The Green Illumination

The dates at the top of each post are incorrect but Google Blogger doesn't allow the older posts to show first so the only way to get these in chronological order was to change the published dates on each post.  However, we do give the original posting months at the beginning of each post's text section.  Sorry for the confusion...thanks, Google!

August, 2008: Almost two years prior, we decided that it was time to build a new house. We had lived in our current house for almost 18 years and raised two wonderful children, a son who is now grown up and living a successful life on his own and a daughter who will soon be graduating high school and heading to college. Because we had learned so much about the "green" movement through interviews on my radio show, Maggie and I decided we wanted to build a green house, one that was energy efficient and environment friendly. Our efforts started with a search for an architect that knew something about green residential building. We could not find one in the Midlands of South Carolina, but we did in the Upstate. Bob Bourguignon of Sustainable Architecture in Moore, SC came highly recommended and after interviewing him, we decided to contract with him to design our new home. After more than a year of working with him, we finally had our house plans. The next step was to find a builder. Of course, we could not find a builder in the Midlands either who knew much about green building. After interviewing several candidates, we finally decided on Jay Rogers, with Rogers Construction Engineering, mainly because of his professionalism and enthusiasm. He really wanted to build the first truly green, LEED certified house in the Midlands. For those of you not familiar with LEED, it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED has been around for many years in commercial building but is brand new in residential building. LEED is administered by the US Green Building Council and awards points for various design elements which can result in Silver, Gold, or Platinum certification. Our home is going for Gold. Here are a few pictures of our home as construction began.

The Floor is Added

August 2008: With the foundation and bottom brickwork finished, the time came to add the floor. The go-ahead for laying the floor finally came as word arrived that the SIP panels were nearing completion. More on the SIP panels later...

SIP Panels Arrive!

August 2008: The SIP panels were ordered a couple months ago after many, many months of design and re-design. So their arrival has been much anticipated. SIP stands for Structural Insulated Panel. These are what our exterior walls and roof are constructed of. They are "green" because they are manufactured off site so on-site construction waste is minimized. They are also extremely energy efficient with four inches of styrofoam on the walls and ten inches in the roof. The insulation factor is several times standard insulation. They arrive from the factory with all the holes cut out for the windows, doors, electrical outlets, etc... So once they've arrived, we will start to see our house beginning to look more like a house!

The Walls are Going Up!

August 2008: After days of delay due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay, our SIP panels are finally going up. Here's our progress so far...

Starting to Look Like a House!

August 2008: It's so exciting to see our new home starting to take shape. After almost two years of research and design, to see it spring to life is something to behold. In this picture, you can see the foam insulation in the SIP panels. All of the first floor SIP panels are now in place and over the next several days after Labor Day, the framers will start framing the downstairs interior and putting in the second level floor.

Question and answer

September 2008:

Ray Cohen wrote:

Hello, Mike and Maggie. I was just reviewing your Green Home Blog. I know you are happy to be able to actually see progress being made. I was wondering if you might know what the R value is in the SIP wall panels containing the foam insulation and also what the actual thickness would be. Just curious. I hope you guys are doing well. Goooo Cocks!

Ray, Here is the answer from our architect:

“The SIP panels have a true r-value of 17 + siding and interior finish which adds maybe 2. Whereas fiberglass insulation has an r-value of 13 for the same thickness wall however the overall performance of a conventional wall has an air loss factor and thermal bridging due to studs every 16” on center. The result is that the r value of a 4 ½” SIP wall acts like an 8” stud wall.” The SIP walls are 4 1/2" thick and the roof SIP's are 10 1/2". Mike

Framing Has Started...

September 2008: The framing has started on the first floor and will need to be mostly finished before the second floor SIPs can be installed. Here are the "green" things that the framers are responsible for: 1. WASTE: reduce waste generation to a level below the industry norm, i.e., reduce construction waste to 2.5 lbs/sf of conditioned floor space (not including waste diverted for reclamation or recycling) = a maximum of 10,000 lbs of waste for the entire project going to the landfill. a.No wood or wood products go in the dumpster – goes into the mulch pile b.Nails, plastic wrap, caulking tubes, and things of this nature go in the dumpster 2. Reduce overall waste factor (of framing wood) to <> 19.2” oc where possible 3. Use low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) for caulking or sealants used in the framing process.

Second Floor Begins...

September 2008: The Structural Insulated Panels are going up on the second floor. Before you know it, we'll see the roof!

Meeting with Bob and the Builder

September 2008: A few days ago we had our first on-site meeting with Bob, the architect and Jay, the builder. We went over everything that has been done so far and decided on a few minor changes. We decided to make the pantry a little smaller, which increases the size of the guest bedroom (Dad will like that). And an arched hallway will be added from the foyer to the guest bathroom. Jennifer, Bob's wife and office manager, suggested swapping where the master shower and one of the vanities were located which would give us the larger open-style shower we wanted and so we approved that change. We also determined that the upstairs hallway needed to have one of the ceiling beams restructured. Later we also decided that we needed to swap some of the exterior doors upstairs. All the changes were minor and will not slow construction. Here are some pictures we took after the meeting. You can see the progress continues to move right along. The framing should be done by the end of next week and then roofing, siding, and windows go in. Stay tuned...

Tyvek Time

September 2008: We've reached the stage where the Tyvek® weather-resistant barrier goes on to the exterior of the home. It helps combat water, moisture and air infiltration.

Wind-driven rain and moisture can saturate walls, creating a breeding ground for mold, mildew and wood rot. The properties of DuPont's Tyvek® help prevent this. Air infiltrating from outside can create cold or warm spots while increasing heating and cooling costs. The Tyvek® acts like a windbreaker and wrapped over the sheathing and under the exterior siding—cut out around windows and doors and taped securely at the seams—resists air infiltration and water intrusion and makes for a more comfortable, energy-efficient home or building. Which of course is what our new "Switzer Green Home" is all about!

Garage, Windows, etc...

 October 2008: The garage slab has just been poured so hopefully we will soon see the detached garage go up. The detached garage is another green feature of our home. Having a detached garage helps keep the car fumes out of the home. You can also see here that the staircase has been started so now we don't have to use a ladder to see the progress upstairs. The builder has draped a large tarp over the rooftop terrace until the materials arrive to finish it so that the rooms underneath stay dry. Our Energy Star windows from Peachtree have also arrived and are mostly installed.

What will our house look like?

October 2008: Many of you have asked "what will your house look like when it's finished?" Well, here are color renderings from our architect, Bob Bourguignon of Sustainable Architecture in Moore, SC. And as an added bonus, here is a picture of our banker, Garner Corley of First National Bank of the South in Columbia, SC, as he prepares to write another construction loan advance for our home.