Therefore to be recognized as a colleague that is posting information that is worth bringing to other industry professionals, I am honored and excited to be selected.  And glad that someone is even listening.  So stay tuned, I have lots of good ideas for future posts intended to add some fun content, general knowledge/education, as well as to continue the series on my own home energy reduction so vividly titled “Kill’n a hog….an Energy Hog”

In the meantime follow my random thoughts and links to what I consider to be great articles related to design and energy efficiency on twitter (@JLSymHome) or become a fan of Sym-Home on facebook and let’s start a discussion.

Loading carpet to be recylced.

The first project we tackled was removing about 75% of the wall to wall carpeting in the home.  This ended up being the main living areas, hallways, as well as our expected child’s room.  We did feel somewhat guilty for removing the brand new carpet that the previous home owner installed to sell the house.  Especially since we removed it in July, and according to the label, it was manufactured in May of the same year.  So as you can imagine, it was in excellent shape. So the larger pieces went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to be reused in someone else home.  The remainder of the carpeting found its way into a trailer on its way to get recycled thanks to a local carpet installer.

Dirt found under some of the carpet that was removed.

Our primary reason removing the carpet was to expose the hard wood flooring that runs throughout the majority of the house and was hidden by the carpet.  We had the floor refinished using Bona waterborne finish that has very low levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), and is very durable.  Another reason for removing the carpet was we did not want our newborn child crawling on the carpet.  So the carpet was replaced with an all natural handmade wool area rug in our living room.  The reason being is an area rug can be thoroughly cleaned where wall to wall carpet will hold onto dirt, dander, dust mites and pollutants that people track in from the outdoors, such as oil and pesticides and can never be fully removed.  A question posted after we removed our carpet here on the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Green Home Guide website stated that the average carpet removed from a home is seven times heavier than when it was installed.  This being contributed to the fact that carpets cannot be cleaned thoroughly like an area rug can.

The second project we tackled was painting.  Like everyone else, we could not wait to make the house our home, and by adding color we were able to bring out our personality.  At the time we started painting my wife was pregnant with our first child.  So a product with low VOC’s was a must.  We used Sherwin Williams “Harmony” & “Duration Home” for its low VOC content.  Plus we are partial to Sherwin Williams because it is an Ohio based company.  Now there are a lot of other great paint products out there and the majority of manufacturers now have low or no VOC, or even non-toxic options.  So you can easily pick up a can of paint with low VOC content at Home Depot, Lowes or your local hardware store.

Now if you are not sure what to look for in terms of the Volatile Organic Compounds, you can go the Green Seal website who certifies and sets VOC limits for different products and look for the Paints & Coatings GS-11 standard or any other cleaning or finish product.  Another organization that is concerned about the Indoor Air Quality of your home or building is Greenguard.  Greenguard focuses primarily on indoor air quality—most notably for off gassing of VOCs, formaldehyde and other chemicals that can be found in furniture and other building products.  I will talk more about furniture selection in a later post.

I hope I opened up your eyes a little to show you that the Indoor Air Quality of your home is important and many products can affect it from the toxins that they may off gas.

-Josh

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has their Walk The Walk campaign advocating for all design projects within the office to be green/high performance projects.  But that is focusing on what a design professional should be considering when designing/implementing projects.  But it does nothing for advocating our lifestyles and what we do with our own home improvement projects.  We should be leading by example.  If you truly believe in the mission, you should be taking what you do in the office and bring it home.  So the question is, with some of the details that you draw/build for your projects, would you use them on your own home?  In essence if you consider yourself a green building professional in any way, you should bring you knowledge and expertise to your own home projects and use your own home as a living laboratory.

Yes, like some of our clients, we may have limited budgets, and also cursed with seeing all these great products or cool ideas that we would love to use.  However that should not stop us from spending few extra bucks to improve the efficiency of our home, or buy the low VOC paint, adhesive or other materials.  Because we know the benefits these stratagies have on lowering our utility bill and carbon footprint, as well as improving the indoor air quality and the quality of our families lives.

So follow me as I lead by example with my own home.  Turning my energy hog home into a lean, mean, green machine.  Improving the energy efficiency, the indoor air quality and the overall lifestyle of my family.

-Josh

I want to take a little time and explain some of these systems mentioned in the article a little further and make a couple of suggestions.  Now the good thing is that all the companies mentioned in the article all agree that the basement has to address any moisture issues if any first.  Because if you have water problems in your basement, it doesn’t matter how mold resistant a product says it is.  If the material does not get a chance to dry and is not exposed to sunlight, mold can grow on almost any surface.  So lets talk about some of these systems.

Acoustical panel systems are by far my least favorite of the systems.  These semi rigid fiberglass panel systems were originally designed to be acoustical panels to reduce reverberation in large spaces such as gymnasiums and movies theaters.  And as in their product name, they are panel systems, and there is no hiding that.  So aesthetically it does not cut it for me.  However, due to their nature, they do have an insulation quality to them, but like fiberglass batt insulation, it insulates by trapping air within the produce to slow the heat transfer.  However, they do nothing to stop moisture migration.  This is a good and bad thing at the same time.  Because in even dry basements, there is still small amounts of moisture vapor moving through your wall, and if you read the article posted above, you will now know that you want your basement walls to be able to dry to the interior, which this product will allow.  However, if there is large amounts of moisture movement, it could possibly condense within the product, getting it wet and potentially causing mold growth.  Therefore it would be wise to leave a small air gap behind the system to allow a free flow of air to help dry the system out if it does happen to get wet.

Rigid foam panel systems I believe to be a much better solution.  The foam panels will typically have a higher insulating value per inch and help to prevent future moisture problems much better than the acoustical panels systems.  However you want the foam panels to be applied directly to the foundation wall.  You do not want the 1″ gap between the basement wall and wall system as some of the installers recommend to run plumbing or electrical wiring.  This air gap leaves a place for the moisture moving through your basement walls a place to condense, especially since the temperature of the basement wall will now be colder because of the new insulated wall system.  It is a better idea to cut in a chase into the foam behind the finish to run this equipment.  The foam panels will still allow your basement walls to dry to the interior, however I would be leery of a vinyl wall covering.  In the commercial building sector, especially in hotels, vinyl wall covering has been known to cause severe mold problems unless there are micro perforations.  However just like the acoustical wall systems, they are a panel system, and it is hard to hide that fact.

Conventional framing and drywall finishing is perfect for the DIY’er and an option that will help to seamlessly blend a new lower living level with the rest of the home.  However there are some things to consider when framing up against a basement wall.  You want to apply a 1-2 inch rigid foam panel directly to the basement wall before framing any new wood or metal walls.  This foam layer provides the necessary thermal barrier as well as moisture control that is provided by the rigid foam panel systems.   The additional framing can be used to run all your utilities such as plumbing and electrical wiring and gives you the structural members to hang a TV and any other miscellaneous items as well as space for additional insulation.  However it is wise to apply a capillary break below your new framed walls in the basement as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts about a sill sealer that helps prevent any moisture from the basement floor to migrate into the framing.  And as mentioned in the article, basements are inherently moist areas.  That is why I recommend a paperless drywall product that using a fiberglass mesh facing instead of paper, removing the food for mold and increasing the durability.  I used this product in my own home as well as modified the wall system by using 2×3 framing members and holding them an inch away from the wall and filling the cavity with an expanding spray foam insulation.  I will explain my choices in a future post.

Now the article referenced at the beginning of the post mentions installing carpet, which I would not recommend installing directly to the concrete floor (especially a carpet pad).  Older homes never installed a vapor barrier below the basement floor, which obviously allows moisture to move through the floor into the carpet.  Most local hardware stores now sell a sub floor product that is a 2′x2′ sheet of plywood with a plastic coating and feet underneath that leaves a small air gap allowing any water to run to the floor drains below the floor without ruining the surface.  In this case, you can install any type of floor material, including wood.  However if you don’t want to have the additional expense of the sub floor system, then I always recommend a solid flooring material such as tile or linoleum.

Well I hope I did not overwhelm you, but at least educated you a little more about what may be going on behind your walls.

Now I would definitely not expect to be invited (not this year anyways) to such a note worthy week of learning on the latest thoughts in the world of building science and elbow rubbing of the industry leaders.  But I would have to say that for someone who is moving into the industry, this would be a great confirmation of one’s work and contribution to be invited.  So for the time being I will have to be satisfied with the fact I was able to attend one of Joe’s great lectures and pick his brain at breakfast, as well as work with his partner Betsy Pettit on Ohio’s only LEED Platinum home.

Like Allison Bailes from Energy Vanguard, we will have to sit in our office glued to the computer screen watching as the tweets (#bscamp) come in from its attendants about some of this week’s topics such as spray and foam board insulation, IAQ etc.  So if you’re interested to know more about the Building Science Summer Camp, check out the Energy Vanguard blog post (I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Building Science Summer Camp!), as Allison pleads his case for an invitation to next year’s event.  Or do as we do and check out some of the thousands of papers that Building Science Corporation has published and posted to their site, free of charge.  It is a great resource for some of the industry leading research for building performance.

-Josh

Our home as it was purchased in 2005

Back in 2005 my wife and I purchased this ranch with a walk out basement.  It is/was your typical 1960′s stick built home.  Very low levels of insulation, single pane aluminum windows, with an unfinished basement and a huge backyard for the area, with lots of old growth trees.  The view out of the dinning room window was the selling point.  Some other nice amenities is that it is in a developed neighborhood with schools that are within walking distance, grocery within a mile.  The town also has a very active year round farmers market.  Plus the home was the mid point between both of our jobs at that time and is relatively close to a bus route.

The back of our home as it was purchased in 2005

However during the home inspection we found some troubling things.  There was little to no insulation in the attic, the basement walls were uninsulated.  And what makes that even worse is the fact that half of the house foundation is above ground.  Not to mention the aging heating and cooling equipment.  So we looked at this house as a blank slate, giving us the opportunity to not only renovate the home to fit our needs, but to do everything in an environmentally friendly way and to do it within our limited budget.

So this is where “Symbiotic Home” originally began.  A website to help educate others on what can be done to green their existing home.  Now with a good portion of the projects done, I will be developing this new series of posts that will backtrack and document each of the projects that we have tackled, and will even discuss future projects that we would like to accomplish.  Giving you a glimpse of what we have been doing, how we have been doing it, and why as we green this energy pig.

So follow my home renovations as I walk the walk and show that green/sustainable construction can happen on the typical working families budget and I look forward to the discussions that this may create.

-Josh

Sym-Home is now providing residential design services, home energy audits and consulting.  Sym-Home specializes in energy efficient, healthy & durable homes.  Joshua Lloyd, owner of sym-home, draws from a decade’s worth of experience in the architectural field. In addition, his experience includes producing construction documents and coordinating LEED documentation for Ohio’s first LEED Platinum Home, located in Columbus, Ohio.

Sym-Home also provides home energy audits, helping home owners to take control of their homes energy usage by providing them the appropriate information after a thorough inspection and test on the home to see where the most energy is used and prioritize a list of recommended projects in terms of financial payback.  Joshua Lloyd, is a certified Building Analyst through the Building Performance Institute (BPI) to conduct home energy audits.

Sym-Home also provides consulting services to homeowners, builders and other design professionals.  Sym-Home can assist project teams with issues related to high performance structures, from building science issues, schematic level energy modeling for both commercial and residential structures, and LEED documentation and coordination.

Sym-Home considers residential design and home energy audits as a complimentary service to each other, especially for home owners looking to renovate or add on to an existing home.  Home energy auditing tools can be a valuable resource during the design and construction phases of a new home and renovation.

For those of you who have been following the renovation process, we will be re-posting all the projects with more images and information regarding each project in a series called “To Kill an Energy Hog”

About the Building Performance Institute
The Building Performance Institute, Inc. (BPI) is the nation’s premier building performance credentialing, quality assurance, and national standards setting organization. BPI supports the development of a highly professional building performance industry through individual and organizational credentialing and a rigorous quality assurance program.

About Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)
LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

Catherine Mohr makes her decisions to building a green home by analyzing the numbers and examining the embodied energy of the materials and systems going into the home. So watch her presentation, and ask yourself this; if you are building a new home home, what is important to you, and where would you draw the line?

Catherine Mohr builds green

Check out Catherine Mohr’s blog as she ventures into green home building.

With over 400 entrants, the competition is stiff.  Public voting began on March 2nd 2010, and will close on March 18th.  The top 3 submissions will receive $5,000, a chance to develop the design and offer it on their new for sale plans site.  All entries are 1,800 square feet or less and in two separate categories.  The first, “The Starter House” for a young married couple looking to expand their family.  The second “The Not So Empty Nest” for an older retired couple looking to downsize, yet still want to accommodate family gatherings and take into consideration potential mobility issues by the homeowner.  I had the chance to enter a submission in both categories, one with an old co-worker and friend, as well as a submission on my own.  So please take some time to review my submissions as well as others, and I would appreciate your support and vote.  You can vote for each entry once per email address.

The Starter House

This submission was done in collaboration with Brad Pauling and he deserves most of the credit since he did the heavy lifting on the project.  Our intent was to provide a recognizable/traditional exterior form with a more modern approach to the interior spaces.  We utilized simple strategies to increase the solar gain and improve the natural lighting within the home.  You can learn more and vote for this submission here.

The Not So Empty Nest

The design of this home separates the public living spaces from the more private sleeping areas by an entry and utility area.  This home is a more modern design taking it’s inspiration from an old wooden salt shed.  The design also incorporates the use of increased South facing glazing to improve the solar gain and natural lighting levels and also incorporates a trombe wall within the main living area to help even out the diurnal temperature swings.  For more about the design and to vote, go here.

Symbiotic Home (sym-home) will be offering residential design services, as well as energy auditing, home performance contracting and LEED consulting (both at the residential and commercial level).  Luckily in the state of Ohio, an architectural license is not required to practice residential design work.  So until I complete my Architectural Registration Exam (ARE), design services will be limited to new homes and home renovations/additions.

In the mean time I am running what we jokingly refer to as Daddy Daycare.  Staying home with my two kids to help cut our costs until I can start bringing in some real money.  Last week I attended a week long training session in Cleveland to become a BPI Building Analyst, which will give me the training and certification to perform energy audits.  The written exam was a piece of cake.  Now the 4-6 week waiting period to find out the results of my field exam.  I am confident that I passed, as I see it as a great additional service for future clients.  Especially when Ohio adopts the 2009 Energy code (more about that in a later post).

Therefore in the meantime “The other side of the drawing board” is going to get incorporated into the Symbiotic Home website with a hopeful relaunch of the site in the next couple of weeks.  So stay tuned for a whole new look and purpose.