Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Finishing Blue2

Hi again,
Last Monday, July 12, one would never believe our goal was to finish on Friday. The place was torn up and busy all week but it all came together by Thursday at at 4:00. These reports are near an end. It has been a kind and wonderful past five months or so. Our team effort has been mind boggling and Blue2 is about to stand on its own. The next time I see Blue2 [after a week away] it will be occupied.
Thank You cannot express the depth of honor it has been for me birthing this new house into Point Reyes. I never knew I could have such joy going to work every day..........Terry

Dwayne Hope, on left, taking the first bite of the old driveway/parking area. Actually almost half the north side of the property was open to parking. With the new plan, half of that will be paths and garden area.

This is what retirement looks like to someone who is passionate about community service. Jim has been a sentinel of the finishing stages of Blue2.

Dwayne Hope tamping the newly defined parking area.

Barry Linder and Jorge clear-coated the cabinet door fronts.

The Finishing Committee.

Laying out the path to the back of the Blue House.

The final plumbing for hot water. Hot water production (washing/cleaning) consumes at least 15% of a typical household's energy use. We expect this system with the roof panels will supply around 90% of that demand. Space heating typically requires about 30-40% of energy use. This system should provide about 90% of the heat required for the house.

In typical (old school) building practices many claims are made as to the performance and results of a product or an assembly of products. But in the end there is no accurate accountability for the performance of the building. In Passive House methodology, there is an energy modeling done of all of the components of the house before it is built, they are then tracked for performance after they are built. Blue2 will be monitored as time goes by to see just how much and how it uses its energy. The goals for the Passive House in Europe are around a 80%-90% reduction in energy usage and so far they have been meeting and often exceeding that goal.

Marshall Livingston, myself, Nancy Stein, Sam Grant, Toni Littlejohn and Jim Campe were sucked into the vortex the grand finale of Blue2.

Bill Logan's last day.

Joel Langdon's last day.

Rudy and Dan's (of Sebastopol Heat and Cool) last day. They are fine tuning the air supply ducts of the HRV.

This is Tom Tiller, the Marin County Building Inspector signing off the final inspection of the Blue2. Yes it's over!!!! Tom has been a big fan of this project. You can tell by his smile he is happy to be the one to launch Blue2 into community service.

Bill Kelley on left, the head of the Marin County Building Department, came with Tom on Thursday. He is interested in our project and the goals of a super energy efficient house. He and James Bill had a deep and lengthy conversation on how to integrate the principles of a Passive House into the Marin County building codes. Toni Littlejohn, not seen on left, has been filming the entire building process, since dirt day one and will eventually edit a final film to be released in your local living rooms of West Marin and beyond.

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