Structural Insulated Panels

It was a crisp but gorgeous winter day and we headed out to the land.
I can't tell you how we all collectively relax but also become so alert / get SO excited as the car crunches slowly down the drive... it's calm in your heart paired with exuberance.
Car stopped by the camper, we tumbled out, and I ran to the modern passive house kit.

It was a cold day. We have no systems hooked up. Ya can't get more, er, zero energy house than that! ; )
Yet when I opened the door to the passive solar house kit, the air inside was noticeably warmer. Not hot-n-toasty, mind you, but the passive solar design alone was enough to keep us from being too chilled. I hustled the cold children inside, and the next time I turned around the four year old was warm enough to have kicked off her shoes. In February.

After getting everyone settled, I headed over to Ron and Judy's to pick up some reused chicken lamps, feeders / waterers for my, ahem, imaginary urban chickens.

As we visited, Ron updated me on the latest costs so I have updated the construction cost post accordingly here. This currently covers foundation, house kit, erection of off grid SIP house kit, installation of cladding / roofing membrane (we decided to have the north roof be membrane), radiant tubing in foundation... erhm, am I missing anything, readers?

That final danged piece o' cladding has arrived from the vendor, and the Amish will finish installing it (and all remaining cladding, they were waiting for that final piece) this week. So expect great finished pictures next weekend.

NOW, for the interior.
You may have recalled we are in the process of refinancing.
We'd be crazy not to- we have the opportunity to drop over 2 points! But... it seems everyone else in the world has the same idea... so we're just waiting...
And waiting...
And... waiting...

In the meantime, we are still sorting out the VMI basketball court wood with which we will line the interior of that main room in the off grid casa ti. It's a basketball court. Of wood.
So, it's takin' some time.

Like you, we have spent time and thought into what our home will look like so have searched and frugally planned over the past few years so that we won't have to decorate from a big box store.

We have acquired quite a few thrift store recycled / reused furniture finds that look, frankly... amazing.
I am excited to put it all together!

But first we need to finish the interior...
And modest systems... (because who needs big systems when you're energy efficient?)

Thank you folks for bearing with me through my non-green building / modern design / house kit blog musings... (as much as people laughed at Vintage Hat Fridays!) the next few weeks will be focused on what you came here for to begin with:
The SIPs passive solar modern house kit construction!

Yesterday, we spent a beautiful day hanging out on... our foundation.
...Despite the whiny four year old.
As it was muddy, my first order of business when we return is washing all those dog prints off the concrete. Which will not be fun, as by then there will be walls and a roof overhead. Dag.

The Structural Insulated Panels arrive at 8:30 Monday morning.
Our contractor's crew is Amish, hence our documentation will be interesting as the Amish don't want to be in photographs. (Which we completely respect- I am actually *very* excited that our Amish neighbors are putting together our passive solar modern design house kit - and look forward to talking to them about what they thought of it!)

For those of you interested in the Amish, I thought I'd show you their super-cool tractor / forklift!

This is what they will be using to unload the SIPs when they arrive!
I learned from our contractor that November is Amish wedding month. Hopefully it will not disrupt our house kit construction schedule too much, but really, if it does, that's fine by me. I have loved learning about the Amish and their community through our interaction there; the more I read about their traditions and close community interaction, the more I appreciate them.

So... you will see a lot of things happening now on the outside, then it's on to the interior, with modern, environmentally friendly design. This includes reused materials, practical functionality, off grid net zero decisions in systems. More on that soon...
In the meantime, here's some pictures from a lovely day on the land!

The Corrigan Rug Cleaners of Winchester, VA had a building that was 1375 square feet and was a traditional stick built structure. The building did not have air conditioning and they use heat to dry the rugs. Now they have a Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) building that is 4800 square feet with a drying room that is 80 % larger than their previous one.

What are SIPs? SIPs are a strong structural system consisting of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) insulation which is laminated to oriented strand board (OSB) forming a structural panel. The panels resist warping and racking. They are especially cost effective when strength, comfort, performance, and energy efficiency are demanded by the building owner, designer, and builder. SIPs can be used for walls, roof, and floors. Here are the price differences of the two buildings. Keep in mind the new building is three times larger than the original building and has air conditioning which the previous building did not.

Month Electric Gas
2007 2006 2007 2006
January $109.81 $281.84 $202.40 $348.78
February $260.93 $207.14 $242.96 $370.48
March $231.73 $324.04 $151.69 $347.07
April $226.35 $202.34 $80.82 $235.34
May $205.41 $145.49 $23.47 $136.56
June $312.95 $148.26 $23.77 $69.76
July $223.38 $164.94 $17.66 $68.09
August $300.34 $177.06 $21.30 $34.76
September $281.50 $165.36 $19.14 $102.84

Total $2,152.40 $1,816.47 $783.21 $1,713.68

The new SIP building uses a two zone 3 ton and 5 ton radiant geothermal heating and cooling system and a radiant heated floor. For 2006 in a smaller building they spent $3,530.15 for gas and electricity. For 2007 in a building three times larger with air conditioning and a larger drying room they spent $2,935.61 for electric and gas. That is a savings of $594.54. The numbers were over the course of nine months for 2006 and 2007.

This is only one example of how SIPs can save on heating and cooling costs. Not to mention that the new building is amazing to look at. You walk into an open area with high ceilings. The Eagle Rigid Spans give the space an almost timber frame look. The SIPs had pure white paint applied directly to them. There are three garage doors that are only moderately insulated which open directly to the main area in the back of the building. Even after they have all been opened it takes only minutes to feel the temperature return to normal. There is a mezzanine overlooking the entrance which had decorative concrete imbedded with the company’s logo . This is a very impressive structure which has allowed them to grow their company without having to expand on their energy budget

Do you need some tips on the whole "owner-builder" building process and you want to get with the Green kick and learn about eco-friendly, healthy or energy efficient features and methods that are in use today? Visit this blog by clicking the icon below!



http://sjodindreamhome.blogspot.com

We want to implement the latest and best green design principles in the most cost-effective and/or affordable way. We are in the process of building our home in Austin Texas (one of the hottest places in the U.S.) and feel we will be a good test case being in such warm climate where we live in energy-sucking, air-conditioned abodes.

We will blog as often as possible - letting you know our successes and pitfalls (hopefully very few!) as well as tips and non-sales biased reviews of materials or products we want to use.

Here are the green design features we hope to have for our home:
- Rainwater collection
- Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) walls and roof
- Solar water heating
- Geothermal cooling/heating
- Geothermal mass
- PVs (Solar panels)
- Stained concrete floors with fly ash
- Bamboo flooring
- Space efficient design (2419 a/c sf, 4 bedroom, 3 bath space)
- House orientation to sun
- No VOC paints
- Graywater use
- Compost use
- Dual, low e windows
- Use of recycled materials (for our concrete countertops and catwalk)
- Eco-smarte chlorine-free pool sanitation

We want to do a lot ourselves (DIY) and are trying our hardest to minimize costs without compromising quality. It's not an easy feat, but we are up for the challenge! Please visit our blog and feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions!