardeners.com sells Aquacorners and DIY drip systems.  Although I didn't use them in my garden beds, they are well-reviewed on the Gardeners.com web site.

Expansion complete!  Soil and irrigation in place...all we need now are seeds and water.

Rome wasn't built in a day.  But my garden beds were.  If you've been thinking about starting a garden, now's the time.  In the northeast, where I live, it's time to plant peas, lettuces, spinach, radishes and a host of other cool weather crops.  I'll have my hands in the dirt this weekend.  What are you waiting for? 

Leave a Comment!  Tell us about your Raised Garden Beds.

Deconstruction Part II: Time-Lapse Video - The Unmaking of a House

We have completely removed the old house from the site of the Sunset Green Home project. 

Nothing left but the cinder block foundation.

If you read our earlier blog post, you know that we used whole home deconstruction rather than traditional demolition.  For a typical 2,000 square foot house, demolition sends 127 tons of debris to the landfill.  Deconstruction salvages any reusable building materials and recycles as much as possible.  We’re still awaiting our diversion numbers, but we anticipate that we will have diverted at least 70% of the demolition waste away from the landfill – enough to earn a LEED point for the Sunset Green Home project.

I think of Deconstruction as a perfect example of the “Triple Bottom Line” – which expands the traditional bottom line focus on economic profit to include two additional dimensions – those of environmental benefits and human capital gains. 

• In Deconstruction, the environmental benefit is obvious.  Deconstruction keeps the vast majority of a building’s materials out of our overstressed landfills. 
• The economics can work out favorably as well.  Although Deconstruction costs about twice as much as traditional demolition, the salvaged materials are donated to non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity and Build It Green! NYC.   Tax deductibility of the in-kind donation can offset the added cost.  Having an independent third-party appraisal is critical, and you should check with your tax adviser before relying on any outside information (including what you read here…I am not a tax professional!).
• Finally, Deconstruction builds human capital.  The process is labor intensive and, as such, provides jobs in green building trades. 

The finished product - an empty lot, graded and ready for construction.  Photo courtesy of Chris Mensch

Deconstruction is not just for whole homes; it’s also a great way to remove kitchens and baths in a home that is slated for renovation.  The salvaged building materials will be given a second life when you’re finished with them!

I’m happy to speak with anyone who would like more information...just fill out the Contact Us form on SunsetGreenHome.com and I’ll get back to you.

We’re very proud of our whole home deconstruction.  And while the house was coming down, we documented the process via time-lapse video, including interviews of the crew from Details who deconstructed the house!  Take a look at the “unmaking” of a house.  Enjoy!

House Tours: A LEED® Gold House in Ski Country

What do you build when you’re a successful commercial real estate developer, you’re ready to build a home for your family, and it’s 2007 – a year when the LEED for Homes green building program is still in its pilot phase?  A LEED for Homes house, of course!

I had the good fortune of touring a “mountain modern” style home just outside Vail, CO this week.  Frank Navarro, the homeowner, explained that when they bought the building lot, he and his wife Allison knew they wanted to build a LEED certified home.  Frank is an architect-turned-sustainable developer, and couldn’t imagine building it any other way. 

Photo courtesy of Frank Navarro

Frank assembled a team that included a LEED accredited sustainability consultant, an architect who was well-versed in passive solar design, and a builder who, while not experienced with the LEED program, was nonetheless hungry to move his business in the direction of constructing sustainable homes.

What struck me when I entered the house was how quiet it is.  Frank explained that theirs was the first house in its area to use triple pane windows.  Their views of the mountains across a wide valley are exquisite and face south, so large walls of glass were a key design feature.  And triple pane glazing is how the team was able to achieve the insulating properties they needed.  The architect designed deep overhangs to shade the home from summer sun while permitting winter sunlight to enter and warm the house.

Photo taken from inside the home, through one of its large picture windows.

One of the things I like about the LEED for Homes program is its flexibility in how a project team can accrue points toward certification.  The Navarro home racked up points using sustainable finishes throughout.  Exterior cladding is “beetle kill” pine – a local, sustainable option.  The interior features low VOC cabinetry, plaster, paint and carpet – all of which earn points under the Materials and Resources category.  But most interesting are such details as the beautiful pressed sorghum grass composite bar countertop, local stone fireplace surround with granite banding, poured concrete flooring set in a sustainably harvested wood grid, and recycled glass and concrete bathroom countertops.

The house is extremely energy efficient, with a sizable solar PV array as well as a ground-mount solar thermal system that provides domestic hot water – taking advantage of the 300 days of sunshine that the area enjoys. 

Photo courtesy of Frank Navarro

When I asked if there were any elements he would have liked to include but didn’t, Frank mentioned rainwater harvesting – which was prohibited by local water rights laws.  Instead, the home uses Xeriscaping – a landscaping method that uses drought-tolerant native vegetation and requires little or no irrigation.

The home is large – 6,300 square feet – which meant that it needed to earn even more points for LEED certification than a comparable house of smaller size.  Nonetheless, the house earned LEED Gold certification, and with no compromise in function or aesthetics.

Frank has his sights on a LEED residential condominium development.  Doubtless, if it’s anything like the home he built for his family, it will be beautiful, functional and sustainable.