High Efficiency Spray Foam Creates Fully Sealed Envelope and Saves Wood

For the Go Green Home we decided to use NCFI's eco-concious spray foam for insulation purposes. When inside the home, you can see and feel an insulation that protects indoor air quality and maintains its insulating value for the life of the home. We also saved on 30% of our lumber consumption by using the spray foam insulation due to its superb sealant qualities and extensive coverage area. Not only does it benefit the builders, but as a homeowner, you can save up to 40% a month on energy costs. Our spray foam boasts an impressive R Value (measure of thermal resistance) of 6.4 per inch due to it's closed-cell technology, which prohibits pests and acts as a natural mold inhibitor for the walls. It also acts a complete air and vapor barrier, perfectly sealing all cracks and gaps, conforming to any space possible. NCFI guarantees that the spray foam will never sag or settle, thus maintaining it's insulating value for the life of the home.

Rainwater Harvest Will Yield Sustainable Bounty

The average American family of four consumes anywhere from 900 to 1200 liters of water daily…
Harvesting rainwater offers many advantages: it conserves municipal and well water; it is free; gravity fed systems conserve energy; it is low in salts and good for plants; and it can reduce flooding and erosion. Rainwater provides an excellent primary, supplementary, or alternative source of water.
The rainwater cistern is historically an underground basin of water, but it can also be an above ground barrel or tank. Cisterns are used to make sure that water is not contaminated nor suffers from evaporation. The rainwater cistern can hold large amounts of water and is completely sealed from contaminants, except those in the water itself. Historically cisterns are put underground because it is one of the safest places to put something that is to be kept under constant temperature. Good materials for cisterns include plastic liners or membrane material in wood frames, ceramic, and fiberglass. Tanks are heavily pigmented to deter algae growth. The two main reasons why people use cisterns are either for the sake of survival in a place where the only potable water is rainwater, or ecological awareness in search of sustainability. A rainwater cistern needs to offer enough capacity to collect enough useable water from a catchment surface.
At the Go Green Home we installed a below-ground 1200 gallon water cistern made of plastic that is approved by the FDA for potable water.
During the 1970s California encouraged water conservation with the California Water Conservation Tax Law. This law provided tax credits up to $3,000 for implementation of rainwater, greywater, or combined storage cisterns or other water conservation devices. However, in 1982 the law was repealed.

On Feb 27, 2009, the state declared a historic declaration of drought, so it is clear that now is the time to start doing things differently.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

The amount of daylight in this house is incredible! Even now as the walls are filled in, there is so much light in every space, that one barely needs artificial lighting until the sun goes down. To make sure we’re not letting in too much heat along with all of the light we’re inviting in, we went with dual pane windows with low-e glazing. To compliment the style of the home we chose aluminum frames. What sets these apart from other aluminum windows is that they are thermally broken. A thermal break is a non-metallic resin or plastic material installed in the metallic window frame that physically separates the interior part of the window from the exterior part. Hence, the pathway for heat energy to be transferred or conducted through the window frame is thermally broken. The space between the panes of glass is filled with argon gas and continuous warm edge spacers which reduces temperature conductivity. The windows are glazed with the most advanced low-e coating, a microscopic coating on glass that deflects heat but lets in light.
The Heritage Thermal break system is the thermal strut system which offers better U-values and higher structural strength.

Weather Protection System

Once the exposed wood elements of the building were all protected with Bora-Care, the non-toxic termite insecticide, a layer of protective housewrap has been firmly secured around the building [see diagram above]. This additional step is a preventive measure that is essential to protecting the exposed wood frame from water and ultra-violet rays during the construction stage. A good housewrap not only keeps water out but also is “breathable”, allowing damageable moisture to escape while limiting inward movement of moisture.

We have partnered with Typar on this project. Unsurpassed in water holdout capacity and superior tear strength, Typar has the perfect balance of strength and breathability. The Typar Weather Protection System is made with recycled content and complements indoor air quality with its low-VOC composition and reduces the risk of water intrusion which can lead to mold growth.

Solar at The Go Green Home