We moved forward on several fronts today … nothing completed but solid progress.

Submitting a Draft Document to the City of Monte Sereno

The first task of the day was to drop off our documentation to the City of Monte Sereno.  Bryan handed two copies to Howard Bell, the Building Official, who stamped them as ‘Received’ and said he would review the documnet.  Howard will be in a class all day tomorrow so Bryan will follow up directly with Brian Loventhal (as one copy was for Brian).

The deadline of September 29 is looming …

Picking Up Our Pink CAT5

While we don’t need to use pink CAT5 for our C-Bus network, we thought it would be a nice touch to follow the Australian code for lighting controls.  In Australia, pink CAT5 is mandated by the building code.

Bryan picked up 2,000 feet of pink CAT5, which had been ordered through ADI in Santa Clara.  Armed with the pink CAT5 and the ferrules that arrived on September 23, we have all the materials to rough in the lighting control system.  OK, we still need the final lighting design …

Working on the Lighting Design

Bryan is still working on the documentation of the lights in the house.  After the design session with Randall Whitehead last week in San Francisco, Bryan documented most of the decisions.  He needs to finish it off and get the list of lights out to the suppliers.

When going through the Artemide showroom on August 30, 2011, we discovered the Artemide’s Mouette lights, which look like airplane wings or birds in flight.  We couldn’t think where they could ‘fit’ in our home.  On the weekend, when going to the Artemide catalog again, we started to visualize how there could be a series of three individual lights that would like like they were emerging from the lower level (basement) and exiting through the clerestory windows in the atrium.

Bryan gave Scott Andersen and Sue Therrien, who are visiting us on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the address of the Artemide showroom in San Francisco so they can see the lights and then help with the design.

Time to focus on this one …

Priming the FSC Siding

Al started priming the FSC siding yesterday and then Al, Dan and Nep were cutting and installing it.  Al decided it would be more efficient if he and Nep primed all of the siding.  Then, they ccould all work together on getting the siding installed.  Especially since another box of Cor-A-Vent should be delivered tomorrow.

Dan got another couple sheets of siding up today.  These were some of the most difficult sheets of siding as they require holes for the electric receptacles and the air vents.

Lots to do tomorrow.

Especially since Scott and Sue arrive on Friday!

Photo from the Artemide catalog showing the Mouette lights in the San Francisco Airport (SFO). These lamps are very cool ...

Another photo from the Artemide catague showing the asymetric Mouette lamps. Note the glass bridge in this photo.

Our pink CAT% matches the smaller loop of pink CAT5, which was included in our light switches. We can now start wiring the switches together.

Bryan picked up another 5 gallon pail of tinted primer as the FSC siding is soaking up the primer!

Al primes another sheet of FSC siding ...

We're using all stainless steel nails on the exterior so we don't run the risk of seeing nay corrosion caused by nails.

The primed, back and front, FSC siding installed on the West side of the house.

The West wall is looking great after the inital pieces of siding have been installed.

With the approval of our building wrap by the City of Monte Sereno on Friday afternoon, we started on building the rainscreen over the radiant barrier on the West side of the house today.  Dan Shurter joined the team today and will certainly increase our capacity and accelerate our progress.

Addressing the Issues Relating to Our Solar Rebate

Our rebate under the NHSP expires on September 29, 2011, which is only days away.  On Friday, September 16, 2011, the Building Official at the City of Monte Sereno, Howard Bell, noted that the installation is complete but he would not approve the permit.  Since then, we have been working with the City of Monte Sereno and Pacific Gas & Electric Company to search for ways to connect our solar photovoltaic system to the grid through our temporary electric service but have not been successful.

Bryan met with Brian Loventhal, City Manager, today and Brian requested that we submit a document outlining the situation we are facing, the alternatives, and a proposed solution.  Brian noted that he cannot address the issues relating to our project based on conversations.

So, Bryan focused on documenting the issues relating to our solar rebate and a recommended solution.  He will deliver two copies to the City of Monte Sereno on Tuesday morning.

Starting on Our Rainscreen over the Radiant Barrier

We noticed that the siding on our house was damaged by water and sunlight, and needed maintenance.  To address this, we decided to extend the roof overhang as much as possible and to use a ‘rainscreen’ to reduce damage caused by moisture.  In addition, we included a radiant barrier to reduce the cooling load in the house.

While researching radiant barriers, we learned that a radiant barrier is not effective without a 3/4 inch air gap over the radiant barrier.  This ‘fit’ well with a rain screen design as the back of the siding needs to be exposed to air.  We found a product, Cor-A-Vent, that could go at the top and bottom of the wall that would allow air, but not insects, to flow through the air space.

For siding, we worked with Robert Spaulding (Roseburg Forest Products) and Chris Tritschler (Channel Lumber) to specify and source FSC siding that would be the closest match to the original siding that Eichler used.  Note that the original siding is still on the structure, it is under the Tyvek building wrap and the radiant barrier.  As well, Chris provided the FSC furring strips for the rainscreen.

Front view of the rainscreen design. Air enters at the bottom and flows out the top. Furring strips every 16 inches on center.

Detail of bottom of rainscreen, showing how air enters through the Cor-A-Vent.

Top of rainscreen, showing how air exits.

FSC siding from Roseburg Forest Products.

Roseburg Forest Products' chain-of-custody number is stamped on each sheet of siding.

FSC furring strips, primed and ready ...

Radiant barrier at front of house.

Furring strips on 16-inch centers on West side of house.

Fresh air intake (bottom) and exhaust air (top) that supply air to, and exhaust air from, the house. These air flows go through our heat recovery unit in the Air Handler room.

Detail at top of wall, showing wooden beams above windows.

The first sheet of primed FSC siding is in place.

We need to button down the outstanding details so we can move forward expeditiously.  There are a couple, ok, lots, of details to button down.

Al wants to have a decision on paint, stain or paint/stain (pain?) for Monday.  And, we need to establish the audio, video, data, security and other wiring inside the house.

March 31, 2012 is our move-in date, which is cast in stone.  Or, more accurately, carbon fiber.

Looking at Black Stained Beams at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club

Our wooden beams that extend from the outside to the inside need to be one finish.  And, we’d like that finish to be dark.  Importantly, the synthetic wood structural beams that are above the original reclaimed Douglas Fir beams should look the same.  Yeah, a tall order.  Standard on our project.

Craig Rathe, our contact at Kelly-Moore Paints in Saratoga, suggested that we go to see the wooden beams at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club to see how they look.

Bryan did just that on Saturday morning.

Reviewing the Home Theater Layout at 300 San Jose

We hosted our daughter’s eighth birthday party at 300 San Jose last Saturday afternoon (September 17).  300 San Jose is a very modern and high tech bowling alley.   (Yeah, it was fun!).  We noted that they have a great projection screen and other relevant furniture and finishes for our home theater.

Bryan returned to 300 San Jose with a digital camera and measuring tape.

Reflecting, Green Building with Autodesk’s BIM software could have been used to verify the home theater design using the software’s three dimensional capabilities

Ending the Day at the Job Site

The day ended with Paul Fulton coming to our job site to review our proposed audio, video and data wiring plans.  Paul arrived in this blue Tesla Roadster 2.5 and parked just in front of our Nissan LEAF.  During our research of electric vehicle charging stations, on April 2, 2011 we looked at Paul’s charging station for his Roadster.

Craig Rathe, our contact at Kelly-Morre Paints, recommended that we review the wooden beams at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club. So, we did.

The exposed wood beams looked striking against the natural wood of the eaves.

Beams, exposed to the weather.

300 San Jose. (It was a beautiful, blue-sky California day!)

Screen layout in the lounge area, with the projector. The screen was 120 inches wide and the projector was 96 inches back from the screen.

Not being shy, Bryan took out his tape measure to take the dimensions of the room with the seating.

Very durable chairs and footstool ...

While the screen was flat against the wall, the two televisions were angled down for close viewing.

The screen was made by Da-Lite. Easy to follow up on from here.

Back at the job site, we wanted to document the low-VOC adhesives that we are using. Indoor air quality is very important to us.

Our friend, Paul Fulton, dropped by the job site to review our plans for audio, video and data layout and cabling.

Our Nissan LEAF has white carpool stickers, just like Paul's Tesla.

When Bryan was in the City of Monte Sereno’s offices yesterday, he saw a flyer for Acterra’s High Energy Homes Project.  Curious, he took a copy of the flyer and followed up today.

Also, our ferrules arrived this afternoon so now all we need is the pink CAT5 and then we can wire our C-Bus network that will connect all our switches and sensors.

Ferrules and Pink CAT5

We’re at the point where it is time to run the CAT5 around the house to every switch and sensor location, and then back to the six control panels in the house.  Schneider Electric’s C-Bus system requires either a daisy chain topology, star cable topology, or combination daisy chain and star cable topology.

To connect the CAT5 in either daisy chain or star cable topologies, we need to physically connect the CAT5 cables together.  In addition, although there are eight individuals conductors (wires) in a CAT5 cable, two pairs of the wires must be connected together.

For the C-Bus system, the orange and blue wires are connected with a 'bootlace crimp' as are the orange-white and blue-white wires. The green and green-white, and brown and brown-white are not connected.

While trying to find a ‘bootlace crimp’, Bryan learned that the the correct term for the connector is a ‘ferrule’.  Ferrules are used in Europe and other countries to connect stranded and other wires to devices.

At the same time, Bryan learned that, under the Australian electrical code, all C-Bus wiring must use pink CAT5.  This is to identify the wire uniquely so it is not confused with data wiring.

Bryan ordered two boxes of pink CAT5 from ADI, and strips of 500 1.0 mm ferrules (red), 1.5 mm ferrules (black) and 2.5 mm ferrules (blue) from Rob at Ferrules Direct.  Each switch in the C-Bus system come with two 1.0 mm ferrules.

The ferrules and crimping tool arrived today.

Signing Up for Acterra’s High Energy Homes Project

Using his handfree speakerphone, Bryan called the contact name in Acterra’s High Energy Homes Project flyer, Davena Gentry, and learned about the project.  Essentially, Monte Sereno is the fifth highest energy-using towns (based on a per household energy use) out of the 225 cities served by Pacific Gas & Electric.

Acterra is a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ‘bring people together to create solutions for a healthy planet.’  Apterra has served Silicon Valley for over 40 years.  Here is a great video clip about Acterra.

Apterra applied for a grant from the California Energy Commission to fund on-line studies for residents of Atherton, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Portola Valley and Woodside.  These are five of the seven highest energy-using cities that PG&E serves.

Monte Sereno is the fifth highest energy-consuming city that Pacific Gas & Electric serves.

For Monte Sereno, if the average annual electric use per residence is 13,000 kWh and the cost per kWh is $0.40 then the average annual electric bill is approximately $5,200 per year.  Or, more than $425 per month.  This usage is more than double the average electric use of 6,000 kWh per year.

The graph below shows the energy consumption per residence of each of the 225 cities that PG&E serves.

Monte Sereno's average electric usage per residence is ~13,000 per kWh.

Here is a link to the presentation made by Acterra to Portola Valley Town Council on December 9, 2009:

http://www.portolavalley.net/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=2834

We signed up for the remote assessment regarding our rental property at 17740 Vista Avenue so we will see if there are any no-cost measures that we can take to reduce our resource consumption at our rental house.

Since Bob Wise was in the Bay Area today, he had phoned in advance to schedule an inspection.  Bob has been a mentor throughout our construction and has inspected our progress on a regular basis.

Bob lives on Bainbridge Island in a house that he had built a couple years ago.  Bob’s first inspection of our project was on March 12, 2009 and he stood in the Wine Cellar.  Bryan toured Bob’s homes on February 26 and 27, 2010, when Bryan was returning from seeing the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

Recently, Bob advised us on conduit for our low-voltage wiring throughout the house.

It was great to host Bob’s visit.

Bob Wise pushes the button to close the sliding glass doors at the back of the house.

Bob Wise, standing in the Wine Cellar. Very different from the first time Bob stood in the Wine Cellar!

Bob Wise, on the roof, inspecting the solar panels. Nothing like a blue-sky California day to generate electricity!

Darryl returned to Calgary today.  He had arrived from Canada on Friday, September 9 and had visited the job site.

We were pleased to host Uncle D’s visit and were very sad to say goodbye …

Darryl and Kate ...

Nik and Darryl, with the fixed gear bike that Darryl helped Nik to assemble.