The Benifits of Building A Green Home

Check out this video to learn more about the Benifits of Building Green http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/green%20building/

The answer to improved indoor air quality is right under our feet!

What's one of the biggest culprits in poor indoor air quality? CARPET.

Much research has been conducted to understand the effects of interior carpeting on indoor air quality, mostly due to it's high content of chemicals and restrictive air-flowing properties. One of the most common emitted chemicals from manufactured carpeting is styrene and 4-PC. Styrene is a well-known toxin and carcinogen, while 4-PC is a latex backing used in 95% of carpets which emits a strong odor, one that is most notable during the first few weeks of the carpet's installation. 

In addition to off-gasing its own pollutants, carpet als acts as a filter, trapping all pollutants from the bottom of our shoes or feet, from animals, etc, and holding them in our living space. Consistent vacuuming and steam cleaning can help eliminate these pollutants but will not eliminate them all. Area rugs are a good compromise, as they can be cleaned and aired out more thoroughly. Fortunately, more and more carpet manufacturing companies are using sealants and adhesives that are low-VOC and less harmful for the environment. 

In The Go Green Home, to help maintain good indoor air quality,  we decided to use cork flooring, a very sustainable alternative to treated lumber or carpeting, due to its rapid regeneration process. The cork floor is sealed with a non-toxic finish, and will not trap pollutants in the way that carpet does. We're also making it convenient to take off your shoes when you first enter the house so that you don't have to track the day's worth of pollutants inside with you.

Save Energy With Natural Daylight!

 

Humans are diurnal beings. We live by the light of day, and studies continue to show that exposure to daylight is linked with health and wellbeing. Homes and buildings that are lit with natural light, are not only more favorable to our bodies, but to our energy bills.

Our goal at the Go Green Home was to maximize the full potential daylight since we’re in Southern California, where we average 330 days of sunshine (90%) a year. To do this, we paid particularly close attention to the orientation of the home relative to the path of the sun in its seasonal cycles and designed the home accordingly.

At The Go Green Home, all of the South-facing walls have large glass windows and doors to maximize the daylight that can enter to not only light up the rooms, but also heat up the floors during the winter. On the contrary, in the Summer time, when the sun is higher in the sky, the direct light is blocked by specially designed awnings.

 By taking the time to make these extra calculations at the onset, we’re able to save tons of energy and dollars by limiting our reliance on artificial lighting and heating.

And, it feels so good to know that we don’t have to flip a single light switch when it’s light outside.

Keep Your Feet Happy with Warm Flooring Systems

At the Go Green Home, we've installed STEP Warmfloors in, a subfloor heating system, in all of the bathrooms which will also reduce the overall energy consumption of the house and wil offer inceased comfort.

Rolling out of bed on a cold morning, it's easy to turn the warmfloor upon entering the bathroom to warm your toes, instead of needing to raise the temperature of the entire living space.

Through floor heating, the household warmth increases, allowing the thermostat to stay lower, thus saving money on energy consumption. The material is non-hazardous and recyclable and requires minimal maintenance throughout the duration of the flooring.

These systems operate on only a 24 volt mechanism which can be installed under any type of flooring (carpet, hardwood, tile, etc.). In addition, the warm floor material is self-regulating, therefore drawing only the required energy it needs for the entire surface, one of its greenest attributes. For more information you can visit STEP Warmfloor's website .

Saving Water With Every Flush... or half-flush

Since bathrooms consume the most water in a home, we carefully researched the most efficient fixtures for the bathrooms at the Go Green Home. First on our list to find was high efficiency toilets since toilets alone account for nearly 30% of indoor water consumption.
By installing High Efficiency (1.28 GPF) and Dual-Flush toilets (.9/1.6 GPF) in The Go Green Home we will significantly reduce the demand for water, ultimately saving thousands of gallons a year!

Local utilities see the value too and are offering rebates between $50-300 for replacing your toilet with a highly-efficient one.

If you want to learn more about High efficiency toilets then visit Toto's website, or click here for rebate info.

Dozens of locals come to find out what's inside the walls

The Go Green Home opened it's doors to the public as part of Santa Monica's Alt Build Home Tour on Saturday May 2nd. Almost 100 visitors came through to discover the advanced techniques and products we used to ensure a highly efficient home and durable home.

What's Next? Drywall

The drywall of choice for the Go Green Home are DensArmor Plus® High-Performance Interior Panel for the bathrooms and ToughRock® gypsum board for the rest of the house, both products manufactured by Georgia Pacific.
DensArmor Plus® High-Performance Interior Panel is a GREENGUARD certified highly mold-resistant interior gypsum wallboard, featuring fiberglass mats on both the front and the back for the best in interior protection from moisture currently available. All of the bathrooms feature DensArmorPlus to prevent any possible moisture problems.
ToughRock gypsum board is a wallboard or ceiling covering material for use in new building construction or renovation work, and the gypsum core is covered on both surfaces by 100% recycled paper.
What sold us on using Georgia-Pacific Gypsum is that GP is a committed member of USGBC and supports sustainable production of gypsum wallboard by using reclaimed gypsum, recycled plant waste, recycled paper, and clean fuels.

Convenience and Energy Savings With The Push Of A Button

To compliment the innovation throughout the home and tie all of the components together, the Go Green home will feature a full home-automation system by Lifeware. This efficient system helps save the homeowner time and energy by offering a quick and easy way to access all home controls from one point.

Automatic settings allow users to shut off lights in unused rooms of the house, preheating the oven, or even to control room temperatures. Our favorite features are the energy monitoring system and the Lifescene customization where we can program "Goodbye" and have all energy-consuming fixtures and systems turned off.

We'll be showing you more pictures of the integration as the become available. In the meantime you can check out http://life-ware.com/ for more information.

Go Green Home's Healthy Water System

To ensure healthy water from every faucet, The Go Green Home will feature a state of the art water filtration and softening system.
The Pelican Natursoft Salt Free Softener is the most environmentally conscious water softening/conditioning system available on the market. Pelican Natursoft keeps the healthy minerals in the water so homeowners can enjoy naturally softened water. The system does not require electricity, waste water for the purpose of backwashing, nor does it require the addition of salt.
The problem with traditional salt based softeners is that they waste water and release salt into our limited ground water supply. The state of California has actually prohibited the installation of these types of softerners.

Pelican NaturSoft systems utilize materials that do not leach harmful chemicals back into the ground water supply thus conserving our most precious resource, fresh water. For more information, click here.

High Efficiency Spray Foam Creates Fully Sealed Envelope and Saves Wood

For the Go Green Home we decided to use NCFI's eco-concious spray foam for insulation purposes. When inside the home, you can see and feel an insulation that protects indoor air quality and maintains its insulating value for the life of the home. We also saved on 30% of our lumber consumption by using the spray foam insulation due to its superb sealant qualities and extensive coverage area. Not only does it benefit the builders, but as a homeowner, you can save up to 40% a month on energy costs. Our spray foam boasts an impressive R Value (measure of thermal resistance) of 6.4 per inch due to it's closed-cell technology, which prohibits pests and acts as a natural mold inhibitor for the walls. It also acts a complete air and vapor barrier, perfectly sealing all cracks and gaps, conforming to any space possible. NCFI guarantees that the spray foam will never sag or settle, thus maintaining it's insulating value for the life of the home.

Rainwater Harvest Will Yield Sustainable Bounty

The average American family of four consumes anywhere from 900 to 1200 liters of water daily…
Harvesting rainwater offers many advantages: it conserves municipal and well water; it is free; gravity fed systems conserve energy; it is low in salts and good for plants; and it can reduce flooding and erosion. Rainwater provides an excellent primary, supplementary, or alternative source of water.
The rainwater cistern is historically an underground basin of water, but it can also be an above ground barrel or tank. Cisterns are used to make sure that water is not contaminated nor suffers from evaporation. The rainwater cistern can hold large amounts of water and is completely sealed from contaminants, except those in the water itself. Historically cisterns are put underground because it is one of the safest places to put something that is to be kept under constant temperature. Good materials for cisterns include plastic liners or membrane material in wood frames, ceramic, and fiberglass. Tanks are heavily pigmented to deter algae growth. The two main reasons why people use cisterns are either for the sake of survival in a place where the only potable water is rainwater, or ecological awareness in search of sustainability. A rainwater cistern needs to offer enough capacity to collect enough useable water from a catchment surface.
At the Go Green Home we installed a below-ground 1200 gallon water cistern made of plastic that is approved by the FDA for potable water.
During the 1970s California encouraged water conservation with the California Water Conservation Tax Law. This law provided tax credits up to $3,000 for implementation of rainwater, greywater, or combined storage cisterns or other water conservation devices. However, in 1982 the law was repealed.

On Feb 27, 2009, the state declared a historic declaration of drought, so it is clear that now is the time to start doing things differently.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

The amount of daylight in this house is incredible! Even now as the walls are filled in, there is so much light in every space, that one barely needs artificial lighting until the sun goes down. To make sure we’re not letting in too much heat along with all of the light we’re inviting in, we went with dual pane windows with low-e glazing. To compliment the style of the home we chose aluminum frames. What sets these apart from other aluminum windows is that they are thermally broken. A thermal break is a non-metallic resin or plastic material installed in the metallic window frame that physically separates the interior part of the window from the exterior part. Hence, the pathway for heat energy to be transferred or conducted through the window frame is thermally broken. The space between the panes of glass is filled with argon gas and continuous warm edge spacers which reduces temperature conductivity. The windows are glazed with the most advanced low-e coating, a microscopic coating on glass that deflects heat but lets in light.
The Heritage Thermal break system is the thermal strut system which offers better U-values and higher structural strength.

Weather Protection System

Once the exposed wood elements of the building were all protected with Bora-Care, the non-toxic termite insecticide, a layer of protective housewrap has been firmly secured around the building [see diagram above]. This additional step is a preventive measure that is essential to protecting the exposed wood frame from water and ultra-violet rays during the construction stage. A good housewrap not only keeps water out but also is “breathable”, allowing damageable moisture to escape while limiting inward movement of moisture.

We have partnered with Typar on this project. Unsurpassed in water holdout capacity and superior tear strength, Typar has the perfect balance of strength and breathability. The Typar Weather Protection System is made with recycled content and complements indoor air quality with its low-VOC composition and reduces the risk of water intrusion which can lead to mold growth.

Solar at The Go Green Home

Bora-care, the Solution for Durability

A primary concern in building a LEED (USGBC’s Green Building Program) home, is creating one that is durable. Wood, while being a renewable material, is subject to decay by mold and wood-eating insects.
After much research on solutions for eco-friendly ways to prevent decay in this manner, we came across Bora-Care. “Bora-Care”, Nisus Corporation's amazing Green Solution for termites, is a non-toxic wood treatment that protects wood with a borate mineral salt (which has a low mammalian toxicity, but is still deadly to insect pests). Borate is a natural occuring mineral that is found in many fruits and vegetables that are commonly consumed.
This treatment is an amazing preventative solution, as it lasts for decades. It's perfect for new construction because it can be easily applied when the rough frame is exposed. It is recommended by LEED that the bottom 3 feet of wood around the entire structure be sprayed. To ensure the extreme durability of our sustainable home, we're spraying the entire structure bottom to top, to add an extra layer of protection from pests and fungus and to insure that the home will not need to be fumigated at any point in its life. To achieve this level of protection without sending streams of poison into the air and water is Bora-Care's guarantee.
The most effective Green pest management solution is a preventative one, and Go Green highly recommends considering Bora-Care spray for all new construction.

Taking advantage of the earth's most abundant source of energy-- The Sun!

Not only is the Go Green Home rooftop a great place for viewing the cityscape, from the beach to downtown, but now this roof is home to 30 solar panels which will provide the house with 5.6 kW of energy. This system will eliminate at least 100 tons of carbon dioxide over its 30+ year lifetime.

While the sun's abundant energy is actively utilized by the photovoltaic panels, there are also
measures of passive solar use throughout the house. Adjacent to the panels is a large skylight which will allow light to infiltrate the house throughout the day, cutting down on the need for artificial lighting. There are also several large windows facing south that welcome in the daylight all year long.



The PV panels were installed by SolarCity over a period of three days (see right). If you have been considering using solar, now is the best time to buy! The recent bailout opened the door for much larger federal rebates for PhotoVoltaic Systems; there is now a 30% tax break on the total cost (the rebate used to be capped at $2,000).

Plants have been utilizing solar energy now for millions of years, it's about time more of us start making use of this unlimited resource.

Innovative Plumbing Solutions for our Southern Californian Home

The plumbing lines have been run for the Go Green Home!

As well as a line from the city, the Go Green Home incorporates a grey water system. Reusing water from sinks, showers, and washers the system uses "grey" water to irrigate the landscaping. It is a great way to make the most of our resources, especially during droughts.


Another way the home innovates sustainability and green design is though rainwater collection. Rainwater which is collected or “harvested” can be put to use both indoors and outdoors. The rainwater catchment system prevents leaves and “first capture” to be diverted, while following rain gets filtered to insure the highest water quality, and goes on to tanks to be stored for later use. Gauges allow you to easily monitor the tank levels. Making the most of our natural resources, this system also lessens the quantity and velocity of runoff from storms, which is a concern in Urban areas.


Tankless water heaters will be installed, providing the entire home with hot water when it is needed. Unlike conventional water heaters which waste energy having to reheat stored water, tankless water heaters heat the water directly, can control temperature without fluctuations, and comparatively last over three times longer. Tankless heaters are available in either electric or natural gas. They save space; more importantly the save energy. Tankless systems use up to 50% less energy to run. It also allows the option of installing multiple heaters for separate appliances, or whole house systems for larger projects. A safer alternative to conventional tank heaters, they do not have exposed pilots, making them family friendly.

Advantages of Design-Build

Want to save time and money on your construction project?

With the design-build delivery system, the owner contracts with one entity that performs both the design and construction, vs. the more common design-bid-build process. The cooperation between designer and builder from the onset can lead to lower costs due to a more economical and constructible design.

Lower Cost: Input of builder during design phase can help determine the most cost effective design (value engineering).Know the budget and the structural approach from the beginning. In the planning phase, there is an opportunity for saving money; after that point, money can only be spent.
Speed: Time is saved using the design-build process due to the avoidance of the bid and award process
Communication: Clients and everyone involved has more information as there is communication between designer, builder, and clients throughout the process.
Example

UP, UP, UP, WE GO!

-A step-by-step look at the framing process-

from the ground...

to the roof top

Durability Not Digestability

To ensure the durability and life span of the structure, the wood will be treated with environmentally sound borate foam to prevent termite infestation. The borate mineral salt (in foam form) diffuses into the wood providing immediate and residual protection preventing the insects from using the wood as a food source. Best of all it’s non-toxic and there’s no offgasing so the builders,occupants, and neighbors will remain happy and healthy.

Good Wood

All lumber used in the construction of the Go Green Home is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified. This guarantees that the wood is from a certified well-managed forest, encouraging the responsible management of the world’s forests. We know that logging still contributes to habitat destruction, water pollution, and displacement of indigenous peoples and wildlife, so by choosing FSC certified lumber we are guaranteeing that we are not supporting these practices.
http://www.fscus.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7NpAhDFhNs

40% lumber saved

Framing obviously requires a lot of resources. However, thanks to our insulation and advanced framing techniques we were about to reduce the lumber requirements by about 30%.

With our spray foam insulation we can build 24” on center instead of 16” on center because the structural value of the foam itself provides the extra support.

In addition to having a high structural value(R-value) of 6.7 per inch, the spray foam is extremely efficient because it creates a complete insulation envelope. The insulation attaches directly to the frame so there are no gaps for air to infiltrate.

By using this thermally-efficient product, we will be able to shave off about 40% of energy costs.
Locals may be interested to know that we will be having an open house once the insulation is installed in September so you can have a chance to see it and feel it in action before the drywall goes up.

Moving forward and up!

For the next two months we will be framing the house using FCS certified wood from Jones Lumber. We've been on the ground for a while now, and excited to move up to the roof top soon. Some nice views are in store!

Foundation Wears Many Hats

The concrete foundation we poured is efficient, economical and multipurpose...

1. Made with fly ash content, this concrete is extra strong and durable and is diverting waste from landfills .
2. The concrete foundation will double as the finish for the bottom floor: simple and aesthetically pleasing.
3. This large solid concrete mass also serves as a natural medium for passive heating and cooling.
Simple and so effective!

Dwell on Design

Go Green Construction was a big hit at the Dwell on Design Show 6/5-6/8 at the LA Convention Center with over 12,000 in attendance.

We teamed up with Green Designer Giulio Zavolta of Totum Consulting to share our green services with the design-conscious attendants.

After talking to hundreds of attendees, it is clear that more and more people are deciding that green is the way to go when building.
There was a high level of interest in our Spray Foam Insulation. This high-efficiency insulation has been featured in several magazines and home improvement shows in the past few months as homeowners are becoming more concerned with energy conservation and savings.

Big Dig & Fly Ash

Here are some views of the excavation in progress.

When we finished excavating and the next step was to pour the concrete foundation.
We went with a concrete mixture which contained 30% fly ash, a byproduct of coal burning power plants. Fly ash in cement diverts waste from landfills and replaces Portland cement which is energy-intensive to process.
Check out these facts...

For every ton of fly ash used [to replace portland cement]–

· Enough energy is saved to provide electricity to an average American home for 24 days.

· The landfill space conserved equals 455 days of solid waste produced by the avg. American.

· The reduction in CO2 emissions equals 2 months of emissions from an automobile

UPDATE: Go Green Home Deconstruction

We have recently completed the deconstruction of the existing 1700 sq. foot home and finished the excavation of the site. We diverted approximately 3 tons of wood material, and 2 tons of metal from the landfill.

Part of being committed to sustainable building means being committed to sustainable deconstruction as well. While a normal demolition for a house this size would take about 1 week, we spent a full month carefully deconstructing the existing structure so that the materials could be salvaged. Working with The Reuse People and Looney Bins, we were able to recycle 95% of the “waste” from the previous structure.

The Reuse People salvaged the finishes--doors, windows, cabinets, appliances, plumbing, lighting, mirrors, etc—and resell them. We separated the rest of the materials by type and filled dumpsters in different phases… drywall, carpeting, flooring. Looney Bins then separates the materials further and redistributes them for recycling.

http://www.thereusepeople.org/

http://www.looneybins.com/

UPDATE: Gregorio Remodel Completed

We have finished our green remodel of the Gregorio residence in Lake Balboa, and it will be featured on the Discovery Home Channel's "Greenovate," and will air in May.
This project was chosen for the show because it exemplifies the simple choices that one can make to help save energy, water, and waste.
Waste:
In the deconstruction phase we were able to divert 80% of materials from the landfill by recycling with Looney Bins.
By incorporating a significant volume of fly ash into the concrete, this industrial byproduct was diverted from landfills as well.
Energy:
The addition will save energy in heating and cooling costs. The home is now insulated with Ultratouch recycled denim insulation, and has dual pane windows to help reduce thermal fluctations in the room.
The Solatube skylight installed in the closet will also help to save energy.
Water:
We installed dual-flush Toto toilets which will save a great deal of water.

This home is now a healthy and spacious environment for the Gregorio family.

Keep an eye out for a clip from “Greenovate” on our blog!

UPDATE: Gregorio Residence Near Completion

We are nearly finished with our adaptive-reuse remodel in the Lake Balboa area of the San Fernando Valley. The crew from Green That House is filming us for an upcoming episode on Discovery Home.

Once work on the addition got underway, the homeowners opted to implement a green remodel of the entire structure. This enabled them to make several decisions affecting the structure as a whole; for one, they wisely chose to insulate not only the exterior walls with Ultratouch recycled denim insulation – they insulated the interior walls as well, further stabilizing indoor temperatures and adding a measure of privacy: the denim will effectively deaden sound between the rooms in the house.

To further conserve Southern California’s precious water supply, we installed three dual-flush Toto toilets with flushing options for liquid or solid waste. One of the bathrooms will feature glass bricks to maximize privacy and admit natural light, and the master closet will be outfitted with a Solatube skylight to utilize available light when possible, cutting energy demand in those rooms.

Throughout the home we have installed double-paned windows to reduce temperature fluctuations due to outside weather conditions. The windows are glazed with a low-e coating, a microscopic layer bonded to the glass surface which filters infrared and ultraviolet rays from passing through. This keeps heat out during the summer and keeps UV rays off your furnishings and artwork, preventing fading and sun damage.