The Big Dig

Stimulating, Don't you Think?

I received my economic stimulus check on Saturday, and after a dream involving George W Bush, decided to spend all $600 on pizza.

Jedi and Lucy got to eat plenty of sticks

Nice try Jedi

Slow Is OK

The silt fence is almost in place, which means excavation for the footings will begin soon.

While I was working on the fence tonight, I met a guy named Tom who is going to help me cut up the rest of the wood tomorrow evening in exchange for some of the firewood.  He heated his house last winter solely with a wood stove!

Here's the stream the city won't even let me put a deck within 15 feet of:

Don't see the water?  Neither do I.

Night Moves

My building permit was approved yesterday!  What better way to celebrate than to hike up Looking Glass Rock in the middle of the night with some good buddies.

Look closely, you can see the full moon at the top of the photo!

This is Where I Live

After all that hard work on Saturday, we camped at Wilson Creek and spent sunday riding our bikes, swimming, laughing, hiking.

Beautiful Day for a Chainsaw

The plans have been submitted to the City of Asheville for permits.  They said I should hear from them in 7-10 days.  In the mean time, Matt, Beth, and I cleaned up the lot a bit this morning.

Passive House

My house is designed to be a passive house. Hopefully certified by the Passive House Institute. (the first certified house in NC!).

What is a passive house you may ask?

A Passive House is a very well-insulated, virtually air-tight building that is primarily heated by passive solar gain and by internal gains from people, electrical equipment, etc. Energy losses are minimized. Any remaining heat demand is provided by an extremely small source. Avoidance of heat gain through shading and window orientation also helps to limit any cooling load, which is similarly minimized. An energy recovery ventilator provides a constant, balanced fresh air supply. The result is an impressive system that not only saves up to 90% of space heating costs, but also provides a uniquely terrific indoor air quality.

To achieve the required level of insulation, the walls tend to be very thick (12").

The main performance requirements are as follows:

1. • Airtight building shell ≤ 0.6 ACH @ 50 pascal pressure, measured by blower-door test.
   

2. • Annual heat requirement ≤ 15 kWh/m2/year
   

3. • Primary Energy ≤ 120 kWh/m2/year

   
   

   The initial construction cost tends to be a little higher than conventional construction, but the energy savings should pay for this and then some.