Take the ENERGY STAR new homes program, for example, the one I’m most familiar with. Version 1 required only one inspection, a home energy rating (for the performance path), and no checklists. Version 3, which becomes mandatory for builders wanting the ENERGY STAR label on their homes starting next January, requires 2 inspections, a home energy rating, and 4 checklists.

I understand the need for it from the perspective of the program administrators. Building and energy codes are catching up with voluntary program requirements, so they have to keep moving forward. Program leaders also have attempted to clarify the ambiguity of early versions of program requirements. And they have to make sure that the program is meaningful and that when the program label appears on a home, that home is significantly better than homes without the label. I get all that.

It just seems like we’ve lost our way, that we’ve all gotten blinded by a confusion of checklists, worksheets, prescriptive measures, and certification levels. Not to mention the confusion that comes from having so many different programs out there. If you’re a builder, you have to decide if you’re going for ENERGY STAR, LEED for Homes, EarthCraft House, NAHB Green Building Standard, Environments for Living… It’s not an easy task.

One of the first points of confusion that participants in the ENERGY STAR program face is whether to certify via the prescriptive or the performance path. That sounds pretty clear-cut, right? When you take a closer look, however, you find that the prescriptive path has performance requirements (e.g., testing for duct leakage and infiltration rates), and the performance path is chock full of prescriptive requirements. Just look at the 4 checklists required in ENERGY STAR Version 3.

As constructed, the performance path is differentiated from the prescriptive path by its requirement for a HERS rating. It’s based on how the home is constructed, how it tests out, and how the software does the energy modeling. It doesn’t depend on how the house actually performs, though, and that could differ significantly from the modeled performance. One reason we do it this way is so that the homes certified will carry the program label while they’re for sale, thus helping the builder to market their homes.

But what if we included the performance of a home over its first year of occupancy? Then we could include the actual energy use and calculate the energy intensity, even separating out baseload from the energy used for heating and cooling. It seems to me that this would be one of the best ways to handle quality assurance, too. If HERS raters, builders, and trade contractors know that their work has to pass not only the initial inspections but also a full year’s worth of performance assessments, don’t you think they’ll pay a bit more attention to getting the details right?

We could simplify the requirements for the initial certification and make sure everyone knows that the initial label means only that the home has gone through a process. Even though the energy modeling may say the home will use only $900 of energy per year, for example, everyone will know that that will be compared to the actual energy consumption for the ‘real’ label.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on this Monday morning. I’m interested to hear what you think.

Top photo by acearchie from flickr.com, used under a Creative Commons license. Lower photo by Ian Sane from flickr.com, used under a Creative Commons license.

Yesterday, though, I received a Manual J to go along with a file for an ENERGY STAR home that was beyond the pale. It was egregiously horrific. It was spectacularly sordid. It did come close to meeting the ENERGY STAR Version 2 requirements for Manual J (tight or semi-tight infiltration and correct design temperatures), but whoever put this one together was singularly devious in his efforts to justify the oversized air conditioning systems he wanted to install.

Yeah, he did the usual things to fabricate extra cooling load, but when that wasn’t enough, he resorted to one trick that’s not used nearly as often as it might be. Keep reading, my friend, and I’ll let you in on his secret.

One of the first things I do when checking to see if a cooling system might be oversized is to look at the ratio of conditioned floor area (in square feet) to the cooling capacity (in tons). ENERGY STAR and other high performance homes usually come in at about 1000 square feet per ton or more. The house I builtwas about 2000 square feet per ton.

A lot of HVAC contractors, though, don’t do Manual J sizing calculations but instead rely on rules of thumb. Mostly they use 500 to 600 square feet per ton. This house came in at 368 square feet per ton! That’s ridiculous, especially for a house in Charlotte, NC.

When I went into the reports, here are the problems I found that are typical of bad Manual J’s:

• They put 6 people in the calculation when this house should have had 4. (It should be the number of bedrooms plus one.)
• The HERS rater calculated that the house had 184 square feet of window area; the Manual J had 383 sf.
• The HERS rater used a window U-value of 0.32; the Manual J had 0.53. (Lower is better.)

Those three items alone inflated the cooling load sigificantly. Not enough for this contractor, though. Evidently he really wanted to install a 2.5 ton air conditioner for the upstairs zone, yet after all those shenanigans, the Manual J result was only 1.5 tons. So, what did he do to get that extra ton to show up in the Manual J? He could have gone in changed wall insulation or duct leakage or any number of other parameters, but there was an easier way.

Manual J calculates the sensible and latent loads separately and adds them together for the total load in Btu/hour. The sensible load is how much cooling you need to do to bring the temperature down, and the latent load is how much cooling you have to do to bring the humidity down. If you take the sensible load and divide it by the total load (stick with me here – we’re almost there), you get what’s called the Sensible Heat Ratio, or SHR.

The Manual J report often submitted shows the total load (sensible plus latent), but it also shows what they call the required total capacity of the equipment at a particular SHR. Whoever does the Manual J can override the default SHR of 0.75, and that changes the required capacity. Most air conditioning equipment comes with an SHR in the 0.7 to 0.75 range.

The crafty calculator who completed this Manual J figured out that by adusting the SHR, he could get the required capacity to equal what he wanted to install. In this case, he needed 0.53 SHR to get his 2.5 tons. Can you even get an air conditioner with 0.53 SHR?

Come on, HVAC guys! Do it right! If you can’t do this for ENERGY STAR Version 2, you don’t have a chance with ENERGY STAR Version 3, which is much harder.

Two leading conservation organizations have set out to bring the efforts together. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Alliance for Water Efficiency this week published a white paper that describes the co-dependence of water and energy resources, and outlines strategies to use both more efficiently.

The paper brings to light some interesting – and rarely discussed – ways each resource heightens use of the other.

• Sourcing, moving, treating, heating, collecting, re-treating, and dispos­ing of water consumes19 percent of California’s electricity, 30 percent of its natural gas, and 88 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually, according to a 2005 California Energy Commission report.
• The River Network in 2009 found that energy use for water services accounts for 13 percent of US electricity consumption, at least 520 million megawatt-hours annually.
• Thermoelectric power accounted for an estimated 49 percent of US water withdrawals and 53 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals in 2005.

ACEEE and AWE hope to work together on local, state and federal policy to bring more energy efficiency to water use and water efficiency to energy use. They have some hurdles to overcome. For example, “the water and energy efficiency communities do not share a common language or appreciation of existing efficiency efforts,” the white paper said. “In addition, the two communities frequently operate under different regulatory business models and existing structures that do not recognize the benefits of both energy and water savings.”

The organizations intend to develop approaches that encourage com­munication and guide the industries and their regulators. They hope to share best practices and integrate water efficiency into existing energy efficiency programs and vice versa.

GIMBBYs aren’t worried about seeing wind turbines or transmission lines from their backyards as are the NIMBYs. It’s the guy next store that they don’t want to see. And GIMBBYs number many among us. A recent study conducted for the National Association of Realtors found privacy to be very important in selecting a home for nearly half of the Americans surveyed.

What’s this got to with energy efficiency? To gain privacy we move to homes that are further from work, schools and stores, suburban and rural outposts that offer us bigger backyards. By way of disclosure, before I go any further let me confess that I am a GIMBBY. I’d probably give up my lights, heat and air conditioning before my five acres of trees shielding me from others.

The Environmental Protection Agency calls big-backyard neighborhoods like mine “automobile dependent locations” and contrasts them with “transit-oriented” neighborhoods, places where you can hop a bus or easily walk to regular destinations. The agency recently looked at which kind of neighborhood uses the most British Thermal Units (BTUs), taking into account size and type of house, its energy efficiency, and vehicle use of its occupants. This is known asLocation Efficiency.

The EPA’s findings indicate that location really is everything. Transit-oriented neighborhoods offered up more energy savings whether the houses were single family detached, single family attached or multi-family. This is significant because homes that share walls typically require less energy for heating and cooling. But that advantage was not significant enough to overcome driving distance for the big-backyard neighborhoods. Travel requirements pretty much trumped all, indicating that a home’s location is “a major variable for household energy consumption,” the EPA said.

Even though she’s a very technically-minded person (she works on nuclear non-proliferation and carbon sequestration issues), but, like most people, she doesn’t know what she should expect when it comes to an assessment of her home’s energy efficiency. A good home energy audit these days will cost from a few hundred dollars to over $1000, depending on the size and complexity of the house, so homeowners of course want to know what they’re going to get for that investment.

Well, let’s dive in and take a look.

Who’s Qualified?

Although it may be hard to find someone with one of these certifications in every part of the country, you should look for a home energy auditor who’s certified as either a BPI (the Building Performance Institute) Building Analyst or a RESNET certified HERS Rater. Last year I wrote an article about these being the main certifications to look for, and it’s still the case.

What Should They Do?

1. Combustion Safety
2. Building Envelope
3. HVAC
4. Moisture Problems
5. Detailed Report
6. Extras

The first thing to know is that there are different levels of assessment. For simplicity, I’ll focus mainly on the comprehensive energy audit, but a seasoned home energy auditor can tell a lot just by walking through the house. The key is that it’s got to be someone who’s already done plenty of comprehensive audits and knows what to look for.

1. Combustion Safety

The motto of BPI is, “First, do no harm…to life, limb or property.” If your house has any combustion appliances in it, assessing their safety and suitability should be the first thing the energy auditor does. Often, a home energy auditor is the only person who looks at your house as a system and can tell you if there might be problems such as backdrafting that could put carbon monoxide in your home. A good combustion safety test will include checking for spillage of natural draft combustion appliances, the content of the exhaust gases in furnaces and water heaters, and worst case depressurization of the combustion appliance zone (CAZ).

2. Building Envelope

The building envelope is the boundary between conditioned and unconditioned spaces. It has two key components: the air barrier and the insulation, which need to go completely around the house and be touching each other. The home energy auditor you choose check all three parts of the building envelope:

• Integrity of the air barrier
• Adequacy of insulation levels
• Alignment of insulation with air barrier

When insulation is installed without an air barrier, it won’t do its job. Most types of insulation do not stop air leakage, so one thing the energy auditor will do is look for proper alignment of insulation and air barrier throughout the house.

The energy auditor will also look for proper levels of insulation (wherever visible) and check for the existence of insulation behind walls. They’ll check the integrity of the air barrier in two ways: a visual inspection and a Blower Door test. The former tells where the big air leaks are, and the latter quantifies the total amount of air leakage in the house. The auditor can use the Blower Door as a diagnostic tool to locate air leaks, too.

3. HVAC

Most homes use more energy for heating and cooling than for anything else, so assessing how well the heating and cooling systems are doing is vital. One thing that a home energy auditor will do that your HVAC contractor may not, though, is look at the quality of the distribution system. It’s one thing to heat or cool the air with high efficiency equipment, but if you put that high SEER air conditioner or high efficiency furnace on a crappy duct system, the money spent on the equipment is wasted.

The energy auditor should look at both the equipment and the distribution system. If it’s a forced air distribution system, they probably will also measure the amount of duct leakage in each system, especially is the ducts are outside the building envelope. Unless the auditor is also an HVAC technician, they probably won’t give you a full assessment of the equipment, but they can tell you, based on the age of the equipment, how soon you might need to replace it.

4. Moisture Problems

There are three things that cause buildings to fail more often than anything else:

• rain
• moisture
• condensation

In other words, water causes a lot of problems. Energy auditors often look for moisture problems in your home and will help find the source so you can eliminate the problem. Most of the moisture problems originate from drainage issues on the outside of the house and should be solved on the outside (e.g.,by fixing gutters that dump water at the foundation). Vented crawl spaces are a category unto themselves, and the good news is that we know how to fix themnow.

5. Detailed Report

Once the home energy auditor has finished with the onsite assessment of the house, which generally takes three to six hours, they’ll write up a report for the homeowners. Some companies have their templates set up and portable printers in their trucks and can deliver the report before they ever leave your house. Most, I believe, will do the report back at their office and then schedule an appointment to deliver it.

The report should cover all the items above (if applicable). It should give the results of the inspections and testing and put them in perspective by comparing what the auditor found in your house to what’s required by code (in the case of insulation mainly). In the case of infiltration and duct leakage, the comparison is usually to a scale showing what’s good and what’s bad. With the former, they may also tell you what size hole you have in your house.

Finally, with a good home energy audit report, you should get a scope of work that prioritizes the improvements you could make based on their cost effectiveness. Air sealing and duct sealing are usually at the top of the list of energy improvements, though combustion safety issues trump energy efficiency.

The report may also list any rebates and tax incentives that you can qualify for by improving the energy efficiency of your home. These vary by location, and not every home energy auditor can qualify you for every rebate. For example, Georgia Power has a generous rebate program, but you have to use one of the approved assessment contractors to qualify for them. To find out what’s available in your area, you can check the DSIRE or Tax Incentive Assistance Project websites.

6. Extras

Some other items that your home energy audit may include are a look at your home’s:

• Water efficiency
• Lights and appliances
• Dryer vent
• Energy bills
• Financing options

Some energy audit companies will check the flow rates of your faucets, toilets, and shower heads and make recommendations for improvement. Some check your lights and appliances and can even measure energy use of items like refrigerators with devices like the Kill-A-Watt or the WattsUp. I wrote about the dangers of underperforming dryer vents a while back and gave somerecommendations for improvement there. Some energy auditors will check that as well.

When I was doing energy audits (or home performance assessments, as I called them), I included an analysis of the homeowners’ energy bills. If they could give me 12 months of their bills, I could plug it into a spreadsheet I’d put together and calculate their energy intensity, the energy use per square foot of conditioned floor area per year.

If your intention is to use a home energy audit as a guide to improving your home, then hiring an auditor who can help you with financing options could be a big plus, too. Perhaps the best one available, in my opinion, is the Energy Efficient Mortgage, which you can use either for a purchase or a refinance.

Choosing a Home Energy Auditor

So there you have it. You can use the above information as a guide to choosing a home energy auditor and making sure you get the most bang for your buck. As with any other contractors you bring into your home, you should also ask for references and check them. I’m sure the comments below will have even more good advice.

Two things to be wary of are the ‘free energy audit’ (usually offered by companies who just want to get into your house to sell you their product or service) and the yahoo who bought an infrared camera and thinks it can find everything. Use the guidelines above to choose a home energy auditor, and you’ll get a much better audit.

If you’re in the Southeast, check our list of certified home energy raters to see if there’s one in your area. Many of them have both the HERS Rater and BPI Building Analyst certifications.

In 1997, I was helping my parents design and build their home. Early on in the process, I had suggested that the house be built 25 feet back from where we originally had it planned,and that the fireplace be moved to the back side of the living room. We had already put the stakes in the ground and were ready to start digging for the foundation, butnow we had to take the time to move them. Sarcastically, my mother said, “damn architects!”

The house was at one end of a mountain valley in the foothills of Northern Colroado, and at the other end of the valley was Horsetooth Mountain. During the Summer, they could watch the afternoon storms roll across the valley, and would often see heards of elk and deer roaming. The wildlife would practically dine with us, they were so close.

My Mother knew that I had heard that exclamation a lot. Unfortunately, it was (and still is) common to want to point a finger at another trade because a decision they made caused a major change in the overall design and construction. Typically, the root cause of this is a break in communication or lack of an integrated design approach. In the case of my parents, we had been working together on design from when the thought of building a new home entered their minds. In fact, we worked together all through construction (my step-father was the builder), and the suggestion to move the house and fireplace came out of a group discussion about how to best take advantage of the view toward Horsetooth Mountain.

Starting the design process with the entire project team working together to make all the decisions can save a project, as well as the sanity and

reputation of all those involved. The unfortunate thing is, many buildings are not created this way, and fingerpointing is the least of the problems. It’s the homeowner or building owner that pays the price by not getting a building that performs the way they expected.

Our blog is full of posts about how project teams miss opportunities to make a building perform well. Some great examples of this explain where it’s not a good idea to put certain light fixtures andduct work. These could have (and should have) been avoided if the project team had integrated their individual roles on the project to come up with a way to prevent failures or holes in the design. Serious home performance issues (e.g. like infiltration and heat loss/gain), offensive aesthetic and functional problems (e.g. ductwork through an otherwise perfectly good closet), and major conflicts during the process are usually the result of a project that doesn’t use an integrated approach.

Having every member of the project team on the same page and contributing to the design and construction process results in well thought out, comprehensive solutions that avoid compromising the design or performance integrity of the building. Not only that, we can avoid having to work with all these “damn tradespeople!”

“Just like you to know I’m glad you aren’t in charge. If you stood between me and my freedoms of choice or others you wouldn’t be standing there long.”

Turns out he’d read two of the articles I wrote last week - The McMansion Penalty in ENERGY STAR Version 3 and Kick the Can! – No Recessed Lights in the Building Envelope. Looking at this fellow’s website, I found that he does nice remodeling work, focusing on kitchens and baths.

But why did he feel the need to send me that message? I reread the articles and nowhere did I call for any kind of government intervention to ban can lights or large houses. The McMansion article was about a voluntary program that aims to foster increasing home energy efficiency. The latter was about the problems with can lights from a building science perspective.

Freedom isn’t a black-or-white issue, though, and it doesn’t mean that we’re all free to do whatever we want. We’re not free to walk into someone’s house and help ourselves to their belongings, for example. We’re not free to yell ‘Fire’ in a crowded auditorium. We’re increasingly less free to smoke in buildings. Heck, in many neighborhoods, we’re not even free to use the color of paint we want on our house.

So what exactly is the issue with this reader? Does he send such emails to homeowners’ associations and governing bodies, too? Or are building science, green building programs, and building codes especially incompatible with freedom? Let’s explore that last question further, splitting it into three separate questions.

Is building science incompatible with freedom?

Science is science. Anyone who works on buildings is free to ignore the principles of building science to the extent that they can get away with it, but someone’s going to pay the price. Maybe it’ll be the occupants, who suffer with comfort problems, poor indoor air quality, frequent maintenance, or high energy bills. Maybe it’ll be the remodeler or builder who has to face constant callbacks.

That’s the point I was trying to make with my article on can lights. To the extent that program guidelines or building codes allow can lights, a remodeler or builder can use them. If they’re part of the building envelope, however, and create a problem with the air barrier or insulation, the contractor is giving their client an inferior product. That’s just building science.

Are green building programs incompatible with freedom?

This one’s also a no-brainer. If it’s a voluntary program, how can it interfere with anyone’s freedom? (Well, OK, there’s Henry Gifford and his lawsuit against the USGBC and its LEED program, but I doubt the courts will let it go far.) If anyone has a problem with the new large home penalty in Version 3 of the ENERGY STAR new homes program, they’re perfectly free not to participate. (Although ENERGY STAR is an energy efficiency, not green building, program, I’m lumping them all together here.)

Are building codes incompatible with freedom?

OK, the first two questions were easy, but this is the one, I believe, where the real friction is happening. Building codes contain a lot of prescriptive requirements, mostly to ensure safety and structural stability. Although some contractors may complain about  the details or enforcement of some requirements, I think most people understand the need for these measures.

In recent years, though, energycodes have been gaining a toehold and are even starting to be enforced. For example, we now have a new energy code in Georgiathat requires all homes to meet thresholds for infiltration rates and duct leakage. This requires someone to test the house with a Blower Door and duct tester. Is that an example of the state standing between builders and their freedom of choice? Some argue that it is and that builders should be allowed to build leaky, inefficient, energy hog houses if they want to.

In my opinion, though, we have a serious energy problem, globally and in the US, and energy codes are one way to help us meet the challenges. With thepeak of global oil production (peak oil) being upon us, the price of oil is rising. This is leading to the electrification of transportation, which puts pressure on the electric grid and causes prices to rise there, too. Efficient houses are going to be a necessity, whether we like it or not.

If we’re going to live in a civilized society, we always have to consider not only the needs and rights of others around us, but also the bigger picture of what’s happening globally. Am I saying we all need to live in yurts and ride bicycles? No. But we are facing some serious problems that demand a new way of doing things. Freedom demands a certain amount of responsibility, too.

What do you think? Do the demands of building science, green building programs, or building codes infringe on our freedom of choice?

The term “green” is being increasingly applied as an easy way to identify products, including building materials and new homes, as having a better or smaller impact on the environment.

That’s fine for marketing slogans and advertising headlines, but it’s also dangerous if the product (or house) isn’t truly sensitive to its environmental impact and is simply trying to ride the coattails of a sincere effort to lessen our carbon footprint.

In those instances, intended or not, the term “greenwashing” comes into play. Simply, it refers to incomplete, insincere, exaggerated, or downright untrue promises made about a product’s environmental performance, with no real evidence to back it up.

As a professional builder confronted with “green” claims from a variety of building product manufacturers and some competitors, we are keenly aware of the threat that greenwashing can have on our credibility as a quality contractor.

So, in our business, we make every effort to substantiate the claims made by our suppliers regarding reduced water use, recycled content, energy efficiency, and other performance characteristics that relate to creating a “green” building.

How? Thankfully, the “green” movement within and outside of the building industry has spawned a wealth of independent, third-party companies that scientifically verify those claims with a battery of standards and test methods. When considering a product or system, we look for certifications from those entities, as well as specific performance information (such as the precise amount of energy the furnace claims to save) to give us confidence.

In addition, several local, state, and national “green” building programs, such as Energy Star, have cropped up to help us and other builders identify materials and methods that result in better-built homes. These programs not only serve as frameworks for higher-quality housing, but also refer to the independent verification programs, such as the EPA’s WaterSense (for low-flow plumbing fixtures), to give us greater assurance that we are truly building green.

Even then, however, manufacturers and some builders may unintentionally misuse the certifications they earn from such testing or evaluation. For instance, there’s no such thing as an “eco-friendly’” or “environmentally-sensitive” product or house, two terms that have no scientific basis and smack of greenwashing.

Failing to go the extra mile to verify environmental performance claims can put us at risk of becoming greenwashers, too. It’s also our responsibility to surround so-called green products and systems with a quality-built house that effectively optimizes the energy use, water use, and durability of those products.

That way, we can all feel good, and be confident in, your investment and our combined efforts to make the Earth a healthier place to live for us and future generations.

1. How Blue Are You? PRICE: Free

This app from American Standard was released in April and is part of their larger campaign to raise awareness of water usage. It helps you calculate your water usage, the cost, and compares it to national averages. It also recommends more efficient products and offers quizzes, prizes and rebates.

2. Waterprint PRICE: Free

Waterprint helps you calculate an estimate of your personal “water footprint.” The idea is to break down your water use by food, beverages, products, and overall household, then calculate your usage. The app will also compare the water footprints of different items.

3. Water Buddy 1.0 PRICE: $1.99

This app was released in late March and is focused on making it easy for you to become aware of how much water you use.  You set a usage target for a period of time and then you keep track of your water meter readings. Don’t have a clue what kind of target you would set? They’ll help. And that’s a pretty good reason to try it out in the first place. Save water and money.

4. myUse PRICE: $1.99

This app, just released in April, tracks water, electricity and gas usage. It estimates your upcoming usage, so that you can walk by the meters and make simple adjustments, rather than taking more time to transcribe the data and transfer it to a spreadsheet. It also creates charts and graphs for a variety of measurements, allowing you to compare your usage to averages and keep track over time. Readings, charts and graphs are all exportable to email.

5. Toobz PRICE: Free

This one is for fun, but carries a lesson. The challenge is to arrange a system of “toobz,” or pipes, to allow the water to flow safely through the network you’ve built. As the levels advance, you have less time to build. Spill any water and you lose. Hmmm… increasing pressure to build efficient piping networks to fulfill water needs? This may be a game, but it sounds awfully familiar.

source: www.greenlivingideas.com

No doubt smart meters are a good thing, but even their most ardent fans must admit that a degree of hoopla surrounds these little digital boxes. We hear that if consumers can just see how much power they use in real time, and what it costs, our energy woes will be no more.

Smart meters will even cure the blind. The energy blind that is.

“It can be difficult to separate the hype from legitimate claims,” said the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in a new report that evaluates what works – and what doesn’t – when it comes to smart meters.

ACEEE points out that we no longer load the stove with coal and wood for our primary energy. Instead, gas and electricity flow unseen to take care of our needs. Since we see only a monthly bill, we have no idea what energy costs in real time, how much we use, or even the acceptable social norm for energy consumption.

Thus, most people in the US are “among the energy blind,” says the report. Asking us to save energy based on our monthly bills alone is like asking a dieter to lose weight without a scale. “Perhaps it can be done, but the task is a lot more difficult,” the report says.

But seeing how much energy we use is one thing; acting on it another. Smart meters will not do their job if we rely on the technology alone. The consumer needs good reason to act, according to ACEEE.

These findings are important because the US and other nations are making a huge investment in smart grid technology. Smart meters represented only about 4.7% of US household meters in 2008. But their market share is expected to grow to 40% over the next five to seven years, according to the report.

The report looked at 57 studies, three decades of research in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan, and found that smart meters can be effective. In fact, households using them have reduced electricity use 4% to 12%.

But much depends on how the meters present information and feedback and how we respond. Ultimately, the smartness of smart meters relies on utilities understanding human psychology.

The high fuel economy helped the MSU team garner 844 out of a possible 1,000 points, earning its first-place finish. Coming in second place was the Virginia Tech University team, which built an EREV with a 40-mile electric range, also driven by a 21.3-kilowatt-hour battery pack, but with a 90-kilowatt motor. Their extended range was achieved with a flex-fueled, 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine. Landing in third place was Pennsylvania State University, again with an EREV, which used a 12.8-kilowatt-hour battery pack to power an 80-kilowatt motor. Like the MSU team, their backup power source was a 1.3-liter, biodiesel-fueled, turbocharged diesel engine, which powered a 75-kilowatt UQM generator.

The May competition included a series of safety and technical tests at GM’s Desert Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona, marking the end of two years of hard work by the university teams. In the first year of the EcoCAR challenge, the teams determined the design for their vehicles, and in the second year, they had to turn those designs into reality. For the next and final year, the teams will have to refine their vehicles to near-showroom quality. In the meantime, you can participate in a Web chat with the top three teams on Friday, June 4, at 3 p.m. EDT on the EcoCAR blog site, “Inside the Green Garage.” See the press releases from GM and MSU, as well as the EcoCAR Challenge Web site.

A high performance home, like the beautiful home in Hattiesburg i recently verified to the NAHB green building standard is one that takes advantage of energy efficient sustainable construction. The definition of a green built sustainable home varies widely.

The fifth edition of The Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal defines sustainability as the practice of developing new structures and renovating existing structures using equipment, materials, and techniques that help achieve long-term balance between extraction and renewal and between environmental inputs and outputs, causing no overall net environmental burden or deficit.

In 2007 the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the International Code Council (ICC) partnered to form and establish a much-needed and nationally-recognizable standard definition of what is meant by “Green Building.”

A consensus committee was formed to develop this standard in compliance with the requirements of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The resulting ANSI approved ICC-700-2008 National Green Building Standard defines green building for single and multifamily homes, residential remodeling projects and site development projects while still allowing for the flexibility required for regionally-appropriate best green practices.

NAHB Green Building Standard is made up of 6 chapters:

1. Land Use
2. Resource Efficiency
3. Energy efficiency
4. Water efficiency
5. Indoor Air Quality
6. Home Owner Education

The USGBC’s LEED program, the EPA ENERGY STAR, and over 100 other green programs exist in the US today. There is no  doubt that learning all the nuances of these programs is a challenge to the appraiser.  So let’s look at a couple of steps that an appraiser can take to gather data in an effort to not only define green but to properly give it value.

If the green home you’re asked to value is part of a third-party rating, like the NAHB program, there will be a paper trail to document the analysis needed to produce the appraisal data. So ask for the following:

1. Any scoring sheet of the green building program
2. A home energy rating or HERS report
3. Fannie Mae Energy Report
4. Documentation of any incentives
   1. An IRS tax credit
   2. Utility rebate
   3. Real estate tax discount
   4. Lower interest rate mortgage
      1. i.      EEM – Sponsored by FHA, VA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as some conventional lenders, it credits a home energy efficiency in the mortgage itself and stretches the debt to income qualifying ratio allowing the home owner to qualify for a larger mortgage amount.

Another challenge to the appraiser might be describing improvements. Begin with the site and pay attention to shading, landscaping materials and water use techniques. Include language that describes the use of solar panels, low VOC paints, recycled glass counters, structural insulated panel (SIP) outside walls and energy efficient heating and cooling systems.

When comes to comparables don’t be fooled by the home with an energy efficient kitchen. That’s a far cry from a home with a green certification. Green built homes are also built “above code”, meaning that you’ll need to pay closer attention to the quality of construction line in the URAR. Actually there are three lines that need special care. Those lines are:

1. Quality of construction
2. Heating and cooling
3. Energy efficient items

If you’ve not made an adjustment in those area a comment should be made as to why they’ve been left off. Items that are not covered in quantity may be addressed in quality. Again, look for incentives, monthly energy savings, and lower maintenance items as good talking points in your analysis.

Appraiser should also remember that some loan underwriters may indicate that Fannie Mae does not allow adjustments for energy efficient features, but that is not the case. You may be called upon to support the energy adjustment, which can be done by multiplying the energy savings by the gross rent multiplier.This is a common capitalization technique and a way to place emphasis on energy efficiency contribution.

Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide includes the following:

“Special energy-savings items must be recognized in the appraisal process. Appraisers must compare energy-efficient features of the subject property to those of comparable properties in the “sales comparison analysis” grid to ensure that the overall contribution of these items is reflected in the market value of the subject property.”

Finding value in a new market can be a challenge but should not be considered impossible. Soon everyone will realize the importance of and recognize the value in building energy efficient.

Your ability to communicate effectively with the unique personalities of your customers affects your project’s success. There are several personality typing systems to explore. Check out the CAP Model at Speechmastery to learn about the 4 types: The Controller, The Analyst, The Supporter and The Promoter. Identifying your client’s personality type will help you better understand what motivates their interest. For instance, engineers are typically ‘analyst types’ who will ask infinite questions. They love gathering information before acting. So with an analyst type you want to be as prepared as possible to provide answers, or know where to find them. For instance, if you are designing or building an energy efficient home, you want to be well-versed on the latest information and ready for their questions.

Read the Article

Susan Kramer-Pope Communication Practices that Make a Difference

We each have a reaction to uncertainty. Some find it exhilarating. Some find it terrifying. In all cases there is an element of stress. If you are a custom builder, you are intimately involved with managing stress-your own as well as the effects of your customer’s stress upon you.

As the builder you come to the table with years of experience in a field your client usually knows little or nothing about. Without addressing this disparity in the way you communicate, you are setting yourself up for almost certain misunderstandings throughout the life of the project.

Consider wearing the hat of an “educator” when interacting with your customer. Educate them about how you do business. When it comes to the contract, create a summary sheet with bullet-points of the most critical pieces that you need to stress, and make sure to use stories from your experience as examples.

Educate them about why you prefer the subcontractors that you use. Educate them on the implications of delayed decision making on the project time-line, their budget and your business, especially if you have other jobs in the pipeline ready to start.

Continue to be an educator to minimize misunderstanding all the way through the project. The worst thing you can do is assume the customer knows your business! If you are stumped as to what topics to cover in this education effort, look no further than the communication breakdowns in your past and ask yourself, ‘What did I learn from that situation that will make a difference for me and this new client?”

This stance may seem elementary to some or bothersome to others. But the question remains the same. What are you doing to create mutual understanding and reduce uncertainty throughout your projects? Your reputation depends on it.

I know what you’re thinking — do we really need more government action? Months ago, when I first considered the Home Star legislation, I was also skeptical. In fact, I was pretty opposed to the idea. This is the story of why I changed my mind.

Read more on the Huffington Post.

In a short, funny, data-packed talk at TED U, Catherine Mohr walks through all the geeky decisions she made when building a green new house — good info too…

The most obvious difference between loose fills and other types of insulation is their form. They are either produced as or broken down into shreds, granules, or nodules. These small particles form fluffy materials that conform to the spaces in which they are installed. Loose fills are most commonly sold in bags and are blown into building cavities using special equipment. All three primary types of loose-fill insulation are considered “environmentally positive” because recycled waste materials are used in their production.

Cellulose loose-fill insulation is made from wastepaper, such as used newsprint and boxes, that is shredded and pulverized into small, fibrous particles. Chemicals are added to provide resistance to fire and insects. Also, less energy is required to produce loose-fill cellulose than to produce other insulations.

Fiberglass loose-fill insulation is spun from molten glass into fibers. The glass is typically melted in high-temperature gas furnaces. Most major manufacturers use 20 to 30 percent recycled glass content.

Rock wool (or slag wool) loose-fill insulation is similar to fiberglass except that it is spun from blast furnace slag (the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal) and other rock-like materials instead of molten glass. The production of rock wool uses by-products that would otherwise be wasted.

Primary Applications of Loose-Fill Insulations

Loose-fill insulations are well suited for places where it is difficult to install other types of insulation, such as irregularly shaped areas, around obstructions (such as plumbing stacks), and in hard-to-reach places. They can be installed in either enclosed cavities such as walls or unenclosed spaces such as attics. Blown-in loose fills are particularly useful for retrofit situations because, except for the holes that are sometimes drilled for installations, they are one of the few materials that can be installed without greatly disturbing existing finishes. Rock wool or slag wool loose-fill insulation is often used for insulating existing walls and ceilings in mobile homes.

In most new construction, however, the more common choices in insulation are batts or rolls because they can be installed without the use of special equipment before walls are finished. Batts are available in standard widths designed to match the cavities created by wall studs.

Loose fills are sometimes used in new construction, though. A mixture of loose-fill insulation and an adhesive can be sprayed into wall cavities before the walls are closed. Such methods may result in fewer gaps in the building’s thermal envelope than can occur with batts.

Comparative Performance of Loose-Fill Insulations

Insulation materials are compared on the basis of their R-values per unit of thickness, density per unit of volume, and weight per unit of area.

There are several performance characteristics to consider when selecting an insulation material. Among the most important to compare are insulating capacity, weight, convective heat loss, settling and loss of insulating capacity, fire resistance, and moisture resistance.

Insulating Capacity:

A material’s resistance to heat flow is expressed as its R-value. The higher the R-value, the better the material insulates, and the lesser the thickness you will need. (However, in an open, unrestricted attic application, the height limit of insulation thickness is of no great concern. But if you use your attic for storage, heavy objects will compress insulation and decrease its benefits.) Different insulations also have different densities, or weights. There are weight limits for certain ceiling types (see the chart and the section on Weight that follows).

Weight limits and other factors at R-38 insulation levels are shown in the chart on this page for the three primary types of loose fills. (R-38 is a commonly recommended ceiling insulation level in many parts of the United States. To determine the recommended insulation levels for your area, call the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse (EREC) listed in the Source List to request the U.S. Department of Energy’s Insulation Fact Sheet.)

Weight:

Ceiling drywall can sag under heavy loads, such as those sometimes created by insulation. One drywall manufacturer recommends loads of no more than 1.3 pounds per square foot (6 kilograms per square meter) for 1/2-inch (1.3-centimeter) ceiling drywall with framing spaced 24 inches (61 centimeters) on center. The limit increases to 2.2 pounds per square foot (11 kilograms per square meter) for framing spaced 16 inches (41 centimeters) on center and for 5/8-inch (1.6-centimeter) drywall.

Loose-fill cellulose and rock wool, being heavier materials, could cause the ceiling to sag if installed at R-38 on 1/2-inch (1.3-centimeter) ceiling drywall with framing spaced 24 inches (61 centimeters) on center (see chart). Therefore, when deciding whether to use these materials for new construction, consider switching to 5/8-inch ceiling drywall or, if possible, changing your ceiling framing widths to 16 inches on center.

Some cellulose and rock wool insulation manufacturers include weight limit information on the bag. Because fiberglass is much less dense, its weight on ceiling dry-wall is not a concern.

Convective Heat Loss:

Convection is heat flow caused by air cur-rents. Convective heat loss in insulation is rare, but it can occur when large temperature differences above and below insulation create tiny air currents (called “convection loops”) within the insulation. Studies have shown that convective heat loss can occur with lighter density loose-fill fiberglass at the very low attic temperatures possible in extremely cold climates. Depending on the attic temperature, the insulation’s measured R-value could decrease by as much as 50 percent.

To minimize these convection loops and their associated effects, some researchers suggest installing blown-in cellulose or a fiberglass blanket on top of the loose-fill fiberglass. Another solution is to purchase one of the currently available “convection blanket” products that can inhibit this convective heat loss.

Cellulose and rock wool are more resistant to airflow than fiberglass because they are denser. They may also be more effective at reducing air leakage and associated heat loss, because their higher densities cause them to settle and seal more around rafters and in corners.

Sprayed-in-place foam insulations are an alternative to loose fills in some applications. They offer higher R-values at lower thicknesses than loose fills and, when properly installed, can help stop air leakage.

But no insulation, by itself, provides an effective air retarder because it cannot completely block airflow. Installing an air retarder along with your insulation and using caulking and weatherstripping seals all gaps and greatly reduces air infiltration into your home (see the section on Air Retarders that follows).

Settling and Loss of Insulating Capacity

Many loose-fill insulations installed in attic cavities will lose some of their installed R-value over time because of settling. Cellulose loose fill settles more than rock wool or fiberglass loose fill-about 20 percent compared to roughly 2 to 4 percent. Therefore, install about 20 percent more blown-in cellulose insulation to offset this settling. Cellulose manufacturers are required by federal law to state “settled thickness” on their bags. Because this can be confusing to consumers, many cellulose producers also specify “installed thickness” on their bags. Regardless, installed thickness can be estimated by adding 20 percent to the stated settled thickness, but be sure not to exceed previously mentioned weight limits.

Researchers say that it is possible to install loose-fill insulations in wall cavities without settling. If the cavity is completely filled with insulation at the proper density, no significant settling should occur. A general density guideline for walls is roughly 3.5 pounds per cubic foot (17 kilograms per cubic meter) of wall cavity for cellulose and 1.5 pounds per cubic foot (7 kilograms per cubic meter) for fiber-glass or rock wool. These specifications are roughly twice the density of horizontal applications.

One expert suggests this easy-to-follow guideline to ensure that wall cavities are being filled at a density sufficient to prevent settling. Use roughly one 30-pound (13-kilogram) bag of cellulose or about 15 pounds (8 kilograms) of fiberglass or rock wool for every three wall cavities you fill. (Assumptions: 8-foot [2.4-meter] walls, with 16-inch [41-centimeter] on center wall cavities, and 2×4-inch framing studs.)

Fire Resistance:

Loose-fill insulations offer very good resistance to fire. Although fiberglass and rock wool are naturally fire resistant, cellulose’s fire resistance is achieved by adding chemicals. To ensure that it does not present a fire hazard, cellulose must pass tests established by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Moisture Resistance:

The average household generates a considerable amount of water vapor each day through activities such as cooking, laundry, and bathing. This vapor migrates into insulated cavities and, if it reaches the dew point (the air temperature at which water vapor cools enough to condense), it converts to liquid within the insulation. This reduces the insulation’s effective R-value.

All loose-fill insulations are permeable to water vapor. Permeability is the extent to which water vapor can pass through a given material. Fiberglass and rock wool absorb about 1 percent of their weight, and cellulose absorbs 5 to 20 percent of its weight. However, any insulation can absorb large amounts of water if exposed to extremely high humidity.

Higher levels of outdoor moisture can also penetrate into insulated cavities. If your roof leaks, for example, moisture can accumulate in the attic cavity and wet the insulation to the point that it mats and compacts. Enough moisture penetration could even cause the ceiling to sag.

If insulation is saturated only one time, it will eventually dry and regain most of its original R-value. However, loose-fill insulations that are repeatedly saturated will lose much of their R-value. Moisture also causes additional problems, such as mold and mildew growth.

See theVapor Retarders section that follows for steps you can take to ensure that moisture does not create a problem in your insulation.

Before You Install Insulation

Upgrading or Repairing Other Building Components: There are other home weatherizing and sealing measures to complete before you undertake any insulation project. A tight, well-sealed home is more energy efficient and needs less insulation to keep you and your family comfortable. Tests have shown that far more cold air infiltration and heat loss result from improperly sealed windows, doors, ducts, light switches, and outlets than from insufficient insulation coverage or performance.

Vapor Retarders: If you are adding insulation to an existing ceiling structure and a vapor retarder is not already installed, consider adding one. Generally, the vapor retarder should be placed on the warm-in-winter side of the insulation-usually the side facing the interior living space. However, in hot, humid climates (primarily the southeastern states), there is controversy over where a vapor retarder should be placed. No matter where you live, consult an insulation manufacturer and your building code official for recommendations on where to place a vapor retarder.

• When installing loose-fill insulations, a material such as 6-mil (0.006-inch, or 0.015-centimeter) polyethylene plastic sheeting can be used as a vapor retarder. Paints that act as vapor retarders are also available. These paints may be more practical for retrofitting homes where no vapor retarder exists because they can be installed without removing finished surfaces.
• Federal Housing Administration Minimum Property Standards require that any product, including paint, must have a permeability (perm) rating of 1.0 or lower to qualify as a vapor retarder. The lower the perm rating, the greater the material’s resistance to vapor penetration. For example, 15-pound (6.8-kilogram) asphalt felt paper has a perm rating of 1.0, while 6-mil polyethylene sheeting is rated at 0.06, and common household aluminum foil is rated at 0.0001.
• If the drywall on your ceiling or wall is removed and the insulated area is completely exposed, you can install 6-mil polyethylene sheeting. Be sure that it runs continuously along the surface area of the ceiling and walls, and that no tears occur during installation. Additionally, all penetrations, such as electrical outlets and light switches, should be carefully sealed. There are preformed foam gaskets for use behind outlets and switchplates.

Air Retarders: An air retarder reduces energy loss because it prevents heated or air-conditioned indoor air from escaping through the building shell. It also blocks drafts of hot or cold outside air-caused by winds and pressure differences between the inside and outside of the house-that reduce your home’s comfort and heating or cooling efficiency.

An air retarder is different from a vapor retarder in that it blocks only air, not moisture. The American Society for Testing and Materials specifies that a material must have a perm rating of 5.0 or higher to qualify as an air retarder. Remember, the higher the perm rating of a material, the more moisture can pass through it. An air retarder should have a high perm rating because this allows the escape of moisture that may have migrated into insulated cavities. In new construction, an air retarder (such as “housewrap” products that are now available) is often wrapped around the outside walls before installing the exterior finish, and a vapor retarder is installed around the inside walls before the interior finish is completed.

Installation:

Loose-fill insulations are typically installed with special equipment that blows the insulation through a hose and into the cavity. Although loose fills can be installed in both new and retrofit situations, they are especially popular for retrofit projects because they can be installed with minimal disturbances to existing finishes.

Installation often calls for the “two-hole method,” which entails drilling two holes spaced vertically between the exterior walls’ framing studs. The holes should be 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter. Working between each stud, drill one hole 16 inches (41 centimeters) from the top of the wall. Drill the other hole 24 inches (61 centimeters) from the bottom of the wall. The insulation is blown into the holes, then the installation holes are sealed. Installation is most commonly done by professionals who are experienced at operating the equipment to ensure proper density and complete coverage. In conventional and cathedral ceilings, insulation is easier to blow in if an access opening through the ceiling already exists. Otherwise, it may be necessary to drill holes in the ceiling or between the roof rafters.

Cost:

At the time this publication was written, the average loose-fill insulation cost per R-value per square foot was about 0.8 cents for cellulose and rock wool and 1.1 cents for fiberglass. These prices were for materials only. The average installed price per R-value per square foot was about 1.2 cents for blown-in cellulose and rock wool and 1.3 cents for fiberglass. Because prices vary in different regions, obtain bids from several insulation contractors or suppliers to determine the specific cost in your area.

Installation Quality Control

Voids and Gaps: To ensure a quality installation, there are several things to watch out for when installing loose-fill insulation-whether you do the job yourself or hire a professional.

• You may create undesirable voids or gaps if you install the insulation at too low a density or if you do not completely fill the cavity. Voids are most likely to occur at the top of wall cavities, above windows, around doorways, and in the corners of ceiling cavities. Voids also occur if the installation holes are improperly located between the vertical framing studs or if there are too few fill holes. Keep in mind, though, that installers’ practices may vary regarding the number, location, and size of installation holes.
• It may be difficult to achieve recommended R-values with loose-fill insulation in the eave area of the attic. There are insulation techniques that can be used to insulate this area adequately. Contact the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse (EREC-see Source List) for advice on this topic.

Fluffing: “Fluffing” occurs when insulation is installed to minimum thickness but not to minimum weight requirements. The result is a less dense application of insulation that requires fewer bags. When insulation is “fluffed,” air passes more easily through it. This means increased heat loss. Additionally, the fluffed loose-fill insulation will eventually settle and result in a thinner layer with a lower overall R-value. Fiberglass is more “fluffable” than cellulose or rock wool.

Intentional fluffing by unscrupulous contractors has been a problem in some parts of the country. To avoid these problems, compare bids from several contractors to see how many bags they specify. Count the number of bags used during installation, either by you or a contractor, and compare it to the instructions on the bag. The manufacturer should specify the amount of insulation required to obtain a particular R-value per square foot (or square meter) of space.

Safety and Health Concerns

Safety Guidelines:

• Insulation blown into your ceiling cavities should cover the top plate of the wall, but be sure the eave vents are not covered. These vents provide necessary ventilation to your attic, and covering them could result in severe moisture problems.
• Electrical devices and recessed lights (except “IC-rated” fixtures) require 3 inches (8 centimeters) of clearance from insulation.
• Pipes for kitchen stoves, wood stoves, and furnaces should only be insulated with fiberglass or rock wool because cellulose may smolder if flue temperatures become hot enough.

Health Considerations:

Some observers contend that fiberglass particles can cause cancer if inhaled, and others state that the fire retardants and insecticides added to cellulose may be harmful to breathe. While the debate continues as to the health effects of loose-fill insulations, it is important to protect yourself when installing any type of insulation. Wear a quality respirator, and wear protective eyewear and clothing such as goggles, gloves, long-sleeved shirts, and pants to minimize contact with the insulation.

Insulation fibers can also be drawn into air distribution systems if the ducts are not properly sealed, allowing the fibers to circulate within the living space. Be sure to seal all of your home’s ductwork, as well as any other openings where insulation could leak out of the wall or ceiling cavities and into your living space.

Conclusion:

Cellulose, fiberglass, and rock wool loose-fill insulations are good choices for many insulation projects. However, they are not suitable for all situations. Conduct careful research and consider factors such as your climate, building design, and budget when selecting the best insulation for your specific circumstances. If you control air leakage and ensure that the insulation you select is installed properly, you can reduce your energy bills and enjoy a more comfortable home. For information on insulation installation techniques and on other ways to weatherize, to select materials, and to make your home more energy efficient, contact EREC (see Source List).

Source: DOE

Opponents state that this would ultimately drive up costs in the short term, however the return on investment would be substantial in the long term. The U.S. Green Building Council is a 501(3)(c) non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everybody. It’s one of the many organizations playing its role in this progression.

With recent green discussion on space travel/fossil fuel emissions, deforestation and land conservation, it’s important that we as individuals/citizens stay up-to-date on important global issues like warming. As larger organizations like the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative), AFH (Architecture for Humanity), and the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) conducts sustainability campaigns and enforce strict green constraints, our world will continue to become a better, cleaner place. Machines behind the CGI, Doug Band and Former President Clinton have been pursuing an emission reduction plan in the San Francisco Bay area. Meanwhile, GEC (Globetrotters Engineering Corporation) is underway with green building projects in Chicago, IL. Despite these few national examples, green infrastructure, particularly in places like Haiti, has become an integral part of restoration and construction.

This aligns with the implications of “economic viability” and long term sustainability, posing the questions, “Can Haiti really make it through all the costs of repair and reconstruction?” Infrastructure can take a toll on any economy, especially if the funds aren’t there. This goes hand in hand with meeting modern day LEED standards and approaching this in a “greener” sense. Organizations like Architecture for Humanity will make this possible. Architecture for Humanity (1999) is a nonprofit design services firm building “a more sustainable future through the power of professional design.” It was formulated through a group of building professionals whose overwhelming passion for construction drove them to provide a way for underdeveloped, suffering countries to rebuild. Through their dedication and hard work, these people will be able to not only create new buildings and infrastructure, but make them bigger, better, and greener.

To touch on just some of the things that AFH covers:

• Alleviating poverty and providing access to water, sanitation, power and essential services
• Bringing safe shelter to communities prone to disaster and displaced populations
• Rebuilding community and creating neutral spaces for dialogue in post-conflict areas
• Mitigating the effects of rapid urbanization in unplanned settlements
• Creating spaces to meet the needs of those with disabilities and other at-risk populations
• Reducing the footprint of the built environment and addressing climate change

As polluters continue to buy their way out of Carbon Cuts globally, and large organizations continue to dump their waste into lakes, ponds and rivers, communities and must play their role in ensuring sustainability; organizations like the CGI, AFH, and USGBC provide repercussion and policy change for acts such as the above. Most of the results from warming and climate change are minuscule and unnoticeable now, but our youth and earlier generations will experience firsthand the effects of pollutants and unsustainable efforts. Feel free to visit http://www.earthday.org/ to learn more about what you can do to support your world.


Site preparation includes several steps. A survey comes first. Topographical features — trees, streams, rocky outcroppings, relative elevations, and open areas — are carefully marked, providing the basis for everything that follows. Property lines must be located precisely to confirm setbacks (the allowable distance between a structure and a property line) in compliance with local codes. Streets and sidewalks are mapped and flagged. Then the surveyors stake out the location of the various underground utility conduits through the neighborhood and to each house. In the case of a single house under construction, the existing utility services in the neighborhood must be located and the connections to the proposed house carefully plotted. Finally, a soils test is ordered to help determine the type and design of the foundation construction.

Most, if not all, of this information is mandated by the local building authority. Copies of the surveys and tests, usually signed and stamped by a registered professional engineer, must be attached to the proposed construction drawings and submitted for permits or approvals from that authority.

Once those steps are taken and the plans are approved by the building department, the next “site prep” step can be taken. The location of the foundation or footprint of the home is staked to provide a guide for excavation. Typically, the stakes and batter boards (which demarcate every corner or turn in the layout) are connected by nylon strings to outline the exact perimeter of the foundation to be built.

Then backhoes or excavators can get to work, digging ditches to extend existing or new utility conduits — for electrical, plumbing, natural gas, etc. — to serve the house (or houses). Foundations are excavated using the staked-out lines as a guide. The plans will call for footings and — according to individual designs — a crawl space, full basement, concrete slab, and/or perimeter foundation walls in preparation for concrete forms, blocks, or other materials to support the main floor.

Every new-home project requires these site prep steps, and it is important for our homebuyer clients to understand this phase of the job to track our progress and get a complete picture of what is required to build their new home.

Warm