In Houston, humidity has always been a problem. Air quality is also a problem, but most homeowners do not seem to be too worried about that fact. When following up on a home where I had done an inspection job, I spoke with the owner about dealing with moisture, since the structure had issues. He was greatly improving the building envelope’s seal, so there was a concern about air quality beginning with moisture. We discussed whole house dehumidifiers and HRVs (heat recovery ventilators). HRVs are not common in Houston, but we may wish to consider incorporating this technology as we create ever tighter buildings.  My older home is slowly obtaining a tighter envelope as I continue my improvements, so I have been thinking about dealing with moisture too.
    I was sitting in my living room when I noticed that the water level in my 250 gallon fish tank had dropped significantly. This can lead to a good deal of water in the air. I noticed the bathrooms, and how we have moisture build up there, so I began to investigate dehumidifiers. This appliance has really developed over the years. Portable units havemuch larger capacities now ( many have 50 to 60 gallons). The problem with these portable units is that they do use a bit of electricity. To reduce the amount of power usage, a whole house dehumidifier which would be installed as part of the HVAC system (your air conditioning) is the better option. Portable units with greater capacity run around $200 to $250, while whole house systems run between $900 to $1500. With either system, you could use the water for your plants. Since my goal has been to reduce my electricity usage, the whole house unit seemed the better choice; however, cash flow was my issue (I have a few customers who seem to think that they do not need to pay me).
    Thinking about my humidity problem, I thought about how moisture can be removed from the air. Actually, if you are a crafter you may be familiar with a few moisture removing materials. They are called dessicants, and you have one in your kitchen cupboard: salt. Flour will also pick up on moisture in the air, but salt is better as a dessicant. I thought about having salt spread about the house picking up the moisture in the air, then the salt could be dried in the sun to release the water into the exterior air. Checking online, I discovered that this idea is the basis for do it yourself dehumidifiers. I figured that the idea could not be original.
    Taking my cue from the whole house system, I built my dehumidifier into my air conditioning system. Some of the articles that I read on the topic stated that the salt will leak some water, so they incorporate a basin system. I was not sure if this would happen though. Many of these dehumidifiers included fans to blow the air across the salt to speed the air drying action. I wanted to use air which was already moving, so I would not need to use the fan. The pictures below detail my version of a whole house dehumidifier. The top portion is a cage made with chicken wire. Into this cage, I placed a sunscreen fabric. This fabric is plastic based, so the salt will not corrode it. The salt is not coming into contact with the metal from the frame to avoid this issue. To deal with excess moisture that may leak from the salt, I placed a roasting pan underneath the cage. This is one of those disposable pans that you may use for turkey. To lift my cage above this pan and so it will be in the air flow, I used pvc pipe as legs for the cage. This dehumidifier was placed into my return air chase. Having an older home, I only have one return air vent. Since this is where my filter is located, I can remove the dehumidifier when I take the filter out for cleaning each month.  
   I like the fact that this is a great passive dehumidifier, no energy from the utility needed. I am not fooling myself though. The air will pass through the salt here, but I will not catch all of the humidity in the home. I made portable units to help me out here. I took half liter water bottles. Cut off their tops. Made air vent slits in the sides. I took cuttings from my bamboo to wrap around the bottle. I used a rubber band to hold these in place. Then I painted the holder. I filled them with rock salt. I have these placed around the house. I can take the salt out to be dried when I do the one in the chase. I do not suspect that this will rid my house of all of its moisture; however, I have taken a step in the right direction. I do not like the look of portable units, and a whole house dehumidifier is too expensive at this time. There are smaller units which fit into closets, but I think that these may be a hassle. They need power, and they need a vent to draw air from the home.
    I want to explore other passive methods to improve indoor air quality. At least methods which do not use much power. Live plants help. I heard that ivy, which is a great indoor plant, cleans the air well. My wife has had an issue with plants inside the house. I am not sure for her reasons, but she is always setting my pots outside. She has never explained her actions to me, except to say that they are a mess. We did have problems with the children digging into the pots, so that might be the mess. We will see.

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I have been thinking of the future of  the home, and how that might be sustainable. Generally for me, pieces fall into place when I am observing the world around me to understand how I can change it. Here a serious of events which were strung together in my mind. 1) A home inspection of a home with an access panel which has been sealed turns out to be a coal shute. 2) A documentary on people in Eastern Africa telling the story how the government convinced villagers to stop destroying trees for charcoal, and how to use leaves and other organic matter to make fuel pellets. 3) Bio-mass generators and heaters are being used in commercial buildings for heat and power. In fact, a winery decide to use its cuttings for this heat production. What could this all add up to?
    I do not place gardening waste into the trash. I use all of it for compost. However, I recently had an abundance of fresh material for my compost. That is when my thoughts turned towards considering how I could use this material for the home. Using the heat from compost piles for the water heater is feasible, and there are homes which use this idea. Then the series of observations from the introduction came to mind. What if this bio-mass was thrown down a shute where it will be turned into fuel pellets. These pellets are then fed into an efficient burner  (we know how to build burn chambers where there is little exhaust, because of the efficiency of the burn). Ideally the heat produced could be used for cooking, water heating, and air conditioning. Sounds unreasonable? There are sustainable homes built by dedicated individuals which already do this; however, the techniques used by these eco-warriors are not practical for the average homeowner. Considering that these bio-mass heaters and generators already exist, and some could probably be used in a home, why not find a way to automate the process of making fuel pellets from organic matter around our own homes?
    The simplest fuel pellet would be easy to make. You take leaves; soak them in water; and press them into a pellet. I did write that the process should be automated, but the entire process would need human intervention. You would have to prune, cut, and feed enough biomass into the furnace system each week, and this may be the glitch in my idea. Could your home produce enough biomass? My home does. I could increase the size of my bamboo patch to use that plant’s cuttings alone for the purpose.  This is probably not the case for most homes.  The other factor is that homeowners might not want to be involved in this process. At an event about “green concerns”, a woman bent over to me and said that I do not want to be a conspiracy theorist, but people do not care about this topic. She was speaking of air quality. Houston has one of the worse air quality indexes in the nation. I think it is a matter of apathy. We become use to a situation, then we do not think about it anymore. If we do not see a physical problem with our house, we do not fix it. We have too many other things that we want to do. Working to keep our home functioning appears to be a set back.
    Looking at pictures of wind turbines on a skyscraper in the heart of London, an architect reminded me that adding green features to urban landscapes can have a negative aspect. Green may be the brave new trend in residential real estate, but the features may not go over well. These biomass furnaces can be cumbersome, which would add a feature to the home which might not be appreciated by the neighbors. With these thoughts lodged  in my head, I came to the conclusion that a biomass furnace may not be the best thing for an individual home. Recycling has come a long way in Houston, but as a whole, we are not there yet. The new law requiring that garden waste be placed in a special bag is being observed though, so why not use that waste for energy production? This could be quite practical. This idea fits with something else that I believe: sustainable energy has to be provided to homes over the current power delivery systems for most homeowners to adopt it. Solar panels are expensive, and lower income homeowners will not adopt this technology, even if they have the desire. Probably this same fact will effect middle income homeowners.
    I still have this fantasy stoked by reading science fiction novels that we can create a home that is entirely sustainable, like the ships of these works. That technology does exist; look at the space station. Again cost rears its head. Instead of a closed system creating a sustainable home, maybe I should focus on how to create an environment where my home is sustainable, because the environment in which it is located is sustainable.

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I have been conducting home inspections in the Rice Military area of Houston for years now. Mainly these inspections have been for town homes. So when a question was posed to me the other night about a town home in this neighborhood, I began to think back to various articles that I and others have written on the topic of energy efficiency, I realized that all of the standard  material deals with a home on its own land. In a sense, this can fit the bill for a town home, but being familiar with these particular buildings I knew that some standards do not apply.

    For example, shading a town home with a tree and other plantings can be nice, but many of these lots have no garden space. Most town homes in Rice Military fit a pattern: there is a lot with a driveway running through the middle with a yard area for the complex near the street; backyards are a patio if they exist; most of these town homes have three stories. The idea of shading the building, as we would suggest with a home, is not feasible. The specific problem in this town home is the heat is rising to the third floor. The air conditioning is set to 72F, and it is constantly running, but it does not seem to help. What can be done?
    Let us begin in the attic. From the detail given, it sounds as if there is a standard amount of insulation of 14″. This is covering the joists in the attic. There is a mechanical vent, but we are not sure if it is working.There is no radiant barrier. This gentleman is not adversed to having a white roof, but they may not fit into the rules of the complex. Aright, 14″ is good (it is the minimum), but adding around 10″ would help. Each insulation is different, but I am guessing that with 14″ he has about an R36 where an R48 is considered the better option for this area (many of these builders only put in enough insulation for a R30). In fact, many builders do no fully insulate the attic, so you may find spots that have a need for insulation. After doing the insulation, I would add the foil bubble type of radiant barrier. The painted on radiant barrier is not good for Houston (moisture issues in our humid climate). I would check that the mechanical vent is working, but I would replace it with some solar powered vents. Solar vents come on when the sun is hitting the roof, when you need the hot air vented out. Moreover, I would have more than one. Typically the minimum ventilation is met, and this can be fine, but my impression is that we need a bit more in Houston.
    While up in the attic, I would check my ducts for the air conditioning system. If you feel cold air, you have a problem. Adding more duct insulation cannot hurt.In this situation, and with most town homes in this part of Houston, we may not need more insulation (the homes are not that old in most instances). Also remember to look at the plenums and the rest of the equipment for cold air. At this point, I should remind the reader of how well a forced air cooling system works. The home was set to 72F, yet our exterior temperatures have been around 95F. AC systems usually can cool the home to 20F lower than the exterior temperature. The homeowner may want to set the thermostat to 76F or 78F and turn on the ceiling fans. Air movement makes us feel cooler. I did not ask, but a programmable thermostat would be a benefit here.
    Here is where we have to deviate from the normal home. He has single paned aluminum windows. Awnings, tree, bushes are out. Yet we do have options, which will work in any home, but become something of a must here. Replacing the windows with a double or triple paned window would be great, but this is not cheap. We can take several steps or a combination of the following. A window screen that can block the sun’s heat. Most window screens only cover the window opening area, so have a screen that covers the entire window. There are window film products that still allow a clear view out of the window which block these rays too. Caulk the windows. A caulk seal does not hold forever, so new caulk will be needed. Lastly, a Roman shade or blind. This shade has a honey combed  or diamond pattern when you look at it from the side. The pocket of air acts as an insulator. The part facing out towards the window would be white, while the face towards the interior can fit with your room decor.
    Over time all wall joints could use a new seal of caulk. You may find that there is not much insulation behind the walls, or at least the insulation around the electrical system components may not have been done well. Place the foam insulation pads made for the cover plates behind each light switch and outlet on an exterior wall. Check weather stripping around doors and windows. Actually, most of this is the same things you would do for any house, so I am going to skip it.
    The one problem that comes up with many town homes that I have seen which is different from homes is the outside air conditioning compressor unit. Often these sit on the roof or on a ledge around the second story. Frequently you will find them between two town homes. If the unit is in a position where it is being hit by sunlight for long periods, you may want to consider shading it. Here is the reasoning. The coolant is traveling through the pipes in the compressor shedding its heat, so that cool refrigerant goes back to the evaporator coil. If the compressor is being heated by the sun, it becomes that much harder for the unit to shed its heat. Having a shading fence that gives the foot clearance for air flow can make a big difference. Since town homes are not getting shade from trees, the compressor can be in the same situation. For the units on edges, an awning may be a good option. For roof top units, you may want some type of tent or deck over the unit. You have to see what is allowed in the complex.
    Read the other articles, but keep in mind how you can change the information to fit your needs.

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I was sitting in my garden reading last evening when I looked up from the pages of the book for a break. My first thought was actually how I could redesign my garden for a more enjoyable view next summer. Transplanting will ensue this fall. However, I began to reflect on the home inspections over the last week. I admit that I was looking for a topic for a post. The designs of the homes are what coming to my mind. Our concept of how space should be used in a home has changed over the years. Considering that I had inspections of homes built in 1940 to the present, space usage was easy to see.
    I believe that homeowners have to consider space and its usage when they wish to make the best use of their home. Larger homes feel luxurious since their is space to spare, but this can be inefficient from an energy usage standpoint. As building green becomes a concern for consumers, we are rethinking how we layout our homes. If you have read various posts on this bog, you will see that I believe making rooms serve different functions during the course of the day is more practical for homeowners. I also like the idea of creating living spaces in the garden. My garden has reading areas, cooking area, dining area, and more. I do not often see people using their yards in this fashion. That is a shame.
    The home built in 1940 did not have an entry room or hall. You entered into the living room. To your left is the sun room with a porch outside of a door. Directly ahead was the dining room. Directly through that room was a breakfast area. Slightly to my left through the living room was a hall for the stairwell. My thought immediately went to the idea of how well this space serves for a party or guests. Compare this to a home which is currently being built. Walking in the front door you enter into a huge entry hall. The space has a circular feel (it is half circle and half square). The stairs sweep along the edge of the circle making a grand entrance. With no first floor ceiling, we are looking up to the second floor, where a balcony goes across. This is a wonderful space for display. It exudes luxury to me, but I would not want it. What other use does this space have? Alright, the hall may serve in a party; however, I do not see this appropriation of interior space as benefiting the homeowners in their daily lives. To me the hall becomes an expense, since the area has to be lit and air conditioned.
    I want to offer my own home as an example.  Like many homes built in the 60s, I have a small hallway to be used as an entry. I have a hallway for the bedrooms. My entry hall is not large enough for much. I display some art there, which I try to set up to be viewed from my front room. The bedroom hall has an antique chest from Japan and a small bookshelf. Mainly the space display family photographs. My wife and I still speak of this space. I wanted to build bookshelves into the walls between the framing members. Yes, I have that many books, and I need to find new shelving spaces. My mother suggested closing off the front room from the entry hall and opening it up to the bedroom hall. This would make the front room become more family oriented, but the entry hall really would be useless then. I thought of taking away the little walls which separate the entry hall from the front room. This really would open up the space. That change would actually give me a better use of my floor plan.
   I have fantasized about having the bedroom hall become part of the front room. The bedrooms would open onto this space, which would permit me to have a more usable area. Lifestyle choices make this a poor option. I listen to the news on the radio in the front room very early in the morning, while I begin my work day. This front room serves as the entertainment room at night, when the smaller children are in bed.  The bedroom hall offers privacy, which is needed. My best option would be to do away with the entry. I think what would suit homeowners best is to stop to consider the needs of the family and the space available. Doing away with a hallway might be in their best interest. It may make the house more livable. As we become more concerned with sustainable building with a focus on energy efficiency, we may find that hallways or single function spaces are not what we need.

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We recently had a party at my home. With more people in the home, and children running in and out of the door to the backyard, I turned my thermostat down to a cooler temperature. As the air conditioning was running, my wife that we had a leak. Condensation had built up on an air vent. Cold air passing through the hot attic was the culprit. I have been slowly and surely updating my ducts. Mostly this involves adding new insulation over the ducts. Once the ducts are no longer exposed to the heat of the attic, condensation decreases. This made me realize that one bit of advice which I give during home inspections was not being followed by myself: improving my return air vent. In older homes, return air ducts are not well made.
    What might be happening to your return air vent? There are two basic problems: they are not well situated with only having one duct for a home;and they are simply cavities in the wall framing. Air flow through your home is important for air quality. In many homes, there will be only one return air vent situated near in a hallway for the bedrooms. This pulls air from this part of the house, while the opposite end of the home remains stagnant. The solution is to have vents in different parts of the home. The problem with the wall cavity revolves around fire safety and energy efficiency. If you have electrical wiring running through the duct, and if an electrical fire is caused by that wiring, the return duct becomes the perfect conduit to spread that fire through the home (particularly with the air feeding the fire). The other aspect is that the framing and walls can heat up through thermal bridging. This will heat the air returning to the air conditioning system, making the air conditioner work harder.
    Many of these older return air ducts are quite large. In fact, I can stand in them. In my home that is not the case. The cavity is 11″x26″, so I cannot squeeze into it easily. However, the corners and other joints should be sealed for the best results. I could have opened up my return plenum in the attic, and maybe dropped down some duct tubes which may have fit. This was a poor solution in my situation, because I needed enough air for my HVAC system, and I would have decreased that amount. I decided upon using foam insulation boards with a radiant barrier on one side. The eight feet long boards happened to be the right height for my duct. To reduce joints on the face, I cut the boards to the proper size, and then did a back cut which did not go through the face to allow me to bend the board into the return air duct. This meant that I did have the corner joints to seal. For the upper section of the duct, I cut boards to fit snugly between the joints on each side holding the first boards in place. Since I could fit into the lower portion of the duct, I taped the lower joints.  Maybe not the most elegant solution, but it works. Sorry the pictures just were not coming out well. The best description I can give would be this: imagine that you have four pieces of cardboard. You can slide them into the inside of a frame, like a box kite. The pieces fit, but to make it snug, where the cardboard pieces push against the kite frame, you install a brace inside the cardboard pieces to force them against the frame. My extra piece of foam board was the brace.
    Most of these older return air ducts are large enough to go into the cavity. A few are like mine, so my solution may work for you. Most of these return air ducts do have wire running in them, which can be placed behind the boards. Thermal bridging may not be a major issue, but every little step helps improve your air conditioning system, which in turn leads to less energy usage.

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I often hear liquid roof coatings as roof paint. I am not using that term when I speak of my own efforts. I have discovered that certain neighbors of the Civic Cub are not happy with my choice of new roof covering. The options for a homeowner going to local stores are few, mainly aluminum and white. Other colors are available if you order the coatings through the net. My problems began when I chose white. I applied the elastomeric coating to my rear roof first. I wanted my wife’s approval before  going onto other sides. You have to understand that my wife is quite critical, so I felt that if she disapproved, I would have an indicator of other’s sentiment. My wife thought that the look was fine.
    Why go with the white roof color? Sure, I could have ordered a different color which would have achieved my goal: improving energy efficiency, but this would have been a lot of material to ship. I wanted to buy quickly as I worked my way around, and as I obtained payment from my inspections. The white material is being billed as energy efficient since it reflects the sun’s rays, keeping the attic cooler. Most neighbors who talked to me did not have a problem with the color or the material. Anything that makes the roof last longer and which may reduce utility bills is fine to them. One neighbor expressed reservations. I did not see the white color as strange, and I knew of a few other roofs in the area with white toned roofs; however, I knew that my roof would be more obvious.
    I knew that I would have a problem with a white roof one Sunday evening. My family came home from a birthday party when a group of women came to look at the side of my house. The side where the coating was beginning to be applied. One person of this party has frequently been past my home without a word. We greeted them, but they shunned us. The next day I had a visit from a representative from the Civic Club who tried to intimidate me. I continued on with applying the coating. That led to a nasty note being posted on my garage door. The roof is entirely covered at this time, but I do have to apply more material in spots. It has been raining, so completion is on hold.
   

My experience with applying the elastomeric coating

    People call the material paint, because it is liquid like paint.  The elastomeric coating is thicker than paint. I tried using my paint sprayer. It became quickly clogged. If I was going to use a spraying system, I should have rented a better one from the builder’s supply tool renting section. I decided upon a roller, since I was doing a section of roof at a time. Again, thinking paint did not help me. I used a tray to load my roller, which was a waste of time. I started pouring a line of coating to apply it. I found that pushing the liquid roof material across the shingles was the best method. Pushing is the correct term. The coating was forced into the nooks of the shingle,and it seemed to soak into the shingle. Once I found that pouring and pushing worked to obtain an even coating, the work went faster.
    I did pull out a paint brush to do touch up work. The brush also helped with the edges. The coating needs to go on thick, and that is a bit hard with a brush.I mentioned that I did coat the entire roof, but the job was not done. If I did not apply the material to thinly, I did not need a second coat. There were sections that I tried to stretch the material out, so you can see an obvious difference. The color listing on the tub said “brilliant white”. This is a bit misleading. When you hear brilliant, you may think gloss finish. Think flat finish. If the coating is not thick, the old roof color will show through.

The benefits of a white liquid roof coating

The big claim is that a white roof will reduce your electricity bill. I do not have enough data from my own project, but this is fairly well established. The days have been getting hotter, and my cooling system has not been working harder, so maybe the coating is already working. I have been working in the attic, which feels the same to me. I should really be more scientific by taking temperature measurements. Next sunny day will find me taking the temperature. I have been taking several steps to reduce my energy usage, so I really want to see what happens through the summer.
   Not mentioned as often, but elastomeric roof coatings do have other benefits. These coatings prolong the life of your existing roof covering. I did not have any leaks in my composite shingles, but they were nearing the end of their typical lifespan. The coating is said to last seven years. I find those numbers to be average life. Last year I did have three holes which appeared to be drilled into my roof. I am not sure how these holes occurred. I did seal them. Since many elastomeric coatings have a silicone or similar base, the coating seals the roof preventing leaks. Looking at how the material went on, I think that these holes would have been filled when I applied the liquid roof. There are liquid roof  materials which insulate. The product I used did not make such a claim. I could imagine  that it might have minimal insulating properties, but not enough for this to be mentioned for the advertising.

I did not go after a white roof to offend my neighbors. I thought that since I had my wife’s approval that others would not mind. As for the Civic Club, the woman who lead the group has never been very friendly to my family, so I should not expect anything different now. The Civic Club representative has been known for harassing neighbors with his rude, aggressive behavior. Other neighbors do not seem to mind. I think that maybe a white roof is a shock at first, since it is so different. White roofs are common in other parts of the world. Maybe familiarity would begin to change the minds of skeptics. I will see.

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I met a green consultant this past weekend, and we had a great conversation about some different green home standards. He had a great question boiling down a basic debate going on amongst those concerned with sustainable, green homes: is the focus of a code on health or on energy efficiency? For the average consumer, we will focus on energy efficiency. For those concerned with sustainable buildings, the focus is becoming increasingly about the health of the occupants and the environment. Once we learn more about possible health issues, many of us do try to make wiser choices that would ensure that we are not exposing our family to health issues. Here is my two-fold problem: 1) Is a product truly a health risk?; and 2) How can the average homeowner find a product to meet these new standards?
    I mentioned possible health issues with a product. One product that many who wish to create a green home do not want to see in the home is PVC pipe. The production process is said to be harmful to the environment, but the product is also said to release chemicals into the home’s plumbing system. Firstly, the product when used for drinking has een deemed safe by testing standards when it is marked as being acceptable for drinking (potable) water. I still have not found a study which specifically has shown a correlation with health problems related to PVC pipe in the home. Next, what would be the alternative? There are alternatives to PVC with copper being the main choice. Yet, copper is not always mined in an environmentally friendly way, and we could be placing a stress on the environment when concentrating on this material. Another argument is brewing over insulation. The concern is that the off gas from this product can be harmful. Again, we have different studies that state amounts of harmful chemicals. Interestingly, to my knowledge, both insulation studies have not been available to review. To my mind, we have too many groups putting forward green standards. Each person, firm, and green, sustainable organization has their own focus, and they develop their standards based upon their mindset. This is actually fine with me, but it does allow for confusion, so I wish that there was a blanket organization that could properly review statements being made for their veracity. Until definitive studies come out regarding health risks, I will be skeptical when a new claim arises.
    My second problem was finding green products. I am slowly working on updating my home. I do not have a spare $80,000 to have everything completed in three months. (This figure comes from a green home remodel done on a foreclosure in Phoenix, so it can be more than what I would spend). I do look for the best product, but I also want to come in at a budget. Finding the best green product is easier. I know there is a lot of green washing happening, but you can find real green products at home improvement centers, and we do have as tore like New Living here in Houston. There is also the internet. I saw my green home conversion as a project with a mission statement. I want to make my older home more sustainable in a way that is practical for the average homeowner, which means to me using products that are simple to find. This involves buying products at my local building supply store or hardware store. However, I do have an addition to my mission statement: try to reuse what is already in the home. Instead of tearing out a floor to install an eco-friendly flooring, find ways to maintain the floor. I also want to maintain everything in my home (I am still looking at the best way to improve my aluminum framed, single paned windows, and that may be my next major project). I find that we may be punishing the the average guy for not really being green when he is
trying his best. A blanket organization reviewing green products in an independent forum would be a good way to guide manufacturers to produce better products, which will be affordable and readily available.

    I wish to leave the homeowner with this thought: be concerned with your family’s health; try to reduce your energy usage; and try to update your home with the best product you can afford and by making wise upgrade choices. I think that in time, we will be gainingsound information on how to build a sustainable home. Maybe in ten years we will be at that point. I want to leave you with this link about examining LEED certification and health issues. We are on the right track. Debate about what is sustainable is good for the building industry, but we need honest evaluation in defining green products for the home.

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This post is inspired by a conversation that my wife and I had. She takes more convincing to adopt some ideas that I have about reducing our utility bills and creating a sustainable home. She does like the idea of reducing our bills though. On the other hand, I am no eco-warrior. I came to the idea of incorporating sustainable practices and techniques into our home through a desire to reduce my bills as well; however, I love architecture, and new techniques or clever solutions fascinate me. This curiosity drove me further into studying eco-home building. Generally referred to as green building, we see builders adapting these methods, and as a home inspector, I have to understand the concepts to be informative for my clients. Back to the conversation; both my wife and I have had encounters that caused us to wonder about the attitudes people take to a homeowner going green.
    Firstly, I see that for change to happen in a neighborhood one homeowner can be the catalyst. I often drive neighborhoods before or after my home inspections, because looking at other homes may give me a clue to something on the home that I am examining. When I see one owner adding solar panels to his home, other neighbors will follow. You can see this change like ripples in water. The first plunge is big, but as the ripples expand out, the change becomes less. On the streets close to the original solar panels, you find other homes with panels, then this will decrease as you move away from the original home. Over time, the ripples keep spreading, and you find more homeowners taking to this change.
    Is a rain barrel unsightly? Is drying our clothes on a line offensive? These eco-friendly steps used to be the norm, but now they are found to offend. Why did our perception alter? Both my wife and I experienced encounters that made us question why do some people become so offended. We both grew up with hanging out our clothes to dry; we do not do it now (maybe we should start again), but we see nothing offensive with the practice. I have heard that home values are lowered by a homeowner making sustainable changes to their home. Yet “green” homes sell for more than a non-green home. Home buyers look for green features with the thought towards the energy bills. I actually encountered someone who decided that I was un-American for proposing eco-building techniques, and others who feel that this is an attack on conservative values. I do not know how to respond to those attacks, because they seem baseless. Maybe because progressive elements of society have embraced green building, the practice has been stereotyped. The fact of the matter is that green building does not fall under any political belief, but I have to admit that sustainable practices as applied to industry does take on a political aspect. As I write this post, the EPA is taking action against my home state of Texas, because we have not met their goals on clean air. This is taking on political overtones since there is a debate on what is an acceptable air standard. This involves more than health, but also job creation. People need a healthy environment to thrive, but they also need work to pay the bills.
    Coming back closer to home, I am applying a new roof coating to my home. Frequently called roof paint, this material is an elastomeric roof coating which can be applied over the current roof covering. I spotted that there are neighbors who have applied similar coatings to their own roofs, and there are white roofs in the general area, yet my white coating raised the eyebrows of at least one neighbor who made a comment to my wife. I imagine that if their utility bills were rising, then they would be asking me about this coating. When fuel prices rose, neighbors stopped to ask me about my push mower and edger. When they went back down, they thought it strange. Financial pressures may be the real mechanism to making green home changes. The conversation my wife and I had turned onto the reaction of homeowner associations. These associations do seem to want to preserve the status quo, which means that being green may not be their cup of tea.  The trend is against them though. Simple green changes are already being carried out by many homeowners. As sustainable, green building codes become the norm in new home construction, we will find more pressure on these associations to accept them for home remodels.

    My wife’s response in the end is that no person or group should be allowed a homeowner to make practical changes that will help them save money. My response is that the green home trend will keep growing, and as a community we should discuss how this may be incorporated into existing communities.

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As we move into Houston’s summer, we have thoughts of fun, but many of us are already preparing for the hurricane season. This is a good time for many preparatory steps for your home. During the last hurricane, I remember people scrambling for supplies with the radio reporting where they may be found as goods became more scarce. I noticed that there are lists and advice booklets on hurricane preparation to be found; however, these do not include some practical advice for your home based on the kind of damage I saw afterwards as a home inspector. Here is my take.
I would suggest that the first step as tree and bush pruning. This serves two purposes: keeping branches away from the home will mean less damage to the roof covering, walls, and windows; and a well pruned tree allows more air to pass through the tree without knocking limbs down. Softwood trees, like the ash and pine which are commonly planted for their fast growth, have the greater potential of having large limbs fall down, so look for branches that may cause damage when they fall. A tree expert is your best choice for making a decision.  While pruning around the home, clear branches away from the overhead service entrance cables for your electrical supply.
I would then examine the roof for issues. Loose or broken shingles will need to be repaired. Dishes for your television have cables that go down to the home, and often these cables are loose. These cables will damage the roof in a similar way to tree branches. Then check the vents for being secure. They should be firmly in place, since hurricane winds can blow them around. On flat roofs look to see that everything is in good shape and well caulked. Look for spots where water may stand, and also check that corners are well caulked. While in the roof area, examine the gutter system. Any loose gutters can come off.
Moving under the roof into the attic, ensure that vents for your water heater, heating system, and kitchen range are strapped in. If they are not, they can shake around causing damage. Check to see that the framing members are attached (you would be surprised how often I find support beams that are not affixed); this will help the roof withstand more. Having enough insulation and ventilation would be a good goal at this point. Ventilation allows for air movement, and if you do not have power afterwards, keeping the attic cool will help the house. Having insulation meeting a factor of R48 will help attic heat from effecting the interior, but a R-60 would be better.
For the windows, you may want to buy and cut plywood sheets now. There was a rush on building supply centers for the last hurricane, and many of my neighbors were unable to buy sheets to cover their windows. OSB will serve in a pinch, but I would not recommend this material (the adhesive will delaminate with water exposure). When the power goes out, you will want to open the windows to catch the breezes to cool the home. This is where well fitting window screens with no holes are needed. You want the breeze, not the insects.
Looking at your landscaping, see that water will be flowing away from your home. More damage comes from flood waters than the hurricane’s rain. I noticed more homeowners having problems with their backyards flooding than flood waters come from the street. Water has to be able to flow away from the house, and this means through side yards for most homes towards the street. Drainage systems can help, but proper grading is your best option. If the street is flooding, the drainage system may not drain to the street.
Inside the home, you have the standard hurricane guides; I do have one suggestion though. Electrical power may be down, but gas frequently remains viable. That is why gas generators are becoming popular. If you have the means, I would change over electrical cooktops or ranges to gas, so you can continue to cook meals for your family. Look for a gas pipe behind your range or under the cabinet to see if you can change this out.
I have seen a fan powered by a solar panel meant for patios. Without power, having this consistent breeze can make you feel better. I have seen these sell for around $50.
Lastly, caulk your wall joints. I see moisture penetration through uncaulked wall joints often. On the walls, check to see that everything is firmly attached to prevent the item from flying off.
Hopefully your home will come through with minor damage.

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When air conditioning arrived on the scene, cities like Houston became more livable. We are still one of the most heavily reliant cities on ac units. This love affair with the cool air blowing from our ducts caused us to move away from the passive methods used by the original settlers in the area to make their homes more livable. As we become more aware of our energy usage, we look for ways to reduce the need for electricity. With air conditioning being the largest user of power in a Houston home, it makes sense to consider ways that will prevent us from needing so much cooled air. Window awnings were

a prime method for reducing heat gain through a window, so maybe that is why awnings are making  their return.

In my case, I wanted to do more than prevent heat from the sun entering through the window; I wanted to cool down a wall. As the exterior wall heats during the day, that heat will travel through the wall to the interior. This is the process of thermal bridging.Wrap around porches helped to cool walls in days past, but adding a porch is not practical for the design of my home. Awnings are being used creatively on many sustainable homes, so my project was to take the window awning to the extreme by having it be for the entire wall. Typically a shaded area is 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than an area in the sun. (I noticed that when I bought my awning material, which was an porch cover material, that they were advertising the solar benefits. Any material for exterior use would do the same.) Plants help create this shade, and they can cool an area down more than the fabric or other material that you may use. This is dude to the fact that plants use the energy from the sun, instead of only blocking it. My plan therefore is to plan out how to use plants in conjunction with my awning to reduce the heat in the window and wall. I also want the window to serve as a functioning light source. Light from the window means not having to rely on light from a fixture.

Steps in making the window awning

1) There is a formula for determining how far down the awning should come from your window’s top to allow light while preventing most heat. It is not difficult, but I prefer studying the site to decide where I want the awning to fall. Since we are close to summer, I am fairly safe in making observations. If I had made them during the winter months, my awning would not be well made for the main heat months. Over the course of a week, I watched where the sun hit the home during the day. I held up my hand under my soffit to see where the shadow would fall on the wall. I have a one story home, and I was not planning to go much beyond the fascia with my awning. I did begin to walk back away from the home to see what would happen with the shadow. I imagine that I could have done this over the course of a day, but I had other things to do. Once I understood what was happening with the sun and the home, I could decide on the dimensions of the awning. For my eastern wall, which is hit with the sun during the hottest part of the day, I felt coming out about two feet from the home worked well, but I wanted more protection, so I let the material drop down quite a bit from the end of my frame.

2) I used a 1″ by 6″ board to create my frame. I had seen from my observations that a board cut with a 45 degree angle and coming down about three feet would suffice for my plan. My idea was to attach the angle board to the soffit, where a rafter comes down. I could attach the frame to the wall, which is common for most awnings, but this set-up would be more better for my goal. I nailed my board into the rafter end for more stability. (I could see where these were by looking for nails in the soffit). If I was only doing a frame for the window, I would place a board as a nailer above the window. When I had the dimension for my first angled board, I cut the other boards to match it.

3) With this board nailed in place, I placed another board with my level against the wall out to the board end. I marked everything with a pencil. I did this for each angled board, because there may be slight differences in dimensions. To attach these braces, I chose a to use a metal hanger that is used for joists. These will be to big for my boards, but these hangers make for a good connector to the wall. I have a brick exterior wall, so I used the appropriate anchor to affix this hanger to the wall. I also caulked this hanger to prevent damage to the brick. The brace was screwed into the board, and then screwed onto the angle board.

4) I painted these boards to match the scheme of my home. The fabric will cover this framing, so you could go with another color, but I think that the consistency in color makes the framing seem like it belongs. I also painted the metal hanger. All of this could have been on the ground, yet I did not see it as a problem to paint the frame when it was up.

5) I tacked the fabric to the frame with short roofing nails. The fabric came in a roll of 6′ by 25′. I cut this into two strips of 3′ by 25″. I let the fabric fall down the frame end. I could cut the fabric to be only slightly longer than the end of the frame, but I wanted the extra length for this wall. There is only one small window on this side for a utility room. That window is for ventilation and light, not a view. I pull the fabric taught when tacking it to the next frame. If the material is loose after attaching it, I simply pull the fabric again to re-tack it.

6) My final step is to cut the end panels (the picture does not have the end panels in place to show the frame), and to create a finished edge. For the edge, you have some options. I have used a pvc pipe in a pocket of fabric to have the end look more stable. I used a good thread to sew a simple pocket. I was going to use the scissor that creates a crimped edge. You can create a scalloped edge if you choose.

The whole process took me a couple of hours. This was due to my assistant, my one year old daughter. According to her, she was a great help. She did have fun. Without her help, I think I could have much of this done within an hour of work time (you have to give the paint time to dry). The materials cost me around $50, producing an awning of 40 feet. I purchased everything at a home improvement center. I happened to know that there was a fabric similar in color to my home; however, if you are feeling more creative, fabric stores sell material for outdoor use which may be great for a window awning. Most awnings use canvas. I liked the porch cover, because it did allow for filtered light for my plants below. Canvas is a popular choice for awnings, and these would provide more shade. You can order metal awning frames for your windows, which are easy to attach, but this was such an quick project, and my awning is customized to my need.

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