Green Home Built Tour

This Saturday, July 20th and Sunday July 21st we will be one of 16 houses taking part in the inaugural Green Built Homes Tour showcasing sustainable healthy homes in Northern Illinois. Go to www.greenbuilthometour.org for tickets. We hope to see you this weekend!

Market Watch (The Wall Street Journal)

An article appeared yesterday in the Market Watch section of the on-line Wall Street Journal.  Tom Molidor, our builder, was interview about working with Tony to build our LEED house in La Grange. 

Click HERE to read the article. 

If you are looking to build a healthy home, call Tom at 630-789-1500.  He builds a great house!

We moved!

As of February 3rd we moved in and we are so happy to be here! 

I'm glad to report that the Village granted us "Temporary Occupancy".  We will get permanent occupancy once we address an issue they have with our fireplace (Tony and I don't agree with them, but it's minor enough that I think it will work out fine.) and a few other things like the driveway and sidewalk that are weather related so we will get that stuff set up for spring.  The move went smoothly thanks to these guys from Jackson Moving and Storage.  They have had most of our stuff in their storage facility in Naperville for 13 months an 22 days.  (Yes, I've counted...) It's been like Christmas opening up all the boxes.  Oh how we've missed our things!

The moving in part of the process has always been my job. Strangely I enjoy it.  The move out of the rental was a bit unorganized which is not like me at all.  I was feeling quite stressed trying to get the last details finished and cleaned up at the new house, that I didn't have much time to get the rental packed up as well as I would have liked.  Thanks to friends who helped move all the kitchen stuff and breakables, I wasn't packing when the movers showed up the next morning ready to take the furniture.  It took 8 hours to move it all from the rental and another 8 hours the next day to unload the trucks from storage.  The realization that we have a lot of CRAP has prompted me to clean out! If we didn't use it at our last house and don't plan on using it in this one, out it goes. 

This is our 4th move with Jackson.  In all of our moves there have only been a few minor things broken and the guys are always careful.  Pete Nichi, the sales guy, started a "green" program for his clients.  He dropped off almost all the boxes we needed to move into storage and the rental, along with tape and packing paper.  When we finished unpacking the bulk of our stuff, we called him up and he picked up the flattened used boxes that are in good shape to give to someone else.  He does this at no charge and made it so easy.  Green moving... EXCELLENT! 

I promise to post pictures of how the rooms are shaping up.  There is still a lot left to do, but the end is near.  For now, we are just happy to be home... :)

Getting Ready to Move

We spend the weekend installing the appliances and cleaning the house. 

Providing everything goes well at tomorrows inspection, Wednesday we move out of the rental house and Thursday the rest of our stuff comes from the storage facility. Keep your fingers crossed it all goes smoothly!

Lighting

 

The Dining Room Light Fixture

The lighting is up and I'm thrilled at how it turned out! The style throughout the house is contemporary.  We like a clean line and timeless look.  All the bulbs are either CFLs or LEDs to meet the green criteria.  This time choosing lighting proved to be a little more difficult then it's been in the past. I really thought through not only the look for each room, but how to light each space properly for how it's used.  Of course I went over budget, but in the long run I think we will be happy because lighting is very important in any space.  It sets the mood of the entire room and it makes you feel relaxed in your home. 

 

Kitchen Island Fixture

There are four different types of lighting: Ambient lighting which provides illumination for the whole room. Task lighting is just that, intended to help in completing a task.  Accent lighting focuses on illuminating an object like wall art or an element of your space. Natural lighting comes through windows depending on the time or weather and varies in intensity and brightness. I took a lot of time to make sure I addressed all these levels of lighting.  Tony designed the majority of our windows to be on the south side of the house allowing for the most natural light possible.  We have overhead recessed lighting spaced throughout each room as well as overhead lighting washing down the walls, sconces at eye level, task lighting under cabinets and accent lighting for artwork.  Each room seems to be bright and well lit when you want it to be and soft and subtle when you want to relax. 

To help gather options for each room I spent a lot of time on line shopping and reading as well as working with a lighting specialist at Ferguson Enterprises.  Dawn, the rep at Ferguson, was very helpful (and patient) when it came to finding me what I wanted style wise, while staying true to function and our budget. Well, close to budget anyway.   I highly recommend getting help from a pro when taking on a whole house.  In past houses we've built, I just picked our fixtures based on what we liked, not so much how it functioned.  With a little research and much thought, I feel like we have created spaces that fit the way we live and look amazing!



Sconce in the Dining Room





Come on in!

 

Today the carpenters hung the front door.  I thought about trying to find a salvaged door and I looked at quite a few made from sustainable woods but couldn't find anything I liked as well as this.  There is nothing green about this door but I love it!

Evan's Gift

A few posts back I mentioned that the kids are a big part of this house.  They have been good sports about living in the rental and helping with all the stuff we need to do.  Tony decided to "reward" Evan by giving her a gift.  It's her very own, personal, handy-dandy, hand held, 1.75hp shop vac.  She's thrilled... NOT!  It's been her job to vacuum out the vents every couple of days.  They get so filled with sawdust and now that the inside of the house is being painted we don't want that stuff sticking to the walls when the heat kicks on.  She's not to happy about her job but she's been very good about it.  I'm sure that after we move in she won't miss her weekly vent clean up but at least she will have her shop vac as a souvenir!

Harwood Flooring

Look how PHENOMENAL this floor is... I'm so excited about it! 

When Tony first brought up this idea of building green, I was really nervous because I didn't think we could afford to do what we wanted inside the house.  For me, the flooring was a big concern because we really like hardwood but I wanted to do something other than traditional red oak, and bamboo or cork just wasn't the right choice for us.  We found a flooring manufacturer called Eco Timber Flooring that is devoted to forest protection and healthy homes.  I fell in love with this floor right from the 12X12 sample! It's a blend of poplar (a fast growing wood) and reclaimed woods of all types.  It's such a mix of colors!  We have an eclectic mix of wood furniture and with this floor, it marries everything together.  The cost was a bit more than a traditional oak flooring, about $2 more per square foot.  I think it was well worth it.

When researching bamboo, cork, recycled wood, etc., I learned that certification from hardwood floor suppliers can be deceptive. The following is from Eco Timber's web site.  They sum it up nicely.

"Wood suppliers often make claims that their products come from 'managed' or 'sustainable' forests, but without independent certification, there is no way to really know. Increasingly, such claims are used as a marketing ploy to "greenwash" material that came from destructive forestry practices. That's why its important to buy certified wood, BUT. . .
The fact that a wood product is 'certified' does not mean that it comes from an ecologically-well managed forest. There are now various types of forest certification and most do not have meaningful environmental standards, enforcement mechanisms, or methods of tracking the wood through the supply chain to keep out illegally-logged material and prevent misrepresentation...
The only forest certification system that enjoys the support of environmental groups worldwide is that of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which is independent, non-profit, and has a mechanism for tracking wood from the forest to the consumer. The U.S. Green Building Council only recognizes FSC certification as evidence of the sustainability of a wood product. If you want verification that the wood you are purchasing came from a truly well-managed forest, demand FSC-certified material, and demand proper documentation.
PLEASE NOTE: the fact that a company has FSC certification does not mean that what is being sold is FSC-certified. Many companies that have FSC 'Chain of Custody' (COC) certification, which gives them the right to buy and sell FSC-certified wood, don't sell much FSC-certified wood at all. This is particularly the case in the wood flooring industry.
Most FSC-certified wood products have on-product FSC labels. If you are purchasing what you believe is FSC-certified wood but there are no FSC logos on the product packaging, it most likely is not certified, no matter what the rest of the information provided by the manufacturer or supplier might indicate. Some companies will even use the FSC logo on product samples, but ship uncertified material to fill your order. To verify the FSC-certified status of a wood product that does not bare the FSC logo, demand not only the supplier's COC certificate, but also an invoice or receipt detailing the FSC-certified status of each product on an individual line-item basis. If the invoice's line-item doesn't say 'FSC-certified,' the material is not certified."

Go Green La Grange

Tony has become involved with an organization called Go Green La Grange. They are a group people who live in and around La Grange who care about the environment and sustainable living.  Their mission is to provide residents with information they need to do just that.  They hold open meetings the first Wednesday of each month at 7:15pm at the La Grange Public Library.  If your interested in what they have to say, check out their web site at http://www.gogreenlagrange.org/ or go to their next meeting on February 1st.

Chicago Magazine and WGN Radio

Last month Tony and I were invited to our friend Kevin Williams' company holiday party.  We've gone before and it's always a fun evening.  We struck up a conversation with Dennis Rodkin, a journalist for Chicago Magazine and significant other to Kevin's star attorney, Jessica.  He was interested in our house and you know us, we love to talk about it!  This past week we gave him a tour of the house while he interviewed us and took photos for an article in Chicago Magazine on-line. I was glad Tom Molidor was able to make it for the interview too.  If you would like to read it, click HERE.

Dennis also asked Tony to be part of an interview with John Williams of WGN radio.  Tony did a great job sharing some of what he's learned about building green.  If you would like to hear the interview, click HERE.

Thank you Dennis for helping us spread the word about building green!

Cultec and Dig Right In

Managing rainwater on the property is an important aspect of building any structure.  Some of you may already know of the lengthy discussion we have had with the Village of La Grange's Department of Building and Zoning on just this subject.  After many months we have come to an agreement thanks to the tireless work of our landscaper.  They will allow us to use a Cultec System as designed and installed by Jeff Swano of Dig Right In Landscaping in lieu of their required system of large pipes and stone.  Our engineers provided a stamped design using the Cultec System and Jeff and the Village further 'tweeked' it and installed their version.  It made it in the ground just before the first frost.  WHEW... we were worried it wouldn't make it in before the ground froze.

By using CULTEC chambers, rainwater is collected in inlet structures and piped to an underground retention/detention system. The chamber systems control roof and driveway run-off thereby eliminating ponding.  The collected water then dissipates underground.  If you want to learn more about the system, you can visit their web-site at http://www.cultec.com/

After the system was installed, the grass was laid.  Again, just in time for the first frost. Apparently we were the last sod cut of the season.  Thank you Freyja Conrad of Dig Right In for your help and coordination with the grass, patio, etc.

Backyard

Front

The thing that bothered me about these systems as they were designed in the beginning of the project, was neither the Cultec or the Village's preferred system with the big pipes left us much planting space for a tree or shrubs.  What ended up being installed was a bit more of a compromise and we were able to get a decent size silver maple in the yard.  We really like how pretty it is when it's in bloom and it's a tree that sucks up a lot of water; a natural way to manage rainwater pooling should there ever be any.

If you want to know more about Dig Right In and all their services, click on the highlighted link and check out their website or give them a call at 708-485-1234.  Ask them about their rain gardens too.  I wish we had room for one of them!

The LaGrange Patch

There was an article in yesterday's LaGrange Patch about our house.
Click HERE if you would like to read it.
Thank you Matthew Hendrickson for taking the time to write about what we are up to!

Energy Recovery Ventilation

This is an ERV, Energy Recovery Ventilation unit. What do we need that for?  We spent all this money on insulating the heck out of this house to keep air out, so why would we need to spend more money on this thing to pump air in? 

Here's what I leaned... 

ERV is the energy recovery process of exchanging the energy contained in normally exhausted building or space air and using it to treat (precondition) the incoming outdoor ventilation air in residential and commercial HVAC systems. During the warmer seasons, the system pre-cools and dehumidifies while humidifying and pre-heating in the cooler seasons. The benefit of using energy recovery is the ability to meet ventilation & energy standards, while improving indoor air quality and reducing total HVAC equipment capacity.  This technology, as expected, has not only demonstrated an effective means of reducing energy cost and heating and cooling loads, but has allowed for the scaling down of equipment. Additionally, this system will allow for the indoor environment to maintain a relative humidity of an appealing 40% to 50% range. This range can be maintained under essentially all conditions.

We spoke to a few people who have this system in their homes and had many disuccsion with our HVAC installer.  All say this system is amazing and well worth the cost.  This home is all about living healthy so we are convinced it is the right choice.  As our furnace guy said... "this house is going to purrrrr!"

Drywall is finished!

It's almost like a real house!  This past weekend the drywall was finished.  They did a great job.  I love that everything is level and all corners are square.  The miraculous thing was that they cleaned up after themselves.  What a nice break for us.  The painter comes next week to prime.  Keep your fingers crossed that the rest of the process goes as smoothly as this did.

Fire Stopping and Insulation

 I am a little behind in my posting so I'm going to try to get caught up...

The Kitchen



A few weeks ago the house was insulated.  I learned a little something during this process.  Before the insulation is put in, the insulatiors add fire stopping.  It is an expandable foam that insulates around all the openings to the outside of the house.  It is used on every opening in an exterior wall. Basically, anywhere you see light from outside while your inside the house.  These areas are where water and electric pipes come into the house, around the windows, etc.  Here is a photo taken from inside the house of the junction box that an exterior light fixture will eventully be attached to.  The foam further seals the perimeter of the house helping to keep moisture out, reduce drafts and keep the heat/airconditioning in.  There is also a different type of expandable foam used around the floor to fill in any gaps made in the sub-flooring.  In the event of a fire, this helps keep it contained so it doesn't spread to other floors. 

Insulation is important in any home.  If you have or currently live in an old home you understand just how important it really is.  The rental house we are living in is poorly insulated. It is so hot during the warm weather and freezing during the cold.  Unfortunately, we have the heating bills to prove it!

R-value is a number assigned to insulation as a way to measure the efficiancy of insulation in a house.  The US Department of Energy has recommended R-values for given areas of the USA based on the general local energy costs for heating and cooling, as well as the climate of an area. In general, the bigger the number, the better the building's insulation effectiveness.  There are five types of insulation: rolls and batts, loose-fill, rigid foam,dence pack cellulous and foam-in-place. Rolls and batts are typically flexible insulators that come in fibers, like fiberglass. Loose-fill insulation comes in loose fibers or pellets and should be blown into a space. Rigid foam is more expensive than fiber, but generally has a higher R-value per unit of thickness. Foam-in-place can be blown into small areas to control air leaks, like those around windows.  We've done a combination of these things.  There is the foam-in-place as I described above, a 1" rigid foam insulation on the exterior of the building that will be under the siding and stucco, and all perimeter walls are insulated with a dence packed cellulous and in between that is a theral break further adding to the value.   We added roll insulation around the laundry room which is in the center of the 2nd floor and is used as a sound insulator.  The State of Illinos has adopted an energy criteria noting the minimum R-value on a wall be no less than R-19.  The Village of  LaGrange told us in our initial meeting that they won't really inforce that code (not sure why), but it needed to be listed on our drawings anyway.  Our total wall value should well surpass that... somewhere in the R-30's.  The state requies the roof to be R-38 and ours is about higher than a R-44.  This will be a tight and efficient house.

Now that the insulation is finished, drywall in next!

Clean up

Part of the LEED requirements is that the house be kept clean.  So for the past couple of weeks have been a busy time for us.  We have spend a lot of time over the weekends cleaning, cleaning and then cleaning some more!  I'm so proud of the kids because they have really stepped up.  It isn't the most fun job and I'm sure they would rather be out with their friends, but being involved helps them to invest in the house.  They feel part of  the building process and hopefully they will appreciate the hard work that goes into building a home because they are an important part of the process.  This is an opportunity to teach the children to value hard work and to experience that in the end, they will reap the reward of living in this beautiful home.   

The Garage

There wasn't to much to salvage from the old house, but we were able to save one window and a french door.  They ended up on the garage. The window is a little small, but it will get the job done.  The second floor isn't a finished space.  It's storage for the outdoor furniture and such, so the little window will probably never be opened.  The french door became the service door.  It's a little different to have a fancy door on a garage, but when we have summer parties it can be opened so we can use the garage for more space.  I'm really happy about the 8' garage door. The style really dresses up the front.

It's Quiet Today

We've been moving along at such a productive pace, but it feels like things have come to a screeching halt.  About a week and a half ago, just after we decided on interior and exterior doors, interior trim, etc., we found out the supplier, ProBuild, is going out of business.  Sadly, this economy is so hard on the building industry.  Tom, our GC, was on board with another supplier right away, but this still puts us behind because we have to wait for estimates when we thought we were waiting for delivery.  We need the temporary exterior doors to continue. That's another 2 or 3 weeks.  I had a meeting with the new supplier, McIlwee Millwork, at the house and just as we were wrapping up a ProBuild truck arrived with 2 of the 3 exterior doors.  (The third is due to arrive tomorrow.)  The funny thing is neither Tom, Tony or I signed off on an order for doors with ProBuild, but here they are!  The doors will be installed at the end of the week and insulation is scheduled for next week so in the end we didn't loose much time. Tony thinks we could be moving in by Christmas, but I think January.  This is the one time I hope Tony is right!

Happy Birthday Evan!

October has been a busy month, but I need to stop and tell you about the excitement in our house.  Evan turned 13! My baby is a teenager.  I can hardly believe it.  It seems like it was just yesterday she was singing happily in her crib.  Jack would call her little sweetheart and you know, she really is. Happy Birthday Evan. We love you!

The Lion Newspaper

Part of building LEED is community awareness, thus the blog.  Communicating ideas and sharing what you learn is important no matter what you do. Building LEED encourages this and Tony and I really believe it is an important part of this project.

Recently our family friend Katie Norton-Williams asked us if she could pitch our green house project to the school newspaper.  Katie is a junior at LT and a recent addition to the staff at the Lion.  She interviewed us and I'm happy to report her article made last weeks paper.  Nice job Katie!