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Painting My House Green With Envy
Blogger's Warning: This is part two in what I suspect will be a never-ending series of entries about juggling the issues of sustainability, affordability and historic preservation with green building techniques. I apologize in advance for its overly home-centric nature. Rants on various other environmental subjects will return shortly.
After reading my June 20 blog about old houses with green ambitions, my wife asked me what I would do, if we had money, to our house, built in 1916, to make it green.
It was something I've often day-dreamed about. (I know, I need to get a life.)
My first thought was that we could spray cellulose insulation (old newspapers, what could be more appropriate?) in between the brick exterior and the plaster and lathe interior.
But then I started thinking about the equally old "knob and tube" wiring in some parts of the house.
Before rubber insulation came into vogue for electrical wiring -- sometime during Truman's presidency I believe -- wiring was run on two sides of a beam, negative on one side, positive on the other.
The wires are held in place with ceramic "knobs" and often run through "tubes" which are often open, from knob to knob.
When I had local electrician Bud Lightcap come out and take a look at the wiring a few years ago, he said what there was of the knob and tube was in good shape and was just as safe, if not safer, than modern wiring because it kept the two sides separate.
But something tells me surrounding it with flammable cellulose to improve the insulation would do little to improve my fire safety rating.
I suppose the first thing I would do would be to set up photovoltaic solar power cells on the roof and generate my own power on sunny days, running my meter backward, while PECO executives wept bitterly into their beers.
A recent New York Times article, which can be read by clicking here, highlighted a project an old Cape Cod home in Elmsford, NY (near my old stomping grounds) in which many green improvements had been made.
This passage nearly made me drool: "From her new roof, shimmering rows of solar panels send her Consolidated Edison meter running backward, storing energy credits like a squirrel hoarding nuts. Some electricity goes to her basement, powering the geothermal unit of pipes and fans that keeps her century-old house temperate all year long."
And I started thinking, "old Cape Cod?," "century-old house?," hell, that's Pottstown. And folks, believe me, Elmsford is not the garden spot of Westchester. If it can be done there, it can be done here.
The piece also highlighted something I've encountered in my attempts to find a handyman to do small jobs at my house.
Reporter Nicole Neroulias described it well: "The biggest hurdles to turning a gray house green are not lack of awareness, the cost of labor and materials, or the months of construction, but finding contractors willing to do nitty-gritty work on small properties while soliciting approval from town officials."
Needless to say, the owner of this house in Elmsford did not get away cheap.
In fact her architect said in order to afford it, she skipped her intention to buy a BMW.
Seeing as I anticipate no German sports sedans in my future, it looks like an absence of green will keep any attempts to try this at my house green in my mind only.
But then hope appeared on the horizon; hope from, of all places, Harrisburg?!?
On June 27, I wrote a story in The Mercury about a pending bill that would provide grants to owners of historic homes to fix them up. (Unfortunately, due to the high degree of technical expertise we enjoy at The Mercury, I am unable to provide you a link to that story here because by the time you read this, it will have disappeared from our Web site never to be seen again.)
But it seems to me that if I could swing a grant of $15,000 from my friends in Harrisburg (that's the max for a residential property) some of this stuff might be doable, particularly if it could be combined with some grants for using green technology.
Since I'm writing this on June 26 (so I can have some blogs post while I'm on vacation next week. With my readership I can't afford to lose anyone by having old, dried up entries laying around gathering dust) I am not sure if it crossed the finish line with the legislature and Gov. Rendell duking it out in some back budget room.
Although given their past track record, I feel safe in predicting we don't have a budget yet, nevertheless, if it does pass, I'll be the first to thank them ... and then hold out my hand.
After reading my June 20 blog about old houses with green ambitions, my wife asked me what I would do, if we had money, to our house, built in 1916, to make it green.
It was something I've often day-dreamed about. (I know, I need to get a life.)
My first thought was that we could spray cellulose insulation (old newspapers, what could be more appropriate?) in between the brick exterior and the plaster and lathe interior.
But then I started thinking about the equally old "knob and tube" wiring in some parts of the house.
Before rubber insulation came into vogue for electrical wiring -- sometime during Truman's presidency I believe -- wiring was run on two sides of a beam, negative on one side, positive on the other.
The wires are held in place with ceramic "knobs" and often run through "tubes" which are often open, from knob to knob.
When I had local electrician Bud Lightcap come out and take a look at the wiring a few years ago, he said what there was of the knob and tube was in good shape and was just as safe, if not safer, than modern wiring because it kept the two sides separate.
But something tells me surrounding it with flammable cellulose to improve the insulation would do little to improve my fire safety rating.
I suppose the first thing I would do would be to set up photovoltaic solar power cells on the roof and generate my own power on sunny days, running my meter backward, while PECO executives wept bitterly into their beers.
A recent New York Times article, which can be read by clicking here, highlighted a project an old Cape Cod home in Elmsford, NY (near my old stomping grounds) in which many green improvements had been made.
This passage nearly made me drool: "From her new roof, shimmering rows of solar panels send her Consolidated Edison meter running backward, storing energy credits like a squirrel hoarding nuts. Some electricity goes to her basement, powering the geothermal unit of pipes and fans that keeps her century-old house temperate all year long."
And I started thinking, "old Cape Cod?," "century-old house?," hell, that's Pottstown. And folks, believe me, Elmsford is not the garden spot of Westchester. If it can be done there, it can be done here.
The piece also highlighted something I've encountered in my attempts to find a handyman to do small jobs at my house.
Reporter Nicole Neroulias described it well: "The biggest hurdles to turning a gray house green are not lack of awareness, the cost of labor and materials, or the months of construction, but finding contractors willing to do nitty-gritty work on small properties while soliciting approval from town officials."
Needless to say, the owner of this house in Elmsford did not get away cheap.
In fact her architect said in order to afford it, she skipped her intention to buy a BMW.
Seeing as I anticipate no German sports sedans in my future, it looks like an absence of green will keep any attempts to try this at my house green in my mind only.
But then hope appeared on the horizon; hope from, of all places, Harrisburg?!?
On June 27, I wrote a story in The Mercury about a pending bill that would provide grants to owners of historic homes to fix them up. (Unfortunately, due to the high degree of technical expertise we enjoy at The Mercury, I am unable to provide you a link to that story here because by the time you read this, it will have disappeared from our Web site never to be seen again.)
But it seems to me that if I could swing a grant of $15,000 from my friends in Harrisburg (that's the max for a residential property) some of this stuff might be doable, particularly if it could be combined with some grants for using green technology.
Since I'm writing this on June 26 (so I can have some blogs post while I'm on vacation next week. With my readership I can't afford to lose anyone by having old, dried up entries laying around gathering dust) I am not sure if it crossed the finish line with the legislature and Gov. Rendell duking it out in some back budget room.
Although given their past track record, I feel safe in predicting we don't have a budget yet, nevertheless, if it does pass, I'll be the first to thank them ... and then hold out my hand.
Labels: Bud Lightcap, Elmsford, green buildings, historic preservation, New York Times
posted by Evan Brandt at
1:00 PM
2 Comments:
I work for a cellulose insulation manufacturer, and property produced cellulose is absolutely flame retardant. It is made from 83% recycled materials (reused newsprint) and boric acid, which renders the product inflammable and vermin-free. While you still need to be careful about installing anything around electrical connections, it is a gross misconception that cellulose is flammable. We have made huge efforts and spent money insuring that it does not catch fire. And it blows the competition out of the water (fiberglass bursts into flames, and foam burns quickly and emits harmful toxic gases). It is hands down the only high performance, green insulation and is what you should absolutely consider for your home. Just make sure you use a contractor that knows how to properly install it.
Evan,
My one nieghbor is an architect that specializes in historical architectal preservation. You know how to get hold of me if you want her opinion on future stuff you plan.
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