David Gulyas

Evolution or Intelligent Design?

We've been in the house now since the beginning of August, and we're beginning to get the hang of it.  We incorporated both natural ventilation and and energy recovery ventilator (ERV) into the house, and therefore, we make conscious decisions on how and when to use them to achieve thermal comfort and good indoor air quality.  So, we use our brains to manage the systems: turning the heat pumps on to heat or cool, cranking up the ERV to exhaust pollutants, opening and closing windows for natural ventilation, turning on the ceiling fans to cool, or push warm air down.  I was thinking that all of this could be managed with a programmable system, in which the heat pumps, ERV, electrically operable windows and fans would communicate with each other to achieve optimal results without manually fussing with them.  I'm sure there are systems available now that can do this to a certain extent, esp commercial larger scale buildings.  Our zoned heat pumps have thermostats and set points, and our ERV has a CO2 sensor which kicks the ERV up when the CO2 elevates too high, so we have a certain level of programmability already.  But, in the future, through technological evolution, we'll probably have system management that will "learn" how we use the systems, as well as all of the energy usage and appliances, and will adapt and control them to achieve our preferences.  It's kind of like evolution...or is it intelligent design?  

Pure Air Quality: An Age-Old Concept

 
“To have pure air, your house must be so constructed as that the outer atmosphere shall find its way with ease to every corner of it. Badly constructed houses do for the healthy what badly constructed hospitals do for the sick.”
-Florence Nightingale, 1859

OK.  We finally moved in, and even with a temporary kitchen and one working bath, it's great to be in a house with ideal indoor air quality.  We achieved this by incorporating a very nice Energy Recovery Ventilation system, the UltimateAir  RecoupAerator

"The RecoupAerator® is a whole-house air filter and ventilator that circulates fresh air into an average-sized home every two hours. It serves as both ventilation and filtration, capturing virtually all pollens and mold spores." (from product website.) The air quality is unbelievable! 

I finished the concrete floor myself, with an acid stain, and wax finish.  I used a low VOC ceramic based paint over a zero VOC primer, and for dramatic effect, applied a Venetian plaster finish to the largest interior wall. Next steps are to finalize the kitchen design, trim, and interior doors, and figure out how to install all of it.

Energy Recovery Ventilator

Jason Wright of Thermostat Mechanical explains the Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) he installed in our Bloomington, Indiana high performance green home. In addition to the ERV, we have two small heat pumps for heating and cooling as necessary. The capacity of the house requires just about a ton of heating and cooling.

Raising the SIP Panels for High Performance House

Raising the South SIPs Walls in Early January!

Chris Sturbaum and crew of Golden Hands Construction are joined by Porter SIPs consultant, David Suutala, to install the SIP panels for the Gulyas house in Bloomington, Indiana. The walls are 12.38" thick, with wood integrated around the window openings and where structure is necessary. The SIPs are load bearing, comprised of expanded polystyrene (XPS) sandwiched between two layers of oriented strand board. The south elevation shown here, will capture radiant solar energy through the windows, and stored in the floor slab to heat the house in cold weather. The floor slab is thermally decoupled from the perimeter foundation and floating on 10.5" of extruded polystyrene insulation (EPS) reclaimed from decontructed commercial roofs!

Life Cycle Assessment

The Interior Design profession is just beginning to put its toe in the water in regard to Life Cycle Assessment.  It's really the fundamental foundation of thinking about material choices and how they affect the environment. 

I've developed an online course on Life Cycle Assessment and (drum roll) you can get a 30% discount on it by enrolling at EcoAchievers and entering the promotional code LCA09.  The class covers the basic principles of Life Cycle Assessment, how it affects design choices, and the three main Life Cycle Assessment methodologies.  It should take about an hour to take the course online.

David and Chris hoist the sails on foundation!

House Progress

David and Chris hoist the sails to shelter the foundation from rain and snow.

SketchUp

SketchUp is a 3D modeling software for Windows and Mac.  I have modeled our house we are building in Bloomington, IN, with SketchUp, and I have gotten deep enough into it to conclude that it is really a strong professional tool for design and presentation graphics.  SketchUp is free, with a professional package offered at a very reasonable price, but I just use the free version at the moment.  There is also an energy modeling plug in, as well as solar site analysis when you integrate with Google Earth. 

Renaissance Lighting LEDs Allow Total Hue Control While Saving 70% vs. Incandescent

This is an amazing LED technology which blends LEDs into a reflective baffle in their recessed fixtures and the results are infinite control of color hue, color temperature, and dimming.  Saves about 70% of energy compared to incandescent halogen recessed.  Because of the design, there is no glare as there is when you look at a light bulb.  The light shining down is reflected from the dome of the fixture, which serves as a color mixer.  Though the fixtures are more expensive, they last an entire generation, and use 70% less energy than an incandescent light.  From the Renaissance Lighting website:

"Imagine having the ability to produce the warmth of a candle, the pale blue of a moonlit night, or the brilliant white of a sunny day, all with a simple adjustment of a wall control, without color filters or lamp changes. This flexibility is delivered with the comfort of lighting without glare or harsh shadows." 

Image Credit: AZOBuild

LifeBreath Furnace Provides Superior Indoor Air Quality, While Saving Energy

LifeBreath is a non-combustion hydronic furnace, with a built-in heat recovery ventilator (HRV).  The HRV creates a very efficient heat energy transfer between the outgoing and incoming air streams.  In winter, the incoming cold air is warmed by the heat transfer of outgoing air, and the reverse in summer.  The two air streams do not mix, only the heat energy is transferred through conduction in the HRV. 

The LifeBreath furnace then takes this pre-heated air and brings it up to air delivery temperature by heating it with the available potable hot water source in a closed loop.  We're currently exploring the option of using a solar thermal system to provide the hot water source.  The value of this system is that it can provide a continuous infusion of fresh air while minimizing the energy loss from the outgoing stale air, providing a superior system of high indoor air quality.

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