On April 29th, 2016 we took possession of 330 NE 193rd St. The house was built in 1958 and extended in the late 70's. The house is vintage in many ways, including the original aluminum frame single-pane windows (#8) and an enormous three stall garage made from 3" reclaimed lumber from pier 91. We're in the midst of a Deep Energy Retrofit aiming at transforming the house into a Net Zero Energy Building.
- 50 year durability. Build systems to require minimal maintenance to gracefully support the structure and occupants for 50 years. This goal affects choices like:
- steel roofing
- super-insulating, aiming for where code is likely to be in a few decades
- fiberglass and/or high quality vinyl framed windows
- Net Zero. Achieving Net Zero would mean our home produces as much energy as we consume (electric bill = $0). The shortest path to achieving Net Zero is reducing consumption. The challenge is to do so without burdening the occupants. Then add energy production. Steps we've taking on our path to Net Zero are:
- all LED lighting (incandescent, gu24 bulbs)
- high-efficiency appliances
- super-insulating the building (walls, garage, floor, foundation walls, crawl space)
- replace single pane windows
- air seal & ventilate the house
- solar panels
- Sustainability. Sustainability is focused on the long term impacts of material and design choices.
- Steel roofing costs 20-50% more than composite but lasts 3 times longer. Steel is 100% recycleable, doesn't burn (lower insurance), reflects sunlight (lower cooling), and weights half as much as shingle/composite roofs.
- Fiberglass windows cost more than high-quality vinyl but last 40% longer. Fiberglass expands and contracts at roughly the same rate as glass, delaying seal failures and increasing longevity. Fiberglass is 60% glass, a recycleable material.
- Replacing gas appliances (furnace & water heater) with electric versions has reduced our fossil fuel consumption.
- Our fast car charger enables us to drive the Nissan Leaf more, reducing our fossil fuel consumption.
More details on these and other issues are found in the Issue Tracker.
| Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| TODO | a running list of "open" projects |
| ROOFING | Research and notes related to replacing the roof (see #18) |
| INSULATION | Research notes regarding insulation types and prices |