Green Housing: Getting the most out of what you have

 

In my architectural day job I work on large projects, mostly University buildings. It might seem like a far cry from designing homes, but I realised recently that a lot of the issues that come up in my work are also relevant to how people might address their housing needs in a more sustainable way- using their (undoubtedly) limited resources in the most effective way to meet their needs. In Australia continually rising housing prices have led many people (ourselves included) to rethink how they use their existing home, instead of buying a different larger one.

Making the best possible use of existing physical resources and materials (Reusing and Recycling) is often better environmentally (and in other ways too) than building new, even if the new building incorporates the latest ‘environmentally friendly’ materials, technology and ‘green building’ design research. I find many of the homes I’ve seen on World’s Greenest Homes appalling, with regards to their consumption of resources and pursuit of brand spanking new, cavernous, luxury, even if they are using some environmentally good materials in a clever way.

I’d like to highlight 5 green building design principles about making the most of what you have already have, and explain how we have been applying them over the last couple of years, as we’ve been renovating and expanding our own home and garden. I'm not claiming that our home is one of the world's greenest, but it is certainly greener than many alternatives.

1. Think long term. Our needs always change over time, but it doesn’t make sense to address short term needs in a way that compromises long term needs, or creates a whole lot of wastage or redundant renovations.Think about the big picture master plan, not just the problem that is bugging you today. You may have a toddler now, but will you still be living in this home when they are 10? 20? 30?? (Hmmmm, scary thought...)

With a child entering into our life, we realized we needed a new craft/study room, more living space, and a dining space that could seat more than two people without rearranging the furniture. Fortunately, we had an outside space that was completely underutilized, where we could build two new rooms.

2. How else can you use it? Flexible and adaptable spaces are more useful in the long term than highly specialised spaces. Some rooms have to be single function- the kitchen and bathroom aren’t going make very good bedrooms- but can other rooms be changed around (bed/craft/lounge/dining room) as needs change? Perhaps small changes, like changing doors or windows, removing a wall, adding power points, removing fixed storage, or changing lighting will change how you can use the spaces you already have.

Our rooms aren’t big, but they’re generous enough, with doors in sensible locations, so that they can be used in different ways, with different furniture layouts. We can use our new craft/study room as a bedroom if we need to, as can a future owner.

3. Inside and Outside. Depending on your climate, at different times of the year the spaces outside your home can really expand your living space, and the kinds of things you do. Are you invited out by being able to see and hear what’s happening outside? Is the door in the right spot? Is the space outside at the same level as inside? Is it shady or sunny, sheltered from wind or rain, appropriately paved or decked?

We hardly used our back garden because you had to go through the laundry (which included a toilet) to get there, and immediately down a couple of ugly concrete steps. Not ideal, especially when you have visitors. By building a deck area and installing a new (fully glazed) back door into our kitchen, we now have much more light in our kitchen, can see how lovely the garden is, and spend a lot more time in out there.

4. Collecting water. Where we live, the price of tap water is cheap, so until the government brought in restrictions on how we use it, investing in large rainwater tanks didn’t seem worthwhile. However it’s now our legal option for watering the garden, washing the car or letting our toddler play under the sprinkler. You can also collect rainwater for toilet flushing or laundry, depending on how you set the system up. Rain and grey water collection options vary, depending on local regulations, budget, space and water needs.

We now have two water tanks- one in the front yard and one in the back, to help our efforts to set up a food producing garden and shade trees. We also have a basic grey water system set up so that we can collect bathwater to hand water our small lawn when it needs it.

5. Sun and Shade. The key to keeping a building warm (or cool), without spending money on energy, is letting the sun in (or keeping it out), along with insulating the walls, floors and roof. The potential benefits vary depending on your climate and time of year. There is also energy saving benefit if the daylight means you don’t need to turn the lights on all the time. The location and size of windows, type of glass, and any fixed, movable or growing shade (inside or outside) will all make a difference.

We packed our extension with insulation (the existing house has virtually none, so we do rely on air conditioning to keep us cool upstairs in summer) and installed large windows with special coated glass on the sunny side of the house. A sheer blind reduces glare on sunny winter days. In hotter months, we have a removable fabric sunshade that shades the window and the outside deck. All our shade trees are fast growing and deciduous (sadly not native) which means the garden gets sun in winter, but our lawn is beautifully shaded and cool in summer.

I’ve tried to keep this as a simple outline- something to perhaps get you thinking, and inspire you to investigate further. There are many resources out there for more detailed information on green building design and many of the things I’ve mentioned- too many to pick just a few. I encourage you to Google, or if you’re in Australia on 12th September, it happens to be Sustainable House Day, with many homes, all over the country, open to visitors and all their questions.

rechargeable batteries

having a baby monitor finally got me on the path to re-chargeable batteries. i KNOW. what took me so long? honestly it was the initial cost and then all the bad reviews of rechargeables that i read oh so long ago. but battery technology has changed by leaps and bounds - even in the last couple of years.

i broke down and bought an energizer recharger to charge batteries for the baby monitor. i was in line at walgreens - realized the three AAA's in it were about to die soon and i WAS NOT going to just buy more cheap batteries to keep throwing them away [ahem i mean recycle them. luckily where i live it's easy - you just put them in a plastic bag on top of your garbage can and the city recycles them. you can use this site to find a recycling spot for your batteries in the states].

i bought the sort of lame energizer re-charger that i spied amongst all the normal akaline batteries. i say sort of lame because it DOES work - i always have charged AAA batteries when i need them [1.5 weeks is about how long they last with how i use the monitor daily]. the lame part is that plugged in the charger has constant green lights. not green when they are finished charging, or green for a little bit, but green all the time. i leave the charger in the kitchen and since i need the batteries so often i have to admit i pretty much always leave it plugged in [because if i didn't i would forget to charge the batteries. i know this for a fact].

i tell myself that it is functioning as a night light - but i do feel guilty about the vampire drain and wish it shut off when the batteries were charged. but that's too complicated a task for my less than $10 charger. you get what you pay for... but i am happy that i have spared almost year and a half's worth of AAA batteries every 1.5 weeks. [that's 156 batteries if my math is right].



it's definitely time, though, to invest in a whole SET of batteries and a charger. the energizer will do AA's too, but i do have things around the house that need C's and sometimes even D's.... [flashlights, portable radio, the all important bubble making machine that my daughter loves]. i know that we'll probably have toys in our future that will need batteries too.

in my quest for better rechargeables i read this article . and am thus really contemplating the eneloop batteries pictured above. you can find a set of 8 AA's, 2 AAA's, 4 C's and 4 D's for under $40 with shipping. here's a list on amazon . that pays for itself after what only 8 packs of $5 batteries. not bad i think.

apparently this new generation of rechargeables holds their charge longer [even away from the charger] and the charger is smart and won't over charge the batteries. two problems i read over and over in complaints about older NiMH rechargeables. my only complaint is that there isn't a 9Volt option. we have a remote that uses a 9Volt and so i'll have to find an alternative for that.

if you want to read all about different kinds of batteries, how they work, and how long they last - i found this very technical [and yet readable] article.

anyone out there have any great rechargeable experience that they want to share??? i'm all ears. i think i'm going to make my final purchase decision by the end of the month. if anyone cares i'll try and post a post script to this post with my choice[s] and how i feel about them.

Solar Decathlon

One of the holy grails for a green building is achieving a net-zero existence. A couple of weeks ago I visited the bi-annual exhibit featuring the future of net-zero residences as sponsored by the Department of Energy on the national mall-The Solar Decathlon. The department describes the event as a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house.









This is the fourth event since 2002. The 10 finalists set up on the national mall in the form of a village on a main street (of sorts)and education centers at the center of the solar village. The contest lasts a little over a week and the contestants are judged on the following categories:

Architecture
Market Viability
Engineering
Lighting Design
Communications
Comfort Zone
Hot Water
Appliances
Home Entertainment
Net Metering



During 9 days of the contest, visitors can line up and meander through each house. The design team of students and professors are on hand to answer any questions. Select team members spend the night at their temporary home on the national mall, so someone is living in the building for the entirety of the contest.



These houses are machines for living. It would require more that your standard afternoon to really understand the complex workings of the systems involved in regulating energy usage. In order to compete, these houses had to be theoretically net-zero. I was most interested in the day-to-day living one could expect to have in a net zero house. How livable was it?.



Bugheart and I had time to tour most of the houses. This event was very well attended and the average wait just to get into a house was 45 minutes!



The most successful houses created an efficient floor plan that tied into the greater landscape. These houses integrated the solar technology into the building form. The floor plans were open with non-specialized rooms. Gone are the days of grand foyers and seasonal dining rooms in the new green home. The future of energy efficient design requires a new approach to the floorplan in which rooms serve many purposes. The multi-use room echoes the floorplans of vernacular houses of early America. Due to energy constraints of the time (fireplaces , coal, & wood), the same rooms were often used for dining, dancing, sleeping. In both the homes designed by Germany and Ontario, the beds were retractable. This reinforced the idea that a bed is not used all day long, so that space should be used as a general living space during the day. Kitchens were small for the most part, so chefs of the future will have to be efficient as well.



Our favorite buildings had integrated the solar gathering technology into the siding so it became part of the building rather than an accessory. The everyday interaction with the system was also integrated into the interiors. Many of the systems were automated and could be controlled by a mere app on your iphone.



My job is to design dream houses. Our clients’ dreams involve a lifestyle they never had- space for all the luxuries of life. They always want one more room- a room for crafts, storage, etc. My visit to the Solar Village made me realize that with current technology we must strive to use less. Less space. Less stuff. The village on the mall represents a change in the way we live and view living- the complete opposite of what I or my clients want.



Space is one of those guilty pleasures. An extra room gets filled with massive amounts of embodied energy- the energy it takes to build and maintain it. It is a professional conundrum. Do I give the client what they want or do I use my skills guide the client to getting what they want in a more responsible way? I envision the next time a client asks for a craft room or a large master bathroom that I should take a serious look at the design plan and ask, Do you really need that? Let’s find a way to work with what you have…



Germany, one of our favorites, was declared the winner.

hanging it out to dry

so we finally put a much longed after clothesline in our backyard. i grew up with a clothesline. i remember hauling laundry up a set of steps to a little platform to reach the high line running across our backyard in virden, manitoba. then we moved on to brandon and had an umbrella line that i loved to hide inside of. of course we were only hanging out our laundry may through september. (oh those prairie summers - short but oh so good!) d on the other had never had a clothesline. it just wasn't something people "did" where he grew up down here. hanging skivvies on the line wasn't on the radar. (i was surprised to read that it is actually banned in some communities for being unsightly!) but i must say he is a convert after seeing me hang out and bring in 3 loads in just under 4 hours. noting that it takes about the same length of time on the line as it does in our drier and that we can now do the laundry during the day instead of at night as we are advised to avoid blackouts. (yup - we are in another heatwave down here!) and thinking of the energy savings! yes we love our "solar clothes drier".


there is even a flickr group. (naturally!)

as a side note, a dear friend and i have decided to "hang out" our collaborative blog: Two Green Chickens. it began as a series of conversations between two moms trying hard to live as green as we can, teach our children to do the same, and still stick to our budgets! it is more consumer minded than sewgreen. if we are going to spend money, we want to do it wisely! check it out and let me know what you think... thanks!

Use only what is required & nothing more

A little while ago now I mentioned that Louise and I would be taking part in a 40 hour drought, an idea akin to the 40 hour famine that many of you would have taken part in many, many years ago now, the general idea being, to go for forty hours using 40 litres of water. Sure, simple enough, I scoffed. I drink 2 litres of water a day, that still leaves me with a whole 36 litres of water to shower, make a pot of coffee several times over, rinse afore mentioned coffee plunger and cup, clean my pearly whites and soak a jumper or two in a bucket… or so I thought.

40 litres is surprisingly, even for the water conscious among us, a very small amount. For those familiar with gallons, think approximately 10 gallons of water and you get the idea. Better yet, imagine 10 gallons of water in several small buckets and you can see it’s quite a small amount to live off. Planning on doing a load of washing in the washing machine, why, there goes another 15 litres (depending on the model and its energy efficiency rating). Ah, yes, when you consider that an automatic dishwasher can use up to 40 litres of water per load (there goes the 40 litres allowance in one fell swoop), this challenge was quite a feat. And whilst I possess neither a washing machine nor a dishwasher, I found this challenge to be just that, a huge, enormous challenge.

So, just how did I go? Well, first off, we pretended the 40 hours was just like any other 40 hours so as to fully see how much water we use day to day. We pushed and coerced the challenge to the back of our minds, wanting to see how much water we did or didn’t use in that period of time. We currently bucket our shower water out onto the garden so that took care of the garden. Water restrictions have gone up a small notch since my last posting ensuring that we only water our gardens by a trigger nozzle hose or watering system two days a week during a specified two hour window of time… between 6 to 8 in the morning (so as to minimize water evaporation) on a Saturday & Tuesday for even numbered properties, Sunday & Wednesday for the odds. Many of course flout these restrictions, particularly in the greener wealthier suburbs… but, I digress. As the challenge did not fall over the days for odd and even numbered houses to water, that took care of that. I can’t actually recall the last time I watered the garden with anything other than grey water, and whilst I miss the process, the act of watering the garden and its relaxing, unwinding ways, the garden is doing just fine with buckets of soapy water from the bathroom. So to, is my back.

Clothes were washed (as per usual) by hand, teeth washed with a glass of water rather than by a running tap, and toilet flushing, it has to be said, was kept to a hygienic minimum. We even managed to change the water in the fish tank and poured the nitrogen and phosphorous-rich water onto the potted orchids. Showers were short, and whilst soaping up, the water is turned off. So many ways to use less. Ice cubes make for effective means to water plants in hanging baskets, and pot plants can be soaked one after the other in a bucket of water… keeping the lid on pots of boiling water when cooking, installing a water softener to your tap, putting the plug in the sink when you wash your hands. I could go on and on. All these things are simple and free, everyday means of saving water. Everyday means of using less.

During our 40 litre water challenge we estimated (using a chart to pencil in how many showers were had during the 40 hours as well as there duration, how many times the half flush or full flush was used, how often we washed dishes or our hands, cleaned our teeth etc.) that we were closer to 80 litres each! Yes, double the water challenge.

In light of this, here are several water and energy saving tips for one and all, to appease my sense of guilt. I have tried to compile a list of green tips for those on a budget, for those who cannot install a rainwater tank at this very moment nor solar panels on their roof, for I am a firm believer that every little bit helps and can make a difference. Saving water is important to all of us even if you live in areas or countries were there seems a natural abundance. It is always important to treat our natural resources with care, to use only what is required and nothing more.


HANDY ECO TIPS:
* Use biodegradable cleaning products. Not only are they better for the environment, they are better for you too.

* Head to Greenpeace for wonderful recipes, such as the ones below, for using trusty Borax, soap, vinegar and Bicarbonate of soda (excellent for cleaning and deodorizing). Again, products that are better for both the environment and your family.
Recipes
Heavy Duty Cleanser 1
4 litres hot water
1/4 cup cloudy ammonia
1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
Mix together. For a stronger mixture, double all the ingredients except water.

Heavy Duty Cleanser 2
2 tablespoons borax
1 teaspoon soap
1 litre water
This can be stored in a spray bottle.

Hospital-quality disinfectant
Use 1/4 cup borax dissolved in 2 litres hot water. Keeping surfaces clean and dry reduces the need for disinfectants.
{Recipes for spring cleaning courtesy of Greenpeace.}

* Install energy efficient lighting and you’ll find not only is this a win for the planet it is also a win for your future energy bill.

* Long, narrow buckets especially for shower units can now be found at many hardware stores. Oates have released an 18 litre Water Saver bucket (4.75 gallons) that sits on the floor of your shower that you won’t trip over. I stumbled across this handy little number for $14.97 at Bunnings. And whilst I haven’t actually tried this as my shower is over the bathtub, I’d hazard a guess to say that it would be very hardy indeed.

* Dry your clothes on a clothes lines… logical, I know, but you’d be surprised at the amount of folk who still fling their clothes into the clothes dryer from start to finish.

* Move your thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer to limit your energy usage. Adjusting it by just two degrees will make a huge difference throughout the course of a year.

* Use less hot water.

* Turn off all stand-by power.

And of course, use less of everything in general. Find tips such as these and many others here (Reduce your impact at home, An Inconvenient Truth.)

Read how others who participated (and are worthy of gold stars) went here and here. I'm off to fix my leaky taps... Happy green ways, one and all!