Madrona Street Update

We have worked on the design and details for over a year, and we’re about to get serious—ground breaking is set for September 1.

In this endeavor we are partnering with Kulshan Community Land Trust, a Bellingham based organization dedicated to creating permanently affordable housing.  Our goal is to build this 1200 square foot, two bedroom home, which will sell to a qualified buyer for around $180,000,  and make it a nearly net-zero user of energy.

In peak times, a net-zero building, through use of solar panels or wind power, produces surplus energy which is sold back to the grid.  In grayer, colder times, site generated energy is supplemented with purchased power.  If the purchased power is equal to or less than the site-generated power, the building has achieved net-zero energy usage.

We were disappointed to learn that solar panels are a budget-buster for this project.  Estimated cost of the solar array is $30,000 (reduced to $20,000 after state and federal rebates). So without subsidy, the best we will be able to do is make the home “solar ready,” and hope that in the future someone will be able to add the panels.

But that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to achieve superior performance!  Like mom telling you to put on a sweater instead of turning up the thermostat, insulation is the hero of this story.  It’s a one-time investment; you don’t have to fuel it, maintain it or operate it.  It works 24/7/365 without any effort after initial installation.  In this home we’ll employ a combination of sprayed foam and cellulose to achieve R-35 in the walls and R-48 in the roof.  When complete,  the home will consume less that half the energy of a comparable building constructed to the 2008 energy code.

We think that’s progress!

The Element of Steel

Some timber frame homes feature it, and some don’t. The use of steel in the design of timber frame homes can be for aesthetic when requested, and structural reasons if required. Just as steel is used throughout many homes as decorative features, when done well it complements timer beautifully. The use of steel is also in line with the ethic of “expressing structure”. The following pictures are from our Japanese inspired timber frame home which features steel elements. Enjoy!

More Alternative Energy Sources

We have all heard of the common alternative energy sources such as solar power, wind power and bio fuels. In addition to the alternatives we are currently aware of, there are more sources readily available. As seen on mother nature network, there are plenty of green energy sources around us naturally that are being looked into and we are sharing 5 with you. Some possible outlets of future alternative energy may include:

1. Saltwater Power- through reverse electrodialysis energy is created when saltwater is added to freshwater.

2. Helioculture- a hydrocarbon based fuel is created through the photosynthesis of brackish water, nutrients, carbon dioxide and photosynthetic organisms.

3. Piezoelectricity- By placing piezoelectric material in shoes or flooring, applied pressure will cause the materials to generate electric energy.

4. Evaporative energy- Micro-fabricated leaves can gather electrical power from evaporating water.

5. Helium-3- After mining helium-3 from the moon clean energy can be created through nuclear fusion.

To learn more on these alternate sources and to see the other alternatives energy sources visit mother nature network.

Image from mother nature network.

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