The Green Truth: 6 Myths to Bury, 6 Realities to Respect
Green construction: a moving and often controversial target. The luster is off of some practices, products and materials that were lauded only recently. Greenwashing remains pervasive. Some say the notion of "green" itself has become meaningless. To clear the air, we asked a few longtime practitioners in the green building and remodeling field to answer these questions:
In your opinion, what one myth (or product or practice, etc.) involving green building should be retired and banished from remodelers' business practices forever? What one practice (or product or material) should remodelers take seriously, and incorporate into their business, if possible, with regard to green remodeling in 2013?
Their responses are below. Your thoughts? Feel free to comment. Thanks to all for joining in.
Doug Selby, Meadowlark Builders and Meadowlark Energy
Myth to bury:
I can't sell green because my customers won't pay for it. (See also "Green Objections? Overruled," 1/24/11 d5R.)
Reality to respect:
Focus on quality insulation and air-sealing. Remodelers sometimes think they should go with the cheapest price for things the customer doesn't see. There's a world of difference between average insulation jobs and great ones. Never go by price alone.
Inferior insulation jobs usually involve fiberglass or cellulose, although those materials can make a good product if good air-sealing is done first. Does the insulator test out with a blower door? Does the insulator have a plan for how they air-seal? One reasons spray foam tends to work better is that it air-seals at the same time it insulates. So the contractor has a better chance of getting a good product (although I've seen plenty of botched spray foam jobs too!). If the insulator offers "tri-polymer foam," chances are he is not a quality leader. While it is easy to install and make a quick buck doing so, it does not perform as intended over the long term.
My favorite ways to insulate these days include Owens Corning spray caulk (they call it EnergyComplete) and rock wool batts. Superior air-sealing and high R-value, completely toxin-free and fireproof.
Doug Selby is a building science expert and managing partner in Meadowlark Builders, a deep green design/build construction firm, and in Meadowlark Energy, a home performance contracting company, both headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. Meadowlark is a national leader in green building and energy retrofits, offering a complete range of innovative services focused on making and re-making the standard for the American home — comfortable, healthy and ultra-efficient. Meadowlark subcontracts with Arbor Insulation for the best-quality insulation work.
Sean Lintow, Alabama Green Building Solutions and Services
Myth to bury:
It drives me crazy when people look only at a project's potential energy savings and "ROI" — especially when these are the same people who espouse the house-as-a-system concept. While I wish we could say that this mindset is strictly limited to government programs, the sense that "I can't replace that piece of damaged insulation on the a/c line set since I don't know how much it will save" has unfortunately spread far and wide.
I don't know about many of you, but I can't recall the last time I was asked for the ROI on granite. Doing things right from the start might not have upfront savings, but the referrals from happy comfortable customers sure do.
Reality to respect:
Green building has never been about products. It is about the systems and the people doing the work. That said, and following up on the pet-peeve above: Never stop learning and challenging your own beliefs and those of others.
For example, plastic has no place in walls. (Rumor has it goes bye-bye in the 2015 code.) There is a reason that the P in Global Warming Potential stands for potential (maybe it should just stand for poor science). The model of sizing air conditioners at 500 square feet per ton is long gone (try 800 to 1,500 square feet). And just because you have done something for 25 years doesn't mean that it is right or ever was.
Sean Lintow operates Alabama Green Building Solutions and Services, which works with builders, HVAC contractors, insulation contractors, architects and homeowners to make homes more efficient, comfortable and healthy. Subscribe to his green building blog. Sean also owns SLS Construction, a small, family-owned residential remodeling company that focuses on doing things right the first time.
John Nicholas, Efficient Energy Savers
Myth to bury:
Insulation stops air leakage.
Reality to respect:
If you really want to stop air leakage, caulk all openings at electrical pass-throughs, plumbing pass-throughs, sill plate edges, top plate edges. Properly flash windows and seal effectively.
We make a lot of great airplanes here in Wichita. They don't have thick walls; in fact, the walls contain more in the way of wires and control cables than insulation. These planes fly at 40,000 feet and the air outside is minus-40 degrees F. Yet the inside of the air craft is 70 degrees F. How do they do this? They build an airtight aircraft.
We can build houses that are much tighter then we currently have. If we will only shift our focus to building and remodeling correctly in the first place, we will enjoy lower energy bills and better quality of indoor air. In other words, no more incoming air through the wall past the mouse droppings, moldy insulation and other nasty things that are in our walls now.
John Nicholas operates Efficient Energy Savers in Wichita, Kans. He is a certified HERS Rater for Energy Star new homes, for VA and FHA energy-efficient mortgages, and for energy audits for existing homes. He is also certified as a level 1 infrared thermographer and on target for his level 2 certification in 2013. Contact him via info@efficientenergysavers.com or 316.641.5258.
Doug Walter, Doug Walter Architects
Myth to bury:
The idea that photovoltaics are sustainable — that all you need to do is frost a building with PVs to offset your leaky envelope and incandescent lighting package.
Reality to respect:
Invest in energy modeling from the get-go to inform design. Architects and designers would get much more bang for the buck by utilizing a user-friendly energy modeling software in-house, rather than waiting until late in design to outsource energy modeling to a consultant who will give you one report. Having modeling capability on the team from day one allows you to pose dozens of those "what if" questions at every step along the way, and to make intelligent decisions backed by science.
Two fairly user-friendly modeling programs I like are Rem/Rate by Architectural Energy and EnergyGauge. And don't overlook the old standby, REScheck, available from the Energy Department. It's free and has been around forever, and each version gets better.
The important takeaway is to use something to predict energy performance, then go back and check actual consumption so you can adjust your future modeling based on how well the first one worked. Of course, owner behavior has a lot to do with performance, and no software can model that.
Doug Walter, AIA, is a Denver-based remodeling industry veteran and award-winning architect with more than 33 years' experience in designing additions that “fit” and opening up dark older homes to the outdoors, all the while improving function and energy performance, and keeping to a budget. A proud NAHB Remodeler, he holds CGA, CAPS and CGP designations, as well as a LEED AP BD&C. He is currently under contract through Jacobs Engineering to the National Park Service, where he has managed large projects throughout the west, including a LEED Platinum multifamily housing project for Grand Teton National Park. Contact him at dougwalterarchitects@yahoo.com.
Carl Seville, Seville Consulting
Myth to bury:
Spray foam insulation is the answer to everything.
Reality to respect:
Focus on exterior moisture management: perfectly flashed weather barriers, including all windows, doors, pipes, wires and ducts. This is a particular problem in existing walls where you cannot identify if there is an existing weather barrier, and if the siding is to remain, you can't flash new openings. Particularly in wet climates, the only real answer is to strip the siding off any area of the house being worked on, install or repair the weather barrier, and then replace the siding. Preferably with a vented rain screen.
Carl Seville, based in Atlanta, is a green builder, educator and consultant on sustainability to the building industry. He s a HERS rater, holds the LEED AP Homes and Green Rater designations, and certifies single- and multifamily buildings under all green programs. Carl is a co-author of the ReGreen guidelines and Green Building, Principles and Practices in Residential Construction, the first textbook on residential green building, and is a contributing editor to greenbuildingadvisor.com. Learn more at Seville Consulting, or join him next week at the Remodeling Show for his class, "Forget Green: Go for Good Remodeling."
Michael Klement, Architectural Resource
Myth to bury:
Funny you should ask. I am in the middle of a five-part series on debunking green myths for Qualified Remodeler magazine. So, which one to pick ... I'll go with door number one from my series: Green costs too much. (See that article here, and the latest article in the series here).
Reality to respect:
Not So Big™-inspired design. As I wrote for QR, "Helping our clients recognize through intelligent, thoughtful, inspired design they can have everything they want but in a smaller, more efficient package is a green strategy of the highest order."
Michael Klement, AIA, is the principal of Architectural Resource, an award-winning architectural firm specializing in green design based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
