Tiny Green Houses

5 Tiny Houses With Big Green Ideas

by Laura Caseley

As Posted on www.earthtechling.com

It used to be that the sign of living well was a big house, one with lots of rooms, maybe a pool—the kind of house you might envy when you catch a glimpse of it on TV or in a magazine. But that’s changing. Due to environmental and economic pressures, builders and buyers alike are beginning to think smaller and smaller and look to more sustainable technologies and materials for homes.
This movement, known as the “tiny house movement,” is a direct response to the growing concern about environmental impact, carbon footprints, financial challenges and concerns about space and land conservation. There’s also a sense of freedom that many tiny-house dwellers talk about. Many of these houses are modular, and that means they can be packed up, shipped out and then plopped down anywhere the residents desire (within zoning limitations, of course). They can even be placed on rooftops, which means they utilize the otherwise unused space on urban skylines. The houses are also very inexpensive, which means owners seldom have to be concerned with a mortgage. This gallery showcases five little houses with pretty big eco-conscious features. Simply click a photo to learn more. Oh, and did we mention how cute they are?

Buy Green Building Materials For Your Tiny House From World Class Supply

Repairing Damage to Plaster Walls

By DoItYourself.com Staff

Plaster walls, especially those in older homes, usually have cracks due to the house "settling" in its foundation, or holes from where furniture or doors have struck the plaster and damaged it. Repairing plaster walls is a fairly straightforward process. While it should be done right before a paint job (as the location of the repair will be visible), you may choose to repair the damage and match the patch as best as you can to the existing wall surface.

You should get Adobe Flash Player so you can view the video.

Hairline Cracks in Plaster Walls

Hairline cracks in plaster walls cannot be patched until there is something for the patch to adhere to. In order to provide a good seat for the patch, the hairline crack should be widened a bit. For long hairline cracks, remove a bit of plaster at intervals along the crack to provide a better seat. Clean out any dust or loose plaster with a damp towel.

Fill the crack with plaster using your spackling knife. As you do so, be sure to get into the gouges that you have made along the crack and overlap the existing plaster. This will allow the patch to cling to the vertical surface of the wall, ensuring a secure patch.

Allow the patch to dry for 24 hours. If your patch seems to have receded into the crack, patch it again and allow to dry for another 24 hours. If you notice an uneven surface, sand the patch smooth to match the rest of the wall. Prime and paint if necessary.

Repairing Holes in Plaster Walls

Clear away any dust or loose plaster around the hole that will prevent the patch from adhering to the wall. Carefully carve under the edge of the broken plaster, in order to provide a good seat for the plaster patch. In other words, try to make enough space for the plaster patch to slightly ooze underneath the existing layer of plaster. It's possible to do this with a curved metal tool, such as a can opener, as long as you can get underneath the existing plaster without unnecessarily breaking out more.

Dampen the edge of the hole and fill with patching plaster using a spackling tool. Make sure the patching plaster does not fill the hole level with the existing wall. It should fill the hole to a level just below the surface of the existing plaster - you want to leave enough space for the joint compound to cover the plaster patch and still be even with the wall's surface. Score the surface of the plaster patch with your spackling tool with vertical and horizontal lines, then allow to dry for 24 hours.

The next day, apply joint compound to the surface of the patch, spreading it just over the edges of the wall. When this has dried, apply another coat of joint compound, if necessary, to make the patch even with the existing wall. Sand even with the wall, and prime and paint if desired.

Repairing Outside Corners of Plaster Walls

Measure the vertical length of the damaged area. Use a length of wood that exceeds this vertical dimension, and tack it gently to the wall - flush with one of the corners - making sure that the length of the wood extends past the hole on both the top and the bottom. This will be your guide when you patch the outside corner so that you can get an edge that blends in with the undamaged portion of the corner. In other words, this piece of wood will act as an extension of the wall, giving you a surface that is much like the one you would have if you were repairing plaster damage on a flat wall.

Remove loose plaster, and undercut the hole to provide a good seat for the plaster patch. Use a plaster trowel to smooth in patching plaster away from the wooden guide, overlapping the existing wall slightly. After one side has dried, you may switch the position of the wooden guide to the other side of the damaged corner and repeat the process.

Once the patch has dried completely, sand smooth. In addition, fill any holes used to tack up the piece of wood with joint compound.

At first, repairing plaster damage seems like a daunting task. But take your time to patch plaster properly, and you will get solid, long-lasting results.

Purchase Clay Plaster, Clay Paint, Tools and other eco-friendly products at World Class Supply.

This Old (green) House

• As Posted On www.thisoldhouse.com
  The architecture may be old at This Old House's new project in Austin, Texas, but the thinking is thoroughly modern. For the first time, the show is going totally "green"—using as many environmentally friendly building products and methods as possible—and creating a functional home for a contemporary blended family.
  
  The subject of the renovation is a 1926 Craftsman bungalow that owners Michael Klug, 38, co-founder of a hologram company, and Michele Grieshaber, 41, a marketing executive, are turning from a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house into one with four bedrooms and two baths. Michele has owned the house for the past decade, but the couple married this past April and need more room to accommodate their new family, which includes Michael's two sons, Sam, 13, and David, 11. Add in the possibility of another child in the future, and it becomes clear that a house built for the lifestyle of a 1920s family won't cut it for this 21st-century clan.
  
  That said, there are many things about the house's original design that the couple plans to preserve and honor. Built before the days of hulking McMansions with 24/7 air-conditioning, the compact house was built to use natural air flow, high rooflines, and deep overhanging eaves to keep the heat at bay. It was efficient and green, and Michael and Michele have no intention of turning it into a oversized, over-cooled monstrosity devoid of its original Arts and Crafts details. In fact, their second-floor addition will only bump up the roofline by 6 feet. "We don't want a big house; we're not going to gold-plate everything," says Michele. "We don't need fancy—we need functional."
  Along with the added bedrooms, the couple's other wish-list item is an updated kitchen that opens up onto an entertaining area. Walls will move or come down entirely to allow the couple to interact with friends and family while preparing food. "I love to cook, and I'm at the stove while I'm socializing," says Michael. They also plan to spend as much time outside in the mild weather, so they'll create a screened-in porch and make sure that the entertaining areas connect easily to the outdoors. "We like to live outside more than the average Texan," explains Michael. "We're fine not having the AC on."
  
  That energy-saving mentality is one reason for their desire for a green renovation, but it may be the local way of life that truly influenced them. Austin, a young, tech-company town and one of the fastest growing cities in America, is at the forefront of the green movement. The Austin Green Building Program, one of the oldest in the country, will rate the project for its use of eco-friendly materials. Photovoltaic cells on the roof, rainwater collection for irrigation, spray-foam insulation, recycled-glass tile and countertops, and formaldehyde-free wood composites are just some of the resource-saving strategies and eco-friendly materials planned for the project.
  
  Overseeing it all will be architect David Webber and veteran green builder Bill Moore. With a budget of $250,000, they'll be working hard to incorporate the right materials and still accomplish the changes the couple need. The project will take less than five months overall, but when it's finished, Michael and Michele will have an updated version of their classic house, which they loved so much they couldn't part with it. "We did look at other, renovated houses in the neighborhood," says Michele. "But I feel responsible for this house. Houses have souls, and I need to take care of this one."
  
  
  Find Eco-Friendly Building Materials and Grass Seed at World Class Supply

How to make a nursery eco-baby friendly

Conventional paint contains benzene, formaldehyde, mercury, solvents and petrochemicals, and it sends a cloud of VOCs into your baby’s bedroom. Investing in nontoxic, VOC-free paint is a wise choice that will keep nasty chemicals out of your nursery.

Find eco-friendly products at World Class Supply

A few things to keep in mind when you're selecting paint:

• Some paints carry a circular Green Wise logo on their label, which would seem like a good indication that the paint is environmentally safe. Sadly, Green Wise is green wash. The logo means only that the paint meets standards set by paint manufacturers. It doesn’t mean the paint is chemical free.
• “Low odor” doesn’t mean that the paint is free of chemicals.
• Zero-VOC paint is practically VOC free, but no independent standard exists to verify that.
• Natural paint, made from food-safe ingredients from plants and minerals, and milk paint, made from milk protein, pigments, lime, clay and water, are safe, chemical-free choices.

All-natural, nontoxic American Clay wall coverings bring a soft look to any nursery.

Removing wall-to-wall carpet, which off-gases chemicals and harbors toxins and pollutants, is the healthiest thing you can do in your nursery. If this isn’t possible, seal existing carpet using AFM Safecoat’s SafeChoice Lock Out, which keeps chemicals from off-gassing and repels dirt and stains. Cork or colorful natural linoleum, such as the kind shown here from Eco-Friendly Flooring, are also good bets.

Keep in mind when you're choosing flooring:

• If you choose bamboo, shop carefully. Prefinished bamboo flooring can off-gas formaldehyde and other harmful chemicals.
• If you choose carpet, opt for untreated 100 percent wool carpet and have it installed using a tack-down method rather than glue.
• Don’t pull up carpet yourself if you are pregnant. Pulling up the padding could expose you to a cloud of PBDEs. After the carpet is removed, have someone clean up the small particles with a HEPA-filter vacuum and mop.

by Cusano Construction Company Inc. »

Natural wood floors finished with nontoxic oils are one of the smartest choices you can make in the nursery.

by Carousel Designs »

Whether you use new furnishings or hand-me-downs, a little maintenance will go a long way toward creating the healthiest room for your baby.

How to change your life - change your lawn!

The Case for Change

An organic organic approach to lawn care is over-due for so many reasons:

• Lawns are depleting our groundwater supplies:  Some estimates indicate that lawn care uses 50% of our county’s potable water. Lawn irrigation, particularly in-ground watering systems, increase summer water use to levels three to five times higher than winter water use. Use of nitrogen-rich chemical fertilizers and fast-growing shallow-rooted grasses exacerbates the problem. Water shortages from your neighbors lawn care lead to increased water prices for everyone, water bans and enforced conservation.  Many of the non-native lawn seeds from Europe or Kentucky, with very shallow roots, are naturally adapted to environments that are wetter than ours.  In New England, and most of North America, these foreign, shallow root, high maintenance grasses leads to a pattern of frequent watering and frequent mowing, particularly if chemical fertilizer is used.
• Wasting energy and adding to greenhouse gases:  Watering lawns with water that is filtered for human consumption and pumped to our homes wastes huge amounts of energy. Producing commercial fertilizers from petroleum is energy intensive, and costs are rising as oil prices rise. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, running a typical lawn mower for an hour is eleven times more polluting than running a mid-size car full of people and luggage for an hour. So, the energy-intensive fertilizer, water from the town and lawn mower pollution in a standard lawn greatly increases your family's carbon foot print.

• Run off and unnecessary health risks: A stagering amount of chemicals are used every year on lawns. Between 50% and 80% of lawn care chemicals run off lawns with the rain and into storm drains, ending up in the watershed or local ponds, causing algal blooms and feeding the invasive weeds out of control. Again, the majority of lawn chemicals is feeding the invasive weeds in our ponds, not on your lawn! Then, local communities use expensive herbicides to get rid of the invasive weeds in the ponds and low levels of both the fertilizer, pesticides and the herbicide may end up in your drinking water.  Use of pesticides and fertilizer in urban and suburban communities contributes significantly to contamination of our drinking water and other surface water supplies.  This also increases health risks to children, pets and the elderly and increases school department budgets from learning and behavioral disorders caused by the lawn care chemicals. So, chemicals put on your lawn impact the whole community in many ways, including finances, clean up, invasive weeds and health.  
• What ends up in our homes affects children, animals and others: Lawn care chemicals and pesticides get carried indoors into homes on shoes, paws and air currents. Once inside, pesticides linger in carpets, dust, on toys and in the air we breathe. These chemicals normally break down outside over time with sunlight. However, away from sunlight and water, pesticides persist for many months, resulting in longer exposure to these chemicals indoors. According to health experts at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection prolonged exposure to the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers in lawn care chemicals is responsible for an alarming increase in the risk of learning and behavioral disorders in children and increased risk in adults for asthma, Parkinsons's disease, cancer and a number of other ailments. The increased health risks are much higher for children, the elderly and our pets. According to Dr. Margo Roman, a veterinary expert, "50 years ago, only 5% of dogs got cancer. Today, over 46% of dogs get cancer, and there is evidence suggesting this alarming rate is caused by the widespread use of lawn care fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides." In response to these concerns, "a new era in pesticide use has begun in Quebec with the banning of many domestic products that have chemicals considered toxic to humans and the environment." Read the report from the Organic Consumers Association.

Pearl's Premium provides a compelling value proposition for residential, commercial and municipal property managers:

• Cut mowing costs by up to 75%
• Cut chemical use
• Reduce or eliminate irrigation/watering

Selected Pearl's Premium commercial and municipal installations and their primary benefit:

• Park - reducing mowing and maintenance costs in low traffic areas
• Traffic Circle / Median - minimizing mowing in dangerous area
• Public Service Building - reducing mowing and maintenance costs
• Assisted Living Facility - avoiding investment in irrigation, creating healthy environment for seniors
• Utility Sub-station - reducing mowing and maintenance costs
• Swim & Tennis Club - elminating chemicals around pool and play areas
• Cemetery - reducing mowing time

Purchase Pearl's at World Class Supply

TED Talks: Catherine Mohr presents green building and embodied energy

In this  short, funny, data-packed talk at TED U, Catherine Mohr walks through all the geeky decisions she made when building a green new house -- looking at real energy numbers, not hype. What choices matter most? Not the ones you think.

http://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_mohr_builds_green.html

Catherine Mohr began her career as an engineer, working for many years with Paul MacCready at AeroVironment to develop alternative-energy vehicles and high-altitude aircraft. Her midcareer break: medical school, where she invented a brilliantly simple device, the LapCap, that makes laproscopic surgeries safer.
Mohr now oversees the development of next-generation surgical robots and robotic procedures, as the director of medical research at Intuitive Surgical Inc., where she's the clinical design leader for the DaVinci Surgical Robotic system. She also works at Stanford's School of Medicine, where she studies simulation-based teaching methods to teach clinical skills to budding doctors. And she's a senior scientific advisor to the GlobalSolver Foundation, an innovative funding and study group that looks at ways to match up scientists and money to help the world's oceans.

Now visit World Class Supply for materials that do a world of good!

Scottsdale's ideas for Green Remodeling

Here are some thoughts from Scottsdale Arizona about everything from water conservation to flooring to heating sources.

Contact World Class Supply for a variety of sustainable building supply

How Scottsdale does Green. Design Principles....

Scottsdale Arizona provides an extensive 18 page guide to designing Green. Be sure to also check out the useful Resource Links in this Guide.


Need green building supply?  World Class Supply provides eco-friendly windows, doors, sustainable grass seed and materials products and coatings.

How And Why To Choose Low/No VOC Paint

Excerpted from : thegoodhuman.com

March 26th, 2009

You know that smell – that freshly painted room that looks great but gives you a headache. In fact, if I am gone all day long and it’s warm out, when I get home I can still smell the paint in my house from 4 months ago when the landlord repainted it prior to us moving in. That is how long the chemicals in “regular” paint can last! That is why when I painted a room in our old apartment in California, the last time I painted much of anything, I used a Low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paint, and I was amazed at the lack of overpowering smell. I was painting my home office with this paint and when I was done I actually went right to work, surrounded by drying paint. No headaches, no nothing. It was tremendous. Some VOCs are greenhouse gases and therefore contribute to global warming and others are just bad for your health. While a few VOCs occur naturally from cows and trees, many come from manufactured products such as paint thinners, paints and varnishes and dry cleaning solvents. These VOCs contribute to illnesses and have been determined to be a cause of ”˜sick building syndrome’. The EPA has found concentrations of VOCs in indoor air to be 2 to 5 times greater than in outdoor air due to paint and other products. Lucky for us, major paint companies are now making low or no VOC paints we can use, which really reduce our exposure to these chemicals. 

Mythic Paint

– This low odor, zero toxicity paint from Mythic Paints is a non-toxic, ultra low odor paint that provides the durability and coverage you expect from a premium paint without the off-gassing VOC’s and cancer-causing toxins that emit years after drying.

Bioshield Natural Paint

– The BioShield collection of paints, stains, thinners and waxes is made primarily from naturally-derived raw materials including citrus peel extracts, essential oils, seed oils, tree resins, inert mineral fillers, tree and bee waxes, lead-free dryers and natural pigments.

While there are many other products available, the most important thing you can do is pick any one of them over your “standard” paint.  Picking one of these products is safer for you, your home, and our environment, so choose wisely next time you go to paint.

Purchase these and other earth-friendly products at World Class Supply

What Are Solar Roof Shingles?

April 01st, 2013

EarthTalk is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com).

Q: I’m getting my roof redone and have heard about solar roof shingles. Are they available—and are they practical for the Northeast?

Solar shingles are photovoltaic cells designed to look like and integrate with conventional asphalt roof shingles. First commercially available in 2005, solar shingles were much more costly than traditional “bolt-on” photovoltaic panels, and thus were used mainly by those wanting to go solar but maintain a traditional roofline. But more recently solar shingles have become price-competitive with bolt-on panels, and are getting much more popular accordingly. Eco-conscious home and building owners might find solar shingles especially attractive when they are re-shingling anyway since the solar shingles also double as functional, protective and weatherproof roof shingles in their own right.

The biggest name in solar shingles is Dow’s Powerhouse line, which uses cutting edge Copper Indium Gallium Selenide solar cells (aka “thin-film” solar) to turn sunlight into electricity via a supplied inverter box. The Powerhouse shingles generate 12 watts per square foot and are “grid-tied,” meaning they’re designed for structures already connected to the power grid and can send excess power back to the grid. They are wireless, snap together and can be installed by regular roofing contractors just like (or alongside) conventional asphalt shingles (an electrician needs to set up the inverter box).

Dow reports that a typical residential cluster of 350 solar singles on a roof could slash one’s household electric bill by 40-60 percent. Such an installation can cost a homeowner over $20,000, but federal, state and local incentives can bring the cost to half that in some areas. Powerhouse shingles are currently available (from Dow-authorized contractors) in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington, D.C.

Another leader in solar shingles is building products manufacturer CertainTeed. The company’s Apollo line of grid-tied monocrystalline solar shingles and roofing tiles offers efficiency similar to larger “bolt-on” photovoltaic arrays at around the same price (and incentives similar to those for Dow may also apply) but with less bulk: Each Apollo tile is less than an inch thick and will integrate with, replace, or lay on top of existing asphalt roof shingles or tiles and generate 12 watts of power per square foot.

CertainTeed says a typical installation will save homeowners 40-70 percent on their electric bills. Their Apollo products are available across the U.S. but the company recommends using one of their authorized roofing contractors to make sure they are installed properly.

Now is an especially good time to go solar—shingles or otherwise—because costs have started to come down and the federal government is still offering 30 percent tax credits with no cap on the purchase of solar electricity equipment. Twenty-seven states and several cities offer additional incentives that can get pricing on solar gear and installations down even lower. For more information check out the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), a free online resource provided by the North Carolina Solar Center and IREC with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe:www.emagazine.com/subscribe; Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

Purchase Eco-Friendly Building Materials, Cleaners and Grass Seed at World Class Supply!

7 Reasons Why Cork Flooring Reviews Favor This Eco-Friendly Floor Installation

By Rika Susan

On EZine Articles

We are all becoming more aware of caring for our environment. Cork flooring reviews point to the latest floating ranges as a more eco-friendly DIY installation for your home. Due to innovative manufacturing techniques, this kind of home improvement has turned into a boon for the handyman.
Installation is relatively easy, even for a novice. You may not even need to purchase a separate underlayment.
Let's take a look at 7 reasons why natural cork floor coverings have become so popular among the DIY crowd.
1. Eco-Friendly Floors
During manufacturing, bark from the cork oak tree is used. Once harvested, it is ground and processed into sheets. These are then kiln baked to produce the flooring tiles. This type of floor covering can be used in homes and light commercial settings such as offices.
This is a highly regulated industry. Regulations require that a tree must be at least 25 years before it can be harvested. The tree isn't negatively impacted by the harvesting. The bark grows back in time, making for a renewable flooring source. This is why it is seen as an eco-friendly or 'green' interior design solution.
2. Durable And Resilient
Judging by cork flooring reviews, this kind of floor is comparatively resilient when it comes to impact. The cellular nature means that it contains microscopic air pockets. This creates a 'memory' in a sense that allows the surface to go back to its original state after impact or pressure. This also makes it a suitable choice if you have pets in your home, although you still have to make sure that you keep their nails short.
3. Family Friendly
Moisture Resistant: Cork contains a waxy substance called suberin. This is the secret behind the excellent moisture resistance of floating cork flooring. In spite of this, it is still safer not to let fluids stand on your new floor. Rather clean any spills immediately.
Insect Resistant: The waxy suberin also allows these surfaces to be highly resistant to insect infestation and molds and mildew. Many cork flooring reviews also mention that, if your kids suffer from allergies, changing from carpeting to cork may be beneficial.
Impact Resistant: The air pockets act as shock absorbers in a sense, facilitating excellent cushioning. This gives it a good level of impact resistance. The cushioning may also offer some measure of protection when, for instance, an elderly person falls on one of these floors.
Warm: The air pockets or cellular structure also traps warmth. This means that a floating cork floor will be more comfortable and warmer underfoot than many of the other options, such as laminates or vinyl.
Absorbs Sound Well: Again, due to the cellular structure, sound is absorbed remarkably well. Cork flooring reviews note that you won't get the hollow sound that is associated with laminates. This is very useful in areas where echoes can be a problem, such as in a hallway.
4. DIY Installation
The new floating cork floors come with locking systems such as Uniclic for easy DIY installation. This gives you access to planks that are installed in much the same way as a laminate floor.
As long as the sub floor is dry, clean and level, you should have very few problems. These ranges are usually not recommended for use in a basements, due to excessive moisture levels. Cork can be installed over surfaces such as tile, wood and concrete, but check with your supplier to be safe. Some brands come with a cork underlayment already attached, allowing you to use only a moisture barrier. In other cases, you may still have to purchase an underlayment.
5. Fairly Low-Maintenance
This is seen as a fairly low-maintenance option. Day to day dirt can be taken care of with a soft broom. Once a week or so, a quick wipe with a very slightly damp mop should be enough. Never use a wet mop. Clean spills immediately by blotting with a sponge or paper towel, before drying the floor with a mop. Never use harsh or abrasive cleaners.
6. Interesting Color Variations
The interesting color variations offered add to the popularity of these collections. No two floors will look exactly alike, due to natural diversity. Shading can stretch from a rich golden yellow to a darker nutty brown. You also get variety with the speckled patterning. If you are looking for creativity in your decor, this is one way of achieving your goal, according to cork flooring reviews.
7. Good Warranties
If you give your floor covering some tender loving care and use a touch of common sense, you should have the pleasure of a great looking floor for many years to come. Many of these ranges come with warranties of between 25 and 35 years.
The drawbacks of these floors include the more limited color options, compared to laminates, as well as the fact that the floor may need to be re-sealed from time to time. When you make your purchase, make sure that you get a product that has been sealed with something like a high quality UV varnish to give added durability.
Cork flooring prices may be a bit higher than that of vinyl, but you can easily get a wholesale deal if you know where to go.
If you can't afford to install a wood floor and would like to do your bit for the environment, cork flooring reviews claim that these collections can be a sensible second choice.

Purchase Cork Flooring and other renewable building materials at World Class Supply !

Who Needs 3-D Design? 5 Reasons You Do

Whether you're remodeling or building new, 3-D renderings can help you save money and get exactly what you want on your home project

As Posted on Houzz

 

Dylan Chappell

Houzz Contributor and California Architect (http://dylanchappell.com/)

 

As a client, how can you avoid paying for design work you don’t want? Making sure you know what you're getting before you have it built helps.

Today there is no better way to understand and have a feel for new design than to see it in 3-D. Rather than your having rely on imagination to see if the bathroom door will be far enough away from the kitchen, 3-D allows you to virtually walk through your home before even approving any specs or designs. Want to see that living room wall with bay windows? No problem. Want to check out the view from the window? Step right up. Changed your mind and now want no windows? Hold on a sec.
Three-D design is a fast and efficient way to get involved in every part of the design process. When architects actually design with you, the client — and present other, different or better options — you'll be better equipped to make informed decisions on a design that's perfect for you.

How do you know if your architect works in 3-D? It's always a good idea to ask when you're interviewing potential candidates, and to take a look at their examples of drawings and 3-D presentations. Three-D design is becoming an industry standard, and finding a great architect who offers it should not be hard. The good news is, most firms don't charge more for 3-D; they either have it or they don't.

Here are five reasons 3-D design can work for you.

 

by Dylan Chappell Architects

1. Understanding traditional 2-D floor plans and elevations can be difficult. Many people can get the general idea from a floor plan but have trouble visualizing how the design is going to look. Being able to see and experience your design in 3-D will help you understand how it is going to work. The more you understand the look and feel of your design, the more comfortable you'll be at making decisions.

2. Designs can change and evolve in real time, during meetings with your architect. Meetings are the best way to be included in the design process and to make sure nothing is overlooked. What does a design presentation in 3-D look like? It could be a fly-through video or multiple perspective views of your project. I’ve found that the most efficient and productive 3-D design meetings are in the conference room with everyone sitting around the flat-screen, walking through the project room by room. This usually always brings up design questions, and changes can be made to the model during the meeting for instant results.

3. Design review boards generally respond positively to presentations that include 3-D. Three-D to show how a building relates to the existing environment or to a neighbor’s home is a very powerful tool when you're seeking design approval. I’ve had great success by rallying the support of neighbors when they can understand clearly how a building is going to look and feel compared to theirs. 4. Three-D design can help cut down on changes after construction has begun. Reducing the amount of changes during construction can help save time and money. But it can be hard to do until you really understand what the space will look and feel like, which is where 3-D design comes in.   World Class Supply carries eco-friendly building, cleaning and lawn products!

Benefits of Using Clay Paint and Plasters

Tired of reading?  Watch this great little video!

Benefits of Using Clay Paint and Plasters
Uploaded on Oct 30, 2011


DirtCraftCA talks about the benefits of using clay paints and plasters in your home. They are beneficial even in the most conventional of homes, as clay paints and plasters can be applied over top of drywall.


Purchase Clay Paints and Plasters at World Class Supply

How to Choose Colors with American Clay Plaster

Color Specialist, Carrie Williar, discusses how colors differ between the variety of American Clay finishes available on the market, and how to select a color accordingly.

Color Considerations - American Clay video

Uploaded on Jul 27, 2010

Purchase American Clay Plaster at World Class Supply

Also ask WCS about American Clay Installers!

Window Types

As seen on Energy.Gov

What does this mean for me?

• If you have old windows, they are likely losing large amounts of energy through the frames and glazing.
• By upgrading old windows, you can reduce heating and cooling costs in your home.

Windows come in a number of different frame and glazing types. By combining an energy-efficient frame choice with a glazing type tailored to your climate and application, you can customize each of your home’s windows.

Types of Window Frames

Improving the thermal resistance of the frame can contribute to a window's overall energy efficiency, particularly its U-factor. There are advantages and disadvantages to all types of frame materials, but vinyl, wood, fiberglass, and some composite frame materials provide greater thermal resistance than metal.

Aluminum or Metal Frames

Although very strong, light, and almost maintenance free, metal or aluminum window frames conduct heat very rapidly, which makes metal a very poor insulating material. To reduce heat flow and the U-factor, metal frames should have a thermal break -- an insulating plastic strip placed between the inside and outside of the frame and sash.

Composite Frames

Composite window frames consist of composite wood products, such as particleboard and laminated strand lumber. These composites are very stable, they have the same or better structural and thermal properties as conventional wood, and they have better moisture and decay resistance.

Fiberglass Frames

Fiberglass window frames are dimensionally stable and have air cavities that can be filled with insulation, giving them superior thermal performance compared to wood or uninsulated vinyl.

Vinyl Frames

Vinyl window frames are usually made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with ultraviolet light (UV) stabilizers to keep sunlight from breaking down the material. Vinyl window frames do not require painting and have good moisture resistance. The hollow cavities of vinyl frames can be filled with insulation, which makes them thermally superior to standard vinyl and wood frames.

Wood Frames

Wood window frames insulate relatively well, but they also expand and contract in response to weather conditions. Wood frames also require regular maintenance, although aluminum or vinyl cladding reduces maintenance requirements.

Types of Window Glazing or Glass

In addition to choosing a frame type, you will need to consider what type of glazing or glass you should use to improve your home's energy efficiency. Based on various window design factors such as window orientation, climate, building design, etc., you may even want to choose different types of glazing for different windows throughout your home.

Gas Fills

To improve the thermal performance of windows with insulated glazing, some manufacturers fill the space between the panes with inert gas -- commonly argon or krypton -- that has a higher resistance to heat flow than air.

Heat-Absorbing Tints

Heat-absorbing window glazing contains special tints that change the color of the glass. Tinted glass absorbs a large fraction of the incoming solar radiation through a window, reducing the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), visible transmittance (VT), and glare.
Some heat, however, continues to pass through tinted windows by conduction and re-radiation, so the tint doesn't lower a window's U-factor. Inner layers of clear glass or spectrally selective coatings can be applied on insulated glazing to help reduce these types of heat transfer.
The most common gray- and bronze-tinted windows are not spectrally selective, and reduce the penetration of both light and heat. Blue- and green-tinted windows offer greater penetration of visible light and slightly reduced heat transfer compared with other colors of tinted glass. In hot climates, black-tinted glass should be avoided because it absorbs more light than heat. Tinted, heat-absorbing glass reflects only a small percentage of light, so it does not have the mirror-like appearance of reflective glass. Note that when windows transmit less than 70% of visible light, indoor plants can die or grow more slowly.

Insulated

Insulated window glazing refers to windows with two or more panes of glass. To insulate the window, the glass panes are spaced apart and hermetically sealed, leaving an insulating air space. Insulated window glazing primarily lowers the U-factor, but it also lowers the SHGC.

Low-Emissivity Coatings

Low-emissivity (low-e) coatings on glazing or glass control heat transfer through windows with insulated glazing. Windows manufactured with low-e coatings typically cost about 10% to 15% more than regular windows, but they reduce energy loss by as much as 30% to 50%.
A low-e coating is a microscopically thin, virtually invisible, metal or metallic oxide layer deposited directly on the surface of one or more of the panes of glass. The low-e coating lowers the U-factor of the window, and different types of low-e coatings have been designed to allow for high solar gain, moderate solar gain, or low solar gain. A low-e coating can also reduce a window's VT unless you use one that's spectrally selective.
Although low-e coatings are usually applied during manufacturing, some are available for do-it-yourselfers. These films are inexpensive compared to total window replacements, last 10 to 15 years without peeling, save energy, reduce fabric fading, and increase comfort.

Reflective Coatings

Reflective coatings on window glazing or glass reduce the transmission of solar radiation, blocking more light than heat. Therefore, they greatly reduce a window's VT and glare, but they also reduce a window's SHGC.  Reflective coatings usually consist of thin, metallic layers, and come in a variety of colors, including silver, gold, and bronze. Reflective window glazing is commonly used in hot climates to control solar heat gain. The reduced cooling energy demands can be offset by the need for additional electrical lighting, so reflective glass is used mostly for special applications.

Spectrally Selective Coatings

A special type of low-e coating is spectrally selective, filtering out 40% to 70% of the heat normally transmitted through insulated window glass or glazing while allowing the full amount of light transmission. Spectrally selective coatings are optically designed to reflect particular wavelengths, but remain transparent to others. Such coatings are commonly used to reflect the infrared (heat) portion of the solar spectrum while admitting more visible light. They help create a window with a low U-factor and SHGC but a high VT.
Spectrally selective coatings can be applied on various types of tinted glass to produce "customized" glazing systems capable of either increasing or decreasing solar gains according to the aesthetic and climatic effects desired. Computer simulations have shown that advanced window glazing with spectrally selective coatings can reduce the electric space cooling requirements of new homes in hot climates by more than 40%.

Learn More

• Energy-Efficient Windows
• Storm Windows
• Energy Performance Ratings for Windows, Doors, and Skylights
• Energy-Efficient Window Treatments
• Tips: Windows
• Window, Door and Skylight Products and Services

External Resources 

Residential Windows, Doors, and Skylights

Window Selection Tool

Certified Window and Door Installers - InstallationMasters™ Institute

Climate Zone Recommendations - Efficient Windows Collaborative

Product Ratings - National Fenestration Rating Council

Windows and Daylighting - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Window Technologies: Frame Types - Efficient Windows Collaborative

Window Technologies: Low-E Coatings - Efficient Windows Collaborative

References 

Climate-Specific Window Details BuildingScience.com

Energy-Efficient Windows Home Energy Magazine

Green Building Myth #1: It's More Expensive

Alex Wilson, Contributor

www.finehomebuilding.com

Excerpted From

Your Green Home

April 8th, 2010

Having written about green building for more than twenty years now, I’ve encountered lots of misperceptions. One of those is that green building always has to cost a lot more than conventional building. There are plenty of examples where it does cost more (sometimes significantly more), but it doesn’t have to, and green choices can even reduce costs in some cases. Let me explain.

Trade some quantity for quality. When someone is considering building a green home, my first, number-one recommendation is to keep the size down. Since 1950, the average house size in the U.S. has more than doubled, while family size has dropped by 25% — so you’re providing 2.8 times more area per person than you were back then. If you think you need a 3,000 square-foot house, consider whether 2,500 would suffice, or even less. There are some really great homes being built at 1,400 to 1,500 square feet — homes where every square foot is optimally used and there aren’t rooms, like formal dining rooms, that sit empty most of the time.

Often, because we’re conditioned to think that bigger is better or because we’re told by a real estate agent that a house has to be large to keep its value, we build the largest home possible. By stretching budgets to maximize square footage, we’re then often forced to skimp on quality and performance. If, instead, we downsize the house, we can improve its quality (durability, detailing, energy efficiency, green features), and we might even be able to reduce the overall costs.

Bundle systems with neighbors rather than going it alone. With green building, there may be some other ways to lower costs that don’t require reducing the house size. At the development scale, if you design an onsite infiltration system for stormwater (rather than building a stormwater retention pond or installing storm sewers) that could both reduce costs and make the project greener. With larger facilities, it’s sometimes possible to save millions of dollars with such changes — paying for all of the additional green features.

Where you build can also influence cost. By clustering houses in a development, you can reduce the total amount of pavement, the length of utility lines, and other associated infrastructure costs. By putting a house fairly close to the access road, you both save costs and reduce the impacts of that additional pavement and material usage.

Use materials frugally. There are some important ways to use materials more efficiently and save money. With “advanced framing,” studs and rafters (or roof trusses) can be installed 24 inches on-center, rather than the standard 16 inches, reducing the amount of wood used in construction. By carefully planning overall building dimensions and ceiling heights, one can optimize material use and reduce cut-off waste.

And it’s sometimes possible to have a structural material serve as a finished surface, obviating the need for an additional layer. This can be done when structural floor slabs are made into finished floors (often by pigmenting and/or polishing  the concrete), or when a masonry block is used that has a decorative face, eliminating the need for another wall finish.

Find eco-friendly building materials at World Class Supply!

Look for cost tradeoffs. When it comes to energy, building a green, energy-efficient house usually does increase costs. But we can significantly reduce that extra cost — occasionally even eliminate it — by practicing “integrated energy design.” If we spend more money on the building envelope (more insulation, tighter construction detailing, and better windows) so that we dramatically reduce the heating and cooling loads, we can often save money on the heating and cooling equipment. With a really tight, energy-efficient house, for example, we might be able to eliminate the $10,000 to $15,000 distributed heating system in favor of one or two simple, through-the-wall-vented, high-efficiency gas space heaters, or even a few strips of electric resistance heat.

If, along with that really well-insulated envelope, we carefully select east- and west-facing window glazings that block most of the solar gain and provide natural shading from appropriately planted trees, we might even be able to eliminate central air conditioning.

These savings on mechanical equipment can cover a lot of the added cost of the improved building envelope. In rare cases, these savings in heating and cooling equipment (if we eliminate a really expensive system, such as a ground-source heat pump, for example), we can pay for all of the envelope improvements and even reduce the total project cost.

Comprehensive Green Remodeling: Less Known Facts

by Marcus Pickett

for  Home Advisor

Green has become its cultural phenomenon. Like any item of pop culture, there are certain truisms that seem to make countless appearances in headlines and press releases and a whole other side that rarely, if ever, gets mentioned. Anyone into "going green" is probably familiar with such things as energy-saver light bulbs, zero-VOC paint, and bamboo, several other realities of the home construction, remodeling, and maintenance industry may play an equally big role into the other sustainable practices and green value of your home projects.

Don't Be Too Quick To Hug: Protected Trees and Tree Farms

Since of the first eco-friendly slogans and pejorative phrases for followers of sustainable living was "tree-hugging" and "tree-hugger," it might surprise some to find out that the greenest construction material for your home and your home remodeling is, often, natural wood harvested from a tree farm. All trees are not created equal. There's a big difference between California Redwoods, subtropical rainforests, and trees from your nearby tree farm. These latter trees are grown and harvested in ways that keep American construction going while protecting older, indigenous, and endangered tree species.

Pulled from the American Tree Farm System's website, the inherently green qualities of these trees can be summed up in this definition of sustainable forestry, "Sustainable forestry means managing our forests to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs by practicing a land stewardship ethic which integrates the reforestation, managing, growing, nurturing and harvesting of trees for useful products with the conservation of soil, air and water quality, wildlife and fish habitat and aesthetics." U.S. Forests Facts & Figures 2001, Clemson University and AFF

It's easy to see the difference in these types of trees, but what is, often, overlooked is that choosing wood for your home remodeling is often more eco-friendly that alternative materials. Limited supplies of aluminum, the energy it takes to manufacture synthetic materials, and the low environmental impact of these tree farms may mean that the best thing you can do for the environment is to use a tree.

Look in Your Own Backyard

Regardless of the material choose, regardless of the home improvement or remodel you're undertaking, one universal factor to look at and one that is frequently ignored is how far your materials have to travel to get to your home. The greater the distance the more energy is needed to transport those materials. Measuring the exact environmental impact of these transportation costs can be difficult and you certainly don't need to restrict your material selection to your own zip code, but it's definitely something to consider.

Here's one extreme, but not totally uncommon scenario: Stone tiles that cost $20 per sq. ft. instead of $5 per sq. ft. could be a sign that the tiles are traveling all over the world. In some cases, stone tile may be quarried in Brazil, shipped to China to be fabricated, and then shipped back to the States for your kitchen counter. The vast majority of the cost of this stone is eaten up by the cost of travel. The true cost of this tile affects the environment just as much as the cost of your kitchen remodel.

Keep in mind, too, that custom home remodeling doesn't necessarily have to mean customized materials. Several areas of green remodeling and construction cost more than conventional methods, but sometimes the price tag can be indicative of the environmental impact....

Green Now, Green Later: Energy Output v. Maintenance

Along with the distance a material must travel, you should take a look at its upkeep, as even basic maintenance of some installations can have an environmental impact. Take, for example, stone countertops. Engineered stone and some types of natural stone countertops don't require sealant. If you buy marble or another porous stone countertop, you may need to periodically reseal the stone with high VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) sealant or lower-quality zero-VOC sealant, but that's not the only question to ask your countertop contractor. You'll also want to ask for zero-VOC adhesive for the installation, and if you're doing things from scratch, plywood substrate free from formaldehyde.

Remember the trees? Well, residential fencing creates an interesting green remodeling debate. Aluminum and vinyl fencing may require greater energy output to install, but wood fencing not only requires sealant, but requires it every year or every other year. Unless you're diligent in buying zero-VOC sealant, wood fencing probably results in a wash. There are a number of lines of residential fencing fashioned from recycled materials such as plastic grocery bags, but you should talk to a green fencing contractor and ask how much energy is needed to reincarnate these recycled materials into viable fencing.

Marcus Pickett is a professional freelance writer for the home remodeling industry. He has published more than 600 articles on both regional and national topics within the home improvement industry.

World Class Supply has great products to help you go green!!!