The clothes dryer we have now is between 20-30 years old. It is an old Maytag and it works like a champ. I couldn't tell you exactly how much power it uses (mainly because I am almost afraid to look at our meter when it is running. :( ). I am guessing that it uses around 5000 watts when it is on. We try not to use it much.
Two years ago I bought a rotary clothesline and installed it in the backyard. I chose one called the Breezecatcher. It is very stout and clean and awesome. It can handle a huge load of clothes and is very balanced so it rotates in the breeze even if I load it unevenly.
This is the Breezecatcher in our backyard. [off topic comment ] Beyond is our neighbors house. He thinks that Tyvek is the same as siding as it has looked that way for 3 years now. This year he stopped paying attention to his yard altogether so now it looks like we live next to some abandoned house. I am waiting for a car to start showing up on what used to be his lawn. [/off topic comment ]
Ryan took a while before he accepted the fact that we were hanging clothes on a line. The clothes are scratchy and , well, it's just more work than throwing them in the dryer and turning it on. That is true.
There is an organization that is trying to create a movement towards using clotheslines: Project Laundry List
If you think back 40 years ago... every house had a clothesline. Yes, I was a little worried about my neighbor seeing my underwear on the line, but you know what? I can count 4 separate times when I have personally witnessed him peeing on the side of his house. He lets his guests do worse than that in the neighbors yards. In light of that, worrying about him seeing my underwear on the line shouldn't be a big deal..
The compromise that changed everything. This year, taking into account the drawbacks of having the clothesline, we reached a compromise. We hang the clothes and then put them in the dryer for about 5 minutes with a dryer sheet. This fluffs up the clothes, imparts some of the magical "dryer sheet softness" on the clothes and gets rid of all traces of pet hair. Lacey, we love you but your hair is everywhere.
At the new place, we will be installing another Breezecatcher and placing it in a covered area. This way, we can hope to use it closer to year round. It should also allow us to buy a smaller, more efficient dryer.
As long as there is wind, clothes will dry on a clothesline
After having shown Ryan the Dainkn Altherma videos and some follow-up discussion, we have decided to pursue the Daikin Altherma. This consolidates our home and domestic hot water heating into one system while allowing us to take full advantage of the planned Solar water pre-heating systems.
This decision also gets us further down the road with the Energy Petal compliance as the Daikin Altherma is electric.
Ryan and I are trying to figure out the water heating piece.
We know that we want solar. We have decided on a Drain-Back system for the initial water heating. The cost will be somewhere between $11- $13,000 to have Solar Energy Solutions install it.
We decided on this configuration for several reasons: it is the most maintainence free configuration, there will be no worries about anything boiling over or blowing a gasket in the summer, no glycol (at $50 a gallon this is a good thing) and there is some awesome monitoring that we will be able to set up.
That decided we now have the water heating piece. The solar system deposits its pre-heated water into an 80 gallon tank. Fair enough. In the summer, this will be all we need. In the gloomy months however, we will need some kind of heater to heat the pre-heated water so that it is hot.
This is where it gets complicated. Per the Energy Petal, all of our energy usage has to come from renewable resources. NO!!! WOOD IS NOT CONSIDERED RENEWABLE|. Can you believe it?? I just learned today that there are NO COMBUSTIBLES ALLOWED in Living Building 2.0. No wood stove. Can you imagine living in the woods and not being allowed to use a wood stove? If they could burn wood 2,000 years ago, we should be able to burn it now as it is carbon neutral. I digress.
Lucky for us we are in the Pilot Project so we can have some combustion. Baby steps. I for one don't think the technology is there yet to have no combustion, but that's just me.
We were researching electric water heaters and gas water heaters and learning a lot. Then Andrew of Solar Energy Solutions suggested that we use a tankless water heater. We have one at our house right now and to be honest, I have not been blown away by the energy savings, but mine was installed in 2003. I hear that they have gotten a lot better. Andrew suggested we look into a Takagi TK3 as it is the only truly solar compatible tankless water heater. What does "solar compatible" mean?
Most tankless water heaters take the water, at whatever temperature it comes into the unit at, circulates it and causes it's temperature to rise a certain degree (say a rise of 60 degrees). So if your water is 40 degrees entering the unit, it will be 100 degrees when it comes out. There are some adjustments, but on the Bosch I have here, it is just a knob that you turn. Solar compatible units monitor the incoming temp of the water and only apply enough energy to heat it to a certain temperature, thereby using a LOT LESS ENERGY in the process.
The problem is that the Takagi uses natural gas or propane. Combustion is not allowed!! To add another layer of complexity, we are going to have a Hydronic Radiant Floor Heating System, which is a closed loop system, therefore needing it's own heater as well. We had thought that we would get an air to water heat pump to be used solely for the floor heat. Keep the systems separate...Simple enough right? Wrong.
The heat pump is run on electricity which helps us with the renewables requirement but the one that we have been looking at, The Daikin Altherma, also has a domestic water piece. So, it can be the domestic water heater for those gloomy months. OH... it also has a solar preheat piece. So now we have the possibility of having two separate systems that do exactly the same thing but in totally different ways. Can we have one system do everything?
We have a call into a friend who is using the Daikin in his house and this will hopefully give us some answers. Like... how exactly does one heater give both water for hydronics and domestic hot water? Do we end up drinking water that has run through the tubing used to heat our house? Will a tankless water heater fill the bill for the hydronic system (we wish that it was electric). What is the actual cost? The Takagi is less than $1000 and it seems like the Daikin is over $10,000. If this was only about the cost, I think it would be easy but then there is the efficiency factor. Heat pumps are super efficient while the tankless water heater might be expensive to operate because we will be using Propane.
This video might help:
If anyone has a comment or opinion, we would love to hear from you. :)
This is a video of the first certified passive house on the west coast. It is located in Salem. Our house has a passive design but after talking to our solar contractor, we were uncertain if passive even works here. This video reassured us that we are on the right track and that our efforts will not be in vain. Many thanks to KATU for running this story.
Please pardon the interruption of our regularly scheduled program of the Health Petal to bring some information that we just learned. Our site has awesome solar access. Ryan and I took the Pathfinder tool to the property site yesterday and conducted a Solar Survey.
In a nutshell, this device has a compass and some special paper. Stand at the place where you think you want to put your solar panels. Ideally, get up on something high so that you can duplicate the height of the panels. We did ours on the ground. Doing this skews the results to the conservative side.
Point the tool to TRUE SOUTH. In our area that means 165 degrees. Place the dome over the paper and reflected on the dome are all of the possible sources of shadow or sun blockage. On the paper is the path of the sun at the various times of the year. Trace the shadows on the dome to the paper. Add up all of the values, factor in the angle of the panels (you can use 100% value if your panels are mounted at the optimum 33-37.8 degrees of tilt, which ours will be). The result is the percentage sun exposure of your site. You will be able to see on the paper, where the sun will be every month of the year approximately. It's pretty cool.
According to our survey, we have 83.1% solar exposure!!!
This is a conservative value as we were at ground level, used only the full values on the paper and the fact that we may be cutting down one or more of the trees that you can see on the bottom right of the paper (one is dead).
This is another one that is kind of a big deal. For the purposes of the pilot project, strict compliance with this petal is not required. We only have to use 25% of the energy that an average house would normally use.
"The intent of the Energy Petal is to signal a new age of design, wherein the built environment relies solely on renewable forms of energy and operates year round in a pollution-free manner.
In addition, it aims to prioritize reductions and optimization before technological solutions are applied to eliminate wasteful spending – of energy, resources, and dollars. The majority of energy generated today is from highly unsustainable sources including coal, gas, oil and nuclear power. Large-scale hydro, while inherently cleaner, results in widespread damage to ecosystems. Burning wood, trash or pellets releases particulates and carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and often strains local supplies of sustainably harvested biomass. The effects of these energy sources on regional and planetary health are becoming increasingly evident through climate change, the most worrisome major global trend attributed to human activity"
The Energy Petal:
Net-Zero Energy = One hundred percent of the project’s energy needs must be supplied by on-site renewable energy on a net annual basis.
Again, if you are thinking that this one seems hard, it's because you are not in the conservation mode already. I go into peoples homes for my job and I am almost constantly amazed at how wasteful most people are. Even those who are on the edge of being able to make it. The TV is always on, or the heat is turned up, or the dryer is going non-stop in the middle of summer. I know that I sound preachy and it is not my intent. I just don't get it. Maybe someone can explain it to me. For us, we hope to comply with this Petal and then some. We are extremely excited about trying and we will probably throw a big party when we do. Woo Hoo!!
From here on out, the Living Building Challenge 2.0 gets a little touchy feely. The Health Petal is next. I am hoping that you will see what I mean. Peace out for now.
"The intent of the Water Petal is to realign how people use water and redefine ‘waste’ in the built environment, so that water is respected as a precious resource. Scarcity of potable water is quickly becoming a serious issue as many countries around the world face severe shortages and compromised water quality. Even regions that have avoided the majority of these problems to date due to a historical presence of abundant fresh water are at risk: the impacts of climate change, highly unsustainable water use patterns, and the continued drawdown of major aquifers portent significant problems ahead."
The Water Petal:
Net-Zero Water = One hundred percent of occupants’ water use must come from captured precipitation or closed loop water systems that account for downstream ecosystem impacts and that are appropriately purified without the use of chemicals.
Ecological Water Flow = One hundred percent of storm water and building water discharge must be managed onsite to feed the project’s internal water demands or released onto adjacent sites for management through acceptable natural time-scale surface flow, groundwater recharge, agricultural use or adjacent building needs.
I'll let you think about exactly what that means for now. We will be complying with this petal 100% and are extremely excited about doing so. Stay Tuned. The Energy Petal is next.
In a nutshell, a Living Building is a building that has a footprint (water, energy, pollution, asthetics, etc... ) of as close to zero as possible.
In the heavily rule intensive and regulated world bureaucracy that we live in, a Living Building is a building that complies to all 7 "Petals" with 20 related "Imperatives" of the Living Building Challenge 2.0. administered / created / overseen by the International Living Building Institute (ILBI).
Site Petal: Restoring a healthy coexistence with nature.
Limits to Growth = Projects may only be built on greyfields or brownfields – previously developed sites that are not classified as any of the following:
On or adjacent to sensitive ecological habitats such as:
• wetlands: maintain at least 15 meters, and up to 70 meters of separation
• primary dunes: maintain at least 40 meters of separation
• old-growth forest: maintain at least 60 meters of separation
• virgin prairie: maintain at least 30 meters of separation
• prime farmland
• within the 100-year flood plain
Project teams must document conditions prior to the start of work. On-site landscape may only include native and/or naturalized species planted in such a way that emulates density and biodiversity of indigenous ecosystems and supports succession.
Urban Agriculture = All projects must integrate opportunities for agriculture appropriate to the scale and density of the project using its Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.) as the basis for calculation.
Habitat Exchange = For each hectare of development, an equal amount of land must be set-aside in perpetuity as part of a habitat exchange.
Car Free Living = Each new project should contribute towards the creation of walkable, pedestrian-oriented communities.
You may be scratching your head about now because this seems pretty tough. You're right!! That's why there are hardly any of these homes built anywhere. I guess the phrase, "Go Big, or Go Home." comes to mind. Luckily for us here in Clark County, we have a hybrid of sorts. A pilot project where we don't have to adhere to all of the Imperatives.
You see the people in Clark County have enough vision to realize that it's not an all or nothing game that we are playing. Some of the Imperatives are so far out of most peoples boxes that there is no way it has a chance of catching on with Joe Public, not to mention Joe Legislator or even Josephine City Official. That's why this pilot project is so awesome. We are going to get to try out some stuff that would never, ever fly in this day and age. Remember when everyone had a clothesline? In my mind, it's the same era as when you could swim in the river without worrying about getting sick? We are going back to stuff that makes sense. I hope that you keep coming back here.
The next post will cover the WATER PETAL. That one's really going to blow your mind
We are Paige and Ryan, a married couple in Vancouver, WA. We have always been green. More in the "Look at all of the money we are saving!" way then in the, "Neither of us bathe in anything but patchouli oil and watch how we shun society.", way.
We live in a house that I bought in 1993. Many of my 18 years here have been spent as a single, workaholic with the obligatory 2 dogs as companion/guard dogs. As we embark on our "dream" project, a little history is required.
About 15 years ago, I had a little accident in the basement and was introduced to the concept of "grey water". I had no idea that every time I threw a few clothes into the washer that 40 gallons of water (40 GALLONS!!!) were being flushed down the drain. Maybe I'm weird, but 40 gallons seemed like a lot to me and I was ALWAYS doing laundry. That started my little experiment.
Now, I don't think that I went crazy by any means, but some of the people that I dated probably did. Once I learned that my sewer rates were based on my water usage during the summer, I embarked on a quest to see how low I could get my water, and by extension, my sewer bill. Soon I was using all of that water on my roses and lawn. I started capturing the dish and shower water also. My usage dropped quickly and soon I discovered that I could do everything I wanted water-wise and use about one unit per month (745.8 gallons). It's too bad that the City of Vancouver's Water Department only lets your bill go so low. For years, our water bill has been $53 every two months.
On those months that we falter and use more water, the bill only goes up a little which is a bummer because there is little incentive to conserve. Aside from the cell phone and Internet, the water bill is our highest utility bill. The electricity bill is another matter.
Living alone for years, my electricity bill was around the same every month. My usage, having a TV, two computers, an old refrigerator, furnace and various other appliances was always between 7- 8 KwH per day. Having an unstable job, I was always looking to save money. I dutifully swapped out my bulbs to compact fluorescents and turned out lights when not in the room, etc... Then, in 1996, my Grandmother moved in. [cue ominous music] .... Overnight my electric bill went into orbit. Who knew that one kindly old lady would need so many freezers. so many freezers Her penchant to crank the heat up and leave every light in the house on at all times along with the attitude that she could afford to pay the electric bill, so why should she care what it was. I remember one summer month when the electric bill was $50!! It had never been that high before. She didn't care. She said, "I'm like the Indians. You can't change me." My Grandmother lived through the Great Depression for goodness sakes!!! I was amazed at her attitude. I am sure that she was shocked by my thrifty habits as well but these habits have kept me living within my means through many a rough patch. When Grandmother moved out in 2001, my electric usage went back down and stayed there! Take that!!
In 2005, I met the love of my life, Ryan. For us, being green is a fun game that we play. The prize being freedom. This blog is about our new project. A house in Washougal that we are going to build. A living house.
Here we will chronicle our journey to research new technologies, plans that we make, resources that we find and this will house our documents and show you how awesome it is to be green!!!
According to our survey, we have 83.1% solar exposure!!!