Our House Sucks

Such a shocking statement after not having posted for quite some time.  Well it happens to be true, our house does suck.  As of this week we have installed the central vacuum system.  That sounds like a luxury and may turn out to be so.  But the real reason we put it in has to do with IAQ.  That's Indoor Air Quality, a very important concept in a green, eco-friendly home.  Most vacuum cleaners will put some dust and allergen particles back into the air as you go about "cleaning".  With a central vacuum the collection of the dust and dirt is done at a central canister located in the basement.  The design of this canister includes high efficiency filters and a moveable stopper all of which keep dust from returning into the air.  Furthermore we located the canister in the mechanical room in the basement which is walled off from the rest of the house.  The biggest downside to a central vacuum system is the 30 foot hose that comes with it.  Where do you store such a thing?  BUT the biggest and mostest funnest part of the system is the toe-kick port under the mudroom cabinets.  You just sweep up a mess with a broom, push it toward the port, open it with your foot, the vacuum system comes on and you sweep the nasty beasties from the dog's paws or whatever else is on your floor right into the port.  Poof!  It's gone.

Check out this website on our central vacuum system:  Central Vacuum

Here's a little video on the toe kick port that I'm deeply in love with:  KickSweep

Other IAQ measures we're taking include the use of bio-based insulation, low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, glues, sealers, etc., no carpeting which can hold onto dirt and allergen particles (although we will have some rugs), an energy recovery ventilation system (see an earlier post), no ignition source (no fireplace, no burning of fossil fuels for heating air or water) except for the cook stove which is gas because we just can't deal with an electric stove.  Oh, and plenty of windows.

Back to why we haven't posted in a while.  We took a vacation, one of us got sick and then so did the other.  Now that we are more functional, posting can proceed.  Even though we haven't posted, much work has been going on.  The garage is nearly finished, the basement floor is finished, the windows are all installed and most of the doors too.  Electrical wiring and plumbing are nearly finished, making the place almost ready for drywall.  Before the drywall goes up we had the last layer of insulation installed today.  To refresh folks, the walls are made up of several layers.  From the outside moving inward, there are these layers:  brick, 1" rigid, closed cell foam (with all the seams taped), the Zip system watering proofing (again with all the seams taped) mentioned in an earlier posting, the actual framing timbers are next, then the cavities between the framing boards contain 2" of bio-based spray foam insulation that seals all the cracks, then today they sprayed in a 4" thick layer of cellulose fibers (old newspapers and blue jeans) and then finally the drywall.  The calculation on our walls gives us an R value of 35, pretty darn good.  The roof which is also the ceiling on the second floor will have an R value of 70.  A value that's practically through the roof!

Jay Anderson insulation from Illinois did the bio-based spray foam and the blown in cellulose fibers.  His comment was that this is the most insulated house he's worked on.  One measure of that is how quiet it is inside.  We should be able to hear those utility bills dropping.

Until next time we are moving onward and upward,

Mark, Mark and Isabel