Spring Cleaning Tips and Tricks

The weather is warming up, the scent of flowers is in the air and bird’s songs greet us in the morning.

It must be Spring!

I always enjoy throwing the windows open to allow fresh air to blow through my home in the Springtime.  But then the urge to freshen up the rest of the house moves me to get cleaning.  It can be a daunting task but getting organized helps make the job manageable – both in time and materials.  Here are some tips and tricks to try to keep our homes and neighborhoods green.

I read this information recently in a blog called Finely Ground that you might find useful.  She has taken the job of spring cleaning and made a list of each task.  This makes the smaller tasks more manageable.

The Highlands is a Low Impact Development and is built over the aquifer for the City of Langley.  Therefore, many  of the household cleaners commonly used are not permitted here.    I read about green cleaning products in Beyond the Label by David Steinman in The Doctor’s Prescription for Healthy Living magazine and thought I would pass this information along.  If you are a” do-it-yourself” person, this blog One Good Thing by Jillee has recipes for homemade cleaners and detergents  – and more! – that might be worth a try.

This is only a couple of ideas that might be helpful.  If you have a green product or practice that works well for you, share it here!

New Homes are less expensive to maintain

The National Association of Home Builders publishes a blog entitled Eye on Housing.  A recent post by Robert Dietz states: “April is new homes month. And one of the virtues of a newly constructed home is the savings that come from reduced energy and maintenance expenses.

Data from the 2009 American Housing Survey (AHS) offer proof. The AHS classifies new construction as homes no more than four years old.

For example, for routine maintenance expenses, 26% of all homeowners spent $100 or more a month on various upkeep costs. However, only 11% of owners of newly constructed homes spent this amount. In fact, 73% of new homeowners spent less than $25 a month on routine maintenance costs.”  Click here to read the full article.

In addition to being the first Low Impact Development on Whidbey Island, The Highlands is a Built Green® Community.  Built Green® is an all-encompassing approach to home building, starting with how we treat the land we are building on. With minimal site disruption, we are less likely to develop drainage problems, and more natural landscapes will require less care. More careful use of raw materials, and more engineered uses result in less forest destruction per home. Designing the building envelope to be tighter and better insulated keeps heating and cooling costs low, and helps us control interior air quality.  The Highlands provides all this and a connection to a warm, energetic and involved community  – Langley, WA!

The Highlands have a number of lots available with prices starting at $99,ooo.  The Highlands will work with any architect and builder you choose.  We encourage you and your architect to build a Built Green® house.  The elevations of any house plan must be approved by The Highland Design Review Committee.

Langley Builders currently has two homes available for sale at The Highlands:  The Finch on Lot 6,  Built Green® 3 star and The Peregrine on Lot 20, Built Green® 4 star. For more information on theses homes, click the For Sale tab above.

Final energy testing

The Peregrine on Lot 20 attractively landscaped.

WE PASSED OUR FINAL ENERGY TEST WITH FLYING COLORS!

There is a lot of technical information contained in this blog.  Please take some time to read and familiarize yourself with the terminology and the requirements.

The blower door test determines how well the building is sealed.  This test is a new requirement in the Washington State Energy Code.  All new homes in Washington State must pass this test.  The minimum standard to pass is measured at 0.00030 Specific Leakage Area (SLA).  Here are the results for Lot 20 Duct Testing Calculator and for Lot 21 Duct Testing Calculator. They are identical:  SLA = 0.00013.  This indicates that our homes, the Peregrine floor plans are .5666% better than the standard which adds to your comfort, lowers your energy usage and saves you money!

This plus a 4 Star Built Green rating is why this house is a perfect investment!

Robert Stockmann of Pinnacle Inspections, who performed the tests, adds: “Here are some useful links…it’s a long explanation at times but the old axiom “Build it Tight & Ventilate it Right” equates to superior indoor air comfort and increased energy savings for the homeowners.  No matter how well or how much insulation you have in a home, it doesn’t matter one bit if the house is “ leaky”.  Once air is allowed to infiltrate the wall, floor and ceiling cavities of a home in an uncontrolled manner, it basically renders the insulation useless, produces uncomfortable indoor climates, increases energy consumption for heating and/or cooling AND it can cause numerous other issues, such as interior moisture condensation issues.  When the homes reach a specified air infiltration rate, then mechanical ventilation is required to produce necessary air exchanges within the building.  This is why the HRV is an excellent choice to provide a good balanced exchange of bad indoor air and fresh outdoor air.”  We have installed the Panasonic ERV  to maintain the indoor air quality in the Peregrine homes.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/blower-door-basics

http://www.pct.edu/wtc/docs/articles/Blower-Door-FINAL.pdf

http://www.buildingenergysolutions.com/pdfs/bdtest.pdf

Insulation inspection and dry-wall installation

The insulation inspection by the city building inspector and our independent inspector\verifier was completed and we passed without any issues or repairs or re-inspections necessary.  Now the process of dry-wall cover is in progress which includes proper nailing and screw patterns and the application of special corner treatments such as rounded or square corners on passage-ways, windows and alcoves. The City of Langley is one of the few places left that do a nailing\screw pattern inspection on dry wall.  Once all the dry wall is in place the floors are cleaned and covered with kraft paper prior to finish application which is both dusty and wet . Dust & moisture control procedures are paramount and must be adhered to strictly.  THIS IS WHERE THE INTERIOR OF THE HOME STARTS TO BE DEFINED.

Heating and Ventilation

Heating and ventilation in the Peregrine models at The Highlands.

The first photo below shows the two BioSmart® Therapeutic Ceramic Far Infrared In-wall Heaters and the Panasonic ERV, energy recovery ventilation installed in the Greatroom.   The Panasonic ERV is the black box in the middle and the two heaters are to the left and right of the ERV.  The WhisperComfort energy recovery ventilating fan provides indoor air quality with a balance of supply and exhaust air.  These systems work together to provide an integrated, therapeutic heating and indoor air quality system for maximum comfort and energy savings.

The second photo shows how we sealed all wall, floor and ceiling penetrations. All of this specialty sealing is in preparation for the final installation of insulation and radiant barriers.