Worthwhile Reading: Technology and Information Management for Low Carbon Building

As I launched my home construction project and began preparing for my LEED Green Associate exam, I read countless books and articles, attended trade shows, and met with as many green building professionals as I could.  Through networking, I was introduced to Frank and Roy Dalene, brothers and partners at Telemark Inc., a luxury custom home builder on Long Island.  Frank and Roy spent quite a bit of time with me, and gave me both information and encouragement.  Frank also directed me to an article he had written, which I found did a great job of bringing to life - through a single project example - many of the strategies I had been reading about.

HGA House under construction

In his article, Technology and Information Management for Low Carbon Building, which was published in the American Institute of Physics, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy in July 2012, Frank Dalene describes the "how" of a LEED Platinum certified luxury custom home he built for a Long Island family, whose house had been damaged in a fire.  The project was sponsored by the Hamptons Green Alliance, a non-profit association of green building professionals, and was called the HGA House.   

Among other topics, the article covers:

• How the home's energy consumption was reduced by 70% and its CO2 emissions by 40%
• How its embodied greenhouse gas emissions were measured and managed, and how its carbon neutrality was certified
• How the project achieved LEED Platinum certification

Although the article appeared in a peer-reviewed academic journal, it is highly readable and provides food for thought for anyone who is interested in building a sustainable, energy efficient home.  

Happy reading!

Salt the Sidewalks?

It’s snowing again!

The 50+ degree weather of the Super Bowl was a one-day gift to Sea Hawks fans, Broncos fans and everyone in the New York City area.  But now we’re back to this winter’s “normal.”  With over 34” of snow so far this winter, NYC already has a significant surplus versus average annual accumulation at this point in the season.  And between this storm and the one that is predicted to hit over the weekend, we could be looking at another six to eight inches.

So what’s a New Yorker to do?  Salt the sidewalks, that’s what!

My dog and other NYC canines would definitely say no!  My dog isn't one of those overly pampered pets.  She doesn't wear sweaters or raincoats or jackets.  Her fur coat seems just fine for warmth.  But every time it snows, I painstakingly insert her four little paws into rubber balloon-like booties for the sole purpose of protecting her feet from chemical salts.  Those little white pellets that cause the snow to melt can also cause chemical burns on our pets’ feet.  I roll up a newspaper and bop myself on the nose every time my dog limps through a patch of chemical salt because I forgot to put her booties on.

If chemical salts can cause such harm to my pet’s paws, what are they doing to the environment?  And are there any reasonable alternatives?  It turns out that there is no holy grail for sidewalk deicing.  Road Salt is the least expensive option, and is generally used, as you’d imagine, on roads.  Its large crystals and ability to lower the freezing point of water, make it the most popular municipal deicer.  But it has the potential to make trouble for plants, animals and humans (through its effect on the water supply).  Alternative products exist, and in New York City we often see little white pellets of Calcium Chloride (the culprit with respect to our dogs’ paws) – but Calcium Chloride is costly, may cause skin irritation, is corrosive to concrete and metal, and can damage carpets if tracked indoors. Magnesium Chloride is the least environmentally harmful of the chemical salts, but it, too, is corrosive to metal and is a more expensive option.  “Natural” products, like sand and sawdust, won’t melt the ice, but do have their place as anti-slip agents.  

Perhaps, instead of using pounds of chemicals, we should think about using an ounce of prevention.  Why not try to keep the sidewalks free of ice buildup during the storm so that you don't need to use deicing products at all?  I spoke with my building's superintendent this morning as he was using a wire brush to clear the freshly shoveled sidewalks; he says that our building tries not to use any deicers.

So here are some practical tips for dealing with icy sidewalks:

1.  Keep the sidewalks clear during the storm.  Doing so may eliminate the need for deicing chemicals. 

2.  If you must use a deicer, apply it with a mechanical spreader.  You’ll use less deicing product while spreading it out more evenly.

3.  Include an equal part of sand in your deicing mix (this is a sensible suggestion by the NYC Landmarks Commission).  It’ll give your sidewalk some traction without harming the environment.

4.  Clean up the salt and deicing pellets that remain on the ground when the snow is gone.  Sweep them up and dispose of them properly to reduce the likelihood that they end up in our water supply.

Our environment will thank you…and so will our dogs!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Sunset Green Home project!  Our team has been hard at work planning this project for more than a year now, ever since Hurricane Sandy barreled across coastal New York and New Jersey, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.  The Sunset Green Home project is replacing a home on Long Island that was "Substantially Damaged" and rendered uninhabitable by the storm with a sustainable, more resilient, energy efficient house that will, at its completion, seek LEED Platinum certification under the USGBC's LEED for Homes program.

Sunset Green Home Architect's Rendering (W. Heine, 2014)

Over the course of the coming months, I’ll be writing about the construction of the house, the products and materials that are going into it, and the process of LEED certification.  I’ll also be blogging about practical tips for making all of our lives a little more “green.”