PK Bogle House

My goal for this website is to show people that “sustainable is attainable” – that building green does not mean breaking the bank, that it is not dependent on high tech, complicated, alternative power supply systems (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.), but that it is a holistic design approach that must pay careful attention to everything from how a structure will respond to the site itself all the way through to the finishes applied to each room.  My hope is that people will begin to realize that houses should be much more than “stylized boxes with air conditioning systems” that in no way relate to the environment in which they’re built, but should instead be thoughtfully design to incorporate the natural and existing advantages and resources offered by each unique site.  This is especially important in a time where energy costs are increasing, global warming is concerning, and the population is still growing..

 

To re-emphasize, being “green” is NOT soley based on high-end technology, specialized heating and cooling equipment, or any single element or system – it’s a holistic approach.  Every decision made contributes toward the end result.  Simple decisions often make the biggest differences – which direction should I face the most windows – what shapes should these windows be – decisions like these that likely spend no extra money at all, can make vast differences in the energy efficiency and performance of one’s home.

 

PKB House will be an Energy Star Rated home.  Energy Star offers a rating system that requires third party verification to establish that an entire house uses significantly less energy than what is allowable per house by the current building codes.  PKB House should far exceed the requirements to be Energy Star Rated.

 

The following is a bullet list of the various sustainable design approaches and how they are being implemented on the house:

 

Simplified parts of “sustainability” and how PKB House implements these strategies

1)      Environmental responses

2)      Low energy consumption

3)      Materials selection

 

Environmental responses:

 

1)      Site location

a.       Solar orientation – know where the sun is at all times.  Design the structure to admit the heat from the sun during cold times of the year and shade the heat from the sun during the hot months (passive solar design).  The rear façade of the house faces directly south and maximizes the glass areas along this side.  All glass is shaded by permanent structure that will allow the winter light in to heat the space, yet will shade the summer light.  See Note 3.

b.      Wind – arrange the structure on the site to be protected from prevalent storm winds and to accept and to catch and use gentle breezes during mild temperature months.  The house has operable windows throughout.  Awning windows, located low to the floor, can let cool air (which naturally settles) in on warm to mild days, and can be left open during a gentle rain while shielding away the water.  High windows within create a natural stack effect within the house to naturally vent heated air (which rises) from the house by simply opening the three top windows.

2)      Minimize local impact – control or reuse storm water run-off, avoid deforestation, etc.  Not much of a challenge here – it was an open pasture when we bought it, but was the perfect site for passive solar design.  A wind screen of trees will be planted out from the house to disrupt the wind speed across the entirely open front area.

 

Low Energy Consumption:

 

1)      Building envelope:  The elements of the structure that divide interior from exterior in terms of heat, light, moisture, and sound.

a.       Insulating systems:

                                                                           i.      Basement walls:  Superior Walls – pre-insulated precast 5000 psi concrete walls provide continuous R-12.5 insulation.

                                                                         ii.      Main structural walls:  Structural Insulated Panels from WABrown as the predominant exterior wall system – continuous R-30 insulation value provided in 4-1/2” thick panels.

                                                                        iii.      Secondary structural walls:  Framed walls are insulated with same R-30 polyurethane foam from industrial wastes (rejected panels from WABrown)

                                                                       iv.      Roof:  SIPs with additional 1-1/2” polyiso rigid insulation for a total continuous R-40 insulation value.

b.      Infiltration resistance (water, wind, moisture)

                                                                           i.      SIPs are by their nature such a tight system that Energy Star has waived required infiltration tests if SIPs are used throughout the house.

                                                                         ii.      Tvyek building wrap – lets moisture molecules out but does not accept water molecules in.

                                                                        iii.      PurFil low expansion sprayed in place polyurethane foam installed around all windows and doors and other framing connections to seal as many crevices as possible.  (See Note 1)

c.       Reflectivity, Low Emissivity

                                                                           i.      To reflect as much of the solar gain as possible, the roof is a white, 60 mil reinforced pvc membrane.  We are in a cooling dominant climate and the roof is a major contributor of heat to the structure.  Simply changing from a standard black asphalt shingle style roof to a white membrane dramatically increases the roof’s ability to reject heat.

                                                                         ii.      Low Emissivity or “Low-E” glass was used throughout the house.  Low-E is an invisible coating applied to the inside face of the outer pane of glass in a double-glazed insulating window.  This coating becomes more “opaque” to infrared radiation, thus blocking it from entering the house.  The house uses all Low-E, argon gas filled, insulating glass units.

2)      Mechanical Systems

a.       Two-speed, high efficiency heat pump units for heating and cooling

                                                                           i.      Two speed means that the unit can run on a reduced load (these units run at 70% power) until the system needs an extra boost to get to the full cooling load.  Letting the system run more often extends the longevity of the equipment, keeps the air circulating thus dehumidifying it, and actually consumes less energy (thus saves money) than having a big unit that only comes on for a short amount of time, cools quickly, and then shuts off.  Oversizing a cooling unit leads directly to summer time interior moisture problems.

b.      Energy Recovery Ventilation:  See Note 1.

3)      Electrical Systems:  Lighting

a.       Compact fluorescent fixtures – not screw-ins – are being heavily used throughout the house.  See Note 2.

 

Materials Selection:  I could literally go on for days with all the research I’ve done on this subject.  The basic requirements of a “sustainable” material are those that balance several different factors – no material is perfectly “green”.  Bamboo, for instance, is highly renewable taking only 7 years from harvest to harvest with no need to replant post-harvest (it’s a grass, remember).  However, the type of bamboo used in construction grows on the other side of the planet and must therefore burn a lot of fossil fuels to arrive on our doorsteps.  The basic question for determining the sustainable of a material:

1)      Renewable – how long does it take a natural material to regenerate?

2)      Recycled content – does the material contain post-consumer and/or post-industrial wastes?

3)      Recycleability – can the material be re-used after its initial use?

4)      Low-VOCs – does the material continue to “off-gas” after installation?

5)      Life cycle costs – how long will this material last?

6)      Embodied energy – how much energy does it take to produce this product from collection of the natural state to delivery of the product to the consumer?  This is often looked at in terms of “carbon footprint”.

7)      Finishing techniques – will this product create large amounts of dust, fumes, etc. as its being installed in the house?

There are many more variables in determining how “green” a product is.  As a help, there are a few different independent organization that rate materials – GreenSeal, Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), Energy Star, etc.

 

Products that we’ve selected and used that balance these criteria:

1)      Advantec Subflooring

2)      Durolast roofing membrane

3)      Siptex SIPs from W.A.Brown

4)      Rosboro glulam beams

5)      Marvin Integrity fiberglass windows

6)      Shakertown cedar shingle panels

7)      Tyvek infiltration barrier

8)      Formica laminate countertops

9)      Premium Green bamboo flooring

10)  Nora rubber flooring (bathrooms)

11)  Low-VOC interior paints and varnishes (to be selected)

12)  Pur Fil low expansion foam

13)  Quadrafire 7100 EPA rated wood burning fireplace

14)  Cooper fluorescent lighting fixtures (Halo, Metalux)

15)  Finished plywood panels with NFA cores (no formaldehyde added adhesives)

 

 

Note 1:  The existing presumption is that a structure needs to “breathe” to be healthy.  This can be true, but “breathing” or the exchange of unconditioned air from outside to inside is a leading contributor toward higher heating and cooling bills.  I currently live in a house built in 1927 – it has very wide nostrils and my heating bills can reflect that.  If fresh air is not introduced to a structure, then the air will stagnate and become unhealthy to occupy.  The optimal solution is to have control on how much air to introduce to the space and to be able to pre-treat (heat, cool, and/or dehumidify) that air before it enters the space.  Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) do exactly this and work in conjunction with standard residential air handlers to provide the right amount of fresh air.  Operable windows can also solve this during mild temperature and humidity months.

 

Note 2:  Misconception – Fluorescent lights mean everything looks blue and cold, and they hum.  First, the hum – this is caused by the older and/or cheaper magnetic ballasts within the light fixture.  This is easily solved by opting for fixtures with an electronic ballast that will eliminate the hum and actually consume less energy than the magnetics.  There are many color ranges available in fluorescent lighting.  These are indicated in degrees K and should be indicated on the lamp boxing or the lamp itself.  If a warm, incandescent-type light is desired, then a fluorescent lamp of between 2700°K and 3000°K should be selected.  These lamps give off the same color of light as a standard incandescent bulb, last many times longer, and consume approximately ¼ of the energy.

 

Note 3:  Passive solar design and natural ventilation are not new concepts and can be readily seen on late 19^th century farm houses.  Porches were designed to shade the summer sun, allow in the winter sun, and promote (Venturi effect) and collect summer breezes.  The advent of the air conditioner to the south in many ways led to the decline of environmentally responsive design.  If you could building anything and then slap an air conditioner to it, then why bother thinking about a specific site.

 

So what's different about the PKBogle house?

 

To start, the design process began with the plan of house - completely devoid of what it may eventually "look like".  Katie and I, through creating lists, plotted out what activities we wanted in the house (i.e. sleeping, storage, playing, entertaining, cooking, etc.), then broke these down into two catagories:  public and private.  We then started assigning activities to spaces - cooking happens in the kitchen, entertainment and entertaining guests happens in the living room, kid play happens, well everywhere, but we're hoping to limit the spread of the bulk toys to a few small areas and one big area - the basement.

 

After we assigned the activities to the spaces, we then arranged these spaces according to their public/private catagory.  This way, all public (where guests would be welcome) areas are immediately accessed from outside and private spaces are separated from the public.  This means dirty socks can stay on the bedroom floor and nobody sees them (ok, so theory meets reality each time Katie explains to me that I need to put away my laundry...).

 

Another major factor in public v/s private is what view is let into the house from outside.  Our lot is very secluded and private in the rear,  but does face a road on the front.  Granted, that road is at the end of a small development and is solid 9-iron away from the house, but still will be considered the public face.  Thus, view windows (glass within normal viewing heights) were kept to a minimum along the road side, but were very open toward the rear.

 

Once the plan was established, we began work on the third dimension - what would this thing look like - and MOST importantly - WHY would it look this way.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I don't buy the sales pitch that my house should look like someone else, or should be of this style or that style - whatever all that means.  (note:  I've designed many building that were of a supposed style and understand why clients find these things important - but to me, applying an antiquated name and set of self-inflicted rules for the shear sake of aesthetics is not the best design approach.)

 

We designed no less than five completely different elevation studies before choosing the final composition.  As it happened, the one we chose was the first I had designed - and also the one I thought Katie would veto right off!  But it makes so much sense.

 

The orientation of the house faces the two long sides directly north and south.  This is a critical piece of the equation - the house is designed to respond to its enviroment.  First, to the sun.  Is it good to stand in the sunlight?  I posed this question to those same middle schoolers and got mixed responses - yes and no.  Ok, then WHEN is it good to stand in the sun?  (One girl answered, "at night!" but we'll just leave that one alone).  When it's cold?  Exactly, and thus, it's not preferrable to stand in the scorching sun when it's hot, right?  Can we design a house such that it takes in the sunlight in the winter, yet blocks it out in the summer?  God, in His infinite wisdom set this ball of rock spinning in just such a way that it can be done.  Since the winter sun paths are so much lower in the sky than the summer sun paths, simple, yet very intentional shading of south facing window can provide exactly this - in the business, we call this "passive solar design."  It's not a new thing - just look at older country homes (predate air conditioning - that thing which numbs the designing man's mind), and pay attention to the large width of the eaves over the windows - passive solar design.

 

Now with plan and elevation in harmony with each other and with the site, we moved on to selecting the construction materials and methods.  This was a long long process that involved months of research and comparisons - which will in all likelihood be ongoing until three years after the house is completed.  We are truly blessed to have here at our fingertips in Salisbury, two of the most innovative, forward thinking companies around:  Superior Walls and W. A. Brown (Siptex).  For more information on both of these, see their links on the main page.

 

As a quick summary - Superior Walls is a precast concrete, fully insulated, premanufactured wall panel system, which we've used as our basement foudation walls.  W. A. Brown's Siptex is a Structural Insulated Panel exterior wall system consisting of 3-1/2" of injected polyurethane insulation sandwiched between two skins of structural quality OSB.  They provide an uninterrupted insulation value of R-30 in only 4-1/2" of thickness.  (The layman reader should note that typical house insulation only provides an insulation value of R-11 between each studs = R-11 for 14.5" of every 16" of linear wall surface.  And this only if the insulation is installed correctly - which in almost all residential construction is far from accurate.)  These two systems will provide the majority of the exterior surfaces for the entire house - foundation, exterior wall, and roof plane - and will provide the two vital elements for high efficiency design; high insulation values and very low air infiltration rates.

 

From this point we get into designing the systems - heating, venting, and air conditioning, plumbing, and electrical.  The summary of the approach here is low power usage and high efficiency equipment.  I think everyone should live in an historical house once in their lives.  Our 1927 brick four-square has taught us a lot of things about house design.  One lesson that we will not soon forget is this - leaky houses in the winter with a gas boiler and the original radiators for heat will soon cost you as much as you paid for the house.  I really like this old house, but I'm not going to miss the gas and power bills.

 

More on the simple and intentional design approach later.

 

 

What is more important in design - how a building functions or what it looks like?  I recently had the opportunity to teach architecture to an art class at a local middle school and I posed this question to them.  They were equally divided on their answers - some of the kids themselves were divided and couldn't answer one way or the other.  Of course, the answer has to be both - but when we take an honest look at the modern housing trends - the McMansions as they've been dubbed - it's obvious that function is not the key element, and is more often than not an after thought.

 

What I summed up to the kids, I'll repeat here.

 

Function is so much more than just what rooms are included in a house.  Function must include the following:

 

1)  How the building provides shelter (from precipitation, from heat & cold, from unwelcomed guests be they person or animal, and for privacy)

2)  How the occupants use the space (what things will people do in each area, how are the areas arranged to each other and to the outside)

3)  How the building responds to its environment (more explanations on this very critical piece later)

 

Aesthetics - what it looks like - how the structure presents itself to its surroundings:

 

1)  Context - how a building fits in with what's around it (other structures, landscapes, etc.)

2)  Purpose - how the appearance of a building reflects its use (banks and diaper factories don't normally look the same)

3)  Proportionallity - why the appearance of a building is appealing or not (the "science" of art - not easily explained)

 

Without getting into a lengthly diatribe on any of the above or why the current housing market has completely missed the mark, I'll simply outline a few questions that I've asked myself time and time again when looking at new house construction:

 

1)  Why is there an enormously large palladian window from the master bedroom that looks out onto a very busy road?  I guess they like curtains.  (Moreover, why does the master bedroom face the busy road?)

 

2)  Why are black shingles on a very steep roof a good idea in an air-conditioning dependant climate?

 

3)  Why do most houses mock old styles but never get the details right?

 

4)  Why are there 12" wide plastic shutters on either side of a 60" wide window?  I know they're not functional shutters, but if they're supposed to look like they at least could be, then shouldn't they be wide enough to cover the window were they shut?

 

5)  Why is there a Prius parked in the garage of a 5000 square foot McMansion?  If the owner was really concerned with saving energy and being environmentally friendly, then shouldn't they have started with the house?  A low efficiency, "highly styled", way-too-big house negitively impacts the environment and expends more energy in a year than the Prius could save in the lifetime of the car.

 

Number 5 is my personal favorite of late.  I hope to snap this picture the next time I'm out that way and see it again!  Just think about the heating and cooling bills for that house - that's costs that never go away - energy that must be produced again every month - for the LIFETIME of that house.  This is just the operating costs for the house.  Now think about the materials that were quarried, milled, produced, shipped, transported, and then finally installed in the house.  How much energy, fossil fuels, and enviromental impact was involved during the construction?

 

So how will PKBHouse be different?  I'll leave that for the next blog.