This is a chronicle of my efforts to build a "Green" home - one that uses less energy, has better indoor air quality, uses less water, and hopefully someday produces energy. We have used trees taken right from the site, metal roofing from a manufacturer down the street, and a local manufacturer/installer of cellulose insulation, in an effort to keep the materials local, recylced, and Green. So far we are quite pleased, and it is still a work in progress.



Thursday, October 05, 2006


Fall Colors

Finally the siding is complete, the roof and windows are complete. The rest of the work occurs inside, except for some yard work.

// posted by Invention1 @ 4:50 AM 0 comments

CAULKING

We went crazy with caulking. Before the insulation went in, we caulked all the cracks from the inside - framing around windows, horizontal cracks in exterior sheathing. We stoppered penetrations in the top plates for electrical wires with expanding foam. We caulked the exterior sheathing at all top and bottom plates. We shot insulation into crevices that the cellulose insulators would not be able to get to. Infiltration is one of the largest heat leaks in a house. With the Tyvek house wrap on the outside, the extra layer of foam, and the attention to detail on caulking and weatherstripping, this house should be as tight as a drum. Here is Qhyrrae, hitting a horizaontal joint on an exterior wall.

// posted by Invention1 @ 4:44 AM 0 comments



Insulation

Snow, anyone? We are insulating with blown cellulose, R21 in the walls, (plus exterior foam to reach R26) and R60 in the cielings. They blow it at the walls, with an adhesive and a slight amount of water. The insulation sticks to the walls, then they take a handheld machine powered by an electric drill and grind off the excess. They suck up all the waste off the floor, and blow it into another wall.

The ceilings are blown on top of a screen, which is then covered by sheetrock later.

// posted by Invention1 @ 4:29 AM 0 comments

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