Big Dig & Fly Ash

Here are some views of the excavation in progress.

When we finished excavating and the next step was to pour the concrete foundation.
We went with a concrete mixture which contained 30% fly ash, a byproduct of coal burning power plants. Fly ash in cement diverts waste from landfills and replaces Portland cement which is energy-intensive to process.
Check out these facts...

For every ton of fly ash used [to replace portland cement]–

· Enough energy is saved to provide electricity to an average American home for 24 days.

· The landfill space conserved equals 455 days of solid waste produced by the avg. American.

· The reduction in CO2 emissions equals 2 months of emissions from an automobile

UPDATE: Excavation Underway at Gregorio Residence

Click To Enlarge

The mini-excavator and our crew were busy on June 18 preparing for the foundation of the green addition to the Gregorio residence. Below is a close up of the Structural Insulated Panels (or SIPs) that will be assembled to create the floors and walls of the addition. These panels consist of dense, 10" layer of foam sandwiched between large sheets of engineered wood panels. This combination creates an insulation barrier that outperforms traditional fiberglass batt insulation up to 300%.

Closeup of SIPs Onsite (Click To Enlarge)

Check back for more pictures of our progress on this exciting project!