Building “Green Homes” saves GREEN!

Welcome back… to “Ronin’s Rules of Homebuilding!”

This is where we take a look at what smart people are doing, when they design and build their own energy efficient and affordable homes!

Now, I know I took a little left turn there, to rant about “Un-Americans,” but it’s just the way I roll, and sometimes things just have to be said! Deal with it! LOL!

Okay… back to business!

Over the last few posts, we’ve been exploring ways to build a home that will work WITH you, and not AGAINST you, as you and your family travel down life’s roads…

Now, me? I’d much rather the “Tra-la-la”path, to the “Man, where did all these bills come from?” path!

So, we’ve already talked about using the sun to heat your home, using SIPs (you remember what those are, right?), and increasing the mass of your home.

Any or all of these things will work with you, and help your home save you money. And, most of the things I’m recommending that you consider, are even (gasp!) green.

In this day and age, working WITH the environment isn’t just fashionable, it makes good sense. It doesn’t mean you have to hug trees, or live in a tiny little house (unless you like them), or even be nice to your neighbors. It just means that   embracing the gifts that the environment gives you allow you to give better gifts to your family. After all, you’ll save money, and you’ll have less work to do at home.

(SSShhhhhhhh! But, don’t tell my wife that! I have her convinced that building a “cost effective, energy efficient, affordable, solar, lean-green-machine of a house” means I’m gonna have to work and toil constantly, to keep it running! That way, I get to spend more time in the garage playing with my toys!) LOL!

We’ve already talked about orienting your house, to harness the sun’s rays. And using the sun is green, right?

Okay, the sun ain’t green, it’s yellow. But… it’s green. If that concept confuses you, well… you might as well stop reading now, because it’s just gonna get more confusing. LOL!

SIPs are green. Even though they’re made of wood and foam, they are GREEN. Why? Because SIP panels are made using woodchips, and parts of trees that aren’t used for lumber. They’re like a big pressboard sandwich, hold the mayo! And, they are completely recyclable.

Increasing the mass of your house is… green. You use concrete, once. No maintenance, no muss, no fuss. A one time expenditure allows your house to store energy forever, and then… give it right back to you, when you need it most! And I’ll add that it doesn’t even have any moving parts.

Today, we’re gonna talk about another way to heat your house:

Using radiant in-floor heat in all living spaces… or you’ll die.

Okay, you won’t die, but you’ll make your significant other mad, and they’ll kill you. After all, nobody wants to live with an idiot that just throws money out the front door, right?

(At least, that’s what my wife says… but then again, she always wants to kill me… Remember that guy who used to lurk about, jumping out of the shadows to kick the Pink Panther’s butt, every time he came home… Well… picture him in  skirt… It’s something like that.) LOL!

Using Radiant In-Floor Heating  is probably the most energy efficient and (long-term) cost effective way to heat your home. Radiant In-Floor Heating should be installed in concrete in all floor levels, and should be the sole or at least primary heating source for all areas of the home.

If you watch cable TV, you see Radiant In-Floor Heating used on lots of homebuilding and DIY shows. It’s not all that complicated.

Okay. It’s a LITTLE bit complicated. Here’s how it works;

It’s all about heat transfer. The physics surrounding heat transfer are not complex. The primary law is that heat moves from warm to cold. Any object or thing that is warmer than another nearby will give up its heat to the cooler object. This is the reason we feel cooler when walking down the frozen food aisle at the grocery store. It isn’t that the food cooler is giving off cold air; rather, our body is radiating its heat to that cooler object.

If you stayed awake in Physics Class, you already know that there are 3 ways heat is transferred: conduction, convection, and radiant heat transfer.

Conduction is how heat moves through solid objects, or from one solid object to another when they are in contact. When we reach for an item in the frozen food aisle it feels cold to the touch because we give up heat from our hand to that object. Similarly, when we stand on a cool basement slab or a tile floor, we give heat up from our feet. Thus, it feels cold to us.

Convection is the manner in which heat moves from a solid surface to a fluid or gas (such as water or air). Motorcycle and lawn mower engines cool themselves this way. The engines have fins around the hot areas which disperse their heat into the air. Hot-water baseboard heating systems do the same thing. Hot water is circulated through a copper pipe, which itself gets hot, and the heat is given up to the air. The pipes have aluminum fins along their length which speed this process up significantly by increasing the contact surface area. By physics, warm air (not pure heat) rises, and draws cooler air toward the bottom of it as a result. Baseboard heaters have an opening at the top and the bottom for just this reason.

Radiant heat transfer is infrared light moving through space from one object to another, and no contact between the objects is needed. The best example of this is the sun, which emits enormous quantities of infrared light. This light travels uninterrupted through the 93 million miles of space to the earth, where the radiant energy from the light rays is absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere and the earth itself. We only feel the heat from the radiant energy when we absorb it ourselves. Infrared light shares at least one very important characteristic with visible light. It travels in straight lines, regardless of direction, at the same speed, 186,282 miles per second.

Wow! I just channeled Carl Sagan! Brrr! LOL!

By creating a radiator out of the entire floor surface, the surfaces of all objects in the room, including people, are gently warmed. The air in the room is also warmed. The results in terms of comfort are unsurpassed. Because the floor and other inanimate surfaces are warmed, the rate of heat loss on the part of the occupants is largely eliminated. The occupant feels neither too warm nor too cold. This is called “comfort.” Air temperatures at the floor are slightly warmer than at the ceiling, yielding two significant results. One is that with air temperatures slightly lower at head level than at the feet, most people generally feel more alert. The second is that less heat is lost through the ceiling and roof, which means energy savings and lower operating costs. Operating costs are also mitigated because boilers are able to heat with lower water temperatures. Additionally, rooms are comfortable at lower air temperatures, air temperatures are less stratified, and air is not pressurized, meaning there is less warm-air leakage.

Radiant floor heating does not limit placement of furniture and décor. It is also silent, clean, and hypo-allergenic. Dust, germs, and odors are not circulated throughout the building. The system is thermally luxurious and aesthetically elegant.

Here’s a hint: Do not “staple-up” radiant to wood subfloors if you can avoid it!

Radiant Floor Heating isn’t all that expensive. It’s pretty popular, and that’s driven the price down, significantly. The minor extra cost will pay for itself in very little time in energy savings and increases comfort by holding much more stable temperatures in your house.

And, no matter what the carpet salesman tells you…

Avoid putting carpeting over these newly heated slabs! Why would you put padding and insulation over a heat source? Duh!

Putting hardwood over Radiant In-Floor Heating is fine, but lemme’ tell you that tile or finished concrete is even better!  Tile or concrete will hold heat, and that’s mass. No matter what Jenny Craig says, mass is good! I know that I’m telling you to build “hard floors.” If you need some “break” in your room, use some floor rugs to soften up the rooms as needed instead.

Radiant Floor Heating isn’t just for the ground level of your house. On above grade floors, lightweight, gypsum, or thinner concrete slabs should be poured over wood subfloors, but the more concrete the better in all cases – the cost for 3” vs. 1.5” of concrete is generally not high if structurally considered in the design phase. Not only are you creating mass (remember rule #3?) you’re adding strength, and warmth to your home. Plus, using RFH upstairs will help insulate your house from sounds traveling up and down…

Here’s some things to consider: When you’re installing your Radiant In-Floor Heating on that ground level, allow a few extra bucks for blue board. All slabs on grade should be insulated with 3” EPS (blue board) and the slab itself should be 6” thick, not the 4” that contractors like to shoot. The extra cost of the concrete isn’t going to break the bank. Think about it as an investment, and then consider the insignificant increase in costs as a % of the scope of your project, so it ‘won’t be so hard to swallow. It really will pay itself off, quickly.

Radiant Wall and Ceiling Heating

Yep, you read right. You can even use Radiant Heat in walls and ceilings!

Radiant heat travels in any direction, so radiant wall and ceiling heating is also very useful and practical. The exact same principles utilized in floor systems apply to walls and ceilings. Hot water is circulated through tubing behind the finished surface and the entire area then becomes a radiator.

This method is particularly appropriate when access to the floor is restricted or unavailable, in situations where you have pre-existing “slab on grade” construction, and in certain retrofit and remodeling situations.

Radiant wall and/or ceiling systems are an excellent solution when a room will have carpet and pad or some other thermally resistive finished floor. Some rooms, such as kitchens and bathrooms, have much of the floor occupied by base cabinets, islands, fixtures, appliances, and other objects that reduce the usable portion of the floor compared to the room as a whole. These rooms usually have largely unobstructed ceilings which provide ample heat to the room. The heat is absorbed by objects below, such as the floor, countertops, bath, shower surfaces, and occupants.

Your house is getting more comfortable, and you’re saving money… Who could ask for more? Hmmm?

Next time (unless somebody else pisses me off!), we’ll talk about using High Efficiency Condensing Boilers to provide the “muscle” for your Radiant In-Floor Heating and even your domestic hot water needs.

Stay tuned!

Is there a defense of Defense?

No, I’m not writing a blog post about the upcoming Superbowl.

WARNING! I’m gonna warn you in advance that I’m really pissed off. Cover your eyes, if you have to! This isn’t gonna be a “kid-friendly” post…

I know that you’re shocked, and that this is out of the blue, but…

I’m on a mission. I’m so pissed off that I wish I still had a truck with a tank  full of gas, so I could drive to certain “author’s” house and kick his sorry ass all the way to Canada. I haven’t been this pissed off in a while… I’m talking “breaking bones with each blow” pissed off…

Some of you don’t know me, but I’m just a guy trying to help my family get back into a home, after Katrina. There’s no news in that, there are thousands of us facing the same dilemma. I don’t wave any flags in anybody’s face, and I don’t wear anything on my sleeve that resembles my heart. I’m no different than anyone else, I’m just trying to get my family to a better place.

My blog finds it’s roots in my travels around the rock, bouncing from “Banana Republic to Banana Republic.”

And I’m not talking about the ones you find in Strip Malls…

I’ve admittedly seen way more of the “human experience” than I wanted to… For instance, I know that a “sit rep” isn’t a machine you find a Bally’s Fitness gym.

My blog gets a lot of reads by people who have decided to “drop off-grid” and become “self-supportive” to the point of Isolation.  I can really get behind that. My lifelong goal was to find a hundred or so acres somewhere, and build a “Net Zero” abode, complete with “hot and cold running kids” and filled with laughter and happiness. Hell, I might even grade the dirt road, so you could come visit, in the summer. But, life being what it is, I’m just trying to deal with the realities of the day.

On another list I read (because some of my readers frequent and refer to it) they’ve started a discussion on how we deal with youth today, kids looking to the Military to help them on their way to adulthood.

I’ll remind you that a “list owner” isn’t responsible for the commentary of his readers. Let me say for the record that the owner of the list I’m talking about is kinda cranky sometimes, but I don’t hold him accountable for the ravings of some of his “readership.” However, after my last visit to his list, it makes me sick to even be vaguely associated with some of the assholes that post there.

To that end, for reasons I’ve already explained to the list owner, I’ve written a response to something I read there. However I’m going to post it here on RR, to avoid it harming his list, and to prevent the matter from being being “round-filed” or buried for being “inflammatory.”

Here’s the meat of the post today:

**************************************************
I’m the author of a fairly popular blog about “alternative construction.” I usually don’t get involved in conversations about politics, religion, or (gasp!) government. RennaissanceRonin is a blog that documents the attempt of one family to build a home out of recycled materials, because frankly, we can’t afford to just go out and purchase whatever we need, to complete the task at hand.

Many people have been following along (we’ve gotten about 15,000 “reads” in the last several months), while my family attempts to recover from the loss of our home, due to a natural disaster. The reason that this has dragged out so long has more to do with appeasing Insurance Company stockholders and politics, and less to do with effort on our parts, but the result is the same. Each day, my family strives to take one step closer to the goal we have set for ourselves… reclaiming home-ownership.

Because of both where we’re from and where we live, our family’s solution to this dilemma isn’t the same as the one others might make, but we truly feel that our path provides opportunity, and even reward, if we work hard enough to finally find it within our grasp.

Many of you know that my family is having a terrible time. My wife is gravely ill, my son is just a baby, and I’m not going to lie to you… we live “day to day,” trying to find a way out in circumstances that are slowly crushing us…

But, we have a roof over our heads, enough blankets to stay warm, and we have enough to make sure that anyone around us who gets cold or hungry gets fed and clothed. My blog is an attempt at helping people find roads out, so that their families can heal from disaster and find new opportunities, as we try to find them, ourselves. We’re thinking “out of the box,” but in our circumstances, the box burst a long time ago…

Although we live in a minefield (something I have intimate personal experience with) we see any step forward that helps us achieve our goals as a good, well-placed step.

Teamwork helps you achieve goals. Working together to solve problems helps insure success. My life experience,  much of it purchased on foreign soil, taught me that.

Recovery is always complicated. And, recovery is often measured by the tools you bring to the wreckage. We accumulate those tools, during the course of our lives, via our life-experience and training. And then… we use whatever gray matter Mommy and Daddy gave us as we toil away, until we succeed (usually in spite of those who would take pleasure in watching us fail).

Recently, I started getting email from readers about  a thread on a list that I lurk, one where the question came up about whether a youth should trust the “speech” (or the contract) given him by Military Recruiters about “guaranteed training,” and a job in his choice of fields, when he “graduated.”

Many of the responses urged the solicitor of this advise to be extremely wary, and spoke harshly about the integrity of the recruiters, and the Armed Forces in general.

Okay, I understand this. In this day and age, there are a lot of things “wrong” with the system. Like everywhere else, it’s “Buyer Beware.” But then, the tone on the list seemed to have shifted, and it was implied that most of the people who enter Military Service are incapable, slave-minded zombies, murdering miscreants incapable of succeeding at  anything resembling a normal “day to day life,” in society. I’m summarizing here…

Few of them spoke of the opportunities presented to kids who might not have opportunities for education and job skills otherwise, especially in this horror of a failing economy.

Few of them spoke of the desperate circumstances one might leave, or the ability to leave impoverished conditions, to obtain this opportunity for growth, in the most honorable of ways.

Few of them spoke of the skills one can acquire while serving honorably in Military Service.

Few of them spoke to the foundation that Military Service can provide, as one grows into adulthood.

Anyone talking to military recruiters today knows that signing the contract may mean finding yourself in conflict. (We fight wars on television, for crying out loud.) The United State’s position in the World Arena isn’t a mystery.  Joining the Military means taking a stand, and becoming part of something greater, in spite of the rants from “idealistically challenged” liberals who think that the world is just “Roses and Honey” without American Intervention into tyranny.

But here’s my “favorite” response;

Beginning of quoted post:

“This is my message to any young person with ears to hear it:

There are few jobs in the world where losing your life is a daily — and highly likely — possibility. There are even fewer jobs where you are paid — and fully expected — to kill men, women, and children withOUT questioning your superiors (or their motives) at any time. Unless you’re a psychopath and murder, mutilation, and mayhem is your idea of a gay ol’ time, find something else to do — find ANYTHING else to do.

Yes, you read right. The author is claiming that those serving in our Military are nothing more than brainless, morally deprived, psychopathic “woman and baby-killing murderers,” who actually take pleasure in participating in the death of others…

If you want to fight for “freedom”, try fighting for your own personal freedom from our oppressive corporate culture FIRST and then find your own unique path from there. Don’t pretend to defend *my* personal freedom and liberty when you don’t have it yourself and most likely have NEVER had it and then spend the rest of your life acting like *I* or anyone else OWES you some vague debt of gratitude.

Need I remind the author that the lives (and deaths) of all those “brainless, morally deprived, psychopathic “woman and baby-killing murderers” paid for his right to not only attack and libel their character, but to voice his views in public?

And, trust me, the second you sign on with the military, you just LOST whatever tidbit of personal freedom you thought you once had. Don’t let the military machine destroy your spirit while you’re figuring out who you are and what you’re meant to do in this life.

Yeah, you get shanghai’d, and smuggled onto a ship, where you do forced labor until you die, or get a debilitating disease. And then… you die. You can’t possibly grow stronger, find your place in this world, and then return home to make the world and your local neighborhood a better place. After all, that would be uncivilized…

There are a THOUSAND better options: wander in the wilderness, become a monk, work in a soup kitchen, work in a homeless shelter, build a mountain retreat on FREE government land, fix bicycles for kids and give ‘em away, serve the poor . . . you’re much more likely to remain ALIVE and actually do some good in this sorry-ass world — instead of promulgating death and destruction as a hired killer for the rich white guys. And the bonus? You’ll sleep better every night for the rest of your life . . . I guarantee it.”

Sure, there are other options, but for many of us, the unemployment rates are climbing faster than a Space Shuttle lift-off, and a life lived as a monk wandering the wilderness isn’t going to feed our families.  Oh… and that FREE government land you’re going on about was paid for with blood, too… Soldier’s blood.

End of quoted post.

Look, I know that “Big Government” and even the Armed Forces are things to be leary of. I know that, as “the little guys,” we sometimes get lost in the shuffle, and in fact, it seems like it happens pretty often. Those in “Authority” aren’t always  “fair.” But, I can assure you that after traveling  all over the world, life here in the United States is indeed better than a life lived in other places on the rock.

Me? I’m old enough to remember guys and girls who left America as kids, and returned as grown men and women, whose lives were forever changed not only by what they endured and witnessed, but by the way they were treated when they returned to us.

I remember watching them spat upon in airports, and I remember watching their terror at the mobs that threatened them, as they simply tried to return to their families. I remember their tears, as they tried to readjust to “life” after living with death.

I remember those we left behind, those we couldn’t find, those we couldn’t rescue, those we couldn’t save.

I remember watching as my friends were slowly lowered into the ground, and covered with sod.

I’m old enough now to remember that I became one of those guys…

And although I’m scarred too… I’m the better for it.

I remember, and I cannot, I will not ever forget.

I’m not going to name the author of the above quoted post, although I’ll add that he says that he’s a Vietnam Vet.  Suffice it to say, the author makes me genuinely sick to my stomach. However the fact that brave American Men and Women put their lives on the line every day gives the author the right to say it.

Contrary to the “quoted author” of that post, I don’t think of people looking to serve our country as “murderers, baby-killers, or psychopathic criminals.” I think of them as brave and heroic souls who are willing to put their bodies where their mouths (and hearts are), and stand the line so that we (and evidently this author I quoted) can say whatever we want, while they risk flying bullets, bombs, and death…

And I owe them a debt that I can never repay, for their sacrifice, their heroism and their patriotism.

What would YOU tell someone thinking of joining the Armed Services?

I know what I’d tell them…

It starts with telling the author of that “advise” I quoted above, this:

Okay, gentle readers, if you’ve gotten this far… have you got any suggestions?
I’m listening, if you have any advice. Right now, I’m going to go take an antacid…

Stay tuned…

Is a Container House Package for you?

Now, I know that we’ve been discussing the “Ronin’s Rules of Homebuilding,” but I thought I’d take a little break, to share this with you…

A buddy of mine in Portugal (Lisbon, where else, huh?) has been following along (in amazement, according to him) as I chronicle the steps we’re taking to build our own home, using Shipping Containers (ISBUs) as the “primary structure.”

And he was just in Barcelona, where he heard about a company that is getting ready to do business in the US, offering low-cost homes, built out of… you guessed it… Shipping Containers. So…

This just in…

Habitainer.com and Habinet.org, a Spanish (Spain) corporation, is/are beginning to package “Container Home” packages, for distribution in the United States, through a “distribution network.”

Like I said before (you were paying attention, right?), I recently received a “press package” (secondhand) that touted their new product line, and descriptions of the homes and utility buildings offered.

Rather than just echoing the product line descriptions, I’m going to post the entire catalog for you to download, in a PDF file (if I can figure out how to do it).

Here goes nothing:

habitainer-en1

I haven’t had a chance to verify all the information yet, but the PDF does come from “the manufacturer,” so at least we start this exploration on semi-firm ground… LOL!

The gist is this: For about $20,000.00 US, you can buy a turnkey Container house, ready to set on your foundation. Admittedly, these models are pretty “generic,” and it appears that new offerings are right around the corner, but the idea that there are now people ready to “rail and truck” you a new home for the price of a late-model used car might actually get some notice, as the economy heads slowly down the tube in what looks like a “death spiral.”

Although their product line is “pretty primitive” compared to some dwellings I’ve seen built, it’s a beginning. If more companies take the initiative, they might build enough market to actually succeed.

Hey, if nothing else, they’ll build some marketshare for other builders to sell into!

As for the rest of us, well… we’ll just muddle along, feeling our way down those slippery slopes that lead to home-ownership knowing that we can at least fix it, because we built it! LOL!

And now… back to the regularly scheduled program…

Stay Tuned…

Maximize your Girth… um… er… Mass!!

Welcome Campers… to another exciting episode of:

“Household Electrical? Hey, no problem! I got miles of extension cord, and a staple gun!” LOL!

But, seriously folks, it’s like this…

Sometimes the things you want, aren’t the same as the things you can afford. And, in the “Land of Ronin,” that covers miles and miles. I mean, I’d like a Ferrari, and a Yacht, and a Big Mac (hold the pickles…), but…

Where was I? Oh yeah…

Recovering from a disaster is difficult, under the best circumstances. And disasters seems to rated by their shock value… So, I’ll put your minds to rest… A dingo didn’t eat our baby… A hurricane ate our house.

I pity the dingo stupid enough to try and eat OUR “baby.” Josh would use him as a pull-toy, until the dingo puked! LOL!

Anyway… the insurance company we trusted, turned out to be in rather short supply of “trustworthiness.” And, that’s a dilemma when your family needs a safe place to live (that you can afford) especially while much of the deep south is falling into chaos faster than a “Redneck rush for the BBQ Buffet…” LOL!

You see, like many other parts of the country, this economic disaster we’re experiencing is hitting really hard. Unemployment is at an all-time low, state government services have been cut to a bare minimum, and credit is a word only uttered in despair. I have several neighbors who have become unemployed, in the last few months. You’d be amazed by all the vacant storefronts in our area, lately. It’s starting to look like a ghost-town.

You know it’s getting bad, when “Biloxi Bertha’s House ‘O’ Crap” closes. I mean, she’d give you cash for anything you could drag in, and now… sniff… she’s gone. Oh woe is me…

And I could belly-ache about it for hours (perhaps even days) but it wouldn’t get my family into a safe place, now would it? Hmmm?

So, I’m just gonna build a house, with whatever I can find, and trust in my skills as a “creative genius” to get it past Planning and Zoning…

Now, I know what you’re thinking… If you’ve been hanging out here long, you already know that Ronin isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. In fact, Ronin ain’t even got a shed!

Wait! I’m building a “Pallet Barn…” Does that count?

But, I’ve always been resourceful, and I’ve always been the “idiot savant” in the family. Or was it just the “family idiot?” I forget…

So, I’m embarking on an expedition that will make the Iditarod look like Spring Break! I’m going to build a house out of (gasp!) Shipping containers. That’s right… shipping containers. Now, once you decide that you’re gonna use them to provide shelter, instead of hauling everything in G_d’s creation across the “briny blue…” they  call ‘em “ISBU’s,” which stands for “Intermodal Steel Building Units.”

Now, I’m going to add some other stuff to the construction pile, like recycled aircraft hanger components (steel) and whatever else I can find, but in the end, I’ll be in a safe, affordable, alternative home that will provide my family’s needs and make the nosy neighbors mad at the same time! Who could ask for more? Hmmm?

In the last few posts, I’ve been talking about “Rules to live by…” when building a home, in the 21st century. Now, none of these rules require a degree in Nuclear Physics, and almost anybody can accomplish these tasks, if they just plan carefully, and put their backs into it. Thank goodness, because like I said, I’m not exactly Albert Einstein… more like Alfred E. Neuman… LOL!

(If you don’t know who that is… well, just “google” it…)

We’ve been talking about harnessing the sun for something besides developing skin cancer, and we’ve explored using SIPs (remember that SIPs are “Structural Insulating Panels) to build a home quickly, efficiently, and without creating a container full of waste (scraps.)

Today, we’re gonna touch on another rule…

“Maximize Your Girth… um… er… Mass!“

Now, I know all about saving up for winter. I have several pairs of jeans that I couldn’t squeeze into unless you buttered my butt with Parkay! And although it’s good to prepare for the season, I need to shed a few pounds, to get ready for some hard work. Building a house is exactly the opposite. You WANT your house to have mass. In fact, the creation of carefully placed mass can actually help you, and save you money.

How? Well, I’m glad you asked…

According to studies, a heavier house is a much more comfortable, energy efficient house with much more stable temperatures year round. This means it’s warmer in winter, and cooler in summer.

Remember that if you position your home properly, you can use the sun to heat the mass within your house. Capish? That “custom concrete” floor is starting to look better now, huh? And, those concrete pillars and posts can be “heat sinks” too. They’ll store up heat during the day, and then, ever so slowly dissipate it at night. This will help cut your heating bill. And all for the price of concrete, one time.

Let’s think about this for a minute, okay?

A lot of people are apparently still willing to settle for high-cost, low-performance passive solar house heating techniques, that get them a 30% yearly savings in backup space heating costs over a 20 year payback period, vs. warmstores, solar closets, sunspaces and transparent siding, which really can save close to 100% of the space heating energy needed for a house AND provide close to 100% of the hot water needed for a house, as well, also, too, over the top, with a payback period of a year or two.”

Let’s boil it down to the “Essentials;”

What is “Thermal Mass?”

“Thermal Mass” is a wall… solid masonry wall works well – that stores about 90 calories per pound per  degree Fahrenheit.

“I’m supposed to store my Ho-Ho’s and Twinkies in the wall? Whaaaa?”

Redneck translation: The more massive the wall is, the better off you are. Thermal walls need to be  thermally conductive so that the energy stored in one place moves uniformly across the wall for re-radiation.

And, if that wasn’t confusing enough, in some instances, “cores” are added to these walls to increase their efficiency. If either eutectic or para-tetic salts are included in the Thermal Mass wall, this could add significantly to the stored energy – obtaining up to 36,000 calories per pound stored as part of the phase change from solid to liquid.

It’s all about “exposure.” Remember, exposing yourself is usually either a felony or “a family tragedy,” so act accordingly… LOL!

By using selective “Solar Exposure” you can regulate the heat gains in your thermal mass. Collect sunlight in the winter, reflect or conceal it in Summer. And you can reflect sunlight (heat) with glazing on glass. Using a “control surface” (awning) can conceal your windows, blocking summer sun but not winter sun.  The end result is a wall or floor that radiates stored heat back into your house, when you need it.

(Remember that your thermal mass wall can be be either interior or exterior.)

It’s as simple as using the flooring and slab as a radiator… remember?

And thermal mass doesn’t have to be ugly. You can paint a mass wall any color you want, as long as it’s black… LOL! Actually, according to that damned study, dark colors are the best. Painted on or natural pigment, dark surfaces work better in absorbing the sun’s energy. (If it’s me, I just use tinted concrete.)

And don’t forget about your windows. Glass windows are your “lenses.” That glass lets through the optical energy from the sun. The wall radiates in the infrared, which does not pass through glass. Hence, the energy is trapped, and infrared radiant energy is very pleasant to the human body.

I’m not sure how it affects “alien bodies,” but I’m not building in Roswell, anyway… LOL!

On an exterior wall, install double-pane (or even triple in very cold regions) windows. (Don’t scrimp here, as the money you spent on windows will either be a boon to you, or a curse, for many years to come. Buy the best windows you can afford.) Glass plating separation depends on the temperature gradients. Generally, in the US, this “separation” amounts to about 3/4th inch.

Using thermal mass is pretty simple, right? There aren’t many questions about it to answer except…

After all this is said and done, what are the real advantages?

Comfortable heat is created by the thermal wall. The wall or mass radiates in the infra red spectrum, which is more penetrating and pleasant than traditional convective forced air heating systems.

And, you get this heat without any moving parts! That means no warranty, no repairs, and best of all, no maintenance.

And, it’s easy. The construction is simple and anybody who can wield a hammer, a wheelbarrow, or a nailgun can usually do it.

I still can’t figure out why everybody runs when I get out my nailgun…

It’s relatively easy to incorporate thermal mass into a building structure as an internal or external wall. Materials (masonry, concrete) are relatively inexpensive. And construction is fast, fast, fast! (Except for the time I spend in the ER…)

Oh… now I know why they run… OUCH!

Including thermal mass in your design is one of the most effective ways to heat your space, I guarantee! It can reduce heating bills by large amounts. And, by large, I’m talking about more than enough to buy a few extra boxes of Krispy Kreme’s! LOL!

So, a smart builder uses as much concrete as possible in ALL floors both at and above grade.

There’s other ways to increase the mass in your house too, besides inviting your Mother-In-Law to move in… boycotting the gym, or passing on that last piece of pie…

But, how can you accomplish this, and not have to spend your kids college fund on the construction?

Instead of using high-cost granites and laminate countertops, cast them out of concrete. I know… this sounds disgustingly ugly, but you’d be surprised at what you can do with a “blank slate” of concrete.

Hey, let me point out that here in the south, especially by all the ponds and waterways, concrete is for more than using to weigh down the “evidence” of the pesky neighbors intrusions into your privacy! LOL!

Concrete actually offers many features that are highly sought after in countertops. Concrete is naturally heat resistant. It is also amazingly anti-bacterial. Plus, concrete can be mixed in any array of colors to coordinate with your space. And it’s CONCRETE… The moldable qualities enable you to create almost any size and shape. Get creative! You can add objects like broken glass or stones (or anything else you have laying around), to the mix to create more interest.

Not bad looking… right?

See? Nobody would know this countertop came out of a BAG…

I added some LEGOS I found on the floor once. Boy, did my kid get mad at me! LOL!

See? Concrete can be quite fashionable!

But a white kitchen? Not in MY house! LOL!

Now, the skeptics will say that concrete is very labor intensive and therefore usually commands a hefty price tag. Bull. It’s definitely within reach of DIY’rs… And adding a new custom concrete countertop to your kitchen will give you and your friends something to talk about.

I’ve personally used concrete in some pretty unorthodox ways, and people couldn’t tell what it really was! (And, they were happy with the results, too!)

Okay… not all of them were “happy.” But, they can’t tell on me, either… LOL!

And it doesn’t stop at concrete! You can use 2 layers of 5/8” sheetrock throughout the house. Sheetrock isn’t really that expensive, so it’s a cheap, very effective, way to add acoustical isolation from room to room. This results in more substantial feeling walls, and makes hanging pictures much easier! Another benefit is that your walls are straighter, double sheetrock means doubles fire resistance, and using two sheets of sheetrock only requires using thicker interior prehung doors/jambs.

And, this isn’t gonna cause you any real harm either, in the “glazing department.” Window jambs are typically not full depth, so it rarely affects them.

Here’s another way to save cash and gain efficiency… Think about avoiding carpet! Whaaaa? You can use stone, very dense wood such as bamboo or FSC certified hardwoods, ceramic tile, etc for floors and finishes.

There you have it. Everything you never wanted to know about “mass.” Now, if I could just reduce mine by a few (okay… 20) pounds, those jeans would fit nicely…

Next time, we’ll tackle “In-Floor Heating…” or “Josh, don’t fry eggs on the floor! Argh! Somebody get the dog!”

Stay tuned!

SIP’ing your way to success – 10 Simple HomeBuilding Rules!

You’re back! What took you so long? We were getting nervous!

As you know, we’re out here in the woods (what’s left of them), off the beaten track (“hurricane beaten,” admittedly), building a new home. But we’re not building a “traditional home.”

Yep, we’ve decided to abolish all traditions, as part of the homebuilding process… Bye-bye Thanksgiving… bye-bye “Bring your little brat to work day”… bye-bye “Mother-In_Laws Holiday week that turns into a month”… bye-bye “Grannies Surprise Visit” weekend…

Threw that last one in, just for “WildKitty…” ROTF LOL! I know, I know… I’m terrible… Deal with it!

Okay, maybe not. But we’ll still be a tribe of “spiritual miscreants” bent on making the neighbors nervous, but hey, if you can’t have any fun at home, what’s the point, right?

Most people rebuilding after a big blow have opted for stuff like concrete, and wood, and even some metal. But… all that stuff costs money, and if you’ve been reading along (you have, right? *Ronin glares suspiciously*) you already know that we haven’t got any. So…

We’re doing what any red-blooded, creative minded, cost conserving couple would do, if they found themselves in our shoes.

And they better not find themselves in our shoes, because we haven’t got all that many pairs to begin with!

We’re building our house out of garbage! Yep. Garbage. Stuff like shipping containers, old aircraft hangar components, and even some scraps we found laying around are all being compiled into the biggest bonfire…

(Wait… NO bonfire! That’s what the neighbors want us to do…) Where was I?

Oh yeah… The “pile.”

(Stop it! I know what you’re thinking, and that’s not nice. Don’t make me come over there…)

We’ve started accumulating components that we can combine into a really cool house, at a fraction of the price of a new home, built “traditionally” by “traditional” builders. You remember how we feel about traditions, right? A POX on them, I say… LOL!

The goal here is to build a cost efficient, affordable, comfortable place where my wife and little monster of a son can make me wish I’d just stayed in the jungles of Costa Rica for the rest of my life…

ARGH! Where did that come from? It’s not exactly what I meant… Honest…

Actually, our goal is to build a nice home that provides for all of our needs, without a massive influx of cash and energy to keep it operating. And, that’s what the next few posts are going to concentrate on.

Last time, we talked about how to conquer the evil gaze of that blank page, that has “My New House” scrawled across the top of it.

Yes, I know I said “my.” I suspect, that if your house is like mine, there are actually TWO lists… Number One is the list where YOU try to figure out how to get enough built to insure that you stay warm and dry. Number Two is the “other” list, probably carefully crafted by your “kids, spouse, or significant other,” and it’s more “detailed.” You know, the one that has lists of appliances, and special items that “must not be forgotten…”

You know, stuff like bathrooms, refrigeration, air conditioning, 60″ Plasma TV’s with screaming high volume sound and High Definition… and “I used to be the champ, but now I’m stinking rich cuz I developed a countertop grill that even an imbecile like Ronin can use!” cooking stuff.

I ignore THAT list like the Black Plague! It just makes me cry like a politician at a bank closure…

Last time, we talked about how you can build a better house by orienting it to the sun. Today, we’re gonna shift gears a little bit, and talk about how to actually build the house.

I give you…

Build it Tight And Insulate Aggressively With Spray Foams or SIP’s

We all know what spray-foam is, right? But what’s a SIP? Okay, it’s just a newfangled panel that comes “pre-insulated.”

A SIP (structural insulating panel) system consists of solid, one-piece, pre-cut SIP units that are ready to install as wall, floor or roof components suitable for many residential and commercial building applications. Each SIP consists of a core of molded EPS (expanded polystyrene) insulation with engineered OSB (oriented strand board)laminated to the top and bottom faces.

SIP-built homes go up FAST! In just DAYS usually!

Even Log Homes use them!

Using SIP’s (Structural Insulated Panels) and/or engineered lumber (TimberStrand or similar) rather than crooked dimensional lumber makes for a much better house. No matter what the contractor tells you, traditional lumber warps or rots over time. This results in a looser, lower quality, leaky, wavy structure and incurs far more waste. The object is to build a house, not fill a trash container with scraps. Scraps still cost money, and you never see the benefits.

What do we really know about using SIP’s? Well… We know that using a SIP system is a key component in building construction that will reduce energy costs and provide a strong, secure building envelope. A correctly installed SIP System provides wall and roof assemblies with greater structural strength and higher effective thermal resistance (R-Value) than your typical stick-frame construction.

Let’s compare, shall we?

SIPs WIN!

Wait! What’s “R-Value?” The R-Value of an assembly is a measure of its ability to resist heat flow through it. The higher the R-Value of your wall assembly, the lower your energy costs for heating and cooling your home.

So… few things pay off faster or cost less and have more benefit than high R-value insulation and tight construction practices.

And after you’ve SIP’d your way into the new dawn… don’t forget to use spray-in foam, like… say… perhaps…  polyisocyanurate R7 per inch closed cell insulation, everywhere else in your house. Try saying that three times with a mouth full of tortilla chips! What a mess! Who’s gonna clean up this mess? Somebody get the dog!

Spray-In foam works particularly well at making great gains in creating silence, too! My Mother -In_Law hasn’t made a sound since we installed it… But wear gloves! She bit me several times during the “installation.” LOL!

Okay, we all know that insulation is important. Without it, you’d freeze your little… um… er… well, you wouldn’t be having any more kids any time soon, lemme tell you! So, a smart camper insulates their walls to at least R30 (4-5” of foam) and roof planes to R45 (6” of foam). Better yet, insulate all of your exterior planes  (your walls and roof, not your 747) to R48! This is the very best combination of cost and benefit, and it equals 7” of foam, for those of you keeping track.

And, always use spray foam (not Blue-Board!) to insulate exterior concrete stem walls below grade, or use ICF’s – you get waterproofing built right in, it’s far more effective over its lifespan, and moves around during backfill less. Spray-in foam also seals and tightens the structure up like glue! Plus, spray-in foam is largely waterproof and it holds it R-value and position over time (unlike “blown-in” insulation). Another benefit is that spray-in foam is  rapidly installed without waste or that itchy fiberglass!

Using SIPs and spray foam is a part of of good framing practice, because they retard penetration of nasty stuff like cold drafts and water. Plus, you’ll get a warmer, tighter, quieter house! I live near both freight trains and heavy (military) aircraft…

You wanna talk about noise? I feel like one of those guys in the war movies where the enemy blasts music full blast all day and night! I think I’m getting PTSD!

Now I know that some of you are already hollering into the monitors about new-fangled “blown-in” insulation. You know, that stuff made out of old newspapers, shredded fabric, and even soy beans. But, I’m still on the fence about that stuff…

It does work, and it’s real cool that it’s good for the environment, but I wonder what happens in a few years, after it settles in the bottom of the cavities (gravity, remember?) and gets affected by humidity (which causes even more settling). I’ve remodeled several homes that used “blown-in” insulation, and frankly folks, the coverage didn’t stay put. This means your house has to work harder, and your energy bills go up.

So, it’s up to you, but if you live in a harsh environment, and staying warm (and cool) is of maximum concern, then avoid loose fill insulation, even if sprayed in and made out of recycled blue jeans – it’s just not nearly as effective especially over time.

I know, I know… cellulose sounds really cool, but it compacts too, and like other “blown-ins,” you get “cold spots” after a few years. So, if you use “blown-in” insulation, make doubly sure that the installers know what they are doing.

Everybody is thinking GREEN nowadays, including us, here at ground zero. If you’re really worried about the environment, there are some pretty cool things to consider about SIPs. One of the best ways to think about the impact of SIPs on the environment is to consider how energy efficient they are. Because SIP panels are so efficient, the demand for fossil fuel consumption (such as gas, oil and coal) and the releasing of greenhouse gas emissions (like carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere are greatly reduced during the years you heat and cool your home, resulting in a much cleaner environment.  But you still think they are far too expensive to use in your project, right? Nope. Keep reading, Bucko!

See? Using SIPs pays off!

SIP panels also promote green building benefits. Why? Because they are 100% recyclable and generate considerably less jobsite waste in comparison to conventional stick-framing building methods. This means less waste material being put into our landfills. Remember that container full of scraps I was belly-aching about earlier? Well, it just got smaller…

Next time, we’ll talk about more ways to make your house do all the work, while you sit back in front of the TV, watching football and eating tasty sandwiches…

Don’t I wish? LOL!

The next chapter is gonna be a doozy! I call it: “Maximize Your Girth… um… er… Mass!“

Stay tuned!

10 Steps to Housebuilding Success!

Greetings Campers!

Ah… life in the South is filled with adventure, huh?

First, I’m sorry that I haven’t been doing much posting lately. This has been one heck of a New Year, thus far. Between saying goodbye to a dear friend, Momma being under the weather, and the idiot upstairs flooding our apartment (yet again!) I’ve literally been up to my neck in alligators (and other stuff I still can’t identify… Yuck!)!

That said…

Many of you are “follow-along” readers. And, I’m thankful for you, each and every one of your blessed little hearts, lemme tell you! That means that you know my family is doing that “dreaded of deeds…” Yep, we’re putting down rooooots.

Now, the prospect of this terrifies the neighbors, and frustrates the hell out of the local authorities, because they know that as soon as we build our castle, we’re gonna start influencing the neighbors… and that means (gasp!) change, folks…

The first big change is our use of shipping containers (ISBU’s) as the “guts” of the new house. That little gem of a gossip piece is getting a lot of mileage around here.

And around here, those “fossils” don’t get smarter, they just get older… and crustier… and more dense… I learned that in Geology class I did… or was it Psychiatry, or Mental Health? Hmmm… Wait, I remember… me therapist told me that… she did… when I wasn’t asleep on that couch of hers… Hey, I’m used to sleeping on a couch, what can I say? LOL!

A lot of my email lately echoes the same thought process, over and over again…

“Hey Ronin! Why don’t you get on that Harley and ride the hell outta here? Hmmm?”

Wait… that’s not it… Where was I? Oh yeah…

Where do you even start, when you finally decide that you’re going to build your own home? There’s a lot of ducks to get lined up in a row, and when it’s time to put pencil to paper, that blank page can get pretty darned intimidating! There is so much to learn, and so much to allow for, that you can get lost in the process, if you aren’t careful! So, being the generous, kind, thoughtful, handsome, benevolent, and don’t forget “wise…guy”  tyrant that I am… I thought that perhaps it’s time for a little “primer,” a series of posts dedicated to HOW you actually begin the process to build a house. After all, there’s more to building a home than just pounding nails, slapping up some walls, and putting on a roof.

Much more…

Like, for instance, how do you build a house that keeps all your cash INSIDE it, instead of letting it leak out to be lost outside?

(I’m talking utilities here, folks. The rest of my cash leaks out in that most dreaded of all sports… shopping for diapers and groceries.)

Everywhere you look, and everything you hear lately, seems to revolve around “energy conservation.” Now, that’s not a bad thing. Anyone who’s been pillaging “Ronin’s Treasure Chest” lately, knows full- well that here at “Ground Zero” we are really, really concerned about not only saving resources (because we’re poor!), but living comfortably, while we do it.

So, let’s start off with 10 simple rules to live by when designing and building a home.

If you implement these “rules,” you’ll reduce your family’s long-term energy use by 80-100%, and this will result in a more comfortable, long lasting home. After all, if you’re going to build a home, shouldn’t it be state of the art and follow affordable design and construction standards? A little planning and forethought will allow you to build a home today with high tech energy performance, capable of achieving “net zero” energy consumption.

“Net Zero” doesn’t mean that you’ll be reduced to having to eat those “Free Internet” DVD’s you keep getting in the mail. It means that you’re going to build a house that is so efficient, economic, and affordable, that your neighbors will “oooooh and aaaawe” every time they drive past your house.

Remember folks, “jealousy” is a sport, and getting the gold medal is the objective here. Your neighbors treated you like the rabble heckling Noah while he built his Ark, remember? Well, who’s treading water now, you bastards? Hmmm?

I started this adventure like many of you have, by using that veritable repository of all trivial knowledge in the world… Google. But, albeit I found several good lists, they were… yawn… boring! So… I give you…

The 10 Simple… um…er… kinda simple… Rules

1. Orient your home to the South and Use The Sun’s Energy
2. Build it Tight and Insulate Aggressively With Spray Foams or SIP’s
3. Maximize your Mass
4. Use Radiant In-Floor Heat in All of your Living Spaces
5. Use High Efficiency Condensing Boilers
6. Design For and Install Solar Power Systems
7. Install Outdoor Temp. Reset Controls
8. Don’t scrimp! Use the Best Windows You Can Afford
9. Specify Efficient Appliances and Smart Controls
10. Use GeoExchange Heating and Cooling Systems Whenever Possible

Okay, them’s the “rules.” So, what do they mean? Well… if you follow them, you’ll have a happy home, filled with sunlight and laughter, instead of a hellhole of a house plummeted into darkness and griping…

(And, you won’t have to hear that harpie of an In-Law constantly griping to your spouse about her “lousy marital choice…”)!

For the next few days, we’re gonna take a look at these “rules,” and then figure out both what they mean, and how we use them, to insure our success.

Let’s begin, shall we? Hmmm?

Start by orienting your home to the South and use the Sun’s energy!

Now, I ain’t talking about embracing “grits and cornpone…” Or even stinking up your house with “greens…” And, if I catch you frying up a mess of “catfish and cornbread…” well… let’s just say all you’ll see is my elbows and my backside, as I head for the front door… Ewwwww!

We’re talking about passive solar design here, folks… and I’m talking about maximizing “free” solar energy. Orient the house with living spaces and windows opening south and carefully shade them in the summer.

Make sure you have enough overhang (control) to provide adequate shade.

Over the windows, not your belt buckle. See? That’s what you get for eating all that catfish and grits…

Use exterior sunscreens, soffits or roof overhangs to prevent direct sun from entering south windows from May through September, so you don’t fry.

Make sure that the angle from the bottom of a southern window to the overhang or sunscreen is not be less than 30 degrees. You can refer to a sun-path chart commonly available on the internet to verify these angles and then verify angles and placement.

Place ALL the main living spaces on the south, with services, bathrooms and storage on the north side of the house. Why? Because the rooms that get used the most will benefit from the sunlight, and the “free heat.” Duh! LOL!

But put your Mother-In-Law’s room as far north as you can get it. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch a re-run of the “Wizard of Oz…” Trust me on this… In fact, if you need a passport and an up-to-date shot card to get there, it’s even better!

And speaking of the north side of house… Minimize the windows, and their size, on your  northern elevations. Smaller (and even fewer) windows on the north (cold) side of your house just steal heat, and energy.

If you’re lucky ( and rich) enough to have an architect working with you, ask him/her to document the sun angles on southern elevations for various months on a dedicated sheet, in your house plans. And, if you’re looking for a good one, say it with me…

S_T_A_N_K_E_Y.

Remember that a “good” design is everything. If your design sucks, so do you… Wait, that’s not it (although your “other” may tell you that, repeatedly)… Whether you do it yourself, or you hire someone who actually knows what they are doing, insure yourself that that direct sunlight enters your southern windows from at least November 1 to March 1.

And for heaven’s sake, do everything you can to avoid structures and siting schemes that result in more east/west elevations and walls than your north/south ones.

Next time, well talk about “tight” buildings…

Stay tuned!

Addendum: I am not now, nor have I even been, in the employ of hiveModular.com, so stop asking me! If I’m guilty of “shamelessly promoting ” them, it’s because these “Titans of the Tundra” think like I think. No, they don’t take any “mental meds” (that I know of)… Okay, they think like I “wanna” think. (If my brain wasn’t frozen from living in sub-zero weather…) Wait… maybe they ARE nuts…

These guys are great at creating innovative, out of the box solutions to difficult housing problems (like the “building economy,” for instance) in a manner that is elegant and functional. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want “the same old cookie-cutter house” that my parents had. I want something that will earn my respect and save me money, while making my family comfortable. Capish? Who could ask for more? Hmmm?

I’m off to see “the Wizard… of Odds…”

It’s a brave new year…

One filled with hope, commitment, and desires…

A wise man once told me that “The New Year brings the success you earn…”

Readers who have frequented these pages already know that here in Mississippi, the Klein family continues it’s trek towards “that Everest of peaks…” home ownership… once again…

We’ve battled the locals, the state, and many politicians who see us as either advocates or adversaries, depending on whether or not we agree with their antiquated way of thinking…

We’ve been embraced by some of the locals, and some politicians who see that we’re actually advocating a change in the way things are done, so that families live in houses, and not in temporary shelters.

That said, the fight continues. I’m living in a state that only Illinois rivals, in “certain areas of political aptitude.” And frankly, that infuriates me. I was taught that politicians were placed in those lofty positions, to better serve the people who put them there. The reality is that politicians are a special breed, and sometimes that breed mutates, to those who are only in it for their own self-aggrandizement and success, instead of actually working in public service, to fortify the populace.

It’s funny… although I live in one of Mississippi’s most industrious Casino/Gambling cities, I spend more time “gambling” in Jackson… Go figure.

So… I’m headed to Jackson again (the Mississippi “capital of corruption,” only equaled by Illinois…) to force through the new plans on the “shipping container” house we’re trying so desperately to build. This meeting was originally scheduled for the first week of January, 2009, but it’s been moved to the second week of January, due to a boondoggle trip that “seated politicians” are participating in, to “secure manufacturing contracts abroad…”

What this translates to is “Some fat-cats have asked us to represent our state, so they too can write off a free trip to Europe, paid for by the taxpayers, and other ignorant rubes…” The funny part about this is that the Governor of the State just recently returned from a very (suspiciously) similar trip…

Our faithful readers already know that our housing plans have changed, due to new “refinements” of the wording in the legalese that has been carefully crafted to ensnare us, and make building of any sort impossible. LOL!

The most frustrating part of this entire process has been the apparent “participation” of politicians whose only intent is to create new obstacles, so that they are insured of press coverage.

This first “new and improved” meeting is with a committee that is targeted at the promotion of “green” projects in South Mississippi. I suspect that it was created solely to collect data that will be used to go back to Washington DC, looking for some federal (read “state” handout) money, but alas, (sigh!) it’s a hurdle I must cross.

You know… this blog was originally a place that I created to vent, because I knew I was going to get frustrated. I hoped that people could read through my experiences, and hopefully sidestep the pits I foolishly blundered into. It has, however, become something more, a place where I have somehow been transformed into an “esteemed affordable housing advocate” according to the State of Mississippi. Oh, those poor rubes… If they only knew…

However, RenaissanceRonin has also garnered me a few “media followers,” and they have assured me that they will “assist me” in pushing this project through to completion, by “increasing the visibility of the participants.”

I’m a big believer in “public record.” The best way to effect change, is to do it strategically, accurately, openly, and with fanfare. I think you can read between the lines here, and see what kind of “hammer” I’m creating…

I am very fortunate, I have some really creative and qualified people standing behind me. Admittedly, they are standing there, so I catch all the bullets, and suffer the slings and arrows of any created controversy. But, that’s okay. I have lot’s of scars and a few more aren’t gonna make much difference.

I’ll also take this moment in time, to point out that I have been heavily influenced by the works of Paul Stankey and his group of visionaries, who are presently freezing their appendages off in the “great white north” of Minnesota. You’ve heard me talk about the guys at hiveMODULAR.com before, and although it’s hard for me to imagine such creative feats coming from guys who aren’t even smart enough to move someplace warm, they’re a bunch of guys that anyone longing for a home should watch…and then employ.

In the end, all I’m actually doing is detailing (in brief) what my “green” intentions for the grant subsidies and endowments actually are. The boil-out is this;

“I’m taking your grant money, and rather than just build another stick or masonry house, I’m going one step further, and building a sustainable, efficient, and affordable home, that will actually participate in the lifestyle of the family that lives within it by both reducing operational overhead, and creating a secure and comfortable environment for the family in residence…”

As I wrote this, I pictured that commercial where Elizabeth Taylor looks at some guy playing poker, removes her earrings, while saying “These have always brought me luck…” and she tosses them into the pot…

Please note that this is just a rough draft…

The Klein “Net-Zero” Residence

To the casual onlooker, it appears that America is relatively new to the sustainability bandwagon. However, projects ongoing in the United States prove otherwise. One of these projects is a “Hurricane Katrina Rebuild” of a storm ravaged home owned by the Klein family, of Biloxi Mississippi. This project is an “affordable and alternative design,” roughly modeled after many “design-build” processes now being used commonly in America.

“Design Build” simply means that the contractor, sub-contractors, and the architect are on the team with the homeowner, from day one of the project. The idea is to provide sole-source responsibility. One of the advantages of “design build” is that you have several sets of eyes on the project, from it’s beginnings. This allows high speed solution of any problems that may occur, and that improves the building process through value engineering, and cost savings. It’s basically the best of all worlds, in the building industry.

In our case, Klein will be both property owner and serve as the General Contractor. Klein has decades of building experience, and has successfully completed projects ranging from residences and duplexes in Southern California, to mansions in South Florida, totaling a value of approximately $70+ million dollars over his lifetime of participation. He has also successfully overseen and participated in projects internationally, in Central America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

As you can surmise, Klein comes by it naturally through a mix of his international roots and decades of experience and training.

Here are some of the “green” highlights of the project currently on the table;

A photovoltaic system produces energy on-site and circulates rain water collected in a cistern; perseverance and commitment to sustainability are evident in every planned detail – right down to the thermal mass “paper-crete” exterior walls, and the scientifically engineered awnings that both cool in the summer and allow solar heat to penetrate during in the winter.

Building “green” isn’t a mystery. You don’t have to be Nostradamus, or Albert Einstein, or even Robert Stern to figure it out. “Building “green” just requires careful planning and competent use of available resources. It is a simple solution that enables families to lessen their impact on the planet, while they reap the benefits of beautiful and comfortable surroundings.”

Elevating sustainable design to a whole new level, the Klein Residence is all about solar efficiency, not just a few simply-placed solar panels. The goal here isn’t to create another McMansion. It is about maximizing space, not having the most space. It is about cultivating a garden not just for its beauty, but also to actually feed the family, and conserve water. Klein and his “minions and inspirateurs” will succeed in the creation of a comfortable, modern and attractive home, while cleverly allowing environmentally sustainable function to dictate it’s form.

(Remember, gentle readers, that I stole the core of my design from Paul Stankey, and his merry band of miscreants…)

[Lawyers made me put that in... rest assured that there is a lawsuit in here somewhere! LOL!]

Integrating livability with sustainability, the Klein forward-thinking model breaks established design rules to create a new generation of sustainable residences.

The home is situated so the home’s longest expanse is on the south side to maximize passive solar collection. Windows are minimized on the colder, north-facing walls. Deciduous trees planted on the south side of the home is designed to make the indoors feel more comfortable for the family by providing shade.

Generous tree plantings along the east, south and west sides of buildings will further provide shade from Mississippi’s harsh summer sun, and obstruction of the inquisitive view of neighbors.

The residence incorporates on-site solar and geothermal systems that are designed to supply 100 percent of the family’s energy needs, and work in conjunction with energy consumption patterns that are markedly lower than those found in the nation’s average homes.

Energy from the sun will provide a majority of the homes’ daytime heating and electric energy through both active and passive solar energy collection.

In addition to state-of-the-art rooftop photovoltaic panels, passive solar heating will be accomplished through a number of innovative architectural design measures.

Building east-to-west maximizes south-facing exposures to the sun.

Strategic placement and sizing of doors and windows on east, south, and west-facing walls furthers this. There is minimal use of windows and doors on colder, north-facing walls.

Scientifically engineered awnings shield the windows from the sun in summer, yet accommodate the lower angle of the sun in winter, allowing solar rays through the windows when they’re most needed.

While the sun will provide the base load of the homes’ heating needs, geothermal energy will be the heat source for overcast days and during the nights.

Underground geothermal exchange systems will capitalize on the earth’s constantly moderate temperature, and utilize an underground loopfield to extract energy that will be used for domestic hot water, space heating in the winter and space cooling in the summer.

A leaky home compromises even the most energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. The homes’ airtight construction will achieve a low 0.1 natural air changes per hour. By contrast, the majority of U.S. homes currently being built average between 0.5 and 0.7, according to the Energy Star* program, letting more hot air out and cold air in.

Heat recovery ventilators (HRV) will make the homes’ heating systems even more energy efficient. This innovative system will transfer 75 percent or more of the heat from air exiting the home to the fresh, filtered air entering the home.

The home features will include energy-conserving light fixtures and water-conserving plumbing fixtures; interior finishes will be low-toxic and contain no or low VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and materials will be from sustainable resources.

Now, I know you all have questions about how we’ll actually achieve this, so I’ll try to answer some of the more obvious questions here;

Q. What does “net-zero energy” mean?

“Net-zero energy” means that a home uses renewable resources to generate as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year.

Q. What methods are used to ensure energy efficiency at the Klein Residence?

1. Smart, passive solar orientation

2. Super-insulated airtight building shell

3. Heat recovery ventilators (HRV) for fresh air with minimal energy loss

4. Geothermal (or Ground Source Heat Pump) heating and cooling, and water heating

5. High-efficiency lighting and appliances

6. Photovoltaic solar panels

Q. What is the source of electricity at the residence when the sun is not shining or during the night?

During the course of a year, the energy the residence generates from renewable resources during the day will more than offset the amount of energy it consumes from the grid at night.

Q. Nothing comes for free. Is the homeowner paying more for the energy-efficiency systems?

Of course, but the energy-efficiency systems’ costs are included in the price of constructing the home. The initial savings are realized immediately through the reduced payments of the homeowner’s energy bill.

Q. All that is cool, but do homeowners pay energy bills?

Yes. The homeowners will pay nominal fees to the utility company to ensure the electric lines that connect the home to the grid are maintained and always available. However, the “net-metering program” revenues will offset this cost.

Q. How is the builder able to provide these advanced and typically expensive energy-efficient systems in this “affordable” alternative home?

A large component of the energy performance is the orientation and design of the home itself. The home also showcases technologies that are already commercially available, so research and development expenses primarily are limited to system integration and to the required computer modeling.

[End of Lecture...]

So, folks…

If you don’t hear from me anytime soon, it’s probably because I’ve been accused of “Contempt of Committee,” and I’m sitting in the slammer, somewhere…

Film at 11pm…

Stay tuned!

Addendum (01/15/09): Evidently, somebody forgot that the Inauguration was this weekend. Thus, they can’t meet the “majority” for the Committee  “Seats,” so… we’re rescheduled again, this time for Mid_February. Thank heavens I called, before driving all the way there (it’s a three hour drive from Biloxi). Final date for committee? “pending approval.”  Harrumph!

Start the New Year with “The Right Stuff…” or else!

Attention, class…

According to the Wall Street Journal, American homeowners flush with credit poured a staggering $4.7 trillion into building houses, over the last decade…

$4.7 trillion dollars. That’s a number so large, I’m not sure what it even looks like. Lemme see…

$4,700,000,000,000.00 Man… that’s a lot of zeroes. More than I ever got on my report cards, lemme tell you! I think… Hmmm… I’m gonna have to double-check, just to make sure… LOL!

That’s about $16,000 for every person living in the United States… I think. I was never much good at ‘rithmatic…

LOL!

Anyway, that’s a LOT of cash/credit. right? You’d think that with all that money being spent, housing technology would bloom and the result would be staggering advances in homebuilding practices.

But, you’d be wrong.

Remarkably, very few genuinely new ideas resulted, according to some of the nation’s leading architects.

“It seems a lot of the innovation wasn’t in how houses were built or how they look or function,” says architect Tom Kundig. “Instead the novelty was in financing.”

And Marianne Cusato adds, “The ‘more is more’ mentality took over…. Developers attempted to differentiate by building a small town in your house…a media room, a café, a hair salon.”

This roughly translates to “I just got more… so there!”

Still, some designers went out on a limb, and actually triumphed. These guys and gals made some homes smaller (hear that, “Little Housers”?). They designed homes with movable exterior walls to encourage residents to spend more time outdoors. Carefully designed glass walls allowed occupants to feel they were floating on treetops. More homes incorporated recycled materials, wind and geothermal energy, and architects used new digital technology.

And because of the housing crisis, the credit crunch, and the failed economy (if you don’t believe it’s failed, I have some land to sell you, right out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico…) these houses are gonna get lost in the shuffle. Well…

No, they ain’t! I’m gonna make sure that you see each and every one of them (because I’m a psychic, remember?), so that you can think about how you’ll change the way you live, and make life better for your family!

Okay, so maybe you won’t change. Maybe you’ll just think hard about the way that things are being done, and that will lead you to “a brainstorm that causes a veritable revolution in building, and puts all families back into houses, and provides a viable alternative to being homeless…”

Wait… that’s MY dream… But, you can have it too… I like to share… except Ice Cream. Get your own! Go on! Get!

LOL!

So, from time to time, I’m gonna bombard your senses with images of “houses present and future,” and show you what others are doing, and I’ll even include some pictures. That way, you’ll have less chance of getting bored trying to figure out what the hell I’m talking about, in my illiterate scratchings I like to call “a blog post.”

I’m not gonna give you any warnings about when this will happen. Why? Because I’m not dumb. If I give you a schedule, you’ll just avoid me like the plague! I know how you guys work… Don’t think I don’t! LOL!

I’ve already introduced you to those guys from the “Great White North,” who build cabins and barns out of  “junk.”  They don’t just build out of junk, their modular home designs are brilliant! Now you’d think that, after seeing their genius at work,  Paul Stankey and his co-horts at hiveModular.com would be smart enough to move someplace warm, but… Well, go figure! Maybe freezing your brains actually increases mental process… Hmmm…  LOL!

Where was I? Oh yeah…

My teachers used to keep me on my toes, by tying a rope around my neck and pulling… um… er… by using that dreaded of all dreads, a “Pop Quiz!” And, because of that, I learned… or else. Hey, rope chafes like crazy! Why do you think I wear turtlenecks, to this day, huh?

So, I’m gonna use the element of surprise, because I’ve been reading “The Ancient Art of War”   again…

Like NOW! Here’s a cool house, that uses stuff that was just lying around collecting rust, to make a cool statement and look like a million bucks. It’s the Tyler House, and it’s located in Arizona. The architect Rick Joy used Corten Steel (you know what that is, right? It’s the stuff shipping containers are made from!) Rammed Earth, and even adobe to build a house that really looks like it belongs there… It’s the first in my series of “The Right Stuff… Houses!”

Can’t you ALMOST smell the shipping containers? Hmmm? Nope.

Looks like home to me!

If you want to see more… Rick has a new website coming soon, and it’ll be located at: http://www.rickjoy.com

Tell him Ronin sent you…

Now, put your pencils down… Get ready for the quiz… People who fail the test will be punished… by having to read this post again! LOL!

Stay Tuned!

A Good Friend Remembered: Lyle Gillis – January 2, 2009

It’s the second day of the New Year, 2009…

Alas, it looks like it’s starting off real hard…

A very good friend of mine lost his battle with ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease) this morning.

Lyle Gillis was just a little older than me, in his early fifties. He was a Church Minister, and a good family man.

Like the rest of us, my son Joshua adored him.

He was much more than that. He was a friend, when you needed a friend, a confidante when you needed to vent, a guy who would listen to your pain, and distill it into a lesson that wasn’t quite so bitter sweet.

He did this, while the disease within him was tearing him apart. Slowly, he suffered in silence, never complaining, never calling attention to his suffering, never letting on that he was in agony. Instead, he lived like he preached. He lived with dignity, and faith in God, and demonstrated openly, lovingly, the adoration that he had for his family and friends.

Lyle and I didn’t always see “eye to eye.” He was a New Testament guy, and I am an Old Testament fossil. He strongly believed that love would conquer all, and I was too afraid to believe that. He bravely fought his fears and embraced his life, and we stood by, watching in awe as he faced the death that slowly approached him…

Lyle and I had many, many spirited conversations, about everything under the sun. I used to argue with him for hours, two men from different places, leading different lives, yet standing side by side, facing whatever would come. He was much more than a friend, to me. He was an inspiration.

Today, we visited his family, his wife Carolyn and her children, Charee and Cary. As we fought our own tears, we tried to help them cope with theirs. And, in spite of the suffering and grieving, they proved they were just like Lyle. They loved openly, kept a firm grip, and never once faltered.

I hope, when it’s time for my family to face such a difficult time (as all families must), that we fare as well…

Lyle didn’t just show us how to live, he showed us how to die.

In my life as a combatant, I’ve witnessed the passing of men more times than I care to remember. However, I’ve never witnessed a passing so profound in it’s life lessons, even now…

Lyle, you never stopped teaching… even now.

We’ll miss you as much as we loved you. Profoundly…

Addendum:

There will be a memorial for Lyle, at 2pm, on January 4th, 2009. It will be held at the Rodenberg Church of Christ, in Biloxi, MS. If you need directions, just email me.

The viewing will be held at Clary Glenn Funeral Home, in Defuniack Springs, Fl, on Monday January 5th, between 1 – 3pm. The Funeral will follow immediately after.

We will miss him terribly…

On another blog, that echoes my posts, (I actually have fans! ME? Can you imagine that?) this was posted about Lyle, and I thought I’d share it with you;

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Tina Brannon Says:
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:37 pm I am Lyle’s second cousin the grandaughter of his Mother Bobbie’s sister.
Lyle has preached every member of my family’s funerals and I had assumed would be there for mine. We didn’t see each other taht often, but we didn’t have to for me to know he was a great man. He had more dignity than most people would ever be able to demonstrate in a lifetime. He held his head high even when it was hard for him to do that. His wife Carolyn and her daughters came along at such a perfect time for Lyle and his family, and they were definitely God sent. When it was hard to even look at them without crying Carolyn or Lyle would make you feel better almost immediately. Just in the short time of his illness I have learned what a miraculous family I come from, even though I new I was blessed from the start. If I can live my life half as well as Lyle lived his I will be blessed, just as we all were blessed by knowing him, and loving him. God definitely got an angel yesterday, and I am sure he is already hard at work.

G_d Bless you, buddy. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by, that I haven’t thought about you. We miss you so much…