I’m a derelict, I admit it, overwhelmed by selling the last few houses I’ve built over the last couple of years and 737conserve, which has consumed more of my time than I ever could have imagined, I’ve failed in my own personal commitment to update the blog on the development of this house as promised.  So I promise both to myself and here in writing, to post at least a couple of updates a week until the house is completed and maybe even after that.

Today, August 27^th, just a huge day over at 737 Milwood.  We passed our framing inspection on our first go around last week, and the house is finally receiving its non-toxic, and pretty wonderful product the Ultratouch Recycled Denim Insulation. 

The installation company has never worked with the product before, and as much as I’ve tried they’re all walking around with masks over their faces so they don’t breathe in the shards that accompany normal fiberglass.  The problem is that the Ultratouch Recycled stuff is non-toxic, it doesn’t have shards and doesn’t require a mask or even gloves.

In any event my pleas to the installation crew went unresponded to and they are installing fully protected from something they don’t need to be protected from.

In addition, the stucco company sent out two stories worth of scaffolding, which marks another milestone.  It means the tedious process that finishes off the framing and all the wiring on the inside of the house, has been completed, inspected, and is ready for the next stage of construction.

Soon, within the next week, we will start wrapping the house with waterproof paper, and then the upper level of the house will receive stucco, and the lower level of the house will receive this beautiful sustainable, tropical hardwood we had milled into 6 inch tongue and groove siding.

Today also marked the day where the pool cover people came to the house and installed which looks like miles of track for the pool cover for this 25 meter lap pool.  The pool cover was an expense I was hoping to avoid, but in building the greenest house I can and having the water warmed by both an efficient heater system by Jandy, and solar panels on top of the garage, it would have been hard to look anyone in the face and explain why I don’t have a pool cover.

My original plan was to have the home automation system control the opening and closing of the pool cover by some type of heat thermostat, but I found out and it’s quite logical that the only way to close the pool cover is to do it manually.  Think of what might happen if someone’s swimming in there at night, the automatic control system closes the pool cover and they get trapped underneath, not a great idea.

We’re trying to incorporate as many futuristic, green, technological controls that I could in this house, and admittedly I am taken aback when I look at all the wire and cords that have been pulled through the house, to run all of the systems we have installed.  If less is more in the green world, have I made a mistake in loading up the house with so much wire and cable to control the various systems which will react to heat, sunlight, power resources, have I defeated the ultimate purpose by utilizing so much time effort and materials in achieving a technologically advanced cutting edge home?

As is the case when confronted with many environmental issues, there are tradeoffs, and my message in this house and my message to my friends, and business people who call me to consult, is to do what resonates with you.  Quite often there is no right or wrong, quite often it is just better to address your core beliefs and stay honest to that path. 

You can’t have it all and I’m not sure there is an all, is bamboo flooring that ships from China, made of purely sustainable materials, worse or better than using a local hardwood for your flooring?

I’m certainly not smart enough to have that answer, but I think most of problem is resolved when you realize there is a problem and you know you have choices, and if that’s what 737 accomplishes I feel we’ve had a good day.

Welcome

After reading about blogs for the past five years, I guess this is my first foray jumping in.

737conserve a home being built in Venice, California follows up our efforts at project7ten, California’s first conventionally built Platinum LEED home.

737conserve is being built in partnership with companies such as General Electric, Kohler, Lennox, and others which can be checked out on our website.

I decided to follow up project7ten with another house that will draw media attention both locally and nationally like 7ten did, I am hoping to accomplish an awareness on the scale of “what If”, in regards to new home construction and its tie in to environmentalism.

737 which was started in February of 2008, hopefully will be completed in late fall of this year.

In working with my partners, particularly GE and Kohler, I decided not to subject the house to a third party verification of its green-ness, such as the LEED Program, Green Point or some of the other programs across the country.  But make no mistake about it, the house will be as environmentally advanced as anything in the country.  My take on the environmental contents and concepts in this house, are those, which resonate with me, not a third party checklist.

The house, which we’ll certainly get some flack for its size, is located in Venice, California and is about 3,300 feet above ground, with a 1,200 foot subterranean basement, and a second building which holds the garage and a work at home space above the garage.  It also features an swimmers lap pool, which will be built right against the house.

The house will feature a very tight thermal envelope, lots of very advanced thermal glass, roll down mechanical shades, which will block the ultra-violet heat of the sun in the summer and allow it to heat the house in the winter, incredibly high efficient heating and cooling systems, EnergyStar Appliances throughout, and we’ll be introducing EPA’s Water Sense program in partnership with Kohler to address  water conservation issues.

I’m a firm believer that based on the easy access to cheap water, people in this country are missing and ignoring a huge issue, which is water conservation and the fact that we’re running out of usable water, not just here, but certainly throughout the world.

The house will feature a ton of smart technology that we’re working on with General Electric’s Ecomagination for Homes, 737 is kind of a prototype, an introduction to that program.  The heating and cooling system, energy management, the use of 6.2 kilowatts of solar energy on top of the roof, and managing the house’s power usage, in an attempt to make the house  100% dependent on the solar power generated, in it’s own contained renewable power sources.

Even the pool, which will be open to my friends, is being built in an incredibly energy efficient manner.  Sure I can drive a couple miles over to a municipal pool, but I don’t believe indulgences and rewards for hard work need to be sacrificed if addressed intelligently.

The pool features a 95% efficiency water heater, which will only be used when the water solar panels, which are placed on top of the garage, need a boost.  The pool’s variable speed pump, will be powered by the solar panels, the water to fill the pool will come from a natural underground stream, which we had to contend with when we were building the underground portion of the house.  That same water will also be pumped up to feed the drip lines when the draught tolerant landscaping is installed. 

How cool is that, we can actually pull water that basically the basement sits in, on the top of the ground to supply the occasional irrigation that the plants are going to need.  The excess water will fall right back down into that underground stream, and our net usage should be very close to zero. 

One last thing for this lengthy and initial entry, whenever a party puts himself in the public for this type of project, they make themselves a target for those who wish to direct all the negative comments about how lack of tree hugger-ness this type of project is.  As an example, I get comments asking why I didn’t just fix up the old house as the thought goes, it would have required less energy, less outside resources to be brought to the site. 

The answer:  the old house, which we dismantled properly and recycled as possible, was a 700 foot structure, that had been condemned, windows broken, totally termite infested, the slab it was sitting on was cracked and broken, plumbing pipes old and not suitable for anything except for being taken to a recycler.  There was nothing to salvage, it’s just that simple.  Nor would I have omitted to rehab that structure taking into consideration the crazy land prices here in Southern California if there was some sort of feasible  way to somehow have saved that structure. 

Instead I’ve chosen to build a house, admittedly large for the size lot, but in keeping with the newer homes that are being built in Venice, California, using high end but durable materials, and doing so in an intellectual and respective manner.  We’re looking to build a modern, but classic home, filled with materials that require little maintenance, and certainly if we do it right, in a style that will be looked upon favorably many years from now.  We are building a home that will integrate home systems that will make this house a kind of living and breathing home that will adjust to the climate outside of its walls, in a way to become less dependent on the heating and cooling system that we installed.  The heating and cooling system, the appliances, sound and security systems, the pool, will all be powered by the solar panels installed on the home.  The house will have water conservation features with every element having anything to do with water usage, it will actually use less water than a home built 10 years ago that is a quarter of it’s size.  Everything that addresses energy and water conservation is being addressed in the most advanced, intellectual way available under today’s technological limitations.

Along with the technological advancements, this house will be completely toxicn free, from the cleaning goods brought in to maintain it, to the materials that are being used during its rough construction phase to glue things together, to the paints on the walls, to the finish that will be on the floors.

So that’s the idea behind 737conserve, check out the website, check out the updates, write me back with your comments and questions, tell me what a jerk I am for building such a luxuriously large house, ask me how we are accomplishing certain standards and ask for my resources.  I look forward to the ride.

Tom Schey