Green home building ideas?

[djmcmath]

This is a topic that almost needs no introduction. I'm interested what ideas people have found to save energy or reduce usage in the home. My wife and I might be building a house, so ideas that we could incorporate at design time are very welcome. ... But we might end up buying someone else's house, so ideas that happen afterwards are also great.

Some random thoughts to seed the discussion:
1 - I knew a guy who built plexiglass-fronted boxes that he arrayed on his roof. The boxes were laced with small-diameter (like 1") black PVC pipes, which then fed into his hot water heater. Or in other words, he was using solar power to pre-heat the water that went into his hot water heater.
2 - I've heard a variety of variations on the theme of "move air from the basement to the attic." The basic concept seems to be to bury a large fan in the basement, perhaps even with a heat exchanger of some kind, with ventilation intake/exhaust out to the attic. Thus, cool air from the earth is exchanged with hot air in the attic, dropping temps through the house.
3 - A simpler variation on Idea #2 -- place a large fan in the attic, such that it draws a suction on the house and exhausts into the attic. When it's cooler outside than it is in the attic, fire off the fan and draw cooler air through the house into the attic.

There are a host of relatively obvious things that also come to mind -- energy efficient windows, hanging clothes out to dry, that sort of thing.

Any ideas? What do you guys do to be green?

Dan

[dipso]

We just had a tankless water heater installed. I am not really concerned about its"greeness" but they are supposed to be pretty efficient.

[masraum]

using some sort of metal (copper painted black) would be better in #1 if possible. I think you'd get a lot better heat transfer.

I'd love to use geothermal heating and cooling in my house.
http://www.reddawn.com/featart11-98.html

The application of geothermal heating/cooling, also known as ground source heat pumps, has been named "the most energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive of all space conditioning systems", by the Environmental Protection Agency. The system's basic concept takes advantage of the earth's constant temperature, approximately 55 degrees, to heat and cool a building. By tapping this steady flow of heat from the earth in the winter, and displacing heat in the earth in the summer, a geothermal heat pump can save homeowners 40 to 70 percent in heating costs and 30 to 50 percent in cooling costs compared to conventional systems.

I think the efficient use of air circulation is another. Like a fan to keep the temp of the air in the attic down in the summer.

I also think that if I added some sort of hot air vent system for my garage it would help in the summer. When we pull our cars into the garage in the evenings, that heat stays in the garage.

When I live off base in Japan, we had a tankless hot water heater. I'm also not sure if it would be considered green, but I would think so.

[ErVikingo]

My new house is being built using ICF forms (insulated concrete forms). House will be poured concrete with a ridiculously high R rating. It will be really quiet, won't loose as much energy and we wont be creating a lot of waster wood normally used on the forms.

We are getting solar heaters installed (for the house and the pool), solar tubes (directional skylights with fiberoptics), vented attics, and the arrangement of windows, etc has been carefully considered to reduce energy usage. We are also gettting a solar energy array for running a/c and daily lights and a separate one to run exterior needs such as sprinklers.

We are also having a gray water system built for irrigation.

There are tons of things that can be done but don't look at these to save money as you won't (in most cases).

[djmcmath]

Tankless water heating, in my book, is "green" in the sense that it saves me money on my monthly energy bill. That is only true, of course, because I'm using less energy. If tankless is the way to go, I'll certainly do that.

I hadn't realized geothermal was such a good idea. The down side, of course, is that it's pretty expensive to drill a deep enough well to get consistently 55 degree water, isn't it? How long do you have to save on your electric bill before the system pays for itself?

ErVikingo, I admire your investment in the environment. I can't imagine how expensive all of that must be ... but I'm curious -- what does a solar panel big enough to supply the AC cost? I definitely like the fiber optic sunroof idea -- that's just brilliant.

How would a garage heat ventilation system work? Maybe running it just like the house vent system -- a big fan blowing into the attic space, draw the heat from the hot car into the attic and out the far side? Set it up on a timer, so you push a button and it runs for X minutes -- experimentally determined to remove most of the heat without wasting any additional energy?

Dan

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Trombe walls, stack effect ventilation, etc.

There are numerous types of passive systems that can be used; most of these have been around for decades, if not centuries, but have become "passe" in the modern world of convenience heating/cooling and easy-to-obtain HVAC systems.

I can point you out to a number of good resources on the subject of sustainable design if you're interested, or I'd suggest contacting an architect in your area who specializes in sustainable residential design.

[Bill Douglas]

Heat pump hot water cylinders are good. They save about 60 to 75% of your hot water heating expenses, and hot water can be two thirds of your electricity bill.

Solar is great but running pumps and fans can mount up. Do you maths on what a kilowatts hour costs and the price to run the various options.

Where I live gas is cheap but it winds me up (anoys the **** out of me) paying a dollar a day supply charge. Friends who don't mind it have califonts that heat the water as it's used and love it.

Getting back to the origonal subject; it would be nice to be extra insulated and have double glazed windows. They also hugely cut down noise.

[cgarr]

Get a mobile home and drive it to the climate of your choice.

[nota]

glass and copper solar water heaters were common in 1930-40s south fla homes
as were big attic fans
funny how old teck is new again

[lyon]

you should look into LEEDS http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19
I just visited the greenest building in the world last month, they produce 110% of all thier energy, build from wood grown on their reclaimed land. LEEDS Platinum, highest score ever
http://aldoleopold.org/legacycenter/index.html
very nice building.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

LEED certification is actually sort of difficult; it's on my list of things to do professionally once I'm done with my CA/NCARB registration as more and more clients are starting to expect it. If you're looking to build a "green building" I agree you should ask your designer if they're LEED accredited or if they or their firm are members of the Green Building Council. Both are becoming more and more important. . .

[m21sniper]

Why is it that every time i hear the word "Green" now i want to throw up?

[djmcmath]

Hmm. Full-fledged solar panels are incredibly expensive, but ... some math ... in my household right now, we go through about 400KW in a month -- that's living in an apartment in a climate that doesn't currently require heat or AC. If a solar system is putting out about 1.7KW for about 8 hours each day, that would cover the entire basic electrical load. Those systems run about $10K, which is not that bad, in the grand scheme of things. The break even point, even assuming a 25% rise in electricity costs, is about 8 years out.

Trombe walls -- great idea, but I have a wife who's very concerned about aesthetics. No go. Hot water heater cylinder is a pretty good idea, though. Sounds like it's basically a reworking of the "black tubes in glass" principle with a little natural circulation flow and a tank added on. I can almost guarantee that something like this will end up in our house. I'll end up building something myself, though -- the principles are so impossibly simple that it seems crazy not to do something like that.

Porsche-o-Phile -- if you have good resources on sustainable design, I'm interested. Not interested enough to pursue LEEDS certification, or to dig a 1000 foot geothermal well, but I'm interested enough to get a good book on the subject.


OK, so "green" pisses me off, too. It's kind of been abused by the environmentalist crowd to take on this connotation of "earth first, f--- everyone else." I'm less interested in a full-fledged "green" effort than I am in simply saving some money in the long run.

Thanks all,
Dan

[john70t]

I've been interested in the (at least partial) berm-house design for a while, but the potential drawbacks to this design are:
1)surface water drainage,
2)foundation breathing to prevent radon buildup,
3)interior air flow-through.

The south side will have the most light, so it's the best location for common/guest areas such as the common room, kitchen, and one guest bedroom. All require a view.
The north side is the best location for the evening-activities rooms like the bedroom, bath, and office(which can be swapped with the guest bedroom depending on day/night usage).

Air
-Plan around a "flow-though"air zone through the common areas and especially the kitchen. It's so nice during the spring and fall when flowers are blooming. -Shade the upwind source so the incoming air is cooler.
-A round-er building lets air flow around it and doesn't build up tree trash/dirt in the down-wind eddies. After sweeping the same place every day you'll appreciate this.
-Plant evergreen windbreaks so no walls/windows are beaten with cold wind.

Heat
-Have a long overhang on the roof(ala:Frank Lloyd Wright/Japanese). This blocks the summer sun from the interior and drops roof water further from the foundation.
-Insulate the bedroom walls/ceiling and create a seperate heat zone with supplemental radiant heat.
-A "perfect" roof using available material would be metal over 1inch plywood with 2x14 rafters and 14inches of sprayed soy foam insulation with fire retardent. Someday, consumers will have the choice of super-insulation such as "areogel".

The biggest problem/challenge to any home design is the ying/yang thing. Women tend to like more light, and an open-interior style so they can keep an eye on everything, and men often want the interior broken up into privacy areas.
Having a combination of these goes a long way in keeping relationships together and making the house more attractive for guests and re-sale.

[IROC]

They work on this a lot where I work. Might be some good ideas:

http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/get_press_release.cfm?ReleaseNumber=mr20040811-00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_energy_building

[Seahawk]

Dan,

A few other ideas:

- Rain water cisterns. There are some really simple two and three hundred gallon systems that capture rain water for lawn/plant use. Very easy install and they can be hidden.

- Look at supplemental wood stoves that can heat your whole house. While not exactly, "green", they do save lots of money on heating bills. They work very well at night...you can bank enough wood for the night.
A friend of mine gets his wood for free by hitting construction sites, Craigslist, etc. Have Stihl will travel...his heating bill, sans cost of his modern stove, gas for his truck and his time, less than $20 scooters a month. He gets most of his wood local.

- Insulation and fans, attic and ceiling. There is no cheaper energy savings.

- Basements are incredibly efficient spaces for energy consumption. Make sure if you build and include a basement you can channel water without power. Ask me how I know.

- Use power strips for modern electronics so you can turn them off at night. Most modern electronics draw measurablef power even when they are off.

- Windows. If you build, pay a premium for the best R rating you can get. Make sure the installer understands how to seal on install.

Best of luck!

[ErVikingo]

Originally Posted by djmcmath

ErVikingo, I admire your investment in the environment. I can't imagine how expensive all of that must be ... but I'm curious -- what does a solar panel big enough to supply the AC cost? I definitely like the fiber optic sunroof idea -- that's just brilliant.
Dan

Thanks. Before tax breaks approx $100K after $40 approx. There are other breaks which migth drop it another $5-10.

It ain't cheap trying to do the right thing.

Dad had an old style copper and glass solar water heater for years, the water came out way too hot .....

[djmcmath]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

- Look at supplemental wood stoves that can heat your whole house. While not exactly, "green", they do save lots of money on heating bills. They work very well at night...you can bank enough wood for the night.
A friend of mine gets his wood for free by hitting construction sites, Craigslist, etc. Have Stihl will travel...his heating bill, sans cost of his modern stove, gas for his truck and his time, less than $20 scooters a month. He gets most of his wood local.

- Basements are incredibly efficient spaces for energy consumption. Make sure if you build and include a basement you can channel water without power. Ask me how I know.

I'm good with a wood burning stove. I was raised on wood heat, and am perfectly comfortable saving heating money doing it again.


What do you mean "channel water without power?" And what other efficiencies can I gain by applying some forethought to the basement?

Thanks,
Dan

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by djmcmath

What do you mean "channel water without power?" And what other efficiencies can I gain by applying some forethought to the basement?

Thanks,
Dan

Sorry to have been so vague. If rain water won't run out of your foundation rain by gravity only (walk out basement) make sure you build in some redundancy: have two separate pumps and also have electric backup for each.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

Why is it that every time i hear the word "Green" now i want to throw up?

Green eggs and ham for breakfast?

"Green" is just a buzzword for acting responsibly when it comes to our planet. What's wrong with that? It's a conservative value IMO. Our planet will sustain us longer if we think and act "green."