Solatube Product Training
Last Friday, I attended the first seminar in a series that Eco-building Products are offering to builders here in Northern Michigan. EBP is undoubtably Northern Michigan’s finest resource for Green products. This was part of their Back2Basics pro series, a series intended to inform Green builders of the latest green techniques and green products they carry.
Friday’s was given by Tim Cofran, Midwest Sales Representative for Solatube International. The product training focused on the installation, the benefits of daylighting in our homes and the strength of the Solatube product line. The Solatube eChoice daylighting systems qualify for 30% Tax Credits. I’ve seen other manufacturers of these through-the-roof tubular devices at some of the “Big-Box”stores but these Solatube systems appear highly superior in tube reflect-ability, flashing system, dome technology and simplicity of installation.
The benefits of daylighting are huge-

• Turn those dark areas of your home such as walk-in closets, baths with no windows and stairwells into well-lit rooms.
• Bring more light into areas that don’t have enough windows or have too much shade.
• Lights don’t have to be turned on during the day.

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Green Expo365 part II
I wasn’t able to attend Day 3 of the virtual tradeshow, Green Expo 365 that I mentioned in the preceding entry. I wish I could attend these educational events because I am a firm believer in “continuing education”, but sometimes a builder has got to build. (and try to make a living in this economy)
Another nice thing about the event is the ability to watch the presentations archived or “On Demand”. Once you click on the link above and register you can watch all five of these stellar presentations.
I’d like to highlight two of the speakers and their presentations.
Quoting from Green Builder magazine “Ron Jones is Founder and Editorial Director of Green Builder® Media.” Green Builder® media was the organizer and one of the sponsors of GreenExpo 365. He is a green builder and has been instrumental in forming green standards throughout the country. Mr. Jones gave the first presentation on Monday. It really was the Keynote Address of the conference. It was in video form and was the perfect way to start this ground-breaking event. It was extremely inspirational as he spoke from the “ReVision” house, a Green net-zero retrofit in Las Vegas. It really is must-see video for both current or aspiring green builders and homeowners.
Another presenter that really caught my attention was the architect, Peter Pfeiffer FAIA. Mr Pfeiffer (quoting Green Expo 365) “is a LEED accredited professional Architect and Building Scientist who has spent the past 30 years developing pragmatic high performance building design strategies.” His slide presentation was centered on the thought that we as architects, builders and consumers get consumed with “eco-bling”. We’re turned on by solar and wind turbines but don’t find spray foam or 3′ overhangs “sexy”. Design is key- No part of the building should be an after-thought….meaning:

• Proper orientation-take advantage of passive solar
• Properly placed windows-for ventilation and daylighting
• Good, tight insulation, moisture/air-sealing
• Correct overhangs and awnings-
• IAQ-Indoor Air Quality
• HVAC done right-proper sizing and placement
• Energy and water efficiency

He felt that once these are taken care of, then, we can consider the use of Eco-bling. Once we’ve done the bulleted items, we are moving to a greener, more sustainable future.

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GreenExpo365
For the last two days, I’ve been attending the first GreenExpo365, an on-line virtual tradeshow. It runs through tomorrow. It’s really pretty cool, with presentations (generally 2 per day) by nationally recognized Green builders and practitioners. It was put together by Green Builder Media, publishers of Green Builder magazine, and hosts of Green Builder College. Manufacturers such as Simpson Doors, Typar, Kohler, Whirlpool, Bay Systems and Premier Building Systems are there as are Energy Star and Environments for Living.
You start in the lobby where you can orient yourself into this new world and new conference experience. There’s a help desk and signs pointing out the Expo, the Auditorium, a Networking lounge (which is very cool) and a Press Room.
What’s really exciting and interesting about the whole concept is that this is all virtual. You enter a booth, look over info (some are PDF’s, free for download, some are videos, some are links to their sites) A rep is there to answer questions via chat. There is no presssure and every representative that I chatted with was very helpful and offered to email any further info I wanted or was interested in.
In each of the spaces you have the ability to chat with fellow attendees, representatives of the various companies and people from Green Builder Media. We’ve talked about green products and green practices. I’ve seen some great products that I hope to offer my customers. It has really been a great learning experience. Check it out-you may learn something.

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Bloom Box-A Declaration of Independence
The Bloom box-

Watch CBS News Videos Online

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Bloom Box-A Declaration of Independence
The Bloom box-

Watch CBS News Videos Online

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New Wind Generation?
This is a really interesting approach to wind generation. I really like to see how much electricity is created in “real” wind but still found it worth mentioning. The potential could be amazing.
.

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A Barn is Born-The Movie
A slideshow of the building of a storage barn in Northern Michigan (discussed in previous posting).

Credits-
Drawings-sketchUp 7
Movie creation-imovie
Soundtrack-garageband
Embedded from-My YouTube site.

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A Barn is Born

• They needed storage for their farm equipment. Garage doors on each gable would allow for the tractor to pull in and pull out with efficiency
• They wanted a second floor for storage but also for the future possibility of office space.
• They needed a design that gave them the flexibility to add solar in the future.(photovoltaic and/or water heating)

The Inspiration

After some preliminary sketches and discussion, they found this design which became the inspiration. This is a barn house from The Netherlands designed by JagerJanssen Architects. It has such a modern sensibility and has some nice green elements. The roof and eave walls use a corrugated cement board product and the thinking was we would substitute metal panels. The wood siding on the gables invited us to use reclaimed siding from Odom’s in Grawn, MI.

The Design and Drawing

The project was designed with these green elements in mind:

• Cedar sill plates on sill seal.
• 2×6 studs on 24″ centers to allow for more insulation and less wood (O.V.E. framing)
• Sheathed with OSB and wrapped with Typar. Additionally, we used a drain plane product to allow for an airspace on back side of wood siding.
• Floor trusses-to eliminate beam and posts that would get in the way. Also 2×4 components in trusses use smaller trees than big 2×12’s (which wouldn’t span the 24′ width.)
• Trusses for roof system. Again smaller components, plus more efficient labor-wise.
• Metal panels from McElroy Metal. These were chosen because they are manufactured in Marshall MI, well within a 500 mile radius of the job.
• South facing sloping roof for future solar.
• All windows were purchased from a window suppliers “dog” bin. These are misordered or display models. All were pan-flashed, window wrapped and spray foamed during installation. The majority (2nd story) are energy-star. All, but 1 fit within framing layout eliminating headers, which cuts down on thermal bridging.
• They opted for finger jointed cedar T&G (found on Craigslist) from Charlevoix, MI. for gable ends.

The Finished Project

It was a great privilege to work on this project. I’d really like to thank McNeal Electric Inc., Mills Construction Inc., Jim Swanson, Skip Bryant and…

 Chantal and Mike

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New Garage

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Paul Hawken’s commencement address to University of Portland, Class of ‘09

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” No pressure there.

Let’s begin with the startling part. Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, civilization needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food-but all that is changing.

There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring. The earth couldn’t afford to send recruiters or limos to your school. It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint.

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