Let's talk toilets...

So the research continues. We are actually really enjoying this more relaxed pace, knowing that we have ample time to plan and seek out information. A great resource we found recently in our own backyard is the store Close to Home in Williston, Vermont. They have a wonderful selection of bath fixtures and other misc. items for the home like lighting and door knobs/handles. They also carry quite a few modern-style products, which is awesome for our project. Every sales person we encountered at the store was incredibly helpful and interested in our build. Close to Home is growing their green product section, another reason it's fortuitous that we're not building until next summer. It gives the local marketplace time to catch up with consumer demand for green!

The real reason we initially checked out Close to Home is that they, unlike Home Depot or Lowe's, carry Toto products. We are definitely going to install either low-flow or dual-flush toilets in our bathroom and hopefully low-flow faucets as well. Dual-flush toilets seem to run around $400-$500. The Aquia dual-flush toilet only uses 1.6 GPF/0.9 GPF (gallons per flush) depending on your need. Amazing, considering that a typical toilet uses anywhere from 3.5 to 7 GPF. And check out their sleek, modern look!



To learn more about how Toto compares to other brands, here is a great review of low-flow toilets.

Something else we're considering is an Aqus greywater system. This ingenious contraption takes gray water from your bathroom sink, filters it, stores it and then uses it to flush your toilet, thus reducing your need for fresh water every time you flush. So smart. It seems like the system costs somewhere between $200-$300 which is not bad at all. Here's an Triple Pundit article detailing how the system works and a visual depiction of it:

ICF house in Waterbury, VT

I wanted to pass along the link to a blog started by Vermont ICF. They built a beautiful ICF house recently in Waterbury (about 30 miles east of Burlington). The house has a lot of features that we're interested in incorporating into our home including polished concrete floors with embedded radiant heat. It also takes great advantage of solar energy in terms of house siting, window placement and solar hot water and PVs.

Good and bad news

Many apologies for the delayed update. We actually didn't have any real news until this week, two weeks after the March 11th meeting with the Williston Development Review Board. The meeting itself went really well. We made our case for building this summer and described in detail the energy efficient building strategies and materials we planned to use. The board seemed sympathetic. But, in the end, as we found out this week, we were not given permission to build this summer. Other developers who scored higher on the town's survey received the phasing units for this summer. We will be able to break ground July 1, 2009.

While we were initially VERY disappointed in the board's decision, we also understand and respect their decision-making process. In addition, as we've spent time reflecting and talking about the decision, we've slowly come to realize that this might actually be for the best. We now have a full year to continue planning our build and seeking the most competitive bids for the work. Had we broken ground July 1 of this year, we would have been incredibly crunched for time to complete our plans and solicit bids. We can now relax a bit, conduct some more research, begin buying products when they're on sale, make more connections with folks in the area who might want to be a part of our project, etc. All in all, this additional time is probably a really good thing. Oh, and we have another year to save. The extra money we can squirrel away between now and next summer could go a long way. Can you say solar hot water???

So we're keeping a smile on our faces and staying positive. In the grand scheme of things, an extra year isn't a big deal, right? And the posts won't stop...as long as I'm reading and researching, I'll be posting. Thanks for all of the words of encouragement from friends, family and fellow bloggers. Your support means a lot!

ICFs

We are anxiously awaiting March 11th. That is the date when the Williston Development Review Board will decide whether we can proceed with our plans to build this summer. We are nervous because only a finite number of projects are approved each year. If we had purchased land outright, we would not have to go through this approval process; this is the result of the fact that Ryan's parents are technically 'subdividing' their land in order to gift us a small part (**THANK YOU!!!**). Thus, we are pushed into the same approval process required of developers. But we're keeping our fingers crossed and trying to stay optimistic. We'd really like to build our new house this summer!

One important looming decision is our wall system. We were initially planning on an ICF basement and SIP walls. But the more we've learned about ICFs and their incredible energy saving properties, the more we've found ourselves leaning towards building a full ICF house. The only stumbling block will be cost. As soon as we learn when we can break ground, we'll finalize the blueprints and get quotes on both ICFs and SIPs to see how well they compare.

Here are some interesting links to other people's blogs where they discuss their decision to go with ICFs. Modern in MN's blog explains their decision to go the ICF route. (Scroll down to the January 11, 2005 post). This Custom Home blog also does a great job of detailing all of the benefits to ICFs.

Threads on the Green Building Talk forum constantly revisit the ICFs vs. SIPs debate and there are ardent supporters in both camps. I have learned a lot from this site.

We'll keep our own blog updated on the events of March 11th as well as our thoughts on ICFs vs. SIPs.

Better Buildings by Design Conference

I am not an architect. I am not a contractor. I am not an efficiency expert. And yet the folks at Efficiency Vermont were more than happy to have me attend the 10th annual Better Buildings by Design Conference in Burlington, VT this past week. This organization (Efficiency Vermont) is fantastic and the conference was incredible. I learned so much and really relished spending an entire day talking with others about what has captivated my life for the past year...building green. I really did feel like a kid in a candy store in the exhibit hall. So many choices! Did I want to talk to the folks at Vermont ICF or the representatives from Foard Panel? Should I start by visiting the Andersen display or the Marvin? Interested in solar power? Choose from groSolar or Solar Works Inc. I honestly had to tear myself away at the end of the day. The workshops I attended were also inspirational. Energy experts from all over the region offered sessions on topics ranging from total energy conscious building to lighting design.

One of the most important lessons I learned over the course of the day was the distinction between conservation and renewables. Basically, the goal is to minimize your energy load by reducing the size of the house and constructing as tight a building envelope as possible (also by installing high performance windows and energy efficient appliances). Once the load has been been brought down to a low level, then it's time to begin thinking about producing as much of your remaining energy needs as you can through renewables. Our budget doesn't allow, at this point, for some of the pricier options like geothermal, photovoltaics or wind. However, one renewable option that many presenters characterized as a "no brainer" cost-wise is solar hot water. With currently available state and federal incentives, it seems like a basic system would run us about $7000-$8000 and would provide up to 60% of our hot water. This seems like a really exciting possibility for us. If the budget does not allow it upfront, we'd like to do whatever we can during construction to fit the house for future renewable add-ons.

A couple of vendors I met at the conference were especially helpful when I spoke with them in the exhibit hall. I want to mention them here so that others know where to turn for good information about green building options. These companies and their representatives were more than willing to talk to an owner-builder and treated me as if I was important as the guy behind me who was planning to build an entire development. I expect that they offer great customer service to all of their clients based on my interactions with them at the conference. So I would highly recommend:

Vermont ICF: Jesse Wing and Joel Baker were both interested in our project and very helpful in explaining their particular barnd of ICF blocks and how they work. They are distributors for Amvic (a Canadian company) and everything I have read online indicates that Amvic is a superior block and held in high regard by many green builders. Vermont ICF is based in Waterbury which is great for our project. I have heard from others that they provide wonderful local support for their builds. I look forward to having them bid on our project when we have the go-ahead to begin construction.

groSolar: The representatives from groSolar provided me with a lot of information about solar hot water options and were great about answering all of my questions. I enjoyed speaking with them and definitely plan to touch base with them again once we have a more concrete budget and can explore renewables. Their corporate headquarters are in White River Junction, Vermont so it's nice again to support a Vermont company.

Curtis Lumber: Curtis Lumber is largely a New York company but has two stores here in our area of Vermont, one in Burlington and one in Williston (both were previously Gregory Supply). The representatives from Curtis Lumber, especially Mike Landers, were wonderfully helpful at the conference. Mike took a good 30 minutes to talk with me about our project and how Curtis Lumber might fit our needs. Curtis offers many of the supplies we will need including wood siding, engineered roof trusses, drywall, etc. I was particularly appreciative of his willingness to talk about his own home construction project and the decisions he and his family made in that process. If the customer service at Curtis Lumber is anything like that offered me by Mike at the conference, I think we will be in great hands with these guys.

Some other modern farmhouses

In my recent online searches for inspiration, I have come across some nice farmhouse-style homes that have caught my eye, both for their general dimensions and exterior cladding. Ryan and I are leaning heavily towards using natural wood siding and installing it vertically. That, paired with a grey metal roof, looks beautiful, in our opinion. It would also fit in well with our surroundings. Here are some of the homes that have influenced our recent thinking as of late.

First Day Cottage


Hive B Line


First Day Cottage


Zapffel Farmhouse


Shelter Kit


And some other modern barn-like homes that I find myself drawn to...

Gathering information

Sorry so lax on the posts. Ryan and I have been spending every free moment we have poring over home plans online, in magazines, in plan books, etc. trying to come to some final decisions re: our elevations and floor plan. We'll be meeting with the town development review board in mid-February to find out if we have the go-ahead to begin construction this summer. Our builder, Al Rossetto, has been a dream to work with. He calls frequently to check in and see how we're progressing with our ideas and is always quick and responsive with feedback. We just sent him some plan ideas yesterday that we both really, really love so we're crossing our fingers that he agrees they work with our site, budget and vision!

In addition to plugging away on our plans, Ryan and I are actively searching out any and all information we can find about building green to make sure we integrate every product, building technique, resource we can into our build. We found out recently that we have a fantastic resource in our own backyard. NRG systems, a company based in Hinesburg, Vermont that designs and manufactures components of wind turbines (and has recently begun to construct the turbines themselves through their new business, Earth Turbines), is a LEED gold building and is less than 3 miles from our build site in Williston. They offer free tours of their green office building once a month and we took the tour yesterday. It was chock full of information about their systems, design decisions, products, materials, etc. And they answered tons of our questions. It was really a wonderful experience. Plus, it's nice to connect with other folks in the community committed to building green. It was also heartening that our tour included folks from a company based in NH that is interested in building a new green office building. I only hope others find out about this great resource and learn from the experience of the folks at NRG. They have a great website that includes a virtual tour of the building along with a list of resources.




Also, I wanted to share a great new resource I recently found in my online search for good house plans. I quickly tired of the typical suburban-style homes that seem to dominate the design field...the pointless dormers, the octagonal breakfast nook, the walled-off rooms with specific titles like "formal dining room," "media room," or "dressing room." Who lives like that? I feel like a lot of the space in these plans is used inefficiently. We want a light, open home where spaces flow naturally from one to another and where communal space is prioritized over small, isolated rooms. We don't want a lot of walls. And to find plans <2500 square feet, I had to look for "small house plans." Really? < 2500 square feet is considered small? (Slowly stepping off soap box now.) So I finally Googled "simple home plans" and this great site great site popped up.

They have some plans I really connected with including...






These plans were designed by architects who are "concerned about the impact of our profession on the planet" and who commit to making "increasing efforts towards achieving sustainable, energy efficient housing." They also say "our designs consider alternative materials and methods to produce well-designed, efficient and affordable homes." Design drawings can be purchased online for $225 (Autocad files are $325) and you receive them via a PDF which you can print out yourself. It looks like most plan packages include floor plans drawn to scale with dimensions/notes, multiple exterior elevations, building cross sections and elevations for interior cabinetry, built-ins, etc. They do remark in the FAQ section that their plans "are design drawings and not full working drawings or construction documents" and they "recommend having an Architect or Engineer review the Design Plan Set to ensure compliance with local building authority requirements prior to construction."

Ryan and I are currently trying to blend both the above Loft House and Open Plan designs and see if we can come up with something that fits our needs. We'll keep you posted!

Inspiration: Stairs

This really isn't the appropriate time during the building process to be looking at finishing details. But since we're basically just waiting to hear back from the excavators we contacted to bid on our project and we won't know until February if the town will approve our build for the summer of 2008, we have time on our hands. Thus, we're researching. In our family, this translates into me spending most of my evenings Googling products, reading blogs, searching the forums on LiveModern.com and then running my findings by Ryan. These are some of the various products we've really fallen in love with.

Stairs: Metal Railing

We really want to use a cable, metal mesh or even heavy duty plastic stair rail/panel that would extend along the length of the balcony. Here are some examples of things we like.

Our site

We finally found some time to photograph our building site. Our house would be built directly in the space in the forefront of this photo, facing the road (Butternut Road).


Here's a shot of Butternut Road. Our house would be to the left.


This would be our view to the north...you can barely make out Ryan's parents' house nestled among the trees in the back corner.

Our vision: the modern farmhouse

Our goal is to adhere to the classic lines and dimensions of agrarian architecture (barn style, almost) and open the interior so that it's bright and full of natural light. We also want a clean, modern, streamlined look for the interior and exterior. We especially like the juxtaposition of natural materials like wood and more industrial elements like steel and concrete. All in all, we're going for a modern farmhouse feel...here are some sources of our inspiration.