[Greenbuilding] Detailed Green and Lumber saving Techniques(Builder's Guide to Cold Climates)

[Lawrence Lile]

>  I am working on house plans (1400sf)  to be built this summer.  Slab
on

grade, FPSF, solar hot water, otherwise very simple, one roof line.

 

 

Tom, 

 

What's FPSF? 

 

Good idea to keep the roofline simple, that saves a lot of framing.  

 

Here are some mistakes I made on a recent house that added hidden costs,
and tricks I've used to reduce costs:

 

1.  Tall spaces.  They add a lot of hidden labor and work on scaffolds.
Not that you should avoid them altogether, just keep them to a minimum
floor area and a minimum height. 

 

2. If you use a manabloc plumbing manifold, put it right next to the hot
water heater, on a wall backed right up to your bathroom and within 20
feet of your kitchen.  Centralizing the plumbing core saves on pipe and
labor.  Also put the water heater on an outside wall to minimize vent
pipe. Spend the money you saved on a good tankless water heater.  And
put a water softener on the hot water if your water is at all hard, so
save the water heater from scale. Make sure your tankelss heater is made
to have solar water boost input, some aren't 

 

3.   Floor heat is a nice luxury, but expensive to put in, you have to
put in an air handler and air conditioning compressor anyway so you
don't save anything on ductwork.  If you want the luxury, fine.  If you
do, insulate directly under the entire slab, unlike some of the details
you see on the 'net.  

 

4. Use stained concrete - it is beautiful, durable and scandalously
cheap. 

 

5.  Have a second floor?  Skip the sheetrock on the first floor ceiling.
Use joists on 48" centers with toungue and groove 1-1/2" flooring.  It's
the ceiling below, the floor above.  It costs more than plywood to put
in, but the whole system is way cheaper than sheetrock, subfloor,
carpet, and so forth. Grind off all that gunk that the carpenters spill
on it with a floor sander last thing on the job.  Run your electrical in
a slot in the middle of a beam, completely hidden from view.  

 

Check the blog below for more:

 

Lawrence Lile, PE, LEED AP

http://members.socket.net/~llile/buildgreen/buildgreen.htm