We have a sense of urgency to complete our project.  Our feelings are heightened when it is raining. But today we throroughly enjoyed a beautiful, blue-sky California day.  Spectacular!

Our tasks included building our SIP pony walls and hosting Jerry’s Kauffman’s class from San Jose City College.  In between, we were absolutely delighted, and honored, to host Dawn and Steve’s first visit to our project site.  We’re counting on their return visit in the next six months (before we complete our project).

Building Our SIP Pony Walls

Our roof is a bit complicated although we like to think it is simple.  There are three types of connections for our gable roofs to connect to our flat roofs, and several other connections for each of the lower- and mid-level flat roof to post connections and multiple post to top level flat roof connections.  All of these connections come together over the corner of the Garage/Atrium, where our concrete wall is that goes all the way to the foundation (18 ft).

Putting the SIPs into this area was difficult as there were numerous anchor bolts and we added five 1-inch threaded steel rods, each embedded 12 inches into the concrete.  Adding to the complexity was the rigid conduit to carry the DC current from our 48 solar photovoltaic panels to the two inverters, located in the East Mechanical room.

Oh, the other component in this area is an 8×18 steel beam that connects the roof structure over the Living Room to the concrete wall in the Garage/Atrium.  This steel beam needs to be fabricated and is located inside the mid-level SIP roof.  The trick when working with steel is to have accurate measurements as it isn’t very maleable once fabricated.  Unless you have a cutting torch and arc welding equipment on site.

Hosting Dawn and Steve’s First Site Visit

Jo-Anne arrived at the project site with Dawn and Steve.  We took them on a full tour of the house, going through every room.  Both Dawn and Steve are from the Boston area so our Eichler and ‘California Modern’ design was very different than the residential architecture that they see on the East coast. 

They were impressed with the ‘green’ aspects of our project and wanted information on the payback of our solar photovoltaic panels.  Apparently, Massachusetts doesn’t have as many bright, sunny days as we enjoy in California.

Dawn mentioned that her husband, Dave, would be most interested, and impressed, with the insulated header in the West wall of the house.  Steve thought our temporary site office was over the top.

They promised to return and see our project again.

Presenting Our Project to San Jose City College Students

Jerry Kauffman, who we had met at the Kaneda Residence, was at our second Collaborative Informational Session last week and had arranged with Bryan to bring his students to tour our project.

The 20 students arrived promptly at 5:45 pm and toured the entire site.  Bryan gave an overview of our objectives and construction challenges and then took the students through each room, highlighting the innovative building materials and ‘green’ features.  The students had many questions, which Bryan did his best to answer concisely and accurately (he may have pontificated a few times).

The tour concluded on the SIP roof.  All 20 students climbed the ladder up to the roof and walked around the perimeter.

It was the perfect time at this point in our construction for the students to see how SIPs are assembled on site.  They could see the lower-flat roof in place and how the 2×6 plates are connected, with the pony walls going on top of the plates to support the SIP gable roof.  Moving around the roof, they saw the shear wall assemblies with the straps connecting the joints on the top of each beam.  Also, they saw the connections on top of each Hardy Frame.  Bryan distributed samples of the ‘blue screws’ that connect the SIPs so everyone could appreciate how the connections were made.

The presentation concluded at 7:30 pm and Bryan locked the gate just as it was starting to get dark.

Connection between the lower- and mid-level flat SIP roofs over the Garage/Atrium concrete wall, including the anchor bolts and LPT4s.

Note the strapping at the right side that will connect the bottom of the nailer on the steel beam (to be fabricated) to the top of the SIP roof over the Garage, which is then connected to the concrete wall in the Garage/Atrium. There is a lot going on in this location!

Carlos is caulking the bottom of the pony wall SIP where it will be placed over the 2x6 plate. This pony wall will support the SIP gable roof over the Kitchen.

We uncovered the SIPs and staged the pony wall SIPs on the roof. The large SIPs stacked on the temporary pool cover are for the gable roofs.

Dawn arrives at our project site!

Immediately after arriving, Steve receives an important call.

Dawn, Steve and Jo-Anne enjoyed the full tour in the late afternoon sunshine. Amazingly, all of them stayed clean through the tour of our active construction site.

As they were leaving, Dawn received a call (note her shoes for the tour).

Jerry Kauffman, right, as his class assembles to review our project.

After touring the lower level (basement) and ground floor, everyone climbed the ladder to the SIP roof.

The students made their way around the SIP roof, as they reviewed the connections and the SIP details.

Bryan's presentation concluded with answering questions on the SIP roof.

The group had plenty of questions, which Bryan did his best to respond to concisely and accurately.

Note the horizontal strapping that ties the blocking together in the SIP over the concrete wall between the Kitchen and Garage. This will be covered by a 2x12 tomorrow.

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 had a several tasks going in parallel today with one delayed until tomorrow.  The tasks on the critical path were progressing as planned, so our overall timeline remains intact.

The one task that was delayed was picking up the beams from Watsonville.  The beams could not be ready by noon today, as planned.  Fortunately, Bryan was able to reschedule the pickup by Dave Merchant for tomorrow morning at 8:00 am.  It will be an early start to the day.

Removing the Temporary Steel Beams

Pete Janovich was on site with two members of his team and they set to work unbolting and moving the steel beams clear of the existing West and East walls.  As well, they removed part of the concrete haunches to provide more access to the existing walls. 

The steel beam on the West is now clear and ready to be removed by the crane next Wednesday.  Pete’s team will complete the work on the East side tomorrow.  This task is on the critical path and is progressing as planned. 

The temporary steel beam that was supporting the existing wall on the West side is not detached and moved clear of the existing wall.

Scott Heeschen Comes by for PEX Training

Our friend, Scott Heeschen, who is building a house in Campbell dropped by for training on how to connect PEX tubing.  Matt Jung (88HVAC) trained Bryan in November and, since Scott is putting in PEX plumbing, Bryan offered to train Scott on how to connect PEX tubing.

Scott Heeschen takes a full tour of the house. He was impressed with the scale of our project.

Bryan showed Scott how to connect PEX to fittings. And, how to disconnect the PEX and remove kinks.

Receiving More FSC-Certified Lumber

Our small lumber order was delivered today.  We need lumber to complete the structural framing on the ground floor before we start framing the SIP roofs.  Another task stroked of ‘the list’.

Our small lumber order arrived and was dropped at our site. This FSC-certified lumber is required to complete our structural framing so we can stage the SIPs on the West side of the house next week.

It is always nice to order #1 or better and receive Structural Select, which is better than #1. Note that all the lumber in our house is FSC-certified.

Assembling Our SIP Wall

Since we retained the existing East and West walls, and the North Wall is either concrete, sliding glass or Hardy-Frames, the only wall that we could build using SIPs was the south wall.  This is the wall facing Via Sereno.

After preparing the wall plate, assembling our SIP wall went quickly.  The following photos show how the SIP wall was assembled with some of the connection details.

Given the probability of rain tomorrow, Dave Edwards’ team covered all the SIPs to protect them from the rain.

It was a long, but good, day today.

There is a 3/4-inch pressure treated plywood plate against the concrete, with a 2x6 mud sill on top of the plywood plate. This assembly is anchored to the foundation with longer holddowns extending above the plate. The 6.5-inch SIP walls will go on top of this assembly and be nailed into the 2x6 plate.

The SIP wall sits on top of the plate assembly and has insulated splines between each panel.

The SIP wall will go at the end of the stud wall, and be placed over the plate assembly on the concrete foundation.

The panel has sealing mastic on the inside of the OSB and foam, and the plate assembly is cleaned of dirt and debris with an air hose.

Interior view of the completed SIP wall in place.

We used Simpson Stong Tie HTT22s for hold downs for our shear wall. There are 16 rows of 2 nails per row attaching the HTT22 to this 6x6 post. The hold down is a Simpson Strong Tie SSTB24, which is embedded more than 20 inches into the concrete foundation.

Exteior view of the completed SIP wall at the front of the house. There are two window openings, then the front door and garage door. The garage door header will be delivered on Wednesday with our three other beams.

Given the forecast is for rain tomorrow, we buttoned up the site and covered our SIP walls and framing lumber with tarps and plastic.