Mistakes of the Masters
February 26, 2009
Kelly Karmel, an architect and sustainable design and LEED consultant and founder ofdesign balance LLC which offer sustainable design and LEED consultancy: "I had to redesign the plans for the house three times before I built it—and one was a complete redo. I was pretty happy with it, but then I broke my left leg, was on crutches for nine months, and completely changed my mind. I put a bedroom on the ground floor and widened the hallway and stairway. The handles are all lever-style. We don't have grab bars in the bathroom, but I configured things to be able to add them and made the kitchen easily modifiable. Believe me, I have a whole new appreciation for the Americans with Disabilities Act. I've come to feel that truly sustainable building needs to include aspects like accessibility more. I try to design for being able to live in a place long term—and not having to repair things constantly."
Betsy Pettit, FAIA, principal of Building Science Corporation and an architect with over 30 years' professional experience: "In 1996, we renovated an 1850 New England Greek Revival farmhouse and later regretted not using higher R-value insulation in the walls and roof. It's expensive to add more after the fact. That's why we always recommend that if you're replacing siding, you add as much at that time as you possibly can." Betsy Pettit and her husband and business partner Joseph Lstiburek have since renovated two additional houses, both with significantly higher R-value insulation.
Jeff Rogers, owner of the first LEED for Homes platinum-certified project in Massachusetts and owner of New England Green (negreen.com), a green building materials supplier: "My mistake was not putting in an on-demand tankless water heater as a backup to the solar hot water in the coldest months. I had electrodes in the hot water tank, but the electric ran too much and prevented the solar from giving any benefit in the winter. So I've just fixed it. I turned off the electrodes and turned on the new on-demand. I haven't gotten an energy bill yet to see what it's saving. But in theory it should use about a tenth of the energy I was using before."
Frank Wickstead, owner of Wickstead Works, in Atlanta, Georgia, an award-winning remodeler and verifier for the National Green Building Program: "Things I regret about my 2005 home renovation—I made a list. I have a furnace in the crawl space and I need to bring that space into the building envelope and make it insulated (I still haven't and can't wait to). I would have minimized my half-acre lawn. It takes a lot of fertilizer and work that isn't necessary. And I don't irrigate, so it's brown now. There's a neighborhood nearby that has xeriscaping and uses native species and it's wonderful. Here's a big guilt: I put in Brazilian cherry floors. I had some leftover from a project, so I bought more. I know it was probably an illegally poached tree. The floor's gorgeous, but that's a real regret."
Jeffrey Zucker, a principal with the award-winning sustainable design firm Catalyst Architecture in Prescott, Arizona: "In 1993, I built a house which was as close to 'zero energy demand'as possible—air-tight drywall technique, low-e glazing, heat recovery ventilator, in-floor radiant heat, water harvesting, xeriscaping, earth berming, passive solar heat, blower door testing, blown-in cellulose insulation, 2-x-6 construction. My worst heating bills per month were about $50.
So, what was my mistake?
I sold it.
I built a house in the Prescott cohousing community that I founded and it has some efficiencies, such as community water harvesting for our organic gardens. But for some reason I forgot many of the lessons that I had taught myself in the previous house. Now I am paying heating bills for the same sized house of about $250 per month, rather than $50. Fortunately (or, unfortunately, depending on how you look at it)I am an architect, which means that I design and build a new house for myself at the slightest provocation. Next time . . . ."
Alas, most of us don't get that second chance to correct our design or to build another house. But try to remain serene and investigate ways you can improve what you have, accepting the missteps you can't undo. Then tell others what you've found out so at least they can avoid the same blunders.
Betsy Pettit, FAIA, principal of Building Science Corporation and an architect with over 30 years' professional experience: "In 1996, we renovated an 1850 New England Greek Revival farmhouse and later regretted not using higher R-value insulation in the walls and roof. It's expensive to add more after the fact. That's why we always recommend that if you're replacing siding, you add as much at that time as you possibly can." Betsy Pettit and her husband and business partner Joseph Lstiburek have since renovated two additional houses, both with significantly higher R-value insulation.
Jeff Rogers, owner of the first LEED for Homes platinum-certified project in Massachusetts and owner of New England Green (negreen.com), a green building materials supplier: "My mistake was not putting in an on-demand tankless water heater as a backup to the solar hot water in the coldest months. I had electrodes in the hot water tank, but the electric ran too much and prevented the solar from giving any benefit in the winter. So I've just fixed it. I turned off the electrodes and turned on the new on-demand. I haven't gotten an energy bill yet to see what it's saving. But in theory it should use about a tenth of the energy I was using before."
Frank Wickstead, owner of Wickstead Works, in Atlanta, Georgia, an award-winning remodeler and verifier for the National Green Building Program: "Things I regret about my 2005 home renovation—I made a list. I have a furnace in the crawl space and I need to bring that space into the building envelope and make it insulated (I still haven't and can't wait to). I would have minimized my half-acre lawn. It takes a lot of fertilizer and work that isn't necessary. And I don't irrigate, so it's brown now. There's a neighborhood nearby that has xeriscaping and uses native species and it's wonderful. Here's a big guilt: I put in Brazilian cherry floors. I had some leftover from a project, so I bought more. I know it was probably an illegally poached tree. The floor's gorgeous, but that's a real regret."
Jeffrey Zucker, a principal with the award-winning sustainable design firm Catalyst Architecture in Prescott, Arizona: "In 1993, I built a house which was as close to 'zero energy demand'as possible—air-tight drywall technique, low-e glazing, heat recovery ventilator, in-floor radiant heat, water harvesting, xeriscaping, earth berming, passive solar heat, blower door testing, blown-in cellulose insulation, 2-x-6 construction. My worst heating bills per month were about $50.
So, what was my mistake?
I sold it.
I built a house in the Prescott cohousing community that I founded and it has some efficiencies, such as community water harvesting for our organic gardens. But for some reason I forgot many of the lessons that I had taught myself in the previous house. Now I am paying heating bills for the same sized house of about $250 per month, rather than $50. Fortunately (or, unfortunately, depending on how you look at it)I am an architect, which means that I design and build a new house for myself at the slightest provocation. Next time . . . ."
Alas, most of us don't get that second chance to correct our design or to build another house. But try to remain serene and investigate ways you can improve what you have, accepting the missteps you can't undo. Then tell others what you've found out so at least they can avoid the same blunders.
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