Category Archives: LEED Project

Obtains points or required for LEED certification

Why LEED?

Posted on March 16, 2012 by ellen

Good question. We bought this house in Arvada, Colorado on New Years Eve 2011. It is earth sheltered on the north and has passive solar windows and a trombe wall to the south. The garage protects the house on the … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project, Planning | Comments Off on Why LEED?

Preliminary LEED Rating

Posted on April 6, 2012 by ellen

LEED Start Up Process: 1. Contact a LEED for Homes Green Rater/Provider (No longer found on LEED site!) 2. Determine if the project is suitable for LEED. For us this was a phone, email discussion. (LEED for Homes Eligibility Guildlines) … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project | Comments Off on Preliminary LEED Rating

Documentation for LEED

Posted on April 12, 2012 by ellen

LEED projects are all about documentation and verification. It is one thing to say the house is in a developed area or has an uninterrupted thermal envelope and another to document those so that it can be certified as having … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project | Comments Off on Documentation for LEED

Innovative Design Process

Posted on April 12, 2012 by ellen

Innovative Design Process (ID) is the first requirement in the checklist for meeting prerequisites and gaining points towards LEED certification. As a result of this project’s preliminary rating we have already met one prerequisite for ID and can document most … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project | Comments Off on Innovative Design Process

Why Seven Months Later?

Posted on November 15, 2012 by ellen

What happened? The Design Charrette was a big disappointment for me. I can say that now after months have gone by and some work has gotten done on the house. Each of the players did bring their expertise to the … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project, Planning | Comments Off on Why Seven Months Later?

HumaNature

Posted on November 16, 2012 by ellen

The Design Charrette changed the focus of the remodeling project. I went from dreaming of LEED glory to the hard facts of the limitations of a budget. We had committed $50,000 to the project. That is the whole project of … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project, Planning, Project Team | Comments Off on HumaNature

Structured Plumbing

Posted on January 21, 2013 by ellen

We are interested in wasting as little water as possible and to that end, we designed a structured plumbing system that allows for the hot water to circulate within a loop system of pipes to deliver hot water at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction, House Systems, LEED Project, Planning, Plumbing | Comments Off on Structured Plumbing

Water Loop in Action

Posted on April 17, 2013 by ellen

The water supply trunk loop is connected and stubbed out. This is the longest above the concrete connection. The pipe near the wall will connect the washing machine and the other connection will run to the guest bathroom. This long … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Efficiency, House Systems, LEED Project, Plumbing | Comments Off on Water Loop in Action

Radon Mitigation

Posted on April 19, 2013 by ellen

Zone 1 has the highest concentration of Radon in the ground. Radon has been found to be a naturally occurring cancer causing element that is concentrated in homes that have direct contact with the earth especially in Level 1 (Red) … Continue reading →

Posted in House Systems, LEED Project, Planning, Radon Mitigation | Comments Off on Radon Mitigation

Triangle Tube Boiler

Posted on April 21, 2013 by ellen

We first heard of small, highly efficient, condensing boilers from Melissa when she did our Energy Audit. After some research, I found many recommendations for the Triangle Tube boilers. They have stainless steel heat exchangers, and copper piping. They are … Continue reading →

Posted in Condensing Modulating Gas Boiler, Energy Efficiency, House Systems, LEED Project, Radiant Heat | Comments Off on Triangle Tube Boiler

USGBC Denver Rocky Mountain Green Conference

Posted on May 16, 2013 by ellen

This is the roof we toured at the conference! It is “semi intense”, planted in trays and suffering a bit from the extreme conditions in Denver, cold, heat, wind and sun. Also has suffered from lack of maintenance. But it … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Style, Green Building Interests, Local Products | Comments Off on USGBC Denver Rocky Mountain Green Conference

You Stain, You Gain?

Posted on May 17, 2013 by ellen

Alberto introduced the idea of staining the concrete several months ago and I panned the idea, did not want to think about extra expense at the time. But when the concrete was finished and Alberto said the next step was … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Style, LEED Project | Comments Off on You Stain, You Gain?

LEEDing Ideas

Posted on July 5, 2013 by ellen

What do we have to do to get LEED certified? I had given up on LEED soon after our Design Charrette, but Energy Logic and Carissa Sawyer stayed with me and encouraged me to continue. So far we have tried … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project | Comments Off on LEEDing Ideas

LEED Expert Visits the Site!

Posted on September 1, 2013 by ellen

Yesterday a LEED expert and architect designer came from Washington DC to visit the project and give me a personal consultation gratis!! This unbelievable event was arranged by her mom, who with her husband had the house designed and built … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project | Comments Off on LEED Expert Visits the Site!

Where the Rain Gets In

Posted on November 12, 2013 by ellen

Unfortunately, the flashing on the southern exposed roof was deteriorating rapidly. I used Eternbond tape to reseal the roofing to the stucco and to seal the top of the flashing to the siding after removing the old trim. After sealing … Continue reading →

Posted in LEED Project, Maintenance and Repair | Comments Off on Where the Rain Gets In

More About Rock Wool

Posted on November 25, 2013 by ellen

Insulation, just like so many LEED building options was a rather tortuous decision. I was introduced to the idea of using rock wool by Sarah, my LEED expert friend. She recommended looking at rock wool for a couple of reasons. … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Energy Efficiency, House Systems, LEED Project | Comments Off on More About Rock Wool

Potential Energy

Posted on March 19, 2014 by ellen

I originally thought our remodel was a shoe-in for a LEED gut remodel project. The concrete slab on the floor of most of the home had to be taken out and replaced. This gave us the opportunity to upgrade with … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Efficiency, LEED Project | Comments Off on Potential Energy

LEED Awareness and Education

Posted on September 22, 2014 by ellen

Increasing awareness for LEED, its mission, its requirements, the benefits and features is one of the categories for gaining points for LEED certification. I had an opportunity to talk about this project at the Fort Collins Sustainable Living Fair on … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Building Interests, LEED Project | Comments Off on LEED Awareness and Education

Amory Lovins Home Tour!

Posted on December 10, 2014 by ellen

We had a great opportunity due to the Roaring Fork USGBC scheduling of a tour of Amory Lovins Passive Solar, Greenhouse Furnace, Net Zero, photovoltaic and thermal solar home in Snowmass, yesterday! It was a large tour group, about 30 … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Style, Energy Efficiency, Green Building Interests | Comments Off on Amory Lovins Home Tour!

Effective R Value?

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ellen

Amory Lovins’ home boasts an “effective R-Value” of 40 for the masonry walls. I was skeptical knowing they were masonry with a 4″ polyurethane core. The core would be about 20 if it was XPS foam, less if EPS foam … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction, Green Building Interests | Comments Off on Effective R Value?