Since we (Bryan, Jo-Anne, Nik and Kate) were going to Edmonton, Canada to visit Bryan’s family for Canadian Thanksgiving, Bryan took the opportunity to visit Twa Panel Systems, Inc. in Nisku, Alberta.  Markus Benzenhofer arranged for Bryan to meet with Dave Selmser and tour the manufacturing facility.

Background

We are using geothermal heat exchange and a ground source heat pump to heat and cool our house.  The system that Ken Martin, from Silicon Valley Mechanical, refined the design of includes two insulated water tanks, one holding hot water and the other tank holding cold water.

The tank of hot water will be used to satisfy heating calls and the cold water for cooling calls.  In order to cool our wine, there will be radiant cooling panels in the ceiling of the wine cellar.  Actually, we will not be cooling the wine cellar but, rather, moving the BTUs (energy) from the wine cellar into the house (heating the house).

We met with Markus Benzenhofer of Twa Panel Systems, Inc. on October 29, 2009 at our project site.  Markus reviewed our required and completed the preliminary design of a radiant system that could meet our requirements.

Currently, Ken Martin is integrating and refining the preliminary design.

Touring Twa Panel Systems’ Manufacturing Facility in Nisku, Canada

Since we flew into Edmonton International Airport (YEG) at 12:30 pm and were being picked up, Bryan arranged to meet with Dave Selmser at 3:30 pm.  Nisku is just East of YEG so it was only minutes away from Bryan’s parents’ house in the South part of Edmonton.

Since Dave Selmser was in a meeting, Chris Tse showed Bryan Twa’s products that were installed in their building.  This was valuable before the tour of the manufacturing facilities as Bryan had not seen all of Twa’s products.

As soon as he was finished, Dave met Bryan and picked up where Chris left off.  Dave explained the evolution of radiant cooling panels and his role managing the modular active chiller beam product line at Twa Panel Systems.  All of the products manufactured by Twa Panel Systems are modular so a complete and integrated system can designed to work together using various components in a flexible manner.

Evolution of Cooling Panels to Chilled Beams

In describing the product line, Dave explained that the evolution of cooling panels started with radiant cooling panels in a ceiling.  These panels received chilled water and transfered heat (energy) from the room to the chilled water, heating the water, and then moving the water (heat) out of the room.  This system was inherently more efficient than moving chilled air into a room since water can carry more energy than air.

The evolution continued when the ceiling panels were perforated to allow air to flow around the radiant panels, using convection to increase the heat transfer from the room to the chilled water (heating the water), and then moving the water (heat) out of the room.

To increase the efficiency of the convection, the next phase of the evolution was passive chilled beams.  These passive chilled beams had fins attached to the copper pipes carrying the water into and out of the room.  The fins provided a larger surface area to transfer energy and relied on convection to move air over the fins.

Moving air over the fins was enhanced by the use of fresh air, supplied by the HVAC system.  The moving air was supplemented by small vents that would mix the incoming fresh air with existing air from inside the room, to increase the efficiency of the system while dramatically increasing indoor air quality.

Wikipedia includes a complete description of chilled beams, including the basic concepts and types of chilled beams.

Being picked up at Edmonton International Airport (YEG).

Twa Panel Systems, Inc. facility in Nisku, Alberta, Canada.

Entrance to Twa Panel Systems, Inc. in Nisku, Alberta, Canada.

Our host, Dave Selmser, at his desk ready to take Bryan on a tour of the manufacturing facilities.

Dave shows a modular passive ceiling radiant heating/cooling panel. This panel is not finished. Note the copper supply/return pipes.

Dave shows the back of the passive modular ceiling panel, with the copper pipe that transfers energy (heat) to the aluminum ceiling panel.

Passive convection ceiling panels where air circulates through the cooling panels in the ceiling.

Close up of the perforations in the ceiling where the air circulates.

Actual passive linear chilled panel in the ceiling.

Active chilled beam in the ceiling.

Look closely and you can see the venturi for the active chilled beam.

Open ceiling panel, showing the finned cooling tubes that the air flows through.

New roll of soft, annealed copper for the modular chilled panels and chilled beams.

Shaped copper piping for use in modular ceiling panels.

Inventory of various extruded aluminum saddles and linear panels.

Work in process - perfectly welded aluminum frames for modular ceiling panels.

New, Trumatic 500 CNC stamping machine for making perforations in aluminum panels.

Performations in sheet aluminum, made by the Trumatic 500 CNC machine.

Production area for linear panels.

Linear panels showing saddles ready for copper tubing.

Completed modular linear panel with copper tubing in place.

Completed modular linear panels ready for packaging.

Components for active chilled beams, ready for assembly.

Shroud for active chilled beam, ready for assembly.

Completed active chilled beam, ready for packaging.

Completed modular linear panels, ready for shipping to Rexall Center in Edmonton.

Completed modular linear beams, in custom packaging (using Tyvek), ready to be picked up.

The team from Statewide Roofing arrived promptly at 8:00 am this morning to install our cool roof system.   We need to get the flat roof completed before the rains come this weekend.  Depending on which forecast one follows, there is a 10% to 40% chance of rain on Saturday and/or Sunday.

We need a roof.  And a ‘cool roof’ would be way cool.

Designing Our ‘Cool Roof’

Our roof serves multiple purposes.  First, it provides us with shelter (go figure).  Beyond this basic function, we have the following requirements:

• Reduce our heating and cooling requirements.
• Allow us to capture 100% of the rainwater from the entire roof.
• Reduce our maintenance requirements.
• Support our solar photovoltaic panels.

The benefits that we will enjoy from our roof design include:

• Reduced energy costs, due to reduced energy consumption and the generation of electricity.
• Reduced maintenance costs, due to lower maintenance requirements and faster and easier maintenance activitivies.
• Increased occupant comfort, due to higher temperatures in the winter and cooler temperatures in the summer.

Roof Surfaces and Defining a ‘Cool Roof’

According to Johns Manville’s handbook on single ply roofing systems,

‘Roof surface temperature is important to reducing air conditioning energy usage and mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect. Cool roof surfaces minimize heat build-up in the roof membrane caused by solar radiation (the sun) and the transfer of heat from the hot roof into the building. The roof is one of the first lines of defense against the effects of the sun on and in a building. In addition, roof insulation plays a critical role in reducing the heat flow into the building. With proper insulation and the addition of cool roofing products, heat transfer into a building can be reduced significantly.

A cool roof surface is defined by two mechanisms, reflectivity and emissivity. The higher the reflection of the total solar energy spectrum (called the albedo), the less solar energy is absorbed. The second mechanism, emissivity, is the amount of absorbed heat that is re-radiated back into the atmosphere. Thermal emissivity is expressed as a percentage relative to an ideal radiating surface, which is defined as having an emissivity of 100%. Thus, when less energy is absorbed (high solar reflectivity) and more of the absorbed energy is emitted (high thermal emissivity), there is less thermal energy (e.g., heat) in the roof to enter the building. For example, metals have low emissivity, and that is the reason why a highly reflective piece of metal left in the sun still becomes hot compared to a highly reflective, more emissive roof membrane. Reflectance and emittance with proper insulation are critical properties to a properly functioning cool roof.’

What could be cooler than a ‘cool roof’? 

Eliminating Water from Ponding on Our Roof

Starting with shelter, we don’t want the roof to leak.  On our 12:12 pitch gable roofs, this will not be a problem.  However, on our flat roofs (upper-, mid- and lower flat roofs), we may experience ‘ponding’.  Allan Courtney, our roofing advisor and roofing contractor, recommended that we design the flat roofs to direct water to the drains.  Note that all of the water from our gable roofs, and upper- and mid level flat roofs goes onto our lower flat roof.  This can be a lot of water.  Al doesn’t want there to be any ‘flat’ areas on our roof for water to pond.  Ponded water is bad, as it can be a source of water that could then leaks into our house.  We would very much prefer that 100.0% of the water from our roof go into our underground cistern.

In addition, ponded water is heavy, which increases the load on the structure.  Increasing the load can cause the roof to deflect, causing more ponding.  More ponding can cause more deflection …

So, Al recommended that we have tapered foam crickets from Johns Manville.  Each of the tapered foam crickets are manufactured in 4 ft x 4 ft pieces from closed cell polyisocyanurate foam. 

ENRGY 3® and ISO 3™ are rigid roof insulation boards composed of a closed cell polyisocyanurate foam core bonded in the manufacturing process to universal fiber glass reinforced facers. ENRGY 3 and ISO 3 utilize an environmentally compliant blowing agent containing pentane hydrocarbon to enhance the thermal performance of the foam insulation. This hydrocarbon has zero ozone depletion potential and conforms to the Montreal Protocol established in 1987. ENRGY 3 and ISO 3 meet the physical property requirements of ASTM C 1289, Type II, Class I, Grade 2 and CAN/ULC S704, Type 2, Class 2. ENRGY 3 and ISO 3 specialty products are also available as tapered panels, precut miters and precut crickets.

To direct the water to the drains, the crickets need to be engineered so that, in every instance, there is a downward slope that leads to a drain.  Johns Manville provided us with this design service as it is included in the cost of their product.  Here is the design of our tapered insulation, which Leo Richardson drafted.

Although we don’t need to have additional R-value for our roof, installing tapered insulation as crickets will eliminate the structural thermal bridges on our flat roofs. 

Reducing Energy Consumption

Our roof design started with reducing our energy consumption, which is one of the reasons for using SIPs (structural insulated panels).  Our SIP roof provides thermal resistance of R-47.  This high thermal resistance does not prevent solar radiation from reaching the inside of the house and heating the house.  To reduce energy consumption for cooling the house, we need to reflect that heat back into the sky.  Reflecting solar radiation can be accomplished with a roof surface with high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance.  This is the value of a light colored (e.g., white) roof.

The R-47 thermal resistance does not include the structural elements inside the SIPs that create thermal bridges.  For example, we have a 5.25×16 SCL (structural composite lumber) in the center of our upper flat roof that is not insulated.  Without the tapered insulation, we would have thermal bridges where heat (energy) can escape, or enter, our house.  The tapered insulation will reduce the thermal bridges as it will add, on average, R-7.5 to our thermal envelope on our flat roofs.

Components of Our Roofing System

In evaluating the roof surface over the SIPs, Al recommended a white, 60 mil TPO Membrane from Johns Manville.  This product has an extremely high initial solar reflectance of 0.77 and an extremely high initial thermal emittance of 87%.  To put these values into context, meeting the EPA’s Energy Star standards requires a solar reflectance of 0.65 and meeting the higher standards of California’s Title 24 requirements for commercial buildings requires solar reflectance of 0.70 and thermal emittance of 75%.

Al recommended TPO Membrane as it is manufactured from thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO).  Single ply roof membranes are manufactured using EPDM, PVC or TPO.  Al prefers TPO because it is easier to keep clean, which lowers our maintance requirements and, consequently, maintenance costs.  Dirt will lower the solar reflectance and lower the thermal emittance.

JM TPO is one of the latest single ply, flat roofing materials on the market. The current membrane formulations are reinforced with a polyester fabric and manufactured using an ultraviolet-resistant thermoplastic polyolefin formulation. TPO from JM comes in several thicknesses. It is designed for use in mechanically fastened and adhered roofing applications in new, re-roof and re-cover roof constructions. It is fire and chemical resistant and contains UV inhibitors for added longevity.

Products with a longer useful and functional life contribute to the durability of the building envelope, which can result in a lower overall total cost of ownership for our house.

Regarding the attachment system, Al recommended that we go with mechanical fasteners.  The alternative is a fully adhered roof membrane.  Given his experience, Al recommended that we use Carlisle’s HP-x fasteners with 3 inch plates for the tapered insulation and 2-3/8 inch Piranha plates to mechanically fasten the membrane.

Over the tapered foam insulation and under the single ply membrane, Al recommended FR-10 slip sheet.  The slip sheet serves two purposes – allows the membrane to move as it expands and contracts with heat and cold, and adds protection against flame spread and flame penetration through the roof system.

Roof installation instructions.

Installing Our Cool Roof

The six-person team from Statewide Roofing brought a portable diesel generator on our site and moved their tools onto the roof.  Then, the roofing materials arrived from Ford Wholesale, and they were placed on our roof with a rear pivot steer Telehandler.

The team got to work quickly, cleaning the debris from the roof and distributing the 4×4 sections of tapered insulation.  Then, they attached the insulation with screws to the SIPs and put down the slip sheets.  The membrane went down next, fastened with the screws and Piranha plates.

Then, the detail work started, which is welding the seams of the membrane.  it was a sunny, hot day, and the new white membrane reflected the solar heat, making it even hotter for the team working on the roof.

All of the tapered foam insulation that was secured to the roof was covered before the team left for the day.

Way cool …

Ready for the materials to arrive and be lifted onto the roof.

The Telehandler unloads our roofing materials on Via Sereno.

Placing the materials on the roof.

Our neighbor from Vista Avenue, Robin Wedell, was walking her dog around the block and stopped in for a visit. Justin Barlett, on the left, was working on pressurizing our geothermal ground loop.

Roofing the lower flat roof on the West side of the house. Note the FR-10 slip sheet and the fasteners holding down the white single ply membrane.

Completing the detailed work on the upper flat roof. The seams are welded with a special hand held hot air welding tool.

4x4 sheets of ENRGY 3 tapered foam insulation from Johns Manville.

A bucket of 2-3/8 inch Pirahna plates.

Roll of FR-10 slip sheet material, which allows the membrane to expand and contract, and provides protection from the spread of fire through our roof assembly.

Fasteners for the insulation and roof membrane.

We are getting closer to putting the tapered insulation down on our flat roofs so we can put the membrane on and get water tight.  Before doing so, we verified that the SIP roof has no ‘voids’ in the insulation where the individual pieces come together. 

In anticipation of the next step, becoming weather tight, Bryan picked up the first of 72 boxes of windows so we could confirm the window preparation requirements.  Since we will be seeing Carole Murray tomorrow, it is important to show that we’re progressing and getting the windows out of her warehouse!  Also today, Bryan continued working with Izzy on ensuring the HDPE coming out of each concrete pier can be joined to create our ground loop.

At the end of the day, Gino Attanasio from White Cap dropped off two more 10-lb containers of expanding foam for us to use in tightening up our building envelope.

Picking Up Our First Window

We have 72 boxes of sliding glass doors and windows at Murray Window and Door.  We can’t install the sliding doors and windows until we are weather tight.  Well, we probably could install them but we are choosing not to.

In anticipation of the first clerestory window installation, we picked up one of the 16 windows.  This will allow us to identify exactly how the windows will ‘fit’ and how we will need to attach the windows.  While we have shop drawings, it is always good to have the actual item on hand to avoid potential problems.

After hoisting the window up and onto the roof, we were able to see exactly how the clerestory windows will fit.  This was important as we may have a conflict with the nail fins and edge trim in each of the four corners where the two clerestory windows come together.

Using Thermal Imaging to Verify Our Insulation Value

In our house, the SIP panels are connected on the roof with either wooden I beams or 6×12 splines.  In either case, there is a possibility of leaving ‘voids’ in the EPS foam at these locations.  If a void is left then the insulation value of the roof is compromised.  Voids will reduce the insulation value much more than thermal bridges, which is another problem that we want to avoid.

Today, we took the opportunity to engage Lorna Fear, with Visual Cue Thermal Imaging, to spend a couple hours going through our project to verify that we didn’t have any voids between our SIPs.  Bryan and Lorna worked together, with Bryan explaining how the SIP construction worked and Lorna reviewing the thermal images and identifying where potential problems could be.  Lorna is an expert at interpreting the thermal images and ‘seeing’ where there are inconsistencies in the building envelope.

The thermal imaging identifies different surface temperatures and displays those differences with different colors.  Since heat goes from hot to cold, a surface temperature that is colder than surrounding surfaces may indicate that the energy is being drawn into the building, through a less-insulated condition than the surrounding area.  However, surfaces may also reflect thermal energy, thus showing very ‘hot’ surfaces that may hide other problems.

Given her experience, Lorna can identify where potential problems may occur with our insulation.  Bryan asked Lorna to identify all potential problems locations as we can deal with ‘false positives’ at this stage.  If we miss a problem, it could be there for the life of the building.

Removing Concrete for Our Ground Loop

Bryan spent the afternoon with Izzy chipping away at the top of 6 of the 12 concrete piers on the West side of the house.  Ken Martin, from Silicon Valley Mechanical, fine-tuned the design of the geothermal ground loop so there are two ground loops on the West side that include six concrete piers in each ground loop.

Connecting the individual loops in each pier requires two 90 degree fittings and a short length of HDPE.  Then, the piers need to be connected to each other in a daisy chain manner, with a supply and return for each pier.  For the physical connection, Matt Jung (88HVAC) identified that we need a one-inch space for the cold ring and then another 4 inches to weld the fittings on.  Thus, there must be at least five inches of clear space on the top of each concrete pier where the connections will be located.

All of the piers need to be checked for sufficient space and, where additional space is required, the concrete must be removed.  Removing concrete is noisy, difficult and time-consuming (just ask Bryan). 

Picking up the first of 72 boxes from Murray Window and Door. Bryan was smiling as he picked up the first box, especially since we will be seeing Carole Murray on Saturday afternoon at Black Ridge Vineyards.

We have the window on the roof, and unpackaged it so we could see exactly how it fit and what the potential issues would be when installing it (and the other 15 clerestory windows).

Lorna, using her Fluke infrared thermal imaging camera, reviewing the South side of the South Gable over the Master Suite.

Lorna uses her Fluke infrared thermal imaging camera to review the upper flat SIP roof for voids.

This is the thermal image with the surrounding image around it. You can see the surface temperatures with the scale on the right hand side.

Lorna using her Fluke infrared thermal imaging camera, identified potential locations where voids may be on the upper flat roof that need to be investigated.

On this thermal image you can see where the warm and cool locations are. This thermal image shows that there may be voids between the SIPs that need to be filled with expanding foam.

Izzy and Bryan spent several hours removing concrete from the top of the concrete piers so the ground loops can be connected by 88HVAC. Matt Jung of 88HVAC will be coming by the job site on Sunday to verify if additional concrete needs to be removed.

It was impossible to get up to Whistler in a rental car so Paul and Bryan went to see the Olympic snowboarding at Cypress Mountain.  Unfortunately, it started raining heavily so they left.  On his way out of Vancouver, Bryan took the opportunity to visit the Insulspan manufacturing facility in Delta.  Then, he enjoyed full tour and a fantastic meal at the Wise house on Bainbridge Island.

Seeing the Olympic Women’s Snowboarding

Although it was pleasant when Paul Marcaccio and Bryan left Vancouver, it was pouring rain at their arrival at Cypress Mountain.  After watching the final four snowboarders, they decided to leave the event. 

Weather 1, Spectators 0.

Touring Insulspan’s Manufacturing Facility

After returning from Cypress Mountain, Bryan left the Westin Bayshore and drove south in the rental car.  On the way, Dave Stevenson offered him a tour of Insulspan’s manufacturing facility in Delta, BC.  The facility is adjacent to Highway 91, so it was directly on the way to the Canada-U.S. border.

Dave took Bryan through the plant and showed him how they manufacture their SIPs (structural insulated panels).  All of the manufacturing waste is recycled, which is one of the reasons why SIPs are considered ‘green’ (vs the tremendous amount of construction waste that is generated through typical on-site construction activities.

Bryan even saw the exact location where our SIPs were stored after being manufactured in October.  Bill Edwards of Insulspan took photos of our SIPs on Thursday, November 5, 2009.  Our SIPs were loaded on three trucks at the manufacturing facility on Friday, November 27, 2009 and arrived at our job site on Wednesday, December 2, 2009.

We’re looking forward to hosting our second Collaborative Informational Session where Dave Stevenson can be at our project site and show others in the Bay Area how to build with SIPs.

Touring Two Homes on Bainbridge Island

Although Bryan went to Vancouver to see the 2010 Olympics on this trip, the primary focus was to see two homes on Bainbridge Island.  How these two homes were built is an interesting story.

First, the owners of the property, the Wise family, lived in the existing house while they built their guest house.  They moved into the guest house when it was completed so they could construct the main house.  This is where it gets interesting.

Rather that demolish (bad) or deconstruct (better), they chose to move the house to another location on Bainbridge Island (best).  That sounds reasonable, right?  Except they moved the house with a boat (amazing!).

The Do It Yourself Network filmed a full segment over the month that it took to move the house to its new location on Bainbridge Island.  The segment is currently being aired several times in March 2010.  You can see it under ‘Massive Moves – Floating House‘ on the Do It Yourself Network (episode DMSM-103).

Bob and Lisa Wise took Bryan on a full tour of both homes and then everyone enjoyed a fabulous dinner.

The tour of these two homes was inspiring!

View of Vancouver, including Lion's Gate Bridge and the downtown waterfront. The weather was looking ok.

Once at Cypress Mountain, we had to go through security screening. It was easy, fast and efficient.

Watching the semi-finals of the Ladies Snowboarding at the 2010 Olympics at Cypress Mountain.

On the way down, we saw the site of the aerials.

Arriving at the Insulspan manufacturing facility in Delta, Canada.

Dave Stevenson in his office, scheduling his presentation for the second Collaborative Informational Session at our project site.

Manufacting a SIP starts with huge sheets of OSB (Oriented Strand Board).

All waste in the plant is recycled and reused. A completed SIP is on the left and the white foam cuttings are being collected.

Warehousing of completed SIPs, manufactured to the specific requirements for each job.

The SIPs for our project were stored at this location (by the yellow posts) after they were manufactured in October. The green objects are styrofoam blanks, which get 'sandwiched' between the two sheets of OSB.

Bryan, Lisa and Bob, about to start the tour (cheers!). Photo by Alison Wise.

The finish detail was exceptional. You can see the vertical grain Douglas Fir cabinets and detailed reveals.

Central vacuum sweeping location in foyer. Several friends, including the Wise family, thoroughly endorse sweeping vents that are connected to the central vacuum system.

Another sweeping location under the island in the kitchen. Note the dual dishwashers.

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.

‘That’s it Bryan.  If you bring any more beams then we won’t make the Thursday deadline.’  Steve Jackel was smiling, but firm.

‘No problem, Steve.  There aren’t any beams left.’  Bryan was smiling, too.

Delivering Another Two Beams to Watsonville

After coordinating the 2-inch rigid insulation for the exposed slab this morning, Bryan delivered the two 22 ft 6×14 reclaimed Douglas Fir beams to Jackel Enterprises in Watsonville.  Tim was there and unloaded the beams in minutes.  Then, Bryan set to work.

Bryan went through each beam, looking for reinforcing steel (rebar) and nails.  In less than 45 minutes, he removed five pieces of #5 rebar (5/8-inch in diameter) from the two beams a number of nails, and a strap tie.  Steve’s team will use metal detectors to verify no more metal fragments are in the two beams, then the beams can be milled.

Tim had done some initial milling of the 12-1/4 tall by 5-inch wide beam that will be in the Foyer and Master Study.  It looked magnificent.

Tim unloaded the two reclaimed beams with the forklift so Bryan could de-nail them and remove all the metal.

Within 45 minutes, Bryan had removed five pieces of rebar and a number of nails from the two beams.

Steve Jackel enjoys the sunshine while writing up the milling tags for these beams.

Tim started milling the 12-1/4 inch beam that will be visible in the Foyer and Master Study.

The end of the beam looks magnificent.

This beam will be milled to 12-1/4 inches tall. This face will be visible in the Foyer and Master Study.

Driving to Bonny Doon

After removing all the metal, Bryan drove north through Santa Cruz to Bonny Doon.  As he was driving along Highway #1, Bryan reflected on the same day (February 15) in 1998.  On that day, just north of Davenport on Highway #1, Jo-Anne married Ian Fowler and Merril Schmitt.  We’d love to complete our renovation/construction project and host their visit in February 2011.

Out of the Woods

To get to Dave Mechant’s mill site, one has to stop, open the gate, drive through, close the gate and get to the mill location.  When the sun is shining, as it was today, it is a pleasant break in the day.

Dave and his team were milling some spectacular wood flooring.  They had an order for 1,200 sq ft of vertical grain flooring, with no knots.  Absolutely beautiful wood.

Stop. Open the gate. Drive through. Close the gate. Drive to the mill location.

The Out of the Woods milling operation. It was a great day to be milling wood in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Take a look at the vertical grain with no knots. This is very, very nice wood. Dave had an order for 1,200 sq ft that he was filling. (You can click on this photo and expand it to full size in your browser.)

Completed bundles of flooring, measured and wrapped very carefully. Dave finds that having eight layers of wood in each bundle is the best, yielding approximately 28 sq ft per bundle.

Measuring Our Beams

Dave will be milling our beams tomorrow so Bryan had to complete the specifications for Dave.  A few minutes with the measuring tape and reviewing the beams.  No problem.  Just have to e-mail Dave the measurements tonight.

Back through the gate, and back to our project site.

Finalizing the milling requirements for these four beams.

John McLaren Visits Our Project Site

John stopped by for a quick visit.  He hadn’t been to the site for several months and we’d made visible progress since then  John and Bryan walked through the framed rooms on the ground floor and lower level. 

He was wearing sandals and shorts, hardly appropriate for an active construction site.  But he was careful.

John McLaren reviews our progress the the Master Bathroom. Note the smile, open toe sandals and shorts (February in California).

John leaves the 'empty' Wine Dining - sorry John.