zero energy

Finally, some sun.

Please again welcome our guest blogger, Ron Bernaldo of Giant Oaks Construction!

...Otherwise known as "Fabulous Contractor."

If you've followed along, we were rained out two days last week.

Finally, with sun, we resumed.

Also, please note Ron's crew are all, with one exception, Amish.

And this is Amish wedding season. Their weddings are on Tuesdays or Thursdays, hence cutting into our construction schedule. (But I wouldn't change the experience for the world, and it is so special our local neighbors are the ones constructing the house kit.)

Here Ron sums up today's house kit construction:

"Nothing eventful.

Put up panels...could possibly finish tomorrow- only have half of a crew tomorrow, no crew on Wednesday because there's another Amish wedding, this time in New York.

If we finish putting up the walls tomorrow we'll be at my goal, which is exterior walls in three days.

The weather has NOT been nice to us.

I don't have the entire Amish schedule, but I'm hoping to have the roof panels in place next week, vapor barriers on, weather tight."

Yes, that'z riiiiight, you heard it straight from the source:
Green Modern Kits is being hijacked by the Amish! ; )
Tru.
; )

On my front I have (and am still in the process) been battling some national vendors to lower their cost, and it all came to a head just this week.
So, don't say I don't fight fer ya... ; )

Our zero energy off grid modern house construction update from our wonderful contractor, Ron Bernaldo! Here he explains the progress and his thoughts, as a contractor who has not worked with structural insulated panels (SIP), or a house kit like our passive solar casa ti house kit.

"Eh, I would say it doesn't take a lot of technical expertise to put the panels together but there are quite a few steps involved, so it's not a speedy process.

We got the 44' wall done, and the one 16' wall done, and the first piece around the corner... it wasn't a wonderful day weather-wise, and I had to take care of some things on another job... but all-in-all we've got one guy filling in the framing, 2 setting panels, and the most experienced carpenter following us just framing in the doors & windows.

The factory rep checked in with us... and I had some questions that they walked me through.

I prefer screws to nails or staples, so I deviated from traditional instructions on that.

I put up a 44' wall today.
Normally we have braces all over the place, and there overnight.
I went up to that wall today, and we couldn't shake it.

It's a neat design. I'm really happy with it.

The panels go together EASY. But you do have to do things as you go along, and that's what slows you down.

One more solid day could get us all the way around the perimeter.
If I can get the perimeter done in 3 days, I might do this in 7 days. (That's my goal.)

One of those interior walls will need to go up first to set the roof panel... so that will slow the perimeter/exterior down.

The only thing I'm unhappy with is the amount of material that did not come with the kit. We need material for the clerestory, for the framing of interior, etc. - so I need to account for that.

But I am still considering in my mind the framing for the extending of the roof on one side... that will eat up time.

That's about it!"

Copeland's note: The house kit is *just* the SIPs and SIP parts, of which I had been clear. I will ask him tomorrow why or what he thought would else have been included- they do come with a window and door schedule, but we are very clear about our "bare bones" - which makes it affordable and flexible for the consumer, who could then make their own decisions according to their style and budget.

There is rain in the forecast, which will certainly slow them down... and I also rescheduled the cladding delivery (it was supposed to be delivered Friday) for next Friday (they only deliver on Fridays), because of the rain. Remember, in a rural lot, you do NOT want to get a truck full o' metal modern cladding stuck in the mud!

I am really looking forward to spending the first night with our children in this house, and sharing it with our friends and family. David Day Design did a beautiful job on an affordable, passive solar house kit for Green Modern Kits.

"The truck is 70 feet long.

I did not anticipate that.

The biggest issue was getting it in the driveway - this is a rural property and it took them over an HOUR to make that turn. We took out the driveway posts, and fortunately there were no large trees that we had to cut down in order to get the truck onto the site.

You don't want a large staff the first day - we used three: myself and two Amish.

The last pictures show everything is staged- they just came bundled, not sorted, so we had to sort everything out (another reason you don't want a lot of people on hand the first day because people might stand around while you're organizing). We stacked in reverse order so when you bring your bigger crew in, it's all ready.

They don't weigh much, but I would have preferred to have a forklift with the forks further apart, and longer.

(Because the packages are so big.)

Tomorrow we will not work as there is an Amish wedding.

We're going to start on that long wall, and work our way around, clockwise.

The weather forecast does not look great for the later part of the week. So we will be keeping an eye on it, because if the cladding arrives Friday we certainly do not want a truck full o' metal being towed out out of the mud at our expense."

Thank you Ron! Finding a *super* contractor who is passionate about efficiency saves YOU money. We are *very* grateful to Ron Bernaldo, and Giant Oaks Construction, in making this project such a success.

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!

Blah blah blah.

Before I go into that, I'd like to share an email exchange I had with a dear friend of mine this weekend from back-in-the-New-Yawk-Citay-days, who is now living in Tokyo. (But of course she is.)

K. has always been international, and I knew well her tales about her childhood between India and Washington, D.C. and many other environs.

So when I emailed for her vote in Vintage Hat Friday, I got the weirdest response:

"Hi, Copeland!! I'm in Cambodia, visiting my school! It's been an amazing week, the kids here have blown me away. Dirt poor and yet so motivated to learn and to get ahead in the world. Great to hear from you. How are things going in Virginia - I'm returning to Tokyo tomorrow. Love to you and all your gang in the meantime!!! K"

Huh? "I don't remember you in *Cambodia?!?*" I typed back.

"No, no, no - I built a school in Cambodia, a rural school for 414 kids, about an hour south of Phnom Penh. I fundraised to build it and supply it with five computers, a power generator, a water well, electricity, satellite, books. I met all the children and it was a glorious experience. I continue to support them to help them get access to education. Will write more when I return. Love, K "

WHA?!? Rewind: "I BUILT A SCHOOL." And (laughing) if any of you know K., you know she DID.

Honeychiles, I just want to remind you it's alllllllllllllllll in what YOU do, and that... you can do it. Ok, I won't get all sappy, but... K., my dear, from across the world I am *hugging* you so hard and am SO honored you are my friend, despite my silliness and pirate acts o' badness.

So... on to the house kit!
Well, it rained buckets yesterday, from dawn 'till dusk. TORRENTS. But when we awoke, there was blue sky and lil' bluebirds o' happiness:
Suddenly, we decided: We WILL go to the land!

The land was still shakin' off the rainwater (over 1 1/2 inches yesterday/last night) when we arrived.
Mud don't scare ME!
Bring it on.

So... here's the foundation...
Enjoy the *obviously* professional, highly-thought-out, informative, modern architecture video: ...And some pictures. (Click on the slideshow to see all the comments)
Enjoy. : )

...AAAAAAAAAAANd.... some more more videos.
Very professionally taken, you've obviously noticed. ; ) Dag we had fun.

Ok, I'm giving myself a high-five for this, called it like I saw it. We have two 400+ pounders on our family farm right now; I grew up *hearing* of occasional bears there, obviously when we bought *this* land if you've been following along we've tracked the imprints, but this was the first scat, I found in two places (gee, was wondering why the usual bobcat scat was more scarce!). Again, SAFE CAMPING AND LIVING keeps humans and wildlife... safe.

A net zero energy home in Truro, Massachusetts, will be open to the public as part of the NESEA Green Buildings Open House. The private residence is designed to produce as much energy as it uses each year.

Zero Energy Home 

Truro, MA (PRWEB) -- ZeroEnergy Design, an architectural design and mechanical engineering firm, will be showcasing their newly completed net zero energy home as part of both the 2008 Green Buildings Open House held annually by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) and the National Solar Energy Tour held annually by the American Solar Energy Association (ASEA) as sponsored by the US Department Of Energy.

The modern Cape Cod residence utilizes a combination of attributes to achieve net zero energy performance. First, energy requirements of the home are reduced by passive means, including attributes like staggered stud walls with foam insulation. Then the active systems throughout the house are selected for energy efficiency, such as the geothermal system which provides all of the heating and cooling. Lastly, renewable energy systems are sized to off-set the annual energy consumption as predicted by detailed energy modeling software. The end result is a grid tied home that utilizes net metering to spin its electric meter backwards and produces as much energy from renewable sources as it consumes.

With a sleek modern aesthetic created by ZeroEnergy Design, the oceanfront residence was constructed by Silvia & Silvia, custom builders, in collaboration with Light Th!s, a lighting design firm, NexAmp, renewable energy system experts, Heimarck & Foglia, landscape architects, GridPoint, an energy management appliance manufacturer, and utilizes panels from Evergreen Solar, a photovoltaic manufacturer.

The residence, located on Corn Hill in Truro, will be open to the public on Saturday October 4th from 10AM until 4PM. More information including directions can be found on the NESEA Green Buildings Open House listings website at www.nesea.org/buildings/openhouse/.

About ZeroEnergy Design: ZeroEnergy Design is a professional services firm providing Custom Home Design and Energy Design services for new green homes. The unique collaboration between in-house architectural designers, mechanical engineers, and financial analysts drives a competitive advantage and enables the firm to deliver fully integrated design and engineering for high performance homes. http://www.ZeroEnergy.com

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know!

Believe me, I have been waiting for this longer than any of you.
; )

So here's my update on our zero energy casa ti being built in central Virginia, in response to a reader's question today on our own experience with building loans and how we, personally, did what we did.

"...Where do I get info about getting loans for buying land and building. Right now I’m pre-approved for a FHA loan.

I hope I’m wrong with my assumptions but I have a feeling I can get a loan that's good for building a (green modern kit?) home.

thx-Sarah"

Dear Sarah, This is what we did, and I would love for those in the business of green loans to chime in:

We did tons of research then found our land on UnitedCountry.com. I looked for areas close to history and culture and within 20 miles of infrastructure (hospitals, jobs), where rural land was available but where people were of a mindset to preserve instead of develop, and community was strong.

Got the mortgage through Colonial Farm & Credit. They are great because they are a co-op, and when their entity makes money, we got a check at the end of the year as "shareholders"! I would look around for a similar land cooperative in your area.

We paid off the land for a few years, enjoyed camping there, then saved up for (My! Yes, disclosure: I'm GreenModernKits.com and GreenCottageKits.com) our passive solar modern house kit. And even then we didn't jump on building it.

For the past year I've been throwing extra money to the factory, so that by the time we ordered our kit... it was paid for! AND I've paid off the windows!

But that's obviously not going to *finish* the house. We decided to refinance our primary residence instead of going for a construction loan because... well, let's face it, Virginia is not the most progressive green building state. A lot of the things we expect to do... well, have not been actually accepted yet by traditional construction loans.

By using a re-fi loan, we can do more cutting edge things and then wait for local zoning to catch up since it is not yet our residence.

When the children are older we will sell this house and use those funds for our financial security. This is not just about "being green" and preserving land where you can purchase those parcels already on the market to preserve; yes, it's all that, but it's also about financial freedom, making different choices than many who have a similar income to become debt-free. And telecommuting is on the rise; so our move could easily be sooner than later.

In the meantime we will spend the next years helping the land: practicing crop-tree release, encouraging quail and other wildlife habitats that have been in decline, gently working through no-till agriculture to grow food yet encourage quail in existing fields, and dismantling a dangerous falling-down tobacco barn for reuse on the property.

What I will love about living in an off grid house is that I can be older yet secure about not having to pay those $500 monthly heating bills, and that by selling our city house we will have everything paid off, living debt-free and not a burden to our children.

Ah... but how's the project going now?

Well, my fabulous contractor is back from vacation.

: )

And really, he's worth the wait because I trust him and it's not his fault my husband did a last minute (I hate being married to an MBA!) systems audit / foundation plan audit that held everything up 6 weeks since he then only did it on the weekends. (Ah, my cute, sweet, dear, thank- goodness- he's- handsome- or- I'd- really- be- letting- him- HAVE- IT- right- now husband.)

(Grrrrrr)

So... onward!

Oh p.s. though: As of this week:
We have a barn!
Not very mod but made by the Amish in the area, therefore supporting the local community.
: )

Firm offers service nationally that recommends materials and systems for builders to construct zero energy homes.