There is nothing more that I would like to do than visit Portland and run up to Washington....but three women one visit might just mess up my marriage. All of them being just friend of interest. The Mrs. might see it different. Curious to know what you think about the energy codes coming down the line and existing structure renovation. Went to a meeting last night.....and I'm talking Architectural destruction with existing building....dating from the 1700's to the 1950's.
California just voted on upping their energy codes, which is amazing considering they are already the best in the country. I work on the side of the industry that is dedicated to creating more energy efficient buildings but honestly, I think that building codes do more than voluntary upgrades ever do. Have you seen the news about the retrofit on the Empire State Building? Amazing:
I get it we need to save energy. Which is a good thing, but buttoning up buildings so tight that you get sick buildings, doesn't make for a good solution. Having people out there testing the buildings who are not certified doesn't make alot of sense. Thinking the Blower test is fix of all fixes well I think it a good solution for alot of people who don't want to look beyond , "Ranch Burger, Mc Mansion Construction."
"I can't speak for semi-professional one-armed golfers, though I often try to", and I'm glad you've given me this forum to do so! I made a comment on the building sciences thread, Em!
if implementing airtightness measures, balanced ventilation (ideally w/ heat recovery) is way to go - exhaust only systems in tight buildings doesn't work (and is at best ineffective in non-tightened buildings). lstiburek likes to harp on exhaust only systems because they don't focus on bringing in adequate fresh air. the passive house community likes to harp on exhaust only because the outside air is likely via cracks in the walls, which in older houses tend to be filled with some really nasty stuff (mold, dead animals, dust, etc). passive air inlets are ineffective due to low exhaust rates.
holz - are there any examples of a balanced residential system that isn't entirely mechanical? It seems a bit of a misnomer to be calling something "passivhaus" when you're using an active mech system for intake and exhaust.
nature makes a great balancing system. the problem is, it only works well if you live in a very mild climate (san diego... hawaii).
you can use it in heating dominated climates, but unless you're willing to part w/ creature comforts like not having to wear 7 layers of clothes while having slaves stoke fires to keep the floors warm, it's not really going to be feasible.
the mechanical ventilation is an active system, but is needed for the heat recovery and also to ensure enough fresh air is delivered. we have some friends that live in a PH in southern germany, they turn the HRV off 7 months out of the year and just leave all the windows wide open (or at least tilted at night to avoid intruders). and yes, the nomenclature of passivhaus has always seemed off. it partially stems from its (north american) passive solar roots and that the heating (at least in the original definition) was 'passive' in the sense that furnaces and boilers were no longer needed.
morning Donna! sounds like the life :o..... as for myself my job just relocated my physical offices across town which means my 10-15 min bike ride is now at least 45 mins.
hence, I am driving at least most of the time to work (when I need to be at my office as opposed to at hospital). luckily i can at least carpool with a friend..... although I suppose i could/should just suck it up and ride my bike still!
I'm back with the strength to fight the good fight again today. Yoga this morning helped, as did working on a pro bono craft project for a local inner city public school library until 1am last night. The key word in that phrase being "craft" - I was painting and wrapping rope for a change instead of CADing tot he wee hours, woo!
I got stuck having to do a bunch of really disparate errands on my bike on Sunday and ended up riding for over 2 hours on some really potholed streets (total distance was about 22 miles). Now I can hardly ride, my butt is so sore! I normally do about 45 minutes a day so this was a bit of a shock to the system. Made me realize why people wear those silly padded butt shorts.
In other news - if you can forgive me just a moment of whining in a safe space - it's really aggravating how when you're getting ready for a wedding, 100% of your interactions with all of your friends and acquaintances start with the question "so how's the wedding planning going?" So not only do you have to be dealing with all the planning yourself, but you are constantly having to have silly little 5 minute conversations with people about it, over and over and over again, and you can't get relief and have just a normal non-wedding conversation with a friend! And it's sweet how helpful people want to be (and I know this is going to sound stupid to complain about) but I'm so tired of people constantly asking me what they can do to help. I can't think of any way anyone can help me right now, and if I do, I'll ask you - but making me sit there and have a 5 minute conversation about how you want to help is just adding to my stress.
It occurred to me the other day that this kind of thing must happen 100x more for pregnant women. I bet they just LONG for any conversation with a friend that doesn't revolve around their impending motherhood.
manta, when is the wedding?! And can I do anything to help? (ducks and covers…)
Actually I remember the last two weeks before my wedding every minute of every non-work hour was scheduled with errands and things to get done. You will enjoy the rest that comes after it's all over!
i won't offer to help with wedding but hope all is going well, manta.
i lived for years in traditional japanese house. it is real passivhaus. no heating or AC, bloody cold in winter and insanely hot in the summer. looks nice though and not too horrible. i also thought the name passivhaus was a misnomer since it requires 24 hr mechanical ventilation when the weather is not agreeable.
the next house we are building we are thinking to use a house-scaled dehumidifier. it is new technology designed to compete with the new hydrogen powered electrical systems that are becoming popular here. The idea is to bring the humidity down low enough so that it wouldn't be necessary to heat or cool most of the year, but I am wondering how much it costs to run the machine over a year. I find the idea of any design that requires mech system to work slightly worrying. it's the inner ted nugent i suppose.
Can we say inner Neal Young instead of inner Ted Nugent, Will? Better associations.
I also am suspicious of always relying on a mechanical system. And those fire doors that slam shut when the alarm goes off, thus confusing the hell out of people who know they *used* to be able to exit down that hallway?!? Don't get me started.
I lost the context of the electrical outlets, however let's make sure they're all gfci dedicated outlets with their own 20 amp breaker so a waffle iron and microwave can be plugged into each one.
I thought you were going for the "back to the earth self-sustaining hippie" thing. Which is Neil. He's one of my heroes, for sure, and top 5 on my ipod.
I would have 4 waffle irons and a crock pot filled with chocolate fondue for the waffles!
Will - That whole house dehumidifier sounds awesome. I grew up in a house without air-condititioning and am still not a big fan, however I do like the lower humidity levels. I think I'll add that to my "Dream House Requirements" list. Now all I have to do is win the lottery.
Manta - Good to know. A friend of mine is getting married in September so whenever we get together, conversation always leads wedding plans and letting her know I'm available to help if/when she needs me. And yes... I agree there is a purpose for those ugly padded shorts and thank you to whomever invented them.
A commenter on Jezebel who echoes how I feel about politics right now in the face of the Walker recall being defeated: "I feel more hopeless than ever. I can't keep up the positivity in the face of the assaults on collective bargaining, women's health, and on our very basic right to vote. I can't look forward to November, because I don't know what a win there will mean. More compromise, on our side? For what? To get punched in the face some more?"
I was nearly crying when I went to bed last night. Walker's win means one thing: fewer people will be able to continue barely clinging to the middle class as so many of us are doing in the past two decades. And those many thousands who do slip down to poverty? Far fewer so-called "safety nets" for them too.
yeah, i'm not done fighting. it's only a matter of time before some self-immolates on the wisconsin statehouse steps. the tyranny of the majority will only make slaves of us all, even of those asshats that think that conservatives give a shit about their personal "freedom."
An architect gets beaten to death by 20 cops. We rarely make these kinds of news since we tend to obide laws and such. This dude went on a diabetic rampage though.
the goings on in wisconsion are painful to watch. don't think it is good step although more nuanced than the pundits make it seem. i was surprised though that he won so thoroughly. it wasn't all that close. in which case, yeah i guess the state residents really do want all those things to happen. it is all about politics as religion though, not really useful in this kind of crisis as far as i can see. where does amerika go from here? feels like its a step back to 1860 or something. just waiting for someone to suggest we all light our homes with whale oil.
beta: Mrs has been on and intensive mission most of the last month with the latest adobe suite. She Loves it. We are going to be subscribing it looks like. Nice thing about it is you get the latest and the greatest with out having to pay and upgrade fee. When I leave for the field which has been alot over the past month she is watching videos and doing web seminars. Oh it is all because I sprung for a New Mac this past month. She said she would consider it a wedding anniversary present, birthday and Christmas present. I told her na....I just want her to be happy in Mac Land.
Busy day today with finishing one small pro-bono project for the dedication ceremony tomorrow and dealing with getting the Chop Stick tree placed on its supports which involved a big effin' crane! It's intimidating for sure to see that much man and horsepower come together and then ask me to be the one to approve it and say it's all OK. But I think it is!
anyone here know why the images i want to imbed in a blog post are not embedding? i am using the drag and drop function and it looks cool til i hit publish.
my personal and professional lives are feeding off each other in a really bad way this week. Each contains one issue that just flat out makes me feel like I am not good enough, like nobody loves me, like everything's bound to go to shit. I know that overall I have a great life right now, but somehow these two shitty things have hit at the same time and are just sending me into this downward spiral. Does that ever happen to you guys? How do you keep your personal and professional lives from feeding each other in negative ways?
I am not good enough, like nobody loves me, like everything's bound to go to shit
I feel like this often. Then usually, for no good reason, I don't feel like that anymore! and then I wonder what it was that made me have such a bleak outlook. The more often it happens the more I am confident I will ride it out as always, so I give myself some leeway to go ahead and wallow in it a bit while continually trying to keep working to resolve the things that are stressing me out.
And on that note, I need to go deal with about four different issues I've been avoiding. Hang in there, rationalist.
Rationalist. I think Michagelo even had those kind of weeks. Could you only imagine having to slow down his creativy for one week. So hang in there. The Sun Will Shine again and you will feel better. You know I have been slammed for the last couple of months working on this house where everything needs to be done yesterday. Well on Wednesday we had a fricking crane on site lifting the sub structure for a 18'-0" box bay window into place and all I had was my I-phone to take a picture. It was simply amazing watching it being lifted over the top of the existing house and being set in place. Now on to other very very detailed aspects of the project.....So I guess I will be busy for a couple more months cause we haven't gotten into the fine details...which I know are going to be a bigger challenge.
everyone sounds so down - this is not the archinect I have grown to love so much. Here's a lovely chipper pick me up and not to worry it's safe for work.
You won't find much in mainstream news. There was a 'minor' leak somewhere. People seem to be freaking out by all the helicopters flying around. Here is a reddit discussion about it. Some links to minor-news reports. Lots of DIY 'radiologists' picking up higher readings.
prolly Cook nuclear plant. we toured it in high school. fyi rusty. i have a new orange cat that i have names rustoleum shackleford after alex du large was vetoed.
Thread Central
Hi Emily!
oi emily.
There is nothing more that I would like to do than visit Portland and run up to Washington....but three women one visit might just mess up my marriage. All of them being just friend of interest. The Mrs. might see it different. Curious to know what you think about the energy codes coming down the line and existing structure renovation. Went to a meeting last night.....and I'm talking Architectural destruction with existing building....dating from the 1700's to the 1950's.
Hi dia! Hi snook!
California just voted on upping their energy codes, which is amazing considering they are already the best in the country. I work on the side of the industry that is dedicated to creating more energy efficient buildings but honestly, I think that building codes do more than voluntary upgrades ever do. Have you seen the news about the retrofit on the Empire State Building? Amazing:
Empire State Building Saves Millions of Dollars in First Year of Energy Efficiency Plan
I'm about to start a discussion thread about building science... hopefully things will get interesting...
Emily,
I get it we need to save energy. Which is a good thing, but buttoning up buildings so tight that you get sick buildings, doesn't make for a good solution. Having people out there testing the buildings who are not certified doesn't make alot of sense. Thinking the Blower test is fix of all fixes well I think it a good solution for alot of people who don't want to look beyond , "Ranch Burger, Mc Mansion Construction."
"I can't speak for semi-professional one-armed golfers, though I often try to", and I'm glad you've given me this forum to do so! I made a comment on the building sciences thread, Em!
snook,
if implementing airtightness measures, balanced ventilation (ideally w/ heat recovery) is way to go - exhaust only systems in tight buildings doesn't work (and is at best ineffective in non-tightened buildings). lstiburek likes to harp on exhaust only systems because they don't focus on bringing in adequate fresh air. the passive house community likes to harp on exhaust only because the outside air is likely via cracks in the walls, which in older houses tend to be filled with some really nasty stuff (mold, dead animals, dust, etc). passive air inlets are ineffective due to low exhaust rates.
holz - are there any examples of a balanced residential system that isn't entirely mechanical? It seems a bit of a misnomer to be calling something "passivhaus" when you're using an active mech system for intake and exhaust.
TO,
nature makes a great balancing system. the problem is, it only works well if you live in a very mild climate (san diego... hawaii).
you can use it in heating dominated climates, but unless you're willing to part w/ creature comforts like not having to wear 7 layers of clothes while having slaves stoke fires to keep the floors warm, it's not really going to be feasible.
the mechanical ventilation is an active system, but is needed for the heat recovery and also to ensure enough fresh air is delivered. we have some friends that live in a PH in southern germany, they turn the HRV off 7 months out of the year and just leave all the windows wide open (or at least tilted at night to avoid intruders). and yes, the nomenclature of passivhaus has always seemed off. it partially stems from its (north american) passive solar roots and that the heating (at least in the original definition) was 'passive' in the sense that furnaces and boilers were no longer needed.
I'm having one of those days when I wish my highest career aspirations were doing CDs for suburban PetCos. <sigh>
morning Donna! sounds like the life :o..... as for myself my job just relocated my physical offices across town which means my 10-15 min bike ride is now at least 45 mins.
hence, I am driving at least most of the time to work (when I need to be at my office as opposed to at hospital). luckily i can at least carpool with a friend..... although I suppose i could/should just suck it up and ride my bike still!
I'm back with the strength to fight the good fight again today. Yoga this morning helped, as did working on a pro bono craft project for a local inner city public school library until 1am last night. The key word in that phrase being "craft" - I was painting and wrapping rope for a change instead of CADing tot he wee hours, woo!
I got stuck having to do a bunch of really disparate errands on my bike on Sunday and ended up riding for over 2 hours on some really potholed streets (total distance was about 22 miles). Now I can hardly ride, my butt is so sore! I normally do about 45 minutes a day so this was a bit of a shock to the system. Made me realize why people wear those silly padded butt shorts.
In other news - if you can forgive me just a moment of whining in a safe space - it's really aggravating how when you're getting ready for a wedding, 100% of your interactions with all of your friends and acquaintances start with the question "so how's the wedding planning going?" So not only do you have to be dealing with all the planning yourself, but you are constantly having to have silly little 5 minute conversations with people about it, over and over and over again, and you can't get relief and have just a normal non-wedding conversation with a friend! And it's sweet how helpful people want to be (and I know this is going to sound stupid to complain about) but I'm so tired of people constantly asking me what they can do to help. I can't think of any way anyone can help me right now, and if I do, I'll ask you - but making me sit there and have a 5 minute conversation about how you want to help is just adding to my stress.
It occurred to me the other day that this kind of thing must happen 100x more for pregnant women. I bet they just LONG for any conversation with a friend that doesn't revolve around their impending motherhood.
And to be fair, I'm usually one of those people asking about the baby, or about the wedding - so NOW I've learned - and I won't be doing that anymore!
manta, when is the wedding?! And can I do anything to help? (ducks and covers…)
Actually I remember the last two weeks before my wedding every minute of every non-work hour was scheduled with errands and things to get done. You will enjoy the rest that comes after it's all over!
well manta, I'll just deliver a simple 'best wishes' and ask, so how's work going?
i won't offer to help with wedding but hope all is going well, manta.
i lived for years in traditional japanese house. it is real passivhaus. no heating or AC, bloody cold in winter and insanely hot in the summer. looks nice though and not too horrible. i also thought the name passivhaus was a misnomer since it requires 24 hr mechanical ventilation when the weather is not agreeable.
the next house we are building we are thinking to use a house-scaled dehumidifier. it is new technology designed to compete with the new hydrogen powered electrical systems that are becoming popular here. The idea is to bring the humidity down low enough so that it wouldn't be necessary to heat or cool most of the year, but I am wondering how much it costs to run the machine over a year. I find the idea of any design that requires mech system to work slightly worrying. it's the inner ted nugent i suppose.
Can we say inner Neal Young instead of inner Ted Nugent, Will? Better associations.
I also am suspicious of always relying on a mechanical system. And those fire doors that slam shut when the alarm goes off, thus confusing the hell out of people who know they *used* to be able to exit down that hallway?!? Don't get me started.
oohh....ooh..and electrical outlets at 2'-0" on center at kitchen countertops...
I lost the context of the electrical outlets, however let's make sure they're all gfci dedicated outlets with their own 20 amp breaker so a waffle iron and microwave can be plugged into each one.
Ya...I have 5 waffle irons going at all times in my kitchen.
@ donna, i was going after the evil rocker inside, hence ted. neil and i come from same part of canada and far too reasonable.
well done with the waffle making! i think.
I thought you were going for the "back to the earth self-sustaining hippie" thing. Which is Neil. He's one of my heroes, for sure, and top 5 on my ipod.
I would have 4 waffle irons and a crock pot filled with chocolate fondue for the waffles!
i've been really digging Xiu Xiu lately. god, why can't i be 24 again.
i'm surprised i have not seen a discussion about the Adobe subscription plan. anyone done a simple analysis of whether or not it's worth it?
oh, i get to teach on thursday; hmong, koren, and ethiopian students! perhaps one of the most rewarding things i've done.
nah was more thinking skeptical about anything sensible sort of personality. a pox on your sustainable house kindathing.
Will - That whole house dehumidifier sounds awesome. I grew up in a house without air-condititioning and am still not a big fan, however I do like the lower humidity levels. I think I'll add that to my "Dream House Requirements" list. Now all I have to do is win the lottery.
Manta - Good to know. A friend of mine is getting married in September so whenever we get together, conversation always leads wedding plans and letting her know I'm available to help if/when she needs me. And yes... I agree there is a purpose for those ugly padded shorts and thank you to whomever invented them.
Okay - time to get to crackin. Morning all.
Ah, got it, Will. So I totally misinterpreted.
A commenter on Jezebel who echoes how I feel about politics right now in the face of the Walker recall being defeated: "I feel more hopeless than ever. I can't keep up the positivity in the face of the assaults on collective bargaining, women's health, and on our very basic right to vote. I can't look forward to November, because I don't know what a win there will mean. More compromise, on our side? For what? To get punched in the face some more?"
I was nearly crying when I went to bed last night. Walker's win means one thing: fewer people will be able to continue barely clinging to the middle class as so many of us are doing in the past two decades. And those many thousands who do slip down to poverty? Far fewer so-called "safety nets" for them too.
For fuckssake. I hate this country.
yeah, i'm not done fighting. it's only a matter of time before some self-immolates on the wisconsin statehouse steps. the tyranny of the majority will only make slaves of us all, even of those asshats that think that conservatives give a shit about their personal "freedom."
That's why I keep a filled out one-of-these hanging by the front door.
An architect gets beaten to death by 20 cops. We rarely make these kinds of news since we tend to obide laws and such. This dude went on a diabetic rampage though.
the goings on in wisconsion are painful to watch. don't think it is good step although more nuanced than the pundits make it seem. i was surprised though that he won so thoroughly. it wasn't all that close. in which case, yeah i guess the state residents really do want all those things to happen. it is all about politics as religion though, not really useful in this kind of crisis as far as i can see. where does amerika go from here? feels like its a step back to 1860 or something. just waiting for someone to suggest we all light our homes with whale oil.
beta: Mrs has been on and intensive mission most of the last month with the latest adobe suite. She Loves it. We are going to be subscribing it looks like. Nice thing about it is you get the latest and the greatest with out having to pay and upgrade fee. When I leave for the field which has been alot over the past month she is watching videos and doing web seminars. Oh it is all because I sprung for a New Mac this past month. She said she would consider it a wedding anniversary present, birthday and Christmas present. I told her na....I just want her to be happy in Mac Land.
Busy day today with finishing one small pro-bono project for the dedication ceremony tomorrow and dealing with getting the Chop Stick tree placed on its supports which involved a big effin' crane! It's intimidating for sure to see that much man and horsepower come together and then ask me to be the one to approve it and say it's all OK. But I think it is!
anyone here know why the images i want to imbed in a blog post are not embedding? i am using the drag and drop function and it looks cool til i hit publish.
to hear the reports from wisconsin, rollback of collective bargaining or not, wisconsinites ended up just thinking that a recall was impolite.
steven, that sounds like the wisconsin I have got to know recently traveling up there for work....
Morning all I will be moving the SO to NC over this weekend. I will not be moving, yet?....
No more Florida for Nam? Seems weird. But cool. Life changes afoot for all!
where in NC, nam? the wife and i leave on saturday for a week at the mountain house, which is near bryson city...
oy, almost seems like a regression, nam! after living in virginia for 8 years, there's no reason i could see to move back to the south.
my personal and professional lives are feeding off each other in a really bad way this week. Each contains one issue that just flat out makes me feel like I am not good enough, like nobody loves me, like everything's bound to go to shit. I know that overall I have a great life right now, but somehow these two shitty things have hit at the same time and are just sending me into this downward spiral. Does that ever happen to you guys? How do you keep your personal and professional lives from feeding each other in negative ways?
winston-salem... you guys going for vacation?
I am not good enough, like nobody loves me, like everything's bound to go to shit
I feel like this often. Then usually, for no good reason, I don't feel like that anymore! and then I wonder what it was that made me have such a bleak outlook. The more often it happens the more I am confident I will ride it out as always, so I give myself some leeway to go ahead and wallow in it a bit while continually trying to keep working to resolve the things that are stressing me out.
And on that note, I need to go deal with about four different issues I've been avoiding. Hang in there, rationalist.
Rationalist. I think Michagelo even had those kind of weeks. Could you only imagine having to slow down his creativy for one week. So hang in there. The Sun Will Shine again and you will feel better. You know I have been slammed for the last couple of months working on this house where everything needs to be done yesterday. Well on Wednesday we had a fricking crane on site lifting the sub structure for a 18'-0" box bay window into place and all I had was my I-phone to take a picture. It was simply amazing watching it being lifted over the top of the existing house and being set in place. Now on to other very very detailed aspects of the project.....So I guess I will be busy for a couple more months cause we haven't gotten into the fine details...which I know are going to be a bigger challenge.
everyone sounds so down - this is not the archinect I have grown to love so much. Here's a lovely chipper pick me up and not to worry it's safe for work.
Donna, be mopey indoors tonight. The reports of a nuclear incident at Indiana/Michigan border are a bit worrisome.
…the hell?!?! I was outside drinking wine on a back patio with my mom friends for the last five hours!! FFS let me go look at the news...
You won't find much in mainstream news. There was a 'minor' leak somewhere. People seem to be freaking out by all the helicopters flying around. Here is a reddit discussion about it. Some links to minor-news reports. Lots of DIY 'radiologists' picking up higher readings.
Probably nothing to worry about. This time.
Oh my word, where is this builder? I'm stuck standing on the side of the street like some urchin, waiting for him. At least it's not raining.
prolly Cook nuclear plant. we toured it in high school. fyi rusty. i have a new orange cat that i have names rustoleum shackleford after alex du large was vetoed.
hope nothing serious. govt doesn't always tell us when things go wrong though. at least they don't here.
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