Comments on: The Top 10 Mistakes I Made in Building a Green Home

By: Don

Don — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 02:01:44 +0000

We have come along way since
We have come along way since the 1950s.Some good and some bad. My father was a house builder after WW2 and I thought that was the way I going to work.I decided to work in the auto field as a mechanic and living through the great 60s and lousy 70s went back to school for HVACR.Thanks to a great job and after working for many companys I learned what my father said about to tight of housing and not to go to far with the seal up.Knowing in my present house of 1300sqft.and fairly well insulated I do not have problems with mold or stall air.Being my wife has CF I had to shut down the humidifier and a least weekly turn on 3 exhaust fans and suck out the bad air and bring in the good as long as my neighbor isn't burning wood uncontrolled I get a good air change.My theory is do not build to big of a house and try to seal it to save $100.00 a month on your heating bill.My wife has much less problems with her CF after doing these simple things.All exhaust fans dump to the out side.Fresh air comes from outside with no contaminated air( neighbors wood stove).I do not want to live in a vacuum bottle.Adding a little outside air into your HVAC system through a heat transfer unit will pressurize your home abov outside pressure to let fresh air in.I would spend the extra to have a safe breathing house.As we all know by now everything in your house gives off something we breathe

By: Michael Dudek

Michael Dudek — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:48:22 +0000

Very good article. Maybe I'll
Very good article. Maybe I'll write a sequal. Just finished my own LEED Silver home and think you have a great list. I spent a great amount of time on my plans and did a gut & rehab. To add to the list,item #11, I would say keep all your ductwork within your interior envelope. I ran ductwork over a barrel on 1/2 of the second floor and did not realize the cuts I made to bring the supply and returns down the walls created big air leakage voids to the attic. Also, I worry that I loose too much heat or cooling. Leak gaps are fixed, but not a good HVAC design move.
#12 is preplan you arc fault beakers and pull seperate neutrals (I didn't and it was messy to meet NEC code).

By: Southwest Heating and Cooling

Southwest Heating and Cooling — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 09:08:55 +0000

Hello,

Hello,

The best part of your mistake is your design. I love that and generally seen this type of mistakes with other people. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

By: David Cummings

David Cummings — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:47:48 +0000

Anyone who builds their own
Anyone who builds their own green home with their own two hands is going to have a long list of mistakes in the end.
Those who have their house built for them will have that same list of mistakes - except it'll be in the drawer of the desk of the contractor and/or architect they hired.
Many times while building our green home (off grid, straw bale) I wished for that big "do-over" button. I never found it. Lessons learned and now I've become a bit more humble as I look back on my mistakes. There is no going back so why beat yourself up.
Some of whats listed above is site specific. Design is not and I cannot stress the importance of that one enough. Design for a year (no make that two) and have more than a few people look over your final plan. Once you have your final design, crumble it up and start again. Make a few more designs and be open to suggestions from others. Finally it's time to sit down and draft your working plans. If your using an architect and he designs something you approve, smack him in the face, fire him and get an new architect. Fire that one too. If you're building it yourself, draw it yourself so you understand fully what to do. Try not to second guess your plans a year into the build. Source all your materials long before you break ground. Horde as much money as possible then get a loan - double the amount. If you have the slightest doubt about your abilities or those you intend to hire to help, think twice before taking the plunge.
The "Seven P's"

By: Ted Kidd

Ted Kidd — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 05:04:32 +0000

The part about taking time
The part about taking time with design, guess it's hard to overemphasize that one. On the other hand there is something to be said for those who can implement.

Allison, your posts are STILL getting better! Sharing your "I'd do over's" is a great public service. Nice work.

By: John Mattson

John Mattson — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:39:37 +0000

My wife thought she was
My wife thought she was getting the good end of the deal when we agreed that she would do all the planning, and I would do all the work. B-b-b-a-a-a-w-w-w-a-a-a-a-h-h-h-a-a-a ! Marriage intact none the less.

By: Laszlo Kiss

Laszlo Kiss — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:00:16 +0000

I found it interesting that
I found it interesting that the #1 ISSUE you named was DESIGN. I guess the old adage of "An ounce of planning is worth a ton of fixing" sees to be lost on most. I always wonder why the aversion of hiring a good architect?

All in all your house sounds much better then 90% of US homes from that time.

By: M. Johnson

M. Johnson — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 18:01:57 +0000

You said "... if the
You said "... if the (HVAC) system had been sized properly, we might have had some distribution problems..".

I submit that oversizing does nothing to alleviate distribution problems. It may even aggravate them.

The fact you are not complaining about distribution problems, hints the duct design might be adequate. You are in a heating dominated climate and the need for humidity removal in summer is probably minimal. One of the big knocks on oversizing is AC short cycles and discomfort due to high humidity because the AC needs long-ish cycles with the coil equilibrated below the air dew point. The first few minutes are ineffective at humidity removal, and right-sizing is the best way to get long run times.

My understanding is you might have *some* discomfort from short cycles of heavy heating/cooling, but the major efficiency pitfalls are probably not hurting you much. Congratulations on what you did right.