Tag:Green
Attic Insulation
Typical Ice Dam Condition
Becky and I made a trip to South Bend last week and she pointed out the icicles on many of the houses and buildings. This led to a discussion on ice dams, which I discussed here previously. There’s another nice picture here.
It was one of those days where it was easy to see which buildings and homes had good attic insulation and which didn’t. The temperatures were just below freezing and it had been nearly a week since the last snow. Those structures with poor attic insulation stood out easily amongst the sea of white roofs.
The fact that heat rises makes it fairly easy to understand that the majority of a structure’s heat loss is through the roof. In most homes, adding attic insulation is a fairly economical way to save energy costs. When done correctly in conjunction with proper venting, it can prevent or cure ice dam issues as well. This is green that saves green!
Icicles are pretty, but they may well be the sign of underlying problems and potentially the precursor to water damage. Take a look at your home the next time you pull into your neighborhood. If your house has lots of pretty icicles and is the only one without snow on the roof, you may have an insulation deficit.
Historic Renovations
We have completed many historic projects over the years. If you are considering a historic renovation project a 20% tax credit is available as an incentive to encourage you. The first step is to see if your proposed project qualifies. Here are the Secretary of The Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation:
- A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building, its site and environment.
- The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. Ther removal of historic materials, or alterations of features and spaces that characterize a property, shall be avoided.
- Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development shall not be undertaken.
- Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.
- Distinctive features, finishes and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved.
- Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture and other visual qualities, and if possible, materials.
- Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used.
- Significant archaeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved.
- New additions, exterior alterations or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property.
- New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
Historic renovation is also one of the most green forms of construction. Finding a new use for a historic building may well save the structure from the landfill. Careful analysis should be conducted, though. Old is not always historic. Historic structures are notorious for construction cost overrun issues as well as operational costs that exceed those of new construction. As the project is considered, it must be determined if the project is being approached altruistically or for profit.
Green = Many Things
Where is it written that a green-built home must be small? Monthly energy bills determine a home’s carbon footprint, not its size. In fact, a 10,000 square foot house with zero energy bills is far greener than a 1,500 square foot energy hog.
I would argue that a large home built with no wood, using concrete, steel, and polystyrene (a petrochemical product) is far greener than a smaller home built with wood. This is because the concrete house can last 300 years with no maintenance, while the “earth-friendly” wood house is subject to mold, mildew, rot, termite and fire damage (despite being recycled, reclaimed, salvaged, or sustainably grown FCS-certified).
The periodic replacement of inferior building material, such as wood, is far more wasteful to our natural resources than a concrete house built to last. Durability trumps embodied energy.
Green building encompasses five elements: durability, energy efficiency, water efficiency, indoor air quality, and the environment – not just the environment alone. A fact sometimes lost on many advocates of green.
Dueling theories aside, there is one thing on which all building science experts agree. To save money every time, place resources into the exterior building shell envelope, not into mechanicals or renewables.
Lee Hitchox – Taken from BMail; Builder Magazine
ECC Employees complete OSHA Training
Will Pearson (certificate above) and Russell Voss completed at OSHA 10-Hour Construction Industry Safety Training Class through Safety Management Group and Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana. Will serves as the Safety Officer for Easterday Construction Co., Inc. We appreciate his dedication to the position. Russell stepped up with a desire to learn and promote safety in the company as well. His participation is also appreciated.
Complete Streets II
In the previous entry on Complete Streets, I was discussing development in Culver. Marshall County is in the process of constructing Pioneer Drive (Pine Road Extension, VanVactor Parkway or Holm Highway depending on what you hear) on the west side of Plymouth. Theo and I took a walk along it from Lincoln Highway to State Road 17 and back the other evening before the weather turned and before the asphalt was placed. It was a pretty night for it, though the buzzing, cracking and popping from the high voltage towers was a little disconcerting…
It appears that Marshall County may have missed several opportunities on this project for implementing some Complete Street ideas. (Disclaimer: I have not reviewed the final plans and I’m only going by my observations of the construction as it stands.) Since this road comes out in the middle of several subdivisions on the southwest side of Plymouth, there could have been better provisions made for cyclists and pedestrians. Instead it appears that the road has standard shoulders with large deep ditches on either side. I initially thought that it was probably too far out to really have too much pedestrian traffic, but when I actually walked it the other night, I was surprised to find that I wasn’t the only one out there walking. Since this road leads to the Lifeplex it would seem only natural that it should include some recreational/physical fitness provisions. While I doubt sidewalks would have been cost effective for the potential foot traffic, adding a wider shoulder on one side with bike/pedestrian accommodations could have made sense.
The intersection with State Road 17 appears to have some sight distance issues that will make it difficult for both motor vehicles and especially cyclists. Not to defend their flagrant disregard for road rules and etiquette; it’s pretty common to see bicycles ignore stop signs and lights at intersections. They seem to do this regardless of the safety hazards involved.
I was disappointed in the implementation of erosion control on this project. In many of the areas silt fence has been installed merely as window dressing running parallel to the slope rather than perpendicular to the slope where it would be effective. There were areas where silt fence was installed at the top of the slope rather than at the bottom and was/is having no effect at all on erosion control. Rip rap was missing from spillways and detention pond structures were left unprotected.
The deep ditches all along the road are disappointing on several levels. They limit the opportunities for landscaping and the option of making this road into a tree-lined parkway. They do little to slow stormwater runoff and the detention ponds appeared inadequate to account for the new impervious surface created by this road. Development expenses will be high since if the ditch dimensions are appropriate then equivalently large culverts will be needed at any driveway accesses. The ditches will also make it difficult to add lanes in the future if this road should need to be expanded to four lanes (as Oak Road was.). And finally, since this road is to act as a bypass, then any new drive connections should include accel/decel lanes, which will be difficult and expensive to construct – another thing that is not conducive to development.
Sycamore Road/Rose Road Bypass
There’s no doubt that I was a little jaded on this project from the beginning. I was involved with the Culver Chamber’s effort to spearhead a true Plymouth by-pass, from where S.R. 17 turns at West High, north to S.R. 30. My personal feeling is that this would have served as a more effective by-pass and would have furthered the interests of Culver and Ancilla College in the process. It would have allowed for an aerial railroad crossing due to the natural terrain; something lacking on Pioneer Drive. (Water under the bridge, since additional residential development has occurred making this bypass route more difficult than it would have been 10 years ago.) Pioneer Drive does not seem particularly effective as a by-pass or as a means of opening new land for development. It seems to have missed a lot of its potential.
