Akro Quality Defined
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| Akro Quality | Fuel Economy | Building Materials |
What “quality”?
Most goods sold by U.S. manufacturers carry the label “quality” even though it is never explained how they justify this label. For example, since there exists no standard by which the alleged “quality” can be judged, all U.S. houses could claim to be “quality” products. To the general public the “quality” of a given house is usually only a question of sales price, the highest price representing the highest quality and the lowest price the lowest quality. The absurdity of this purchasing criteria culminates in the practice of comparing the square foot price of construction. This is as absurd as buying a car by comparing the per pound price without regard to its performance.
Tested and Certified Quality
Akro Quality Solar Green Homes strive to approach the ideal of a “net zero energy home” and reduce dependency on coal-fired power plants which pollute the air, water, and the food chain. To this end Akro Solar Green Homes are constructed with an energy-saving house shell and provide energy-saving utility features which are tested and certified by independent testing agencies like Earth Advantage and Energy Star.
(www.NorthwestEnergystar.com) (www.earthadvantage.com)
Quality Requirements
What then are the requirements for building a sustainable home to be habitable for at least the next 500 years with their unavoidably decreasing availability of natural resources and rising energy costs? How does an astute home buyer purchase a house for the challenging times ahead? Like an astute car buyer, who, more often than in previous times, today asks about the fuel economy of a given car, an astute home buyer should also go past the attraction of flashy colors, style, and size, and first “look under the hood.”
(www.energytrust.org)
Fuel Economy of new Homes.
Heating and Cooling: Ground-Source Heat Pumps
Akro Solar Green Homes favor the use of ground-source (geo-thermal) heat pumps for both heating and cooling to minimize the home owner’s dependency on the electric grid and natural gas supply. According to the Geothermal Exchange Organization, "geothermal heating and cooling uses the relatively constant temperature of the earth to heat and cool homes and businesses with 40% to 70% less energy than conventional systems. While conventional furnaces and boilers burn a fuel to generate heat, geothermal heat pumps use electricity to simply move heat from the earth into buildings, allowing much higher efficiencies. The most efficient fuel-burning heater can reach efficiencies around 95%, but a geothermal heat pump can move up to 4 units of heat for every unit of electricity needed to power the system, resulting in a practical equivalence of over 400% efficiency." Credits: GeoExchange (Geothermal Exchange Organization)
Heating and Cooling: Air-Source Heat Pumps
The Akro Solar green home features a dual exterior wall of a full 8" which allows for a sufficient combination of closed-cell spray foam and blown-in fiber glass insulation to approach the "zero net energy home" insulation requirement. A high efficiency air-source heat pump which provides a heating and cooling system sized in relation to the investment in insulation will be the basis of a "net zero energy" home if augmented with solar electric and solar water heating system. Our homes will also provide for the use of natural gas for cooking or heating, if so desired. Looking into the future we prefer to maximize the use of a renewable energy source like from the sun and minimize the use of non-renewable energy sources which are not sustainable..
Solar Water Heating
The least expensive water heating is solar water heating. It also has the least damaging impact on the environment. “A typical system will reduce a home’s energy use by 2,000 to 3,000 kilowatt-hours (kWH) per year – the equivalent combined energy used by all your major appliances. Over its lifetime (20 years), a solar water heater will prevent the release of over 40,000 pounds of carbon-dioxide from being dumped into the atmosphere from fossil fuel power plants.” (Green + Solar Building Oregon 2006/7, p. 16)
Solar water heating is very cost-effective. If the net cost of an 80 gallon solar water heater system will be $4000.00, (after receipt of the federal and state tax credits and utility company incentives) and if this amount will be part of a home loan at 6.5% interest per annum, the additional yearly interest cost of only $260.00 will be easily recaptured in reduced gas or electric water heating bills. The added bonus of reduced environmental pollution will be appreciated by many generations into the future.
For back-up water heating Akro Solar Green Homes provide highly efficient electric or natural gas water heaters, giving the home buyers a choice of using renewable or non-renewable energy sources.
ON-Site Electricity Generation with Solar Panels
Global environmental problems and the ever increasing cost of energy dictate the installation and use of “photo-voltaic” cells to generate electricity without pollution of air, water and the food chain. Akro Solar Green Homes offer as a standard feature pre-wiring for the installation of at least 3,000 watt solar panels which, on a clear day, could provide the power to preserve your food in an 18 cft refrigerator from sunrise to sunset. To store electricity for night-time use or accidental loss of power requires the installation of an array of batteries. Excess electricity produced on site will be bought back by utility companies according to a “Net-Metering Agreement.” For example, Akro Construction Corp. has such an agreement with Consumers Power, Inc. (www.cpi.coop )
All Akro Solar Green Homes will have the necessary pre-plumbing and pre-wiring for the installation of solar panels on the roof. If a given home site is not conducive to orient the house roof for efficient use of solar panels, the Akro Solar Green Homes will provide pre-plumbing and pre-wiring for solar electricity and solar water heating generation in the proximity of the home, including such options as pole mount arrays or panels on a patio roof.
For information on alternative energy state and federal tax credits and utility company rebates go to www. oregon.gov/energy and www. energytrust.org and
www.NorthwestEnergystar.com and www.cpi.coop
Building Materials
Akro Solar Green Homes are built the old-fashioned way: we use only solid framing lumber and plywood with 5 layers of veneer. At the present, we do not use man-made composite wood products with the potential industry recalls. However, our preference for the time-proven quality of real wood can probably not be sustained in a future with unbridled population growth and corresponding demand for natural resources.
(www.populationconnection.org)
Roof:
Let us start by looking at the Akro Solar Green Home roof. This life-time guaranteed concrete tile roof defines the “quality” appearance of the house and will keep several future generations dry without costly replacements. Due to its weight, the tile roof dictates extra structural requirements in the entire house structure, starting in the foundation. The recyclable concrete tile roofing has a 50 year warranty with an R-20 insulation value. The raised-heel roof trusses are especially engineered to allow for the weight of concrete tiles and for maximum insulation above the exterior walls.
Foundation:
Akro Solar Green Homes are engineered according to the Oregon Structural Specialty Code (OSSC) and the prescriptive building methods of the Oregon Residential Specialty Code (ORSC). The Akro foundation has large “load points”; i.e., larger footings than the average house foundation. Embedded in the concrete foundation stem walls are 24” long and 5/8” thick steel anchor bolts (SSTB 24) and 5/8” and ¾” thick steel J-bolts. We build higher than usual stem walls to ensure an easily accessible crawl space. All stem walls are 8” thick.
Framing:
Akro Solar Green Homes incorporate the best features of the Energy Star Homes Northwest “Advanced Framing” Requirements and exceed these requirements when possible. Akro Solar Green Homes “Standard Specifications” call for massive hold-downs to secure 3x6 or 3x8 pressure-treated sill plates which have a 0.4 chemical retention rating instead of the 2x6 pressure-treated sill plates with a 0.25 chemical retention rating used in average home construction. The larger sill plates provide more strength for the shear forces on the wall panels. The house walls bear directly on the foundation walls instead of on the wooden rim joists commonly used in residential construction.. This necessitates a beam and joist construction which carries the floor from below the stem wall height. The support posts are pressure-treated. The floor consists of ¾” tongue and groove exterior grade plywood on 2x10 or 2x12 solid kiln-tried Douglas Fir joists installed 16” on center.
The exterior house walls consist of two 2x4 Douglas Fir staggered studs walls with a 1" gap for a full 8" wall cavitiy to allow for our standard 3" closed cell spray foam plus 5" of blown -in fber glass insulation.for a minimum of R-41 insulation rating compared to the R-21 rating required by the building code. The dual wall system with its 1" gab and staggered studs prevents any possible thermal transfer.
Akro Solar Green Homes are not built with finger-joined wall studs made from glued-together lumber remnants, man-made I-joists, and wafer board, a glued-together wood chips panel. We build exterior and interior shear walls with 4x6 posts fastened to the SSTB 24” steel bolts with 20” long hold-downs (HD 20). The connecting membrane consists of ½” exterior rated 5-ply plywood. The exterior and interior shear walls are connected to provide a solid unit structure, some even enhanced with steel beams, guarding against potential seismic motion.
Windows
For maximum energy efficiency we use the top of the line Milgard "Montecito" low E triple pane windows with an average U-Value of 0.24 or better. (= R-4.35)
Siding
The siding system which protects the 1/2" five-ply subsiding consists of waterproof but air permeable construction paper, 1/4" pressure treated nailing strips, and “Hardiplank” or “Hardipanel” cement siding, which resists flame spread, impact damage, wet and humid climate change, cold damage, and insect damage. The siding is nailed to the 1/4" nailing strips which create a drying space or "drain plain" in case of any water penetration through the "skin." The bottom and top of 1/4" drain plain space has aluminum screening to prevent bug infestation. Depending on the house design we also use the old-fashioned quality 3-coat plaster with metal reinforcement. (James Hardie Siding)
Plumbing:
Our standard calls for the “Rehau” water pipe system which is quiet, does not break in freezing weather and allows no chemical reactions and electrolysis like copper pipes. For sewer pipes we use ABS pipes and cast iron. Our Oregon-made “Fiber-Fab” fiberglass shower stalls and tubs are clearly superior to other U.S. brands. The fixtures are individually accounted for in our “Standard Specifications” sheet and can easily be up-graded. We use water conserving toilets..
According to the U.S. Environmental Agency “. . . the current generation of toilets typically accounts for one-third of home water consumption, and that high-efficiency toilets could save more than 900 billion gallons (about 3 million acre-feet) of water nationwide and reduce water bills by about 10 % annually.” (Buildernews, June 2007, p. 44)
Electrical:
Here we invest in the low noise “Broan” QTR 80 (1 sone) and QTR 110 (1.5 sones). The house is pre-wired with a Cat 5 wire for your future computer networking and can be up-graded for additional special needs and wishes. All light fixtures use fluorescent lamps.
Insulation:
Akro Solar Green Homes have higher than code required insulation values.. The full 8" exterior dual wall cavity provides the opportunity to approach or attain the "net-zero energy home" model. For example, our minimum use of 3" of closed cell polyurethane spray foam plus 5" of blown-in fiber glass insulation achieves an R-41 rating. The code required insulation for exterior residential home walls is only an R-21 without any concern for the corresponding loss of heat. The "spray-applied polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation system creates a seamless, insulating air barrier to improve the energy, comfort and durablility of homes" and adds "shear strength two to three times compared with standard stick-built components with fiber glass insulation." Our standard R-60 rating for the ceiling/attic insulationin exceeds the R-38 code requirement and R-45 for the floor insulation exceeds the R-30 code requirement. Increasing the R rating is easily accomplished in our full 8" wall cavity by increasing the closed-cell spray foam and reducing the blown-in fiber glass. The additional expense can be recovered by a smaller heating/cooling system and lower utility costs.
(BASF Chemical Company for "Spraytite Insulation and Air barrier) (www.arkseal.com) (www.certainteed.com)
Heating, Cooling, Venting System
The size and efficiency of the heating, cooling and venting system is calculated in relation to the investment in insulation. Our standard insulation of R-45 in the floor, R-41 in the exterior walls, and R-60 in the attic is well served with a high efficiency air-source heat pump which provides heating and cooling. We install all ductwork in the conditioned air space of the home to retain any potential leakage of heated or cooled air in the home..
Fireplace:
Upon specific demand we will install the top of the line “Heat-n-Glow” gas direct-vent fireplace models with a hot air blower for supplemental heating. Our fireplace mantels show a craftsmanship commensurate with our “quality” label and provide a life-long visual delight.
Painting:
Akro Solar Green Homes use only Zero-VOC (No Volatile Organic Compounds) interior paint to eliminate toxic off-gassing and use top of the line "Super Paint Extra Satin" (25 year warranty) and "Duration Satin" (Life-time warranty) Sherwin-Williams Co. paint for the exterior of the house.. (www.sherwinwilliams.com)
Cabinets:
The standard white or oak cabinets can be easily and inexpensively upgraded to maple or cherry, or other preferred wood.
Floor covering:
Our generous monetary allowance toward the standard floor covering buys quality carpet, linoleum, ceramic tile, ¾” thick oak wood flooring. bamboo, or other preferred flooring. We do not use vinyl floor covering because of its toxic off-gassing. In place of vinyl we use linoleum, made of organic and non-allergenic materials.
Appliances:
All appliances selected for Akro Solar Green Homes must qualify for the “Energy Star” label. (www.NorthwestEnergystar.com)
Landscaping:
To ensure an instantly attractive neighborhood we provide total landscaping with an automated sprinkler system included in our competitive sales price.
For an additional analysis of our claim for the Akro Quality Solar Green Home label, please review our “Standard Specifications” and list of “How do Akro Green Homes differ from Conventional Homes?” Compare them to the other “quality” labels in the housing market. When you do, please pay close attention to all those things which really matter “under the hood.” You wouldn’t buy a car without checking out its performance – would you?
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