Any suggestions on builders/architects in the Northeast?

 Just starting to think seriously about building a efficient house.  If you
guys had to start from scratch, what would you do?
I'm thinking for a minimum:  Passive solar house layout, Rainwater flush
toilets, icynene insulation, PV array for appliances, solar hot water...
Not sure about a wind turbine, probably won't deal with net metering, at
least not at first.
Any thoughts or advise would be appreciated, including designers,
architects, builders...
-Eric

  Find a builder that is totally educated on the techniques. The basic
building techniques in the newer code books save a lot of energy also.
A good builder will know these newer techniques.

It will most likely be very expensive and depending on your age, never
pay for itself. Stick with the more economical methods. Take on for
the team.

 Eric wrote:

| Just starting to think seriously about building a efficient house.
| If you guys had to start from scratch, what would you do?

[1] Put together an overall project plan - a sort of personal 'to do'
list - identifying as many as possible of the things you feel you need
to learn about, and a sub-plan for discovering those you don't now
know about. Spell out goals, objectives, and constraints.

[2] Put together a resource inventory - identifying sources of
information that can be re-visited.

[3] Put together a flexible project schedule. Starting out with
wishful thinking is ok, but you'll want to set some project milestones
and make (possibly frequent)  revisions as you go. Use the schedule to
enforce some minimum of project discipline on all participants -
including yourself. As the project becomes more crisply defined, the
schedule should firm up - not to the point of brittleness, but firm
enough that there is a clear completion time for every necessary
activity. A good architect should be able to help a lot with this.

| I'm thinking for a minimum:  Passive solar house layout, Rainwater
| flush toilets, icynene insulation, PV array for appliances, solar
| hot water... Not sure about a wind turbine, probably won't deal
| with net metering, at least not at first.

Ok, you're nibbling at the edges of your overall plan...

| Any thoughts or advise would be appreciated, including designers,
| architects, builders...

Nearly impossible to do without some notion (and please don't put it
on the internet) of the resources you have available for the project.

Designers and architects make a good starting point. Ask them for
suggestions about how to proceed and for recommendations on who does
really well at what you're interested in having done. Note that you
may be choosing players for a team, since everything you want may not
be available under a single roof.

For example, I happen to really like streamline modern style - so I
might wind up pairing an architect who lives and breathes streamline
modern with another who has particularly strong expertise in energy
efficiency but doesn't really "get" streamline modern. If I had
sufficient resources I might add another player who had a knack for
translating my particular living/working modes into floor plans
especially suited to /my/ use of the space.

All of this is just /one/ person's thoughts - hammered out in a hurry.
I'm not an architect or builder - not even a plumber or electrician.
It's probably worth about what you paid for it... <g>

...but I hope it helps.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

 

I did start from scratch. Structural Insulated Panels. Serious
foundation insulation (outside the foundation) and drainage. Radiant
heat tubing in concrete slab, well insulated from ground/foundation
walls. A roof with room for 14" of cellulose insulation. Good windows.
Good doors. Not too many of either.

What I'm doing involves me (beg pardon, that's Vern A. Cular) as the
architect and builder, and I won't do yours (but he will, if you do ;-)).

Beware 1970's (or 1970's style) "passive solar" designs that only work
well in Phoenix AZ or similar locations - they stink in the Northeast
USA, where cold and cloudy stretches can drag on. The benefit of actual
solar collectors is that they don't waste house heat during long
stretches of cloudy weather (and nights), and they can be diverted to
not overheat the house when the sun comes out.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

 wrote:


What you've described is a money pit.

First thing I'd do is choose a place to live where electricity is cheap and the
climate mild.  Oh wait, I've already done that.

If I wanted a truly efficient house, I'd go underground.  Come to think of it,
that's
what I'm about to do too.

The next biggest improvement is to build only the house you need and not the
house
that tries to convince the neighbors that your pecker isn't teeny.  I'm the polar
opposite of an econazi but even I'm starting to take offense to some of the
McMansions that I'm seeing going up in this region.

Passive solar's OK if the view is good in that direction.  I'd rather go active
solar
to free up the design for what I want and not what the sun dictates.
Super-efficient
insulation is obviously cost-effective.  Solar water heating is also OK but not
great.  PVs?  If you have grid power, forget it.  Put the money you didn't spend
in
the bank and retire early.  Or if you feel the urge to blow the money, build a
bonfire using greenbacks.  If you can use geo-sourced HVAC then that's a big win.

But going underground is probably the single largest improvement that you can
make.
HVAC becomes trivial when the outside conditions remain in the ~55 deg range.

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com  <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
What do you call 4 Blondes in an Abrams?  Air Tank.