Category: Steel

Winter 2016 Energy Report

6/4/2017

As usual, I am way behind on updates to the blog. The heating season ended in April and it's June already. We have been busy working on the basement and I've started on design of a solar panel array that will go on the roof... but that's a topic for a future post!

Wood Stove

We installed an Osburn Matrix high efficiency wood stove in December but, with the basement still under construction, we hardly used it this past winter. We consumed roughly 1/2 face cord of mixed hardwood from January through March. That's so little I'm not going to try to calculate the effect on our energy use until next winter.

On a side note, our heating cost has been so minimal that the stove will never pay for itself in reduced heating bills. However it has 4 big plus factors:

It provides a backup heat source if the power goes down.
We live in the forest and the wood is free.
It heats very quickly
Great ambiance

We used left-over / scrap galvalume siding to make reflective panels behind and to the side of the stove. I really like the way it turned out and I'll post more details in a future blog.

2016 Heating Season

This year I've decided to include October and April in the heating season report. We don't use a lot of heat in either month but they average about 250 HDD each and together account for 10-15% of the annual heat load.

For comparison the following graph shows HDD by month for Winter 2015 and 2016.

Both of the past two winters have been warmer than average with winter 2016 being close to record warmth. For comparison, the 2015 heating season had approximately 3413 HDD while this past heating season was only 3022.

The second graph shows the energy used for heating by month for both years.

The total energy used for heating was 3330 kWh in 2016 compared to 4358 kWh in 2015. Put another way, our total cost for the 2016 heating season was less than $350.00.

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Interior Stairs

7/26/2014

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I hate to admit it, but I'm a video game nerd.

I liked this staircase from a sci-fi game called Mass Effect 3. It has a futuristic/industrial look with open risers. The stringers are channels and the treads cantilver a bit past the stringers.

Of course we can't build anything this thin, but it is a cool concept.

The basement is split-level. So there will be three sets of stairs

We found a local steel fabricator who could make the stringers with 2" x 6" rectangular steel channel and then we had the stringers powder coated.

We did the basement landing and foyer floors with 3/4" T&G oak to provide some warmth and contrast to the concrete floors in the rest of the house. The treads are 2" oak.

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Celebrating Steel

5/4/2014

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When we started this project, one of our main goals was to create a Modern design concept that is efficient, inspiring and sustainable. Our design philopsophy is captured in this terrific graphic.

In the 19th Century (not that long ago) houses were not very comfortable unless you were wealthy. Electricity was still a futuristic dream. There were no flush toilets, no central heating and no air conditioning. Those were the "Good" Old Days!

In the 20th Century tremendous technological advances made all of these comforts and conveniences affordable and widespread. We enjoyed cheap energy, so the march of progress paid little attention to nature or environment for making homes comforatble or livable.

The name neoTerra refers to the New Earth of the 21st Century. This will be a world with 9 billion people competing for food and resources. Only through sustainable design and conscientious use of materials can we all enjoy a prosperous future.

Why Steel?

Although we are creating a Modern design concept, the world has changed a lot since the 1950's. The aesthetics and design principles pioneered by Frank Llloyd Wright and his contemporaries still apply, but the technology and materials used 60 years ago are no longer appropriate. Old growth timber, cypress and cedar have become luxury materials. We must look for new 'natural' materials.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, two of the most abundant materials on Earth. Steel was a hand-crafted and valuable material until the late 19th Century. Today, steel has become a commodity that is so abundant we throw it away.

Let's reuse ALL of this! But how do we make it beautiful??

For neoTerra we decided that a responsible design should make extensive use steel. We used a steel framing system for the suspended slab and we are using steel for roofing and much of the siding.

In my opinion, the key to making steel beautiful is to use it 'honestly'. In other words, to utilize the products in a manner that highlights their stregths and characteristics rather than trying to diguise it as something else.

For neoTerra we are using raw galvalume siding for it's luster and natural crystalline pattern.

The 16" high TJ rafters in the Great Room create a 17" high fascia. Using 4" ribbed galvalume provides a rigid, maintenance free fascia. And the ribs create shadow lines that add interest and reduce the visual 'mass' of the tall fascia.

Although steel is not inexpensive, it is extremely strong and modern galvalume coatings make it durable and virtually maintenance-free. Since steel can be applied in long, seamless panels it provides an almost air-tight barrier that helps make the home more energy efficeint and comfortable.

We were fortunate to connect with Fabral Metals who put us in touch with Mark Alarcon at Champion Metals. Mark specializes in large commercial projects but he has a great interest in projects that use commercial metal products in residential applications. Mark is a true craftsman with steel... every aspect is well thought out and detailed.

We are using 4" rib galvalume on the two cantilvered sections of the house. The 4" rib creates a strong horizontal appearance to empasize the cantilevers floating over the concrete foundation. The kitchen faces north and has a thin horizontal band of windows between the counter and the upper cabinets.

The guest bedroom and master bath are cantileverd to the south.

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Suspended Slab - Part III

2/1/2014

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The suspended slab is complete and it looks really good.

The only problem that I noticed with the steel framing system is that the basement is "loud". Hopefully the sound will be a little more subdued when we put some drywall on the basement ceiling.

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Suspended Slab - Part II

1/20/2014

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The team worked all weekend to get the metal deck and remesh installed for this morning's pour. We are expecting the weather to turn cold for the next 7-10 days so the pour had to get done today. Hats off to Tony and Harry for a tremendous effort.

Here's the steel deck with the mesh reinforcing in place.

The crew pooured about 50,000 lbs of concrete on the deck. This will provide thermal mass to soak up the sun.

Floating in the trees.

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Suspended Slab

1/18/2014

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A passive solar design can collect a lot of heat while the sun is shining. If there is not enough thermal mass within the house then it will get too warm during the day and it will get cold very quickly when the sun goes down.

A concrete slab in direct view of the sun is the simplest way to capture and store heat. As a general rule of thumb, there should be 6-9 square feet of thermal mass for each square foot of south-facing glass.

A basement slab on grade is the most cost effective since you need the slab anyway.

To take advantage of the basement slab, we designed neoTerra to step down the hill so there is a large walkout area in the basement with tall, south-facing windows

The living room on the main floor has even higher windows. As the sun moves from east to west over the course of a day, most of the floor receives direct sunlight. The flowing pictures show the solar coverage on December 21st at 1 PM and 4 PM.

There is about 200 square feet of south glazing which exceeds the guideline of 12%-15% of total floor area. It will definately require thermal mass so we decided to utilize a suspended concrete slab design similar to the one in the Labbe house:
http://thelabbehouseproject.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/suspended-concrete-slab/

Framing System
We will be pouring a 2" reinforced concrete slab over a metal deck. The concrete weighs roughly 25 lbs per square foot which requires a very strong framing system to support the weight (its about 21,000 lbs of concrete in the living room).

I looked at a lot of different framing systems and decided on the JoistRite system from Marino\WARE. The joists are extremely strong, light weight and the triangular cutouts simplify installation of wiring, plumbing and heating.

We are using 10" joists with a 9/16 galvanized steel deck. We will be pouring a 2" slab with 5000 # mix and 6" welded wire remesh to reduce cracking. The concrete will be the finished floor. The crew is finishing the framing and deck today and will be pouring the slab on Monday.

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Winter 2016 Energy Report

Interior Stairs

Celebrating Steel

Why Steel?

Suspended Slab - Part III

Suspended Slab - Part II

Suspended Slab

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