by Charles Hendricks | May 18, 2015 | architecture, Green Building, green term defined, Harrisonburg Architect
Green Term Defined: No-Step Entry
Want to build the most sustainable home possible? Then you should make your home adaptable for all of the challenges you might face in life. For instance, what if your teenager breaks an ankle playing sports? What if you have knee pain as you age? What if you have a friend who is confined to a wheelchair? A simple everyday activity can challenge your ability to get into your home – the front porch steps. The solution is to create an entry into your home that has no-step. In other words, build it once, and build it right to reduce the need for using future resources to build again.
When designing your home for a lifetime, a No-Step Entry is critical. Creating a way to get into your home without taking a step up creates a forever home. It also makes life easier on a daily basis for everything from bringing in the groceries to moving in furniture. A No-Step Entry is a simple but incredibly valuable design solution for a sustainable green home.
A No-Step Entry or zero-step entry means just that, a flush entry from the driveway or garage into your home. The entry is typically a sloping, at grade sidewalk, or garage floor that is level with the house. You also will use a low profile threshold on the entry door on this path. A detached garage with a covered walkway is a nice aesthetic solution that solves some of the water problems this goal can create. You can also use a slab on grade solution or a clever sidewalk installation.
by Charles Hendricks | Apr 27, 2015 | architecture, Building Science, Commercial Architect, Green Building, green term defined, Indoor Air Quality
Green Terms Defined: Air Changes per Hour
Air Changes per Hour (ACH) is the measure how many times the air within a defined space is replaced. This measure is determined by how the house / building allows for air to be pulled in or pushed out. It is important to have the right ACH to keep the indoor-air-quality healthy and your energy bills low.
There are many places for air leakage that negatively impacts the right ACH for a home / building. The key is to stop the unwanted leaks from happening and only use the designed ventilation system for air changes. The goal is to make the home / building as air tight as possible rather than allowing it to “not be too tight.” This approach allows you to protect indoor-air-quality, reduce energy bills, and maintain the right ACH for your particular space.
The only way to determine your ACH is through using a blower door test. The 2012 building code that is used in Virginia has a requirement to measure the ACH for both commercial and residential construction. In Virginia, you can do a visual air leakage test for residential construction (this is not possible), but for commercial you have to do the blower door test on all new construction.
by Charles Hendricks | Apr 1, 2015 | Building Science, Green Building, green term defined
Home Energy Audits in Harrisonburg City
I am now performing Home Energy Audits for Harrisonburg Electric Commission (HEC). These are base line / help you reduce your monthly electric bills / more of an air leakage test than full energy audit kind of review for your home. The advantage – they are FREE to HEC customers that have electric heat in their homes.
The kind of things we are looking for are easy things the home owner can do to lower monthly electric usage. You simply need to call HEC to schedule the appointment. It takes us about an hour to set up the blower door and walk through the house looking for air leakage patters. We use thermal imaging camera technology to see through the walls. We also have been able to catch a couple of water leaks that were not yet visible. We leave a short checklist of things for you to do to improve your thermal envelope after our audit.
Once you have done the easy things you could potentially reduce your monthly electric bills by up to 30% depending on what we find during the audit. Note, this is not an exhaustive audit. For a more complete audit you need to call Building Knowledge. However, start with the base line audit that HEC provides for free. We are proud to partner with HEC on this effort.
by Charles Hendricks | Mar 9, 2015 | architecture, Building Science, Green Building, green term defined
Green Terms Defined: Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV)
An ERV or Energy Recovery Ventilator is part of a balanced ventilation system that transfers water vapor and heat from one airstream to another. In a mixed humid climate, it works differently in the hot season and the cold season. In hot months, the ERV works to maintain the interior relative humidity of a structure as outside air is conditioned by the ERV entering the fresh air ventilation system. In cold months water vapor is captured from the outgoing air to humidify the incoming air.
An ERV or HRV (heat recovery ventilator) provides fresh air and improved climate control while reducing the energy requirement for heating and cooling a building.
by Charles Hendricks | Mar 2, 2015 | architecture, Building Science, Green Building, green term defined
Every three years (or so) Virginia updates the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (VUSBC). Virginia typically adopts a version of the International Building Code (updated every year) that is 3 years behind the current year. As of July 1, 2014, Virginia adopted the 2012 International Building Code, which will be mandatory for new buildings starting July 1, 2015. Part of that code is a subset called the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code. Virginia does not adopt it without some modification (I wish they did) so here are some things to expect.
- New homes being built have to be caulked and sealed to create an air tight envelope. Virginia modified this requirement to allow for a visual test – essentially making this a worthless requirement. If you are building, you should ask your builder for a blower door test to at least meet the 2012 IECC requirements of total building air leakage.
- Ducts and air handlers must be sealed with maximum leakage testing to show tightness. Once again, Virginia allows for a visual test instead of the more effective duct blaster test.
- 50% of light bulbs and fixtures in a dwelling must now be high-efficacy lighting. I have not designed a house in more than 10 years that did not meet this requirement.
- Wall insulation requirements have increased from R-13 to R-15 or R-13+1 Continuous.
- Hot water pipes need R-3 insulation according to the code – unfortunately Virginia deleted this requirement completely.
According to a report developed by the Department of Energy, full implementation of the 2012 IECC would add $215 to a home over the 2009 IECC. The projected savings the home owner would see over the first year is $388. So ask your builder to build to the 2012 IECC instead of just the worst possible thing allowed by Virginia law – the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code.
by Charles Hendricks | Dec 15, 2014 | Building Science, Green Building, green term defined, Indoor Air Quality
The 4 C’s: You have to be able to effectively convey the information from design to construction in a Clear, Concise, Correct, and Complete method.
Air Infiltration: The uncontrolled inward air leakage through cracks and holes in the building envelope and around windows and doors of a building caused by the pressure effects of wind and/or the effect of differences in the indoor and outdoor air density.
Biophilic Design: premise that we can learn from nature to create better buildings and build better buildings by connecting to nature
Blower Door Test: used to determine total air leakage of a home’s thermal envelope.
Building Automation System: technology that can be used to control the heating and cooling systems in a building. It can also be used to control lights on a room by room basis or a fixture by fixture basis. It can also be used to monitor security systems and even entertainment systems.
Cohousing: type of development where residents collaborate together on the design of their own neighborhood
Composting: practice of mixing organic waste that can biodegrade quickly to create a planting medium called compost
Conservation: act of preserving, guarding, or protecting the resources we have available on this planet
Construction Waste: materials at a job site that cannot be easily used on that site
Dark Sky (Light Pollution): excessive, misdirected, or glaring artificial light
Dehumidifier: piece of equipment that reduces the level of humidity in the air
Detached Garage: garage not directly connected to your home
Elf: battery assisted, solar charged bike will go 1.5 hours on a charge depending on total weight on a charge and allows you to apply pedal power to extend your ride
Embodied Energy: total amount of energy required to produce a product
Encapsulated Crawl Space: sealed space that has a vapor barrier on the walls and floor
Geothermal Heat Pump: heating and cooling system that transfers heat to and from the ground through a loop to condition the air inside of your home or business.
High Efficiency Water Heater: High efficiency water heating can save you a considerable amount of energy each day. There are several systems used to efficiently heat water for usage inside a building. The most common is either an on-demand water heater or a heat pump water heater.
Indoor Environmental Quality: the air that you breathe, the type of light, the sounds, and the comfort you feel.
Infrared (thermographic) camera: allows you to see radiation or temperature differential on a surface making it visible light.
Integrated Design: Integrated design builds a team to walk the project from concept through construction
Life Cycle Analysis: system of reviewing the entire history of a product to account for the total impact on the environment
Off-the-grid: An off-the-grid system operates without reliance on a public utility.
Permeability: measure of the diffusion of water vapor through a material
Rainwater Harvesting: collection of water for reuse before it reaches the aquifer
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs): environmental attributes of your green power that are sold separately from the electrons that makes up the electricity.
Recycled Content: process that takes a waste material and converts it to a new product, thus reducing the consumption of raw materials, potentially reducing energy usage, and diverts materials from a landfill
R-Value: measure of the reduction of heat transfer across a defined path
Solar Reflectance Index: measure of the constructed surface’s ability to stay cool in the sun by reflecting solar radiation and emitting thermal radiation
Stack Effect: movement of air into and out of buildings, driven by air pressure, temperature differential, and moisture
Stormwater: water that comes from precipitation (rain, snow, sleet…) and does not soak into the ground
Sustainability: Development that meets the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Vegetated Roof: partially or completely covered roof with vegetation over a waterproof membrane
Water Conservation: takes into account activities to manage fresh water resources, protect the water environment, and to meet current and future demand for fresh water.
Zero Energy Ready Home: This program, once called Challenge Home, focuses on conservation strategies to reduce energy load and prepping the home for solar PV panels.
