a long absence...

Apologies for the long break since my first post.  It's been a crazy few months between the addition construction and our vacation. 

Since our family consists of my wife and I and four active little ones, we found that maneuvering around our developer-designed kitchen/eat-in area was getting more and more difficult, especially with the amount of time we spend in these spaces.  We have been contemplating putting an addition off the back of the kitchen to expand the space for a few years and decided to take the plunge this summer.  I understand there is a strong case to be made about working within square footage boundaries to minimize environmental impacts and I won't dwell too much on that at this time as it is not the avenue we decided to take.  However what I will focus on is our approach - through design and creative use, re-use and recycling of materials to minimize both cost and environmental impact associated with our project.

Fortunately for us, the previous owners of our house had installed a 14'x16' turn-town patio slab off the kitchen, so we used that as our baseline for new construction footprint.  The only downfall was tearing up the beautiful (wet-bed set!!!) flagstone I had installed a few years ago.  Luckily I was able to save all the pieces of stone and only broke one, which I'll simply cut into two and re-use.  We will re-install the flagstone on a sand bed adjacent to the new room next year.  The concrete I ripped up from the wet bed will be broken up on site and used for a bed under a new shed I will build with reclaimed lumber and sheathing next year as well.  The remainder of demolition waste will be recycled.  I was able to salvage all the wall/roof sheathing and rigid insulation for under floor and on exterior walls from a commercial project I was working on, which had two great benefits - it kept that material from a landfill, extending its useful life, and it saved us some money! 

After many design iterations and visits to cabinet shops, we came up with a layout which re-used all our existing cabinets and minimized the need for new ones.  We only bought one new island cabinet assembly, consisting of 3 cabinets - totaling 7'0" long.  In lieu of pantry and other custom cabinets, we decided to build our own built-ins.  We have one which serves as a book case within the wall, and two flanking our new triple double hung windows.  A 9' wide window bench spans between the two built-in cabinet units.  This saved us a great deal of money and served as a fun learning process for me - a big thank you to my dad for getting the built-in project mostly underway!

In addition to re-using our cabinets, we re-installed our kitchen window (east facing) and sliding door (west facing).  The only new unit we purchased is the triple on the south facing wall.  On the exterior we built a pent roof which will shade the hot summer sun on the south wall while allowing low winter sun to enter and heat the space passively.  Having natural daylight on three sides of our space has greatly improved the quality of light in the existing spaces.

We installed bamboo flooring to match the existing, which turned out to be a bit of a chore but looks great and uses a rapidly renewable material in lieu of slow growth lumber.  For lighting we installed recessed ceiling fixtures that will accept LED PAR 20 lamps - which will use about 10% of the energy of incandescent bulbs and last approximately 40,000 hours. 

So that's the brief summary of how we approached the idea of adding to our house.  I will try and post before/after images on a future post!  Also, look for a bit of info about Italy (from our vacation) and some of my observations about cultural/environmental differences between our country and theirs.  Hopefully I can get on a more regular schedule of posting soon.  Thanks for reading!

Brian

getting started

I've contemplated jumping on the blog-wagon for a while but have held off since I wasn't sure folks would have the time or interest in hearing me get on my sustainability soap box.  However, as my wife and I share a passion for living green at home, and it's what I focus on in my life as an architect, my passion has finally outweighed my humility.  So, for those of you who decide to read - thank you in advance. 

Since this is my first post, I'll start with a brief overview of myself for those who don't already know me.  I grew up loving the outdoors, and spent most of my tine either cycling, skiing, fishing or generally goofing around outside.  After graduating Architecture school in 1995, I began my professional career as an (intern) architect in Exton, Pa.  Shortly thereafter, I began to feel conflicted in what I was doing professionally, which often entailed destruction and replacement of natural settings with cheap, developer crap architecture.  (side note - my current firm is MUCH better!!!) In the late 90's I decided to return to school and get a Master of Architecture degree, with focus on design and energy efficiency.  This was right around the time I married my beautiful wife.  So - we packed up everything we owned and drove from Wilmington, DE to sunny Tucson, Arizona - bound for the University of Arizona! 

Fast forward a few years and a few children later, I completed my degree requirements and shortly thereafter became a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional.  For those not in the industry, this is an exam you take which focuses heavily on sustainable issues relative to design and construction - from site to energy, water and materials and so on.  This was also the time-frame I took the 9 required exams to become a registered architect.  

Fast forward a few more years to Spring 2008.  I was attending a green networking event in Bucks County, discussing how we can collectively reduce our environmental impacts.  I found it pretty ridiculous that I drove 2-1/2 hours round trip (but I did carpool!) to discuss how I could reduce my footprint.  So I contacted the Executive Directors of the two green building organizations surrounding me (DVGBC and GBACPA) to see how I could start a Chapter or Branch which would focus more locally.  This was the birth of the Berks Lancaster Green Building Association, which is now the Berks Lancaster Branch of the Central PA Chapter of the US Green Building Council.  I quickly found that many local industry folks shared my passion for sustainability and we soon had a brainstorming meeting with 20-25 energetic industry folks.  It was this collaborative spirit that got this off the ground!  We have had educational and networking events with 10-120 attendees since our inception, and we look forward to many more.  Since 2009 I've also been fortunate enough to hold a regional position with the US Green Building Council, as part of the North East Corridor Regional Council (now Committee), where we gather to work on initiatives in the best interest of our constituency. 

So...  that was the short (for me - my wife will warn you - get me on a green topic and I will go on and on...) introduction of where I am coming from and why I finally decided to take a stab at writing a blog.  My posts will focus on sustainability related issues, ranging from personal to professional.  Hopefully you will find them interesting and thought provoking.  We are currently putting an addition on our house and have taken some green approaches which I'll touch on in my next post.  Thanks again for reading...