888-385-7217
Historic Green Remodel
1 – I became committed to sustainable construction while I was at SawHorse and worked with Southface to develop the EarthCraft House Renovation program. SawHorse provided the pilot projects for this program and I was intimately involved in the transformation of this program from exclusively new homes to include renovation projects. Since that time, my passion for sustainable construction has continued, and I chose to leave my position at SawHorse so I could focus more on this interest without the distraction of having to run a large remodeling company. I now teach, speak, consult, and occasionally build green homes. The main reason to go green, beyond my personal commitment, was to be a good steward of the environment and for indoor health. From my experience in transforming my last home into an EarthCraft House, I was acutely aware of the superior indoor air quality and comfort that these techniques provide. Specifically, homes of this quality have very healthy indoor air, are practically dust free, and have comfortable humidity levels all year round – not too dry in the winter, nor too humid in the summer. Energy savings comes in a close second, probably tied with the idea of reusing existing structures and minimizing impact to the environment.
We used green materials wherever possible and practical, although there is some debate about certain choices. We used PVC exterior trim, which some consider to be very un-green, although I believe this is open to debate. Although this material is not very environmentally friendly, the fact that it is practically indestructible makes it very durable, and it will essentially need no maintenance, and will never need to be replaced, thereby saving the cost of replacement materials and reducing the waste placed in landfills. We used low VOC paint and floor finishes, MDF and finger joint wood products on the interior. We considered low VOC cabinets, but opted for more typical construction, due to time, style, and cost. The fact that we have excellent HVAC systems and outside air introduction helps to minimize any toxins in the air from construction materials. Another low impact concept was to reuse as much of the existing structure while expanding the house considerably. One reason we purchased the house was that there was an existing attic space that was enormous and easily renovated. The size of the house was doubled to over 4700 SF with a very small addition of the rear and finishing the existing attic. In fact, the exterior wall surface on the first floor is unchanged, and the roof expansion included only 3 new dormers.
Another aspect of the low impact of the project was the extensive reuse and recycling. All the unpainted wood from the site was reused on other projects or ground into mulch and used as erosion control. Extra bricks and broken roof tile were ground and used as gravel below the driveway. The concrete removed from the drive was hauled to a recycling plant and ground into gravel which was repurchased and used for below the rest of the new driveway. Most of the cabinets, counters, plumbing and electrical fixtures were recycled through individuals and organizations. Job site recycling included all drink containers, corrugated cardboard, paper, etc.
2 –While planning the renovation, a huge tree hit the house and crushed the back corner and did significant damage to the roof, driveway etc. This ended up being a blessing in disguise, as it accelerated the project and helped to pay for some of the renovations. During construction there was an ice storm while the roof was off – this allow a lot of water onto the existing hardwood floors, fortunately we were able to dry them out and refinish them with no problems. There was some uncovered structural damage, but nothing excessive.
The house is in Druid Hills, a historic neighborhood that was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (Designer of Central Park and the Biltmore House Landscape). The neighborhood was the location for the filming of Driving Miss Daisy with Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman. The house was built in 1918, and had to go through a historic preservation committee approval before we could start construction. We reused all the salvageable clay tiles and located several thousand additional vintage tiles that matched the house perfectly – we only need a few new tiles to finish the project. The original buff colored brick on the house was hard to match, as a matter of fact we had planned to have the new brick stained to match but when they arrived they were an almost perfect match for the original bricks. It is almost impossible for anyone to notice the difference between the old and new brick.
Seville Consulting
http://www.sevilleconsulting.com
404-597-7782
Decatur GA
Atlanta