We enjoyed hosting almost 100 people today at our second of six Collaborative Informational Sessions. 

The day was structured with an open house from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, with a formal 60-minute presentation at 10:30 and 1:30 pm.  The Mayor of Monte Sereno, Don Perry, and Vice Mayor, Lana Malloy, opened each formal presentation.

Cleaning Up the Site from the Rain Last Night

It poured last night so we were scrambling to clean up the site and get rid of the water this morning. 

Dave Edwards (Earth Bound Homes) had several of his team on site helping to unbutton the site, pulling back the tarps and cleaning up the water. 

Eric Venzon (Teamwrkx) had his safety superintendant, Craig Butcher, ensure the site was safe and that signs were in place for our visitors, and had Dustin Barclay set up the presentation screen and provide electrical connections for the computers and projects.

Dave Stevenson (Insulspan) arrived and coordinated the presentation equipment so we were good to go.

John Rider (Jrider+Design) had just picked up the three new overview signs profiling the key green features of our house from San Jose Blue.  He placed these boards in three strategic locations around the house so our guests could identify and understand the various functions and benefits of the green features as they toured the house today.  The new overview sign is excellent (click here for a PDF).

Hosting the Morning Collaborative Informational Session

The sun came out and warmed the project site, drying up the pooled water all over the site.  And then our guests started to arrive.  Darrel Kelly (Builders’ Energy Services) stepped in graciously to receive each guest.  Darrel ensured that all of our guests signed a Site Tour Release form (waiver of liability), received a green Teamwrkx wrist band noting they had done so and then they entered the house.

We held a Q&A session on the ground floor where Eric introduced Bryan to respond to questions from the guests.  During this time, Don Perry (Mayor of Monte Sereno) and Lana Malloy (Vice Mayor of Monte Sereno), Perry Haviland, Architect of Record (Haviland Associates Architects), and Bill Brown (Bill Brown Construction) arrived.

Both Don and Lana spoke briefly, outlining how the City of Monte Sereno supported this project and are actively working with citizens of Monte Sereno to encourage ‘green building’  Specifically, Don outlined how the City had changed their ordinances to allow window wells in the setbacks, which was required prior to our project receiving our building permit.  Also, Don explained that the City Manager, Brian Loventhal, is updating Monte Sereno’s sign ordinance to allow a sign under the LEED for Homes program (which is currently prohibits signs that would qualify under the LEED-H criteria).

Then, everyone went to the lower level for Dave Stevenson’s AIA accredited presentation on Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs).  After Dave’s presentation, Dave Edwards presented an overview of green building, providing examples and insight that he has gained over the past eight years with Earth Bound Homes.

The group moved upstairs, into the warm sunshine for a final look at the house and to see some of the details that our presenters had explained.

Hosting the Afternoon Collaborative Informational Session

The weather continued to improve and it turned into a beautiful, blue-sky California day.  Don and Lana returned to open the afternoon session and Judy Peterson, the local writer from the Los Gatos Weekly Times, was on site to cover the event.

We were especially pleased to have several students from Richard Holman’s classes at De Anza College attend our event this afternoon (Richard’s first visit to our site was on Saturday, February 6, 2010).  Richard teaches classes on building performance and energy systems.  As well, Jerry Kauffman came to the site today.  Dave Stevenson is presenting to Jerry’s Wednesday class tonight at San Jose City College.  Jerry and Bryan will coordinate a field trip for his students to visit our site next Wednesday, March 17 (St Patrick’s Day!).  Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders in sustainable building so we encourage and support their visits to our site.

The author of the first book on Eichlers, Jerry Ditto, stopped in to see our progress.  Jerry, who wrote Eichler Homes:  Design for Living, has been involved in our project since the beginning and testified at the Site & Architecture meeting where we received our Site Development permit.  Interestingly, Lana Malloy, who is now Vice Mayor, was on the Site and Architecture Commision at that time.

Wrapping Up

After everyone left, we decided not to wrap the house with tarps as the overnight forecast was for clear skys.  Jo-Anne arrived and climbed the ladder to see the lower roof in the warm sunshine.

It was a good, full day.

(Left to right) Darrel Kelly receiving guests and having them sign Site Tour Release forms. Toni DeWaal and Patrice Green were among our first guests. Maria Dohadwala (white hard hat) had just signed in.

John Rider (Jrider+Design) put together a new overview, profiling the green features of our house. These boards helped our guests to identfy and understand the functions and benefits of the various green features around the house today.

Just before the formal presentation started, Bryan provided an overview of the project and then answered questions from the group.

After the group moved to the lower level, Don Perry (Mayor of Monte Sereno) opened the presentation on behalf of the City of Monte Sereno.

After Don Perry spoke, Lana Mally (Vice Mayor, Monte Sereno) stepped into the sunlight and took the stage.

Dave Stevenson, from Insulspan, presented the AIA-accredited session on Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)

There was a full audience for Dave's presentation.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor, Joel Lemons (Jrider+Design) was reviewing the green features (somewhat loudly) of the house with both Vivienne Kelvin (left) and Wendy Parker (right).

And, Bill Brown (left) and Bryan were answering questions on the ground floor, too.

The presentations were the very first use of our home theater, in the lower level. Note the water from the heavy rains last night.

Dave Edwards (Earth Bound Homes) presenting during the second session in the afternoon.

When Dave Stevenson presenting during the afternoon, when it was much warmer in the lower level.

The second presentation went very well.

Using one of our 12-1/4 inch SIPs, Dave Stevenson explains how SIPs are manufactured and why SIPs have more strength as a composite building material that the indivdiual components by themselves.

Some interested guests climbed the ladder and walked around the SIP roof. It was much warmer in the sunshine of the roof. Eric Venzon (left), Teamwrkx, Shannon McElyea (center) and Rory Faber (right), Stramit International.

Jerry Ditto (left) and Bryan, in the Garage.

Paul Dodds (left) speaking with Bryan on the roof.

We've been working with John Rider (Jrider+Design) since July 2008.

Jo-Anne, on the roof, at the end of the day.

We completed several tasks on our critical path to completing our SIP roof today.  An important task was to have all of the beams on site so they could be graded.  Having our beams is critical so the structural framing can be completed on the ground floor so we can move the SIPs onto the roof with the crane on Wednesday.

Picking Up Our Reclaimed Beams After Milling in Watsonville

Dave Merchant, from Out of the Woods, loaded the three beams that we milled to size on Tuesday at his site in Bonny Doon.  Dave met Bryan in Watsonville at Jackel Enterprises, where we loaded the remainder of the beams that were being milled.  From there, Bryan followed Dave up Highway #1 and over the hill to our project site.  There, our framing crew unloaded the beams by hand and staged them for grading.

Charlie Jourdain, from Redwood Inspection Service in Pleasant Hill, arrived on our site as planned and the beams were ready for him.  Charlie examined and graded each beam, then stamped the end of each beam.  He will be sending us a certificate stating the grade of each beam.  Note that Redwood Inspection Service is a division of California Redwood Association, of which Charlie is the President.

Loading our recently milled reclaimed Douglas Fir beams in Watsonville. The beams on the truck were milled by Dave Merchant in Bonny Doon.

Bryan followed Dave's truck back from Watsonville. Dave is going up Winchester Boulevard with our reclaimed beams.

Dave backed the trailer into our site so it could be unloaded quickly and easily.

Charlie Jourdain, President of California Redwood Association, came to our job site and graded our reclaimed beams. Charlie is measuring the grain of the wood as the grain runs diagonally in this beam.

Charlie measured and graded all of our beams on site, which were just delivered a few hours ago.

Making Insulated Headers

On the West side of our house we have two bathrooms.  The beams that support the SIP roof at the front and back of the house extend through the building.  However, we have two bathrooms on the West side and, even with exhaust fans, these bathrooms will have a high moisture content.

To provide greater protection from condensation, our durability plan requires insulated headers to keep keep the surfaces of the exposed beams warmer and prevent condensation from occuring. 

From two of the reclaimed Douglas Fir beams, we had Jackel Enterprises cut two 1-3/4 inch wide planks.  Using these planks, we sandwiched 2 inches of rigid R-10 insulation.  Thus, we end up with an insulated header that is 5-1/2 inches wide and over 19 ft long.  This insulated header will be over the windows in the two bathrooms.

Similarly, we require a small insulated header on the East side of the house, above the exterior Kitchen door.

Francisco makes the insulated headers by sandwiching 2 inches of rigid insulation between two planks, cut from our reclaimed Douglas Fir beams.

Completed insulated header. The two pieces of reclaimed Douglas Fir are held together by a number of 4-1/2 inch galvanized Simpson Strong Tie SDS screws, countersunk into the planks.

Moving the Temporary Steel Beams

The temporary steel beams supporting the existing East and West walls of our house were moved clear of the structure today.  Several inches of the concrete haunches were removed so the existing walls are now free and clear, and are entirely supported by the house once again.

We’re ready to remove the temporary steel beams from the site on Wednesday, February 24.

Reducing Construction Waste

Renovation and construction projects can generate a tremendous amount of waste that goes to landfill sites.  According to the LEED for Homes Reference Guide, ‘Construction and demolition wastes constitute about 40% of the total solid waste stream in the United States.’  For our project, we are targeting to create as little construction waste as possible.  When our Green Rater, Darrel Kelly, came to our project site on Tuesday, February 16, he was surprised, and delighted, to see how little waste we were generating as we were using three 35 gallon garbage bins to hold our framing debris.

Earth Bound Homes delivered a trailer to our job site today that will be used for all the framing debris.  All the framing waste on our job site was dumped into the trailer as it will be taken for recycling.  We will obtain tags on the debris removed with the trailer.

This is the trailer from Earth Bound Homes, which contains all of our framing debris to date. Note that a number of the pieces in trailer are reclaimed wood, which would otherwise be landfill. This debris will be taken for recycling, not landfill. Reduce, reuse and recycle (redirect).

Overview and Inspection of Progress this Week

Given the days are longer now, Jo-Anne was able to drop by the job site at the end of the day today to inspect our progress. 

Our first major shear wall is in place in Kate’s bedroom (formerly the Master Bedroom).  Having the shear wall in place prior to Jo-Anne’s inspection showed significant progress. 

In line with that shear wall is another shear wall adjacent to the Atrium.  Scott Andersen, who did the conceptual design of the remodel, specified during his most recent job site progress review that we include recessed art niches in the wall behind the glass bridge to the Master Suite.  Three recessed art niches were framed in today and the plywood will be nailed in place next week.

Jo-Anne walked the property and was smiling as she was pleased with our progress this week.

Completed SIP walls on either side of our doorway at the front of the house.

Same view of the foyer, taken on September 29, 2008 when the roof was being deconstructed. Note the diagonal brace on the temporary site fence through the door - it is the same diagonal brace in the photo above. Way cool.

Three art niches that are framed in the shear wall behind the glass bridge facing the Atrium.

Example of recessed art niches (not in a contemporary style house).

Example of recessed art niches on a large exposed wall.

Plywood 2x6 shear wall between the Living Room and Kate's Bedroom.

Jo-Anne, standing in Kate's Bedroom, smiles as she walks the property inspecting our progress this week.

Our flag is flying and our Insulspan sign is posted. The site is buttoned up, ready for the rain that is forecasted through the weekend.

A number of project elements (tasks) are going to come together in the next week so we can start assembling our SIPs. 

We now have an integrated and feasible short-term plan that will see our house rising out of the ground decisively by the end of March.  The next week should be interesting to see unfold.

Overview

The major tasks in our short-term plan include the following:

• Order and receive remaining FSC lumber to complete the structural framing
• Detach the temporary steel beams from the existing East and West walls and move the temporary steel beams so they are clear of the structure
• Deliver milled reclaimed beams to our project site
• Grade the reclaimed beams
• Ensure the East and West walls are straight and plumb, and complete the shear walls
• Order the FSC lumber for the SIP roof sections
• Complete the single SIP wall and structural framing to support the SIP roof sections
• Receive the final four structural beams to support the SIP roof sections
• Remove the temporary steel beams and load them on a truck
• Move and stage the first stack of SIPs onto the structural framing to complete the lower flat roof
• Unload the FSC-certified lumber for the SIP roof sections

These tasks will result in having all the materials available over the next week to construct our SIP wall and SIP roof sections.

Order and Receive FSC Lumber to Complete the Structural Framing

Given the limited space available on our site, we have been ordering our FSC-certified lumber small orders so it can be stored easily and protected from the rain.  Each order has had less than 10% estimated waste factor and the orders are following our detailed framing plans.  We have a detailed cut list for each order to minimize the work on site.  There is one final small order to be delivered that will provide sufficient lumber (2×6 plates and studs, and 4×8 posts) to complete the structural framing on the ground floor.

Bryan worked with Francisco, leading the on site work with Earth Bound Homes, today to confirm and place the order.  It should be delivered between 7:30 and 10:30 am tomorrow morning.

Detach the Temporary Steel Beams

The existing East and West walls on the ground floor have been supported and held in place since the beginning of our project by two 60 ft long temporary steel beams.  Now that the team from Earth Bound Homes have attached the existing walls to the concrete foundation walls, the walls need to be plumbed and trued.  To do so requires detaching the temporary steel beams and moving the beams a few inches away from the structure on the concrete haunches.

Pete Janovich, from Bill Brown Construction, reviewed our requirements yesterday and confirmed today that he will be on site with two others tomorrow to complete this work.  This task is on our critical path.

Deliver Milled Reclaimed Beams to Our Project Site

Bryan has been working with Out of the Woods and Jackel Enterprises to mill our reclaimed Douglas Fir beams to meet our specifications.  Dave Merchant will be loading the beams that he milled yesterday and going to Watsonville to pick up the beams that Steve Jackel has milled.  Then, Dave will bring the full load over the hill to Monte Sereno and unload them at our job site.

Steve will confirm everything is ready at his end so Dave and Bryan will meet there at noon tomorrow.

Grade the Reclaimed Beams

With the milled reclaimed beams at our project site, Charlie Jourdain, from Redwood Inspection Service in Pleasant Hill, will be in San Jose on another matter on Friday, February 19 so he will come to our project site and review and grade the reclaimed Douglas Fir beams.

The beams have to be available on the ground so Charlie can see all the sides of the beams.  After the beams are graded, they will be installed as part of our structural framing to support the SIP roof panels.

Order the FSC Lumber for the SIP Roof Sections

The SIP roof sections have extremely detailed wood requirements.  The shop drawings for each panel show the individual lumber connections that hold the panels together.  Bryan will go through the shop drawings one final time this weekend, considering the remaining lumber we have on site, and place our order lumber on Monday. 

This order of FSC-certified lumber will be delivered on Wednesday morning, February 24.

Complete the SIP Wall and Structural Framing

After plumbing the existing East and West walls, the framing team from Earth Bound Homes will complete the SIP wall at the front of the house and the structural framing on the West side of the house.  They will use the FSC lumber that will be delivered tomorrow morning to do so.

After ensuring all the structural framing is plumb, they will use the FSC-certified plywood to complete the interior and exterior shear walls.  The shear walls will increase the structural strength of the interior and exterior walls so they can support the SIP roof sections. 

Receive the Final Four Structural Beams to Support the SIP Roof Sections

Earlier today, Bryan confirmed the order and delivery time for the final four structural beams that we require.  These beams will be milled in Oregon from ’standing dead’ trees that are harvested in Idaho.  While not FSC-certified, these timbers will be accompanied by a letter stating their origin and how they were harvested.

These are large beams, including one 8×12 beam that is almost 40 ft long.  Bryan spoke with Lowell Tucker and scheduled West Coast Cranes to be on site to unload and place these beams.  And complete several other tasks for the crane.

Remove the Temporary Steel Beams and Load Them on a Truck

When the crane is on site, we will be able to remove the two 60 ft long, 6,000 lb temporary steel beams from the East and West sides of the house.  Pete Janovich will have a low-bed truck at the site that will take the beams away.

Move and Stage the First Stack of SIPs on the Structural Framing

With the site now ‘clear’, we will use the crane to stage the first stack of SIPs from the temporary cover on the swimming pool to the lower flat roof.  Given the structural framing and shear walls have been completed, we will be able to stage the SIP roof panels so the lower flat roof can be built over the West side of the house.

These are the SIPs in front of the window of our temporary site office.  We’re looking forward to seeing daylight in the temporary site office!

After this section of the lower flat roof is completed, we will have a larger staging area for the rest of the SIP roof panels.

Unload the FSC-Certified Lumber for the SIP Roof Sections

The final task for the crane will be to unload the truck with our final order of FSC-certified lumber.  This lumber order will be quite large and need to be moved from the trucks and placed on the ground floor at our job site.

That’s the Plan

Plan your work.  Work your plan.

Let’s get going.

View from behind the house to the street. We used string lines to show where the drop beams will go between the two feature concrete walls. The 'cabinet wall' between the Kitchen and Dining Room must line up perfectly under this structural beam and supporting post.

View from behind Simpson Strong Tie GLBT to show placement of our 8x12 wooden beam. The 'cabinet wall' must line up under this beam perfectly. Note the 'vanishing point' perspective with the string lines.

View showing the placement of the East beam. This will be a 6x12 beam that will be 'broken' over the post in the cabinet wall between the Kitchen and Dining Room.

The framing on the West side of the house is very compact. This is the area that needs to be completed as it is where we will be staging the SIP roof panels.

Our neighbor, Ned Gault, dropped by the job site and reviewed our progress to date. Ned had been in Florida and was curious to see how much progress we had made while he was away. Ned was pleased and is looking forward to the completion of our constrruction activities (aren't we all?).