On “Green” Building

There is today a main streaming of an idea called “green” building. The move is toward “sustainable” materials and resource and energy efficiency. We all, Designers, Constructors and building Owners, need to look at environmental considerations, resource usage, development impact, efficient design, thoughtful materials that perform well, indoor environment quality, costs to maintain a structure and finally, what the structure and how our use of it impacts the environment, our world. You seem unable today to hear a newscast or pick up a magazine without seeing and hearing the buzz words…I would like to look at some of this here.

First, Why build “green”? Simple. Our world and our environment are changing. Our resources are dwindling and man, since the beginning of our time, has made a profound impact on our world and the ecosystem. The population is ever growing, and this population needs living and work spaces. We can not help but impact the world as we build our lives. The goal here is to limit that impact, to the extent that each of can do.

Building Site Design, Preparation & Development

Thoughtful site design and development can help to reduce the structure’s impact and improve energy efficiency. By proper siting of a structure and integrating it into the site, rather than the other way around, we can save trees, handle on-site water better and use passive heating and cooling to lower the life cost of the structure. Besides, it looks better, too! There is visual pollution to be considered as well!

Resource Efficiency

Looking at resource efficiency, in a nutshell, is considering the resources required to fabricate the structure and weighing the overall life cost and world impact of the decision to use one material or resource over another. This process needs to be continuous, from the sketch pad through to the occupancy, and perhaps beyond.

In the context of Timber Framing; we can compare using engineered wood joists for an un-exposed first floor deck, to using Select Old Growth Douglas Fir. Engineered joists can utilize fast growing, low quality “scrap” trees, as well as wood mill scrap. Select Old Growth Douglas Fir require dense mature forest stands to grow, a process not likely to continue based on current forestry techniques and usage. Which makes the most sense to use in secondary or un-exposed areas?

Other natural resources need to be looked at, as well, to clearly see the home’s overall impact on the environment. Water use and control of groundwater resources, heating and cooling fuel, cooking fuel, lighting and ventilation.

Project site waste also needs to be considered. What materials will be unusable and end up in a landfill? What can be recycled? What can be used as a secondary material elsewhere? Selecting materials and processes that lessen the waste product at the end of construction means two things, that the design and material selection was planned properly, and that unnecessary waste was not generated.

Looking at the material choices and selecting the appropriate use can get a little sticky. Although an I-Joist can be manufactured from low quality wood products, which can be very renewable, but what if the manufacturing process uses gross amounts of energy, or they are made from a species that only grows three thousand miles from your home site? All the factors need to be considered from harvest, transportation, manufacture, installation, longevity and maintenance.

This is how we need to evaluate the life cost of a building. This “cradle-to-grave” approach goes one step beyond the typical life cost analysis, by also considering the reuse of materials, and the cost to do so. Will the materials stand the test of time by being reusable through de-construction, product reuse and recycling, or will disposal be required? And, at what cost for each option?

Some green programs look a very wide impact categories: acid rain, ecological toxicity, eutrophication (fertilizer/nutrient runoff or pollution), global warming, human toxicity, indoor air quality, ozone depletion, resource depletion, smog, and solid waste. One may need to be a research scientist to grasp this concept. Other programs look only at the key elements of indoor air quality, sustainable resource use, water saving, waste reduction and carbon dioxide reduction. Unfortunately, at this time there is a lack of data on much of this, but we can look at some real life experiences. Designers, builders & building owners all need to evaluate sustainable methods & materials to the best of their ability and try to grasp the “big picture”.

Once again, back at the world of Timber Framing, let’s look at salvage timbers. We have the pros; no new timber cut, superior material (often, Select Dense Old Growth), utilizing “waste” materials, minimal transportation (if local). On the con side though; many of these materials are priced out of reach of mainstream building owners, these timbers may contain metal and “previous life evidence” in the form of holes, mortises or insect damage, salvage timber is more difficult to work with and the timbers may have been treated with unknown or toxic chemicals. Should these materials be reclaimed? Can they be reclaimed? Absolutely, however this decision needs to be arrived at by saying that they need to be reclaimed appropriately.

What I mean here is that, a large timber is more reclaimable than an 8′ 2×4. But, will the added cost and time expenditure required of the building owner, force them to cut back on other resource saving measures, or, would this additional expense cost elsewhere, in the form of short lived materials or energy use? Of course, appropriate reuse begins with the proper selection of materials and processes in the first place! The example given here is only one instance, now, if you can imagine the quandary of evaluating every decision to build your project. This is where the thoughtful process is required.

Energy Efficiency

Here we not only need to look at the hard costs of heating, cooling and maintaining a home, but also the effect of material harvest, transportation, manufacturing and construction. Although the lifetime energy cost of operating a home far outweigh the energy cost of manufacture and construct it, the scale of the housing industry makes the numbers significant enough that they should be considered.

Energy efficiency needs to be a large part of any “green” building approach. However, as fuel costs become more unstable this is more pressing than ever. I have long proposed that increased insulation values, tight air infiltration rates, efficient HVAC equipment (direct vented ), well suited and well placed windows & doors, and proper detailing of closure systems and vapor retarders will create a high performance, energy efficient structure that will cost less to operate and more comfortable to live in.

The best investment a building owner can make is to tighten up the structure. Well now, you say that the building is too tight…we need to install a Heat/Energy Recovery Ventilator (HRV/ERV) to exhaust moisture and bring in fresh air…and all of this is true. However, step back and look at the big picture. In conventional construction we have low insulating values, high infiltration rates, and high energy bills. We also have dried skin and sinuses from the excessive heat pumped around to meet the comfort levels required. So we introduce humidifiers, which accentuate other problems by causing vapor drive and condensation in the building envelope, leading to mold and rot. Hmmm…Now let’s look at a tight envelope. High insulation values, low infiltration rates, low energy bills. We have a balanced ERV system to remove excess moisture and enough fresh air to keep everyone healthy. We end up with lower costs, less world impact and a healthier interior living environment…sounds pretty good!

Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air quality (IAQ) goes beyond just installing and maintaining a ventilation system. We need to go back to the material choices again. We need to evaluate each building material individually for use of resources, transportation and installation techniques. I stress that more needs to be done to insure the health of you, your family and your home. Some of the most innocuous products can contain emitting gasses and be phenomenally deadly. Underlay materials, carpeting, cabinets…all the way to finish coatings can all out-gas chemicals that do not belong in your lungs.

The other part of the indoor air issue is moisture. Moisture in any form (vapor, liquid or ice) is the bane of your home. In the wrong place, at the wrong time and in the wrong concentrations will lead to some really nasty situations for the structure. This moisture effects you as well. The humidity level in your living space is instrumental in your comfort level. It effects how you sense temperature and the dryness of your skin and sinuses. Combine the two, the effect on your home and on you, and you can end up with hazardous situations - mold, mildew &   insects. None of which is good for you or your home!

Also present in the air quality issue are many common structure concerns. Groundwater & wind driven moisture problems can be alleviated by good building practices.  The same measures that are taken for drainage and groundwater considerations can easily be augmented with soil-gas control measures to handle radon and moisture infiltration into the living spaces. Keeping the moisture in control makes it easy to control mold & pests. As you can see each and every one of these stepping stones builds onto the entire system, and contribute to the indoor air quality. This is the type of system I advocate for at Timberworks and what needs to be introduced to the building industry.

Marketing Hype

Many companies are jumping on the bandwagon, and producing ad campaigns about how “green” they are. Many of these marketing ploys take the approach that any material, product, practice, process or technique that has reduced environmental or health impacts, as compared to common practice, is “green”. I propose that we need to look deeper. We need an overall view, that we do not only need to exceed the norm, but excel in this area. Of course, any improvement is better than none, but with the tools now at hand we can, and should, be providing homes that require very little, or no, use of finite energy resources. Even better will be homes that produce more energy than they use!

Looking back over the last three decades, Timberworks Housewrights has been “green” from the beginning. My company was formed on what now have become the standard bearers of the “green” movement; sustainable material production & use, high efficiency insulation & systems, healthy indoor air quality, smart water use, reduced waste & lower carbon dioxide production. I guess “we was green before green was cool!”.

Now we need to move forward even more. Timberworks is looking at the next steps…we intend to focus on more ways to limit or energy use, design & build even more efficient homes and branch out into more use of renewable energy incorporating wind power and solar hot water systems. Most all of our projects in the past have included at least some passive solar, but we will be stepping up on this considerably.

What I find rather humorous is all the hype and marketing, without substance. Recently, in one of the many trade magazines I browse, there was a log home producer stating that they are building green by “locking up at the carbon contained in the logs…”. Marketing genius! I kicked myself that I did not think of that campaign!

I’m sorry, all kidding aside, this is the kind of hype I am seeing. Claims like this are totally without substance or merit, except as selling tools. These johnny-come-lately’s are only touting green principles because of all the buzzwords and hype everywhere you look today. We need to distill all this background noise and get to the real matter. I hope that the market is really awake to the fact that we really need to change our methods, materials and life styles, and that this whole “green” thing is not just another fad. Timberworks is committed to these principles. We always have been, and always will be.