Bscconstruction's Blog

Green Home Revisited – Bamboo Flooring

bscconstruction — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:19:35 +0000

This is the first of several blogs we’ll be doing to check in on the ‘green’ home – to see what features have worked well, and maybe a few that could have been re-thought.

For this first blog, we went back and looked at how the bamboo floor was holding up.

Bamboo is one of the darlings of the sustainable construction world. It is very much like wood but actually it is a grass; a very fast growing grass. It is this rapid growth that defines it as sustainable. It can be harvested in 5-7 years; versus 60-70 years for most hardwoods. It is moisture resistant and insect resistant. In general, it is harder than oak, although it is available in a wide range of hardness’s. As for installation, it can be nailed, glued, or floated just like a conventional wood floor.

During the design phase of the home, we had planned for cork flooring, another sustainable option. However, the homeowner decided to use Bamboo simply for it’s aesthetics. Premium Green Bamboo, Hand Scraped, Vintage Collection, Jacobean flooring was chosen and it looked fabulous when it was first installed.

It appears that not all bamboo flooring is equal. A Google search will reveal a wide range of experiences with bamboo flooring – from very satisfied to very unsatisfied. The 2 major complaints seem to be softness (showing scratches) and color fading. Our LEED home, however, has had neither of these issues. As you can see from the photos, after 18 months of use, the floor still looks fantastic. The owner pointed out one dent where he had dropped an electric drill. Otherwise it looks as good as the day it was installed. It has even held up to high heels and dog traffic.

So far, for this home and this home-owner, bamboo flooring has proved to be a great sustainable choice.

Photo taken January, 2010 Photo taken October, 2011

Parade of Homes

bscconstruction — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:22:18 +0000

For three weekends in April, Bauer and Son Construction held an open house for the Spring Parade of Homes, sponsored by the Wichita Area Builders Association. On Wednesday, April 12^th, after the first weekend, our house was judged to be one of eight in the parade to win an award in the Most Unique Features category. Each winner in this category won for a different “Most Unique Feature”, our feature was being the 1^st LEED Home in Wichita.

2010 Spring Parade of Homes, Judges Award for Unique Feature

We want to thank the 177 people who visited our house during the Parade. We hope everyone who came to our open houses in March and to our Parade of Home open houses in April learned a little more about green homes.

Certifications & Acknowledgments

bscconstruction — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:42:49 +0000

Soon after the third-party performance testing was performed, all the required forms were submitted to the various agencies to review and approve our applications for certifications.

Sponsored by the US Department of Energy, Builder’s Challenge recognizes exceptional attention to quality and energy performance. The program uses the EnergySmart Home scale to rate efficiency. To meet the challenge, a home must achieve a rating of 70 or lower, representing an improvement of 30% over a typical home. This home met the challenge on March 1^st, 2010 with a rating of 55.

The NAHB Green Building Program was initiated in 2005 by the National Association of Home Builders. The NAHB Green Building program is similar to LEED, but only applicable to residential construction. Green Building Program houses are awarded points within specific categories and can receive a rating of Bronze, Silver, Gold or Emerald. On March 24, 2010 this home was awarded a Gold rating from NAHB.

The LEED for Homes® rating system is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED projects are awarded points within specific categories and can receive a rating of Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. We are proud to report that on April 6th, 2010 this home was awarded Gold certification. It is the first home to achieve LEED certification in Wichita, Kansas.

ENERGY STAR® was developed in 1992 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Its mission is to promote clean and efficient energy technologies, enabling consumers to save money while protecting the environment. This home received the ENERGY STAR on April 8^th, 2010.On Friday, April 9^th, Teresa Burk, from the Wichita Committee of the USGBC Central Plains Chapter presented Adam Bauer with the LEED for Homes – Gold certificate.

Teresa Burk and Adam Bauer.

We want to acknowledge everyone that helped Bauer & Son Construction achieve these awards. The following are sub-contractors and suppliers participated in the construction of this home.

Fremar Corporation L.L.C.

Nies Foundations

Lafarge North America, Kansas Office

Contractors Waterproofing Systems

Kelly Smith Construction

Andale Lumber Company

Pro Build

Lowe’s of E. Wichita

Wheeler Lumber, LLC

Shawn Nelson Framing

Douglas Fry Roofing

J.F. Miller Masonry

North Star Comfort Services

Overhead Door Company

Cheney Door Co., Inc

B & B Drywall

Garcia’s Painting

The Countertop Place

Quality Granite & Marble

Designers Expo LLC

Bob Smith Tile Company

Bell Mirror & Glass Inc.

Cranmer Grass Farm, Inc.

Hogan Sprinkler Installation, Inc.

Hojoca Corporation

Fahnesctock Plumbing, HVAC & Electric

Our third-party verifiers were Guaranteed Watt Saver Systems, Inc., and Fahnesctock Plumbing, HVAC & Electric

We also want to acknowlege all the Bauer & Son Construction employees that participated in the construction including Drew Wyss – Project Supervisor, Michael Hansen, Ed Miller and Richard Ashford.

Finally, we want to give special acknowlegment to Adam Bauer for his vision and determination to undertake this project, Greg Bauer for his support and expertise, Laura Heagler for her dilligence and persistance and Steve Houser for his expertise.

Open Houses

bscconstruction — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:00:24 +0000

Every month people who are interested in the environment meet up for a beer at informal sessions known as Green Drinks. On Tuesday, March 2^nd, this group was the first to accept an invitation to the open house and tour. Please visit http://www.greendrinks.org to learn more about this self-organizing network.

Green Drinks group gathering and signing-in at the Breakfast Bar.

Laura Heagler, Bauer & Son Construction’s Green Development Coordinator explaining the home’s green features.

In addition to Green Drinks, a local TV station showed up and did several impromptu interviews. Adam Bauer, the home’s owner is being prepared for an interview.

Laura Heagler is being prepared for an interview.

Please visit the KWCH web site at http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=12073508 to read the story and watch the video.

Tuesday, March 23rd, an open house and tour was held for local architects, and on Friday, March 26th, the Wichita Committee of the USGBC Central Plains Chapter attended an open house and tour.

The largest group to attend an open house was on the Young Professionals of Wichita (YPW), on Monday, April 5th.

A group of Young Professionals of Wichita waiting for a tour to start.

Parking in front of the house for the Young Professionals of Wichita open house.

The final open house was held on Tuesday, April 13^th, for the Visioneering Environmental Sustainability Alliance.

Furniture

bscconstruction — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:44:28 +0000

Now that the testing and the final inspection are complete, furniture can be move in. Since the house will be used for promotion of “green building” by holding open houses and entering it in the Parade of Homes, it was decided that some furniture would help it “show” better.

Couch and chair in the Living Room.

Glass table and bar stools in the Dining area.

Chairs on the Deck.

Certificate of Occupancy

bscconstruction — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:09:08 +0000

On March 10^th the Bauer & Son Construction received a Certificate of Occupancy for the house. This completes the inspection process required by the City of Wichita.

Signed inspection card.

Certificate of Occupancy.

Shower Doors & Mirrors

bscconstruction — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:58:56 +0000

Glass bi-pass doors were selected for the Bath 2 shower. A decorative framed mirror was also selected by the owner to be hung above the pedestal lavatory.

View of the top of the shower doors installed in Bath 2.

View of the bottom of the shower doors installed in Bath 2.

A frameless door and glass panel were selected for the Master Bath shower. A plate glass mirror was selected to be installed above the vanity.

The shower door and glass side panel installed at the Master Bath shower. The mirror above the vanity is on the right side of the photo.

The mirror above the vanity in the basement bath room.

Third-party Performance Testing

bscconstruction — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:42:30 +0000

While energy modeling was performed as part of the design process for this house, verification of the actual tightness of the home is required as part of the perfornance testing for LEED® for Homes Energy and Atmosphere, AE category. This test is performed by utilizing a diagnostic tool called a blower door which is designed to measure the airtightness of buildings and to help locate air leakage sites. A blower door consists of a calibrated fan for measuring an airflow rate, and a pressure-sensing device to measure the air pressure created by the fan flow. The combination of pressure and fan-flow measurements are used to determine the building airtightness.

The blower door being installed in the Maseter Bedroom door to the deck. The fan is on the floor, behind the technican.

The technican is recording readings from the pressure-sensing device connected to the blower door.

The data from this test will be used to determine the final HERS rating the house will receive.

Since we are not now going to qualify for Indoor airPLUS, we lost 13 points in the Indoor Environmental Quality category. In order to still be certified at the Gold level and achieve as many points as possible in this category, we now need to take the alternative Pathway 2 which is the Perscripitive Approach. This pathway includes 9 sub-categories that can be used to achieve points. Compliance with two of the sub-categories, EQ 5 Local Exhaust and EQ 6 Distrubution Systems will allow us to regain 3 points.

This test pictured below is for EQ5 and is performed for all the exhaust fans in the house. An exhaust fan flow meter measures the cubic feet/minute (cfm) at that particular fan and that data is compared to the fan manufacturer’s rating.

View of the test being performed in Bath 2.

The test pictured below is for EQ6 and is performed for all the supply air duct openings in the house. This device, a balometer capture hood, measures the cubic feet/minute (cfm) at a particular opeining and that data is compared to the original design criteria.

The hood being used on a supply duct opening in the basement Family Room.

Bathroom Fixtures

bscconstruction — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:25:21 +0000

Water efficent toilets, faucets and shower heads qualify for points in LEED® for Homes and the NAHB Green Building Program. The toilets in all three bathrooms are rated at 1.28 gpf (galions per flush). The faucets in all three bathrooms are rated at 1.5 gpm (gallons per minute) and the shower heads are all rated at 1.7 gpm.

The toilet and the lavatory installed in Bath 2.

The toilets selected for all the bath rooms are Wellworth® by Kohler. The pedestal lavatory selected for Bath 2 is a Devonshire® by Kohler and the faucet is a Pepetua by Luxart.

The shower valve and shower head installed in the Bath 2 shower.

The shower valve and shower head selected are Perpetua by Luxart.

The toilet installed in the Master Bath.

The bathtub valve and spout installed in the Master Bath.

Faucets installed on the lavatories in the Master Bath.

Shower valve and shower head installed in the Master Bath shower.

The toilet and shower valve installed in the basement bath.

Appliances

bscconstruction — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:31:39 +0000

Installation of an ENERGY STAR® refrigerator, dishwasher and washing machine qualified for 11 points in the NAHB Green Building Program. In the LEED® for HOMES program, ENERGY STAR appliances were used to increase the HERS rating, only 1 ½ points were directly attained in category of Energy & Atmosphere EA9.2 Exemplary Performance for a water-efficient clothes washer.

SAMSUNG ENERGRY STAR Refrigerator installed on the South wall of the Kitchen

Whirlpool Microwave Hood Combination unit installed on the South wall of the Kitchen.

Whirlpool ENERGRY STAR Dishwasher installed on the North wall of the Kitchen.

Whirlpool Electric Range installed on the South wall of the Kitchen.

SAMSUNG ENERGY STAR clothes washer installed on the South wall of the Laundry room.