If that woman actually knew the carbon footprint of the Prius from the beginning of the manufacturing cycle until the end of the car's useful life, she would realize what a sham the whole thing is.
As it so happens... I'm starting the process of building an energy efficient house.
Let me tell you, those energy efficient windows are pretty neat. Of course now I have to make sure they don't start a fire in the dry brush. Now that would suck.
So, we had a meeting with various parties to review the site plan. The geotech engineer couldn't make it. Why? Her electric car ran out of juice. SRSLY. WTF.
Is it too late for you to build Max2000, or whatever the styrofoam form block/concrete building system is called in your jurisdiction? If I were to build another house, I would go this route- impermeable, termite-resistant, R-values unbeatable, can be clad in any material you fancy.
Also, consider authenticroof.com for your roof material- best roof I have ever installed and indistinguishable from slate from the ground. /no commercial ties, etc.
Finally, depending on where you are located, have your architect design in a cistern. 3,000 gallons is a minimum; HACCP-spec liners can be manufactured inexpensively to size, and you can chose whether to fill it through rainwater harvesting.
...fwiw I'm building the house to the German Passivhaus standards - the styrofoam blocks may not work from a vapor permeability perspective (the passivhaus walls have to let water vapor escape to the outside while (obviously) being impermeable to liquid water coming in. Kinda like Goretex.)
With Passivhaus level insulation we're shooting for a heating bill of a few hundred $ per year, not per month...
Authenticroof looks cool - will check it out. Cistern - absolutely! In our plans.
I know Passivhaus- good choice. I trust your local building department will have Clue One as to how it works and will approve your plans- LEED has opened a lot of eyes, fortunately! The air exchanger/HRU will be running constantly- at least you have not bought into the (initially-compelling) geothermal nonsense! I'm sure you know- make damn certain your contractor gets that substrate completely sealed- your house will rot from the inside out if he makes an error.
I spec'd ice-and-watershield over the entire roof deck (not merely the lower six feet), then the Authentic Roof overlays that. Good for 100 years, plus fire resistant/acid rain/UV/hurricane proof. A Green Product, too. I detest asphalt shingles with a passion- they are filthy to make, filthy to dispose of and simply don't hold up over time.
lewy, that's great! I knew people would get the wrong idea with my comment (not to mention the colorful language) so I deleted it. Our house was built in '79 and remodeled in '03. For some reason, they didn't do the windows and we have the typical metal-framed windows of the 70's that actually attract the cold air. I wish we could afford to replace all 14 at once but we can't so we're doing it piece meal. We now have 2 lovely energy-efficient windows in our master bath - 12 more to go.
I don't think we'd EVER be able to have solar paneling - it's just too dang expensive and the PNW isn't know for having allot of sunny days. The stuff Earl talks about is great - our neighbor had his house built a few years ago and used that, he loves it. We will be replacing our 3-tab roof here in a year or two so I will definitely check out what Earl recommended. It can't be much more expensive, the estimate we got a couple months ago was $10,000+. We have a 2200 sf rambler so it's not like it's that much roof to cover!!!
The cistern sounds great to but I'm sure it's out of our price range as well. I'm not an "end of times" person but I've always wanted to have a well dug and an old-fashioned hand-crank pump installed on top. I know they still make them and thought it would be great for the garden (we're on city water supply) and when the power goes out.
Anyhow, whatever it takes to lower our winter power bill, last month's was around $300, I-kid-you-not (and we keep it around 67 degrees, I put the lion's share of the blame on the leaky windows).
flo - yeah, solar PV in your latitude and climate is probably not a wonderful option. At mine it's still iffy.
You're probably right about your windows being the heating loss problem. I think the infrared imaging which would prove this might not be so expensive.
My end times plan is a "Lister" style diesel generator run on wood-gas, running the well and essential lighting etc. Plenty of wood on my property. But that's a science project, not a product I can buy somewhere.
Authentic Roof costs ~$4/square foot at the factory gate. The "squares" are a bit smaller than standard squares when the contractor quotes.
A cistern can sometimes be installed within an existing concrete block or poured concrete basement- depends on the existing wall design, and then a concrete bulkhead can be built to enclose the "fourth wall" of the cistern. Ask a qualified local contractor- you'd also need an engineered drawing to ensure shear load of 15-20 tons of water can be withstood!
lewy is correct on a UV scan of your house- thermal imaging will show you immediately where your heat loss is occurring.
I am of the distinct impression that Ms Patron does not get the irony.
ReplyDeleteShe is, however, a master of whinery.
...master of whinery.
DeleteLMAO! I love that! :))
If that woman actually knew the carbon footprint of the Prius from the beginning of the manufacturing cycle until the end of the car's useful life, she would realize what a sham the whole thing is.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with reorienting a Prius owner to cold, hard reality.
DeleteAs it so happens... I'm starting the process of building an energy efficient house.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you, those energy efficient windows are pretty neat. Of course now I have to make sure they don't start a fire in the dry brush. Now that would suck.
So, we had a meeting with various parties to review the site plan. The geotech engineer couldn't make it. Why? Her electric car ran out of juice. SRSLY. WTF.
Pffft! LOL! She should have used an Israeli electric car - Via Israellycool.
Delete(I hope it wasn't an Israeli one that she was using...) :))
Is it too late for you to build Max2000, or whatever the styrofoam form block/concrete building system is called in your jurisdiction? If I were to build another house, I would go this route- impermeable, termite-resistant, R-values unbeatable, can be clad in any material you fancy.
DeleteAlso, consider authenticroof.com for your roof material- best roof I have ever installed and indistinguishable from slate from the ground. /no commercial ties, etc.
Finally, depending on where you are located, have your architect design in a cistern. 3,000 gallons is a minimum; HACCP-spec liners can be manufactured inexpensively to size, and you can chose whether to fill it through rainwater harvesting.
"choose".
DeletePIMF
Earl - thanks for all the input...
Delete...fwiw I'm building the house to the German Passivhaus standards - the styrofoam blocks may not work from a vapor permeability perspective (the passivhaus walls have to let water vapor escape to the outside while (obviously) being impermeable to liquid water coming in. Kinda like Goretex.)
With Passivhaus level insulation we're shooting for a heating bill of a few hundred $ per year, not per month...
Authenticroof looks cool - will check it out. Cistern - absolutely! In our plans.
I know Passivhaus- good choice. I trust your local building department will have Clue One as to how it works and will approve your plans- LEED has opened a lot of eyes, fortunately! The air exchanger/HRU will be running constantly- at least you have not bought into the (initially-compelling) geothermal nonsense! I'm sure you know- make damn certain your contractor gets that substrate completely sealed- your house will rot from the inside out if he makes an error.
DeleteI spec'd ice-and-watershield over the entire roof deck (not merely the lower six feet), then the Authentic Roof overlays that. Good for 100 years, plus fire resistant/acid rain/UV/hurricane proof. A Green Product, too. I detest asphalt shingles with a passion- they are filthy to make, filthy to dispose of and simply don't hold up over time.
Keep us posted on progress.
lewy, that's great! I knew people would get the wrong idea with my comment (not to mention the colorful language) so I deleted it. Our house was built in '79 and remodeled in '03. For some reason, they didn't do the windows and we have the typical metal-framed windows of the 70's that actually attract the cold air. I wish we could afford to replace all 14 at once but we can't so we're doing it piece meal. We now have 2 lovely energy-efficient windows in our master bath - 12 more to go.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we'd EVER be able to have solar paneling - it's just too dang expensive and the PNW isn't know for having allot of sunny days. The stuff Earl talks about is great - our neighbor had his house built a few years ago and used that, he loves it. We will be replacing our 3-tab roof here in a year or two so I will definitely check out what Earl recommended. It can't be much more expensive, the estimate we got a couple months ago was $10,000+. We have a 2200 sf rambler so it's not like it's that much roof to cover!!!
The cistern sounds great to but I'm sure it's out of our price range as well. I'm not an "end of times" person but I've always wanted to have a well dug and an old-fashioned hand-crank pump installed on top. I know they still make them and thought it would be great for the garden (we're on city water supply) and when the power goes out.
Anyhow, whatever it takes to lower our winter power bill, last month's was around $300, I-kid-you-not (and we keep it around 67 degrees, I put the lion's share of the blame on the leaky windows).
flo - yeah, solar PV in your latitude and climate is probably not a wonderful option. At mine it's still iffy.
DeleteYou're probably right about your windows being the heating loss problem. I think the infrared imaging which would prove this might not be so expensive.
My end times plan is a "Lister" style diesel generator run on wood-gas, running the well and essential lighting etc. Plenty of wood on my property. But that's a science project, not a product I can buy somewhere.
Authentic Roof costs ~$4/square foot at the factory gate. The "squares" are a bit smaller than standard squares when the contractor quotes.
DeleteA cistern can sometimes be installed within an existing concrete block or poured concrete basement- depends on the existing wall design, and then a concrete bulkhead can be built to enclose the "fourth wall" of the cistern. Ask a qualified local contractor- you'd also need an engineered drawing to ensure shear load of 15-20 tons of water can be withstood!
lewy is correct on a UV scan of your house- thermal imaging will show you immediately where your heat loss is occurring.
The Prius, however, is another story...
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the info, lewy and Earl. I will tell my better half about the thermal imaging for heat loss.
ReplyDelete"IR" dammit- "IR"!!! PIMF (twice in a day???)
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed this energy-efficient home building discussion! Lewy, drawing up plans for your new home must be a very exciting project!
ReplyDelete