Take A Healthy Walk To The Bank

More than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas. An urban area does not have to be a large city, but can be a location such as downtown Davidson North Carolina that features a concentration of community resources such as shopping, banks, churches, libraries and educational institutions.

The desire to live in an urban area transcends generations. The younger generation recognizes the health benefits of being able to walk places, while older homeowners also wish to be on their feet more.

The trend to urbanization is driven by economic, environmental, health and financial trends.

Economic and environmental trends both come down to reducing dependence on the automobile. Nearly 20% of the budget of the typical American family goes towards transportation. Couple that with the contribution cars make towards greenhouse gases, and its easy to see why many people desire to reduce their dependence on their automobile.

Did you ever work up a sweat driving to the store? Or to church? Probably not. There is an obesity epidemic underway in the United States, and much of it is fueled by our reliance on the automobile. Americans still want to get out and walk, but in many cases they are forced to drive. By moving to urban neighborhoods such as John Marshall Custom Homes’ Davidson Springs community in downtown Davidson North Carolina, homeowners have much more opportunity to use their feet for exercise, not just pushing down on a gas pedal.

A final reason that urban neighborhoods are growing in popularity is that they offer a better return on investment compared to suburbs. Mecklenburg County recently completed a revaluation of properties, and the results were clear: since 2003 areas such as downtown Davidson have increased by over 50% in value, while the suburbs have seen single-digit gains and in many cases a loss in value. It’s simple supply and demand. The area that is within a five minute walk to downtown Davidson is fixed. Couple increasing demand with a limited supply, and you’ve got a recipe for continued appreciation in housing values.

By living in an urban neighborhood, you can literally and figuratively take a walk to the bank.

Cornhole Can Be Green!

When we have an open house at one of our LEED homes, the question I am most frequently asked is “what makes this house green?” I frequently answer that question by first addressing all of the things apart from the home that make a home green.

Green building is not just the structure and mechanics of a home. Green building is also very much concerned with promoting healthy lifestyles. For example, a home that is located in a downtown location close to shopping, schools, libraries and restaurants promotes a healthy lifestyle because it facilitates walking to these ‘community resources’ instead of always getting in the car. A pedestrian friendly location is of course also beneficial to the environment since it reduces emissions.

We built our latest LEED home in downtown Davidson for an active adult. While the home was built on a small, one-tenth acre lot, we created a number of spaces where the homeowner can get outside. In these photos we show a space that we designed for cornhole, a favorite pastime of the homeowner and her grandchildren. We also created other outdoor spaces such as a flower garden, raised beds for gardens, and a patio.

There’s not enough space to play flag football, but if the homeowner wants to do that it’s only a three minute walk to a public space where there is ample room for football. This convenient location is another aspect of green building: locating neighborhoods where there is easy access to public recreational activities such as parks, fields and greenways. These locations facilitate building homes on smaller lots, and thus minimizing the loss of open space. Open space preservation will be a topic of a future green building blog. Stay tuned.

Tighten It Up!

As we're wrapping up construction of 631 James Alexander Way, a number of tests for both ENERGY STAR and LEED certification are conducted. These tests help to verify that the house performs as designed, with the result being not only a more efficient home, but also a comfortable and healthy home as well.

This video shows a blower door test being conducted. The blower door simulates the effects of a 35 mile per hour wind on the home, and measures how much air leaks out of the house under this condition.

For a house this size, the maximum air leakage that is permissible under ENERGY STAR guidelines is about 2,200 CFM (cubic feet per minute). As the video shows, the actual leakage from this house was subsequently less. Although the video shows a rate of about 900 cfm, the official test result was just over 700 cfm (we later discovered that someone had cracked open a window during the video 'shoot'). Thus, the house is about three times as tight as ENERGY STAR requires, and as the technician states, about six times tighter than a "to code," non-ENERGY STAR home.

What does this mean to the homeowner? First, a tight home results in significantly greater energy efficiency and lower utility bills. Those who followed the construction and testing of our LEED certified home at 233 Catawba Avenue in Davidson will recall that utility bills are half of those of similar sized homes. Second, a more comfortable home. Some of the other tests that are conducted verify that the output from the HVAC system is properly distributed, and temperatures and pressures are balanced throughout the house. Thus, the chances of cold or hot spots in the home are greatly reduced.

LEED is your customer's assurance that a home has not only been designed to the highest standards, but also tested to verify compliance with those standards. Do not settle for less.

You Don't Have to Paint Your Pebbles to Be Green

I spent several years of my youth in Tucson, AZ. Tucson averages about 10 inches of rain a year (compare that to 40 for Charlotte), and it is not uncommon to go weeks without rain, especially in the hottest summer months.

Plants adapt to this environment by having large root systems and few leaves, or in the case of cacti they store water in their fleshy pads. Animals adapt by basically staying out of the heat. The desert is alive with animals at night and in the early morning, but come high noon all of the critters have gone underground, literally.

Humans have adapted to this dry, hot climate by getting their rocks colored. Yes, you read that right. They color their rocks.

Now, many people who move to the desert try to bring their hometown with them. They plant lots of grass, irrigate it endlessly, and plant non-native trees that remind them of their home back East. This is why people who move to the desert to escape the allergies find their allergies worse than ever before.

But, there's another group of people who don't try to beat the heat, but rather join it. They plant native species like cacti and mesquite trees, and instead of grass their front yards are landscaped with pebbles. But, to trick you into thinking they have a verdant grass yard, every spring they get the pebbles painted green. It's really hard to tell the difference between a painted pebble and grass until you get within a half-mile.

In North Carolina we don't have the harsh conditions of the desert. Nonetheless, water is a precious resource, and one that must be conserved and managed just like we do with electricity. Not too many years ago we experienced the driest year in recorded history, with water restrictions, brown lawns, and dirty cars. We continue to create more people, but the water supply is relatively fixed. That is not a sustainable equation.

We use some simple yet effective approaches to conserving water on our LEED homes. Landscaping is comprised entirely of native plants that by definition don't require supplemental irrigation. Turf is limited to no more than 40% of the softscape, and we use a drought tolerant turf. To the extent we use irrigation systems, they are designed to be efficient and to only come on when needed (and not to come on in the middle of a downpour). Lots are tilled prior to planting so that rain will soak into the soil instead of running off of compacted clay.

Inside, we use low flow faucets, toilets and shower heads which conserve water but provide the same level of performance as standard fixtures. The design of the plumbing system is important too, with points earned if all of the fixtures are located within a certain distance of the hot water source.

There are more exotic things that can be done to save water, like diverting "gray" water from showers and sinks to be used to flush toilets, or collecting rainwater in a cistern to be used for irrigation. These approaches are not for everyone's budget or taste.

Our approach helps conserve water, which is one of our most precious resources. In turn the homeowner saves on their water bills. Equally important, a LEED home is also a nicely landscaped home. Check back in a month or so and I'll post some photos of the landscaping on the home we're presently building on James Alexander Way in downtown Davidson. I think you'll be impressed.

Do Judge A Book By It's Cover

Last week I was giving a talk and tour of our first LEED-certified home to a group of Davidson College students. I was making the point that a green home can (and should) look like a 'normal' home, and I mentioned that I'd once seen a home built out of old tires by Dennis Weaver.

I quickly realized that at 19 or so years of age, these students were probably not familiar with Dennis Weaver. Any chance I'd had at seeming like one of them flew out the window with my generation-defining reference.

But, the point remains. A green built home should look like any other home (well, actually better). As you can see by the photo of our current LEED home, it's a lovely house, one that is attractive to most homebuyers. While homes built out of old tires or bales of straw are interesting, they aren't likely to take off in appreciable numbers any time soon.

Another point that I made while talking to the students is that in order for green building to have an impact, builders need to build homes that are affordable to most people. While it's great that there have been several demonstration projects built by well-to-do individuals and organizations, most people cannot afford a home with every green bell and whistle. All builders, from production builders to high-end custom builders need to incorporate green building into their homes.

Once we finish the landscaping on the house I'll write more about the exterior features of this home, and how they contribute to a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. One item of note on this house is the siding. Made of fiber cement, the siding on this house will last for several decades due to its moisture and termite resistance. An added benefit is that there is significant recycle content in the product. Instead of going into landfills, materials are reused in the manufacture of the siding, benefiting the environment without any negative impact on quality or cost.

It's Good For You, But You Can't Eat It!

We just finished applying spray foam insulation to the green home we are building at 631 James Alexander Way in Davidson.

Spray foam insulation is the bomb! I remember saying that when I was interviewed by DavidsonNews.net about the first LEED-certified home we built (233 Catawba Avenue in Davidson). I got this sheepish expression on my face because I realized it sounded silly coming from a 46 year old.

But, spray foam insulation truly is the bomb. What makes it so special?

The house on Catawba was the first time I used spray foam insulation. Once it was applied, the house suddenly got quieter. And cooler, even though it was still the middle of summer. The homeowner noticed it too.

Inch for inch, spray foam (we use an open cell product called Icynene) is only marginally a better insulator than fiberglass batt insulation. The R-value (r-value being a measure of the insulating quality of a product) of spray foam is about 3.7 per inch, compared to about 3.1 per inch for fiberglass batt insulation.

What makes spray foam a superior product is that it also provides a tight air seal when it is applied. The product is applied in a thin layer, but it quickly expands to 100 times it's size. As the photo shows, spray foam complete fills the cavity in the framing. By contrast, fiberglass loosely fits into the wall, and air can easily pass through it. It's like being outside in the cold with the same jacket, but in the spray foam world there is no wind, and in the fiberglass world the wind is blowing at 30 mph. Obviously you're much more comfortable without the wind. A house insulated with spray foam is several times tighter than one with fiberglass batt insulation, and as a result it takes less energy to heat and cool the home.

Spray foam also makes it easier to insulate the underside of the roof deck, and thus to have a sealed and conditioned attic. In fact, fiberglass batts cannot be used for this application. A conditioned attic results in a much more efficient HVAC system since the ductwork and equipment that is typically found in the attic is within the conditioned envelope of the home. Instead of a typical attic where the air inside your ducts can warm up by 10 degrees by the time it gets to the room, in a conditioned attic there is no change in temperature as the cool air passes through the attic.

Another benefit of spray foam insulation is that kids love it! My two children like to take the scrap pieces of spray foam and beat each other over the head with them, and they always ask if they can eat it. It's probably better to eat than fiberglass but no, you can't eat it!

I've Been Framed!

Framing is always one of the most enjoyable parts of building a house (right next to seeing the joy on a homeowner's face when they see their finished home, and almost as enjoyable as getting paid). This is when the rubber meets the road so to speak, when the lines of the blueprint are translated into actual walls and the floor plan comes to life.

Framing also plays an important role in the green building process. For the purposes of LEED certification, framing counts toward material efficiency, durability, energy efficiency, and environmentally friendly products. I'll discuss each one in turn.

As you might imagine, a significant amount of wood goes into the construction of a new home. As it turns out, too much wood. Even after accounting for waste (doing accurate take offs and minimizing scrap are also key elements of LEED), there is simply too much wood in a house.

Building codes and tradition have encouraged 16 inch on center framing. What this means is that the studs on a typical wall are spaced every 16 inches, as are roof rafters, ceiling joists, and floor joists.

Everyone wants a solid house, but why pay for something that is not needed? If done properly, 24" on center framing works just fine, and reduces the amount of lumber in a home by over a third. The truth is, 16 inch on center framing is often just an excuse for sloppy framing. If you do it right, 24" on center framing will result in the same strength and performance, and with significantly lower costs. In this LEED home, our roof rafters, ceiling joists and floor joists are all spaced 24" on center.

Framing plays a key role in durability. Hurricane clips are a good example. We install them on every rafter, and they provide significantly more resistance to wind than simple toe nailing, at a minimal cost. Making certain that the loads in the house, from the roof on down, are properly transferred to the foundation is another aspect of durability. It sounds obvious, but not everyone does it. We do.

For all of its great qualities, wood is not a great insulator. If you can take wood out of the thermal envelope of the home and add insulation the result will be a much more efficient home. We use advanced framing techniques such as two-stud corners and ladder blocking to do just that. Again, it's simple, but not everyone does it. LEED certification is your assurance that your house is both well-built and efficient.

Finally, framing plays a role in the use of environmentally preferable materials. Products such as I-joists and open web floor trusses utilize scrap wood and smaller trees relative to dimensional lumber, and they are more consistent and stronger. At John Marshall Custom Homes we use framing products from local sources as much as possible, and we insist that our wood products are certified as being produced using sustainable practices.

Come by our green home at 631 James Alexander Way in Davidson and see first hand how framing techniques result in a stronger, more efficient, and less costly home.