Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

EcoCool Source for Green Remodels & Retrofits

Friday, July 24th, 2009

 

 

EcoCool cutaway house

EcoCool cutaway house

 So, let’s say you’re planning a few energy-efficient upgrades, or maybe you’re getting ready to gut your entire kitchen to bring it into this century.  Where can you turn for reliable information on environmentally sensitive products and building practices? From my own experience, it has been a challenge to find a one-stop shop online that covers all aspects of home upgrades, whether for the sake of water efficiency, energy efficiency or indoor air quality. And it’s especially tough to find a site that brings together all the local resources out there that can help.

 

But then the EcoCool Remodel Tool came along – an interactive online tool that was developed late last year by King County. This tool is a virtual house where you can quickly click around to get tips on green remodeling and upgrades room-by-room.  For every “tip” there is an opportunity to click for more in depth information, including a list of resources – from where to recycle your old fridge to where to buy recycled countertops to where to learn more about adding solar to your home.   

 

The tool includes not only tells you what you can do and how, but also some reasons why you should. Tips and resources range from simple steps such as selecting healthy paint products or setting your thermostat, to what you should consider when replacing your furnace, upgrading your bathroom or landscaping your yard. The information was reviewed for accuracy by local green building pros and experts and will be updated on a regular basis.

 

Check it out and happy remodeling!

 

Posted in Miscellaneous, Public Policy, Remodels | No Comments »

Thoughts on innovation, the Model T, and zHome

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Think about just about any industry – telecommunications, computers, aerospace, heck, even automotive – and the list of innovation and progress over the last 100 years is long.  Think about where all those industries were 100 years ago – the state of the art for those industries were:

  • -crank telephones through a community switchboard
  • -mechanical adding machine
  • -the very earliest airplanes (Wright Bros. flight was in 1903)
  • -Ford Model T (prototype 1908)

How many of those pieces of technology are actually in use today, without massive improvements?

Then consider housing.  The history of innovation in housing over the last century and a half is short, and a lot of it happened a LONG time ago:

  • 1833    Stick framing invented
  • 1920s  Beginnings of widespread home electrification
  • 1930s  Forced air furnaces introduced
  • 1940s  Basic insulation mandated by code
  • 1970s  Double paned windows become standard

 

The house we live in was built in 1925.  Its tiny garage is sized to fit a Model T (or, a Smart Car!).  When I look at our house and compare it to a new one, it’s not all that different – the rooms are smaller, there was no insulation in the walls until five years ago, at some point along the way the coal burning stove was replaced with forced air, and it has single paned windows.  But really, that’s it. 

I don’t think that an “innovation is a priori good” stance is a reasonable, don’t get me wrong.  Thinking about Christopher Alexander’s A Timeless Way of Building, I think there’s a strong case to be made that the materials and methods that stand the test of time are a good way to go.  Heck, even in zHome we are making the case – particularly in the world of materials – where we are even harkening back thousands of years and finishing some walls in clay. 

For me the core issue is that we think about what we’re doing.  To me the home is the lowest hanging fruit of potential environmental innovation.   Homes are so core to who we are, and their share of our environmental footprint is so big, that a concerted reevaluation of what home is seems in order.  Through that process, I think we’re likely to find that some of the answers lie far in the past, and others in the untapped future.

Posted in Design, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Groundbreaking

Monday, October 20th, 2008

We had a beautiful, sunny day for our groundbreaking ceremony and celebration on September 29th.  A number of speakers, including Mayor Ava Frisinger, King County Executive Ron Sims, Puget Sound Energy Vice President Cal Shirley, Port Blakely Communities President Alan Boeker, and Governor Gregoire’s senior policy analyst for climate change Kathleen Drew, shared a few words about Zhome and what the project means for the region.  This was followed by a ribbon cutting event, where we presented some of the technologies to be used in the project – PV panels, double wall construction, rainwater reuse, and ultragreen materials.  Later, we had a party on site – about a hundred folks came to share the excitement of getting this project off the ground.  It was a great day!

Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger

Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger

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Our future…

Friday, September 19th, 2008

It takes my breath away a little to be writing this inaugural blog post.  It was two and a half years ago that a small group of us, representing different organizations and perspectives, under the leadership of the City of Issaquah, got together to pursue building an out-of-the-box housing development that drove to the heart of environmental problems.  We wanted to build something revolutionary – something that would inspire the average person with a vision for how mainstream housing could be radically – not incrementally – greener, yet be market rate, and a cool place to live.  A project with audacious goals like true zero net energy/zero net carbon emissions.  I think zHome has achieved that vision, and can’t wait to share with you all its construction and evolution.  Over the coming year, the site will grow, and we will be sharing as we learn via the blog and the Dig Deeper sections of the site.  Sign up for email updates if you would like to know when the site is updated, or for upcoming events and classes.

If this project has taught me anything, it is that turning something this visionary into reality takes an incredible amount of work by a number of folks.  Many, many people have touched and affected zHome already, including our Mayor and City Council, our friends at Howland Homes, our terrific partners, and our great design team.  While the vision of zHome has captured people’s imaginations and helped propel it forward, it definitely didn’t happen by accident.  Thank you to everyone who has brought it to this point!

This is a picture of a young friend of mine playing in a pea patch.  Ultimately, zHome is about the future – showing that there are real, hopeful solutions to our significant environmental problems.  There’s a lot of handwringing going on about how to address climate change, salmon habitat, deforestation, environmental health – the list goes on.  Housing is a big part of our environmental footprint – and zHome provides a way forward into the future.

Brad Liljequist – zHome Project Manager, City of Issaquah

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