Keeping Your House Cool (Without Cranking up the AC!)

What a crazy summer it’s been here in DC! We survived an earthquake, a hurricane, and brutal, record-setting high temperatures. But even with temperatures routinely creeping over 100 degrees, I’m happy to say that our clients remained cool and comfortable in their new and remodeled homes.

At Arlington Designer Homes, we create efficient housing that keeps you warm during the winter and COOL during the summer. Part of our process is using 3^rd party raters to help us identify any issues that could compromise the integrity of the building envelope and affect your comfort during extreme temperatures like those we have had here over the past two years.

Even a small oversight in the building envelope can lead to major climate changes within the house. For example, a small nail hole in the siding can allow heat and cold to enter the house. It can also provide an entrance for undesirable creatures like termites or ants, and it can provide an opening for water and humidity to enter the house, leading to mold and other hazards. We have all our homes tested to 3^rd party raters, who check the building envelop in a number of ways to ensure there aren’t any holes or gaps. (And if they do identify any problems, we are able to fix them before our clients move in.)

We also use the finest materials and the most up-to-date technologies to ensure your comfort while keeping your home green and energy-efficient. For example, the installation of Energy Star roofing shingles helps to mitigate heat gain during the summer and heat loss during the winter. Energy Star-approved shingles help to reflect UV rays that cause heat gain and can help keep your house cooler during hot summers. This means you won’t have to crank the air conditioning up as high, saving energy and money. Our systems are designed to operate as efficiently as possible when the climate is at its most inefficient.

We take precautions to ensure that during the most extreme times, our homes still perform the way that we expect them to and the way our clients have come to expect.

The Green Building Certification Process

As you know, Arlington Designer Homes just recently certified another Gold house to the National Standard (see our last blog post). After certifying the first Gold NAHB Research Center house in Arlington, we have been lucky enough to work with our customers to certify the first NAHB Research center Gold home in Falls Church too. This is 1 of the 3 Gold homes by Arlington Designer Homes, Inc. and only the 5^th certified home in the entire state of Virginia (3 of which are by Arlington Designer Homes).

Certifying a home to the National Standard is a complicated process that involves three distinct stages. The first stage is the research and planning phase, the second stage is construction of the house and the third and final stage is the third party inspection and certification. All are critical and important aspects of not only certifying a house but also being able to prove that it performs to the highest standard that we expect from all the homes we build.

In the planning stage it is important to select appropriate materials that qualify for points in the categories that you will need to collect points in. The National Standard has 6 chapters. Chapters 1-4 deal with the now phased out National Guidelines. The National Standard chapters are:

            5- Lot design, preparation and development;

            6- Resource efficiency;

            7- Energy efficiency;

            8- Water efficiency;

            9- Indoor air quality;

            10- Operation, maintenance and building owner education.

Each chapter has a required number of points that you must achieve to be able to claim Bronze, Silver, Gold or Emerald. If you fall below a certification in any category, your whole project drops to that lowest certification. You must keep your eye on the goal throughout the entire project because it is a complicated process.

During construction you must make sure that all aspects of the design are being incorporated and document the whole process. We take pictures, get signatures, bills of lading, certifications from owners, arborists, supervisors, all sorts of things that we will be required to document in the final phase of the process. It is important to make sure that all parties involved in the project are aware of the end goals in the certification of the house. Each member of our team plays an important role in every aspect of the green certification process.

Blower door test during green building certification process

The final phase of the process is third party certifications. This entails calling in a HERS rater to do duct blower tests on our HVAC systems and a whole house air leakage test. As luck would have it our HERS rater is also our NAHB Research center certification expert as well. So my rater and I conduct extensive tests on the system to determine the HERS score and then we go even further, and get into more detail to analyze all the documentation we must provide to become certified.

To become NAHB Gold certified my rater and I spend hours going over every point of the house, from recycled content in the drywall to how our HVAC ducts are run. I show up with my files and am prepared to explain how every aspect of the house that I built performs to the standard I claim it does. While all aspects of this process are extremely important I think that this one is especially important. Many people say that they are building green, but can they prove it? That is what third party verification does. We have two third party entities, our HERS rater and NAHB Research center independent monitor, that oversee our green ratings. To me this is the mark of a true green builder, someone who is able to prove how their house performs and back up all of their claims with hard evidence.

Arlington Designer Homes is proud to be a part of the process and particularly proud to certify another Gold home in Northern Virginia.

A Green Building First in Falls Church

I’m really pleased to announce that Arlington Designer Homes recently received the first two Gold-level Green Building Certifications in Falls Church from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center. These new, custom-built green homes, both located on West Street in Falls Church city, are two of only five houses in the entire state of Virginia to be certified at the Gold level. (Arlington Designer Homes also received the first Gold-level Green Building Certification in Arlington last year, for a home on Underwood Street.)

                                                                                                                    

The two new homes will also receive Energy Star certification and will be certified by the Falls Church City Green Home Award Program. One of the two homes was custom designed for the homeowners, who moved into their new home late last year. The second home, located at 307 West Street, was just completed last week and is currently for sale.

Each of these elegant, contemporary homes includes numerous unique green features that reduce energy costs, including Energy Star appliances, spray-in foam insulation, geo-thermal heating and air conditioning, and exterior rigid foam insulation to prevent heat loss. The green features included in these homes will combine to reduce energy costs by up to 50%, prevent toxic off-gassing, seal out mold, allergens and pollutants, and significantly reduce the homes’ carbon output.



Our award-winning new green home located at 307 West Street in Falls Church city features contemporary design, a beautiful gourmet kitchen and an open floor plan.



The National Green Building certification process includes inspections and review of lot and site development, resource efficiency, energy efficiency, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and homeowner education.

Many people think that building a green home just means including the newest green technology, but we strive to incorporate green practices during every step of the design and construction process. One of the most important green features of these homes is actually their location. We selected lots close to public transportation – less than half a mile from a metro station -- and within walking distance of restaurants, shops, a library and a bike trail, to help reduce the amount of time the homeowners will have to spend in their cars.

The new green home located at 307 West Street in Falls Church City is currently for sale, and will be open for the Virginia Parade of Homes this Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1, from 11am to 5pm, so please stop by and tour this great house!

Spring in DC

As the cherry blossoms start to bloom and we brace ourselves to take my 2-year-old son to the kite festival on the mall for the first time, I will diverge from my usual discussions here. I want to talk a little bit about the Washington D.C. area. Having been born in Washington D.C. and having lived my whole life in Arlington, I am something of a rarity around here - a native.

The Washington Metro area is such a great place to live. Our proximity to so many things and the high standard of living we enjoy here has kept me here my whole life. Especially in spring, I feel fortunate to live in this area. I can take the opportunity to hit a golf ball up the 14^th fairway at Hains Point, where I have my very own private showing of cherry blossoms, or walk along the Potomac River and maybe catch a glimpse of a passing bald eagle.

We have a lot of plans this spring and summer. We’re going to catch a few concerts at Wolf Trap and Merriweather Post Pavilion – great outdoor venues. We’ll slip into D.C. on a warm spring night and see a free performance at the Kennedy Center’s Millenium stage. Wander over past the Iwo Jima memorial and take in the beauty and solemnity of Arlington Cemetery and visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  And we’ll tour the world while staying in Arlington, going out to eat.  One night it will be Thai, then Ethiopian, then a great burger from Ray’s Hell burger.  All pretty cheap, and all delicious.

In short, if you are lucky enough to be from Northern Virginia, then you know what I mean when I say there is no better place to be when the cherry blossoms are blooming. It means you are in for a great spring in a great place.

How Your House Can Help You Breathe Better

The crocuses are starting to bloom, the daffodils are coming up and the days are getting longer. All this means spring to me. And unfortunately, with spring come spring rains and allergens. Moisture and allergies are two major reasons why Arlington Designer Homes is investing in improved indoor air quality. The other day I went to a seminar about the new Energy Star standards and a less well known program by the EPA called Indoor Air Plus. Most people are at least aware of the Energy Star program, but many people I talk to are not aware of the Indoor Air Plus program. I think this is perhaps because unless you are personally affected by poor indoor air quality (IAQ), you might not even think about it.

The seminar I attended summarized the issue well:

People are increasingly concerned about mold, radon, carbon monoxide, and toxic chemicals commonly found in homes. In fact, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies show that levels of air pollution inside the home are often two to five times higher than outdoor levels. And poor indoor air quality is associated with a host of health problems, including eye irritation, allergies, headaches, and respiratory problems such as asthma.

Many things go into creating good indoor air quality in your home.  It is important to make sure that your home is moisture free, pest free and has adequate ventilation. It’s also important that you perform regular checks on the upkeep of your home. Every time you change the clocks (like this past weekend for Daylight Savings Time) you should also take the time to change the batteries in your fire alarm, and check the caulking and overall alignment of your house.

Over time, your house shifts, expands and contracts, and the sealants that are used both inside and outside can expand, contract, crack or simply wear out. Once there is an entrance to your house via a crack or contraction, it is an open invitation to moisture, mold, pests – all things that will lower the indoor air quality of your home.  And if the ventilation in your house is inadequate, it can lead to the build up of nitric oxide, radon, formaldehyde, and other harmful gases or chemicals.

When building a new home, or undertaking a remodeling project, we use green building techniques to address these potential problems before they occur. The first thing we do is create a tight building envelope. (Check out this video series from NAHB for more details about keeping moisture out when constructing a home.) This not only helps with energy efficiency but also serves to block out moisture and air infiltration which can bring in allergens. Of course, once you have blocked exterior causes from becoming a factor you need to take a look at the interior. That is why so much attention is paid to ventilation, making sure that we are getting moisture out of the house with bath fans, and introducing fresh air in a controlled manner with Energy Recovery Ventilators.  Next we must control Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs – chemical gasses emitted by paints and other building materials that can adversely affect your health. We control VOCs and the introduction of formaldehyde by simply eliminating it from our construction materials. One of the last parts of the green process is verifying that our techniques work.

All green programs that are worthwhile require 3^rd party certifications that independently check all the information provided. They use the checklists provided by the EPA, Energy Star, and any other relevant green building programs to analyze how the whole system works. It is just another type of check and balance to make sure that the systems we have designed and installed work as they should.

A Green Home Can Also Be a Quiet Home!

2010 was a very busy year for Arlington Designer Homes, culminating with our delivering a new custom home just before the new year - a pretty nice holiday gift for our customers, and for us too! It's always exciting to finish a project and and see the homeowners move in to their new house. As I mentioned in last week's blog, we always look forward to hearing what our homeowners have to say about the house after they've gotten a chance to live in it for a little while -  what we did right, and what can be improved upon. One thing that that our customers and I have noticed about this particular project, a single-family green home we built in Falls Church City, is how quiet the house is. With a geo-thermal heating and air conditioning system installed, there's no noisy racket from air conditioners in the summer or the furnace in the winter. All you can hear is silence. The spray foam insulation also helps to mute any external noises, and with the highly energy-efficient windows, you barely even hear the sounds of buses and cars passing on the fairly busy road right in front of the home.

Most of us who work in green construction regularly promote the more well-known benefits of green homes: increased energy efficiency, reduced energy costs, improved air quality, a smaller environmental footprint, etc. But sometimes we forget to talk about the more intangible, but equally important benefits - like having a little bit more peace and quiet in your life.

Just like in other urban areas around the country, here in Northern Virginia, most of us live in close proximity to our neighbors. And as more and more communities in the DC metro area continue to promote "smart growth" - encouraging people to live in higher density areas where they can easily access public transporation, reduce energy costs, and avoid developing more land -- people in our area will likely be living ever closer to one another, and to major roads and public transporation routes. Living in a high density areas can offer many benefits, but often, peace and quiet isn't one of them. But even if you live in a highly-developed urban setting, with firetrucks and ambulances and buses zooming by at all hours of the day and night, with a little thought and attention to detail, you can still create a sense of quiet inside your home, and inside yourself.

Green Building Techniques Aren’t Just “One Size Fits All”

Arlington Designer Homes recently completed a new, custom green house for a family in Arlington, following the National Green Building Guidelines. Now that the homeowners have been in their new house for several months, I took the opportunity to speak with them about the overall operation of the house. My customers told me that were very happy with how temperate and comfortable with house has been over a very cold winter spell here in Northern Virginia. Thanks to the tight building envelop, advanced insulation package, energy-efficient windows and doors, and other features, this family has been able to stay warm in their new home without getting hit with enormous gas and electric bills.

However, as we spoke further, the homeowners told me there were other features they didn’t like as much. We had installed a manifold system for all hot water fixtures in the house. This means that every fixture in the house runs directly to the hot water heater. (Normally, all fixtures would be on one piping system, so if you turn on the hot water in the kitchen sink, the water going to the upstairs showers will also heat up.) The idea behind a manifold system is that if we install smaller diameter piping directly to the fixture in use, you will waste less hot water. You’ll save energy by not having to heat up water that will not be used in the pipes, and save water by using the same principle -- less water wasted while waiting for hot water.

The national green standard that we adhered to mandated that we have less than 6 cups of water (48 oz) in any line between the hot water heater and the fixture. This means that from the time you turn on the water, no more than 6 cups of water would be wasted before you are getting hot water from the hot water heater. The concept is a good one, and might work well given the right living situation, particularly for a smaller family that doesn’t use much hot water. However, in practice, this family doesn’t think it is the best system for them. Because they have a larger family with many people using hot water in different parts of the house, they actually feel it might be more efficient for them to have a more standard system.

Working on the frontline of green building and green certifications means that sometimes we install ‘green’ features that might not be right for the way a specific family lives. I think this was the case with my past client. We, and our clients, all aspire to live smarter, and have less of an impact on our planet, but green homes aren’t “one size fits all.”

Because new green technologies are constantly being developed and approved, we, as the builders, need to use all the resources we have to make sure each feature is a good fit for the customers we’re working with. This is where the hours and days spent taking building science courses and talking to professionals in the field pay off. As a general contractor, it is my responsibility to make sure that all the systems of the house work in harmony together. I need to take into account what a change in one material or system will do to the system as a whole. It’s also extremely important to work one-on-one with each client, to learn about their specific needs, and to determine which green features will work best for the way they live. This type of interaction isn’t always possible – for instance, when working on a spec house. But when we have the opportunity to design and build a custom for a specific client from day one, then we do everything we can to ensure that the green features we choose will be the best fit for that client’s needs and lifestyle.

The green building industry is continually developing better and better systems that help a house not only perform better, but also make a house more comfortable. However, from time to time, the better system is not necessarily the best system for a particular family, as was the case with my homeowner. Would I install a water manifold again? Probably, given the right circumstances. But it will all depend on the needs of our clients, and how all the green features in the home will work together to create the most efficient and comfortable home possible.