Cutting vs. Bleeding Edge?

Well here we are nearly a month since my last post.  So what's going on?  Well, as they say the devil is in the details, and we have been finalizing lots of the details on the energy generation, HVAC and construction of this amazing building.  Good news is the design is locked, and I have included some new images, a cross section and 3-D visualization of assembly and views of the house.  But there has been a lot of back and fourth on the final energy generation plan and associated HVAC system.  You may remember from and earlier post "Getting to Zero" we were wrestling with how to generate enough power for the main building, garage including electric car charger and workshop with the 850 feet of we had for solar panels.  Well the solution that I described that utilized the PVT or Hybrid Solar Panels, seemed at that point to fit my "Keep it simple"mantra, but after a great deal of investigation, much of it dealing with a German manufacturer, it became much more complex and expensive.  

While wrestling with what was technically elegant, and very "bleeding edge", we stumbled on a great solution from Sanyo to increase our solar yield from a more traditional, but "Cutting Edge" solution.  Sanyo's HIT® bifacial solar panels capture additional ambient or scattered sunlight to produce more power at any angle and any direction than single sided panels, therefore addressing our yield issues.  If you notice on the cross section drawing the solar panels are now lifted off the roof to allow abient light to be captured as well as under the awning over the fourth floor.  With this solution in hand we SHOULD be able to lock this part of the plan and go to press with the final drawings for the NYC Building Department.

We have gotten some very preliminary numbers back from one of our possible builders and we are within our planned budget, so that is good news.  So while we are now behind an additional 30 days, we should be able to pick up the time and get back on schedule.  Thank you for you continued interest, I will be posting more regularly as we move out of this more cerebral phase, into the more action oriented one (my favorite).  


Take a minute and review this new 3-D rendering, it illustrates the modular assembly as well as 360 degree views of the structure.

Redhook Green On The Road

Interest in zero energy construction is building all over the country and with it interest in Redhook Green.

Garrison Architects and I will be presenting the Redhook Green Project at the 9th annual Architectural Digest Home Design Show at Pier 92 (55th street at the West Side Highway, NYC) starting March Friday March 18th through the Sunday March 21st from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  We will be presenting new graphical and model representations of the building designs and systems.  We will have samples of some of the materials planned to be utilized and additional information from manufactures.  The team involved will be on hand to answer questions.  We expect the show to really begin to have a sustainable/green focus.

Running concurrently to the Home Design Show (same admission) will be the Go Green Expo, the nation’s leading eco-friendly trade and consumer showcase. Uncover new ways to live and work in a greener world through expert panel presentations and 250 + exhibits in areas such as energy, transportation, food, health & beauty, home & building, business& electronics and fashion.  Hope to see you there.


Jay

Breaking Radio Silence

Sorry about the increased time between postings, we had been waiting for additional feedback from the team before we presented you with these two views of the finalized design.  Changes have been made to respond to suggestions from the structural and mechanical engineers, to simplify construction, reduce cost and generally hone the design.  

Some specific changes you may notice include: 

We decided to open the second floor south wall to expose the steel substructure and sheath it in translucent glass to provide overall protection, shading and privacy.  Our thermal modeling showed that it would not change the temperature balance in the heat or cold, so we thought it looked great and it added to the consistency between the second and fourth floors.

The fourth floor canopy was modified to allow the overall design to provide a more symmetric relationship with the lower structure and simplify the construction process.  Instead of having a separate canopy (as provided in earlier drawings) to fabricate and install separately, it will now be integrated as part of the modular structure.

The schematic diagram below is the visualization of the power generation and HVAC system I described in my post "getting to zero" a few weeks ago.  While it might look like a plate of spaghetti, this diagram actually has been simplified to leverage the combination PV/thermal solar collectors to provide electrical power to the POWER TO LOAD  (better know as the house) and hot water to the thermal storage tank.  That hot water will be used to heat and cool (via the absorption chiller) the house with fans blowing over the coils.  A small electric powered boiler and demand hot water heater will provide backup.

Last night I presented the vision for Redhook Green as well as these renderings to a group of my new neighbors in Redhook at the The Redhook Economic Development Association meeting.  Steve LaMorte, a RHED board member wrote me today, "As you can see, there is a good deal of interest coming from the neighborhood for your respective projects (the other being the Beautiful Earth Group). There's a palpable level of excitement that is growing around the changing face of Red Hook. We believe your projects are going a long way in helping us define the new identity of Red Hook and we're hopeful that they will aid in galvanizing other like-minded environmentally conscious entrepreneurs to also find a home in this very special and unique neighborhood."  I am glad to be part of this great community!

Moving The Ball Up The Hill

After a great review meeting with Jim Garrison and his team , it seems as if we are in the final weeks of the design and documentation phase of the project, that includes final plans for the mechanical (including the solar component), electrical, plumbing and structural components of the plan. This rendering illustrates the evolution of the design, including the the windows, the use of wood and exterior finishes.

As we continue to move the ball up the hill, this is the rough timeline for us to reach the "top":

Complete design development	now - 2/15
Obtain preliminary costing	3/1
NYC Building Depart Submission	3/15
Foundation/First Floor Construction	5/15 - 8/1
Module (floors 2-4) Fabrication	5/15 - 8/1
Set Modules on Foundation/First Floor	8/1 - 8/3
Interior/Exterior Finishing	8/3 - 10/1
Certificate of Occupancy/Move - In	10/1

As we look back, the current timeline has us about sixty days behind our original thinking. The complexity of balancing conservation/generation with design has driven many iterations of the design, but at this point it seems all elements are in check.  I am so excited about how this is progressing, what do you think, love to hear from you with thoughts and questions.

BTW, check out new coverage from Metro's International Edition "Adding To It's Appeal" an article about our role in Red Hook's evolution.

Getting to Zero

As promised we have gotten back the results of the thermal modeling from our mechanical engineers, which was a simulation designed to test our energy conservation and generation assumptions.

The great news is that Jim and his team have designed a very efficient "high performance envelope", basically put roofs, ceilings, walls, windows, doors, external floors and soffits are components of the building "envelope". A high performance envelope means that each component is designed to minimize the transfer of thermal energy which in turn creates an energy efficient or "tight" building.  That is very important since we first want to conserve or minimize the amount of heating and cooling required to make the building comfortable which in turn reduces the amount of energy that we need produce to cover those requirements, while meeting our objective of NET ZERO.

But in order to provide addition energy savings we are investigating a new technology for the interior walls and ceilings in the house, called "Phase-Change Wallboard".  Phase-change materials (PCMs), usually a paraffin that can be embedded in gypsum (wall) board, form a class of building material that functions as a storage medium. Materials undergoing a phase change (freezing, melting, condensing, or boiling) store and release large amounts of heat with small changes in temperature. PCMs offer an order of magnitude increase in heat capacity, and for pure substances they discharge their heat with almost no change in temperature.  This is extremely cool (in the great sense, not the cold sense) because it allows the thermal storage of our building to become part of the building's structure, permitting substantial energy storage without changing the temperature of the building. Because the heat is stored within the building where the loads occur rather than externally, additional fans or other air movement is not required.

The real challenge came when we looked at the other side of this coin, energy generation.  As you may remember from our December 29th post, the roof area was redesigned to accommodate the solar PV array, providing about 850 square feet of usable space.  The simulation indicates on a conservative basis that while the area on the roof would be sufficient to power the main building, it would not provide the necessary KW's to provide any heating or cooling for the garages and workshop, any equipment usage (i.e. power tools) or electric vehicle charging stations. So it's back to the drawing board for us to find about a 25% increase in renewable power generation.

Since the heating/cooling and power generation are joined at the hip, we needed to revisit the entire process to get those gains that we need to get to NET ZERO.  So this morning we met with our team of mechanical engineers Imtiaz Mulla and David Goldstein of Plus Group Consulting Engineering to revisit our current plans.   What a great education I got today.

Our options seem to be:

1. Re-design roof to accommodate 25% more PV panels.

2. Re-design the entire building, to create additional higher elevation roof space, much like "Option 1", in our original designs.
3. Evaluate the addition of wind turbines to supplement the PV's

4. Evaluate the addition of a geothermal heating system to reduce the heat generation and therefore the load on the solar output.

5. Evaluate other heat collection options to reduce the heat generation and therefore the load on the solar output.

The team decided:

Option 1: No way to ascetically add that much more area to the roof without "disfiguring" the building.  - NO

Option 2: While definitely possible, I rejected a previous design that "spread" the building across the lot more evenly.  We all love the design and don't want to re-think it again, not to mention the delay and cost associated. -NO

Option 3: This weekend, I feel in love with the idea of supplementing the PV's with wind turbines, there are some very cool ones out (check out this one from Helix Wind, it's functional sculpture).  But as in many love affairs it fizzled fast, it seems that while advertised performance of this technology in small applications look great, the actual output has been less than promising.  BuildingGreen.com has a great article on wind that presents the pro's and con's of wind.  - NO

Option 4: While geothermal technology has been implemented successfully across the world, especially in Germany, it seems very complex and expensive.  The expense is driven by the cost of drilling, in most case at least 1,000 feet at a cost of over $20/foot.  Geothermal ground loops can be installed in a variety of ways, depending on the region, climate, cooling/heating requirement, excavation costs and soil conditions. The three most popular loop configurations are vertical, horizontal and pond loop.  - NO

Option 5: As the discussion progressed it became apparent that the application of some new technology, could potentially solve our problem, while adhering to my "keep it simple" mantra. - YES!

So it was decided that we would investigate a different HVAC system, one based on using the sun to heat water through coils, rather than the original plan of using the south facing thermal solar wall to generate warm air that would be fed directly to the building ventilation system.

Enter a new technology, Hybrid Solar Panels or PVT's.  PVT's make more effective use of valuable solar roof space. This ‘technological convergence’ effectively more than doubles the per square foot solar power output of PV alone. This is accomplished by passing water under the PV producing hot water as a byproduct, in effect, a solar co-generation process.  We then can store that hot water for use in the heating/cooling system.  Another benefit leverages the fact that PV solar panels grow less efficient as they get hotter, the water passing through the panel cools the underside of the PV panel therefore lifting effective output.  For more information I encourage you to read a very good executive summary on this technology, it's pros & cons and challenges from the PVT Form, sponsored by the European Union.

Finally under this new scenario we would eliminate the heat pump and cooling compressors originally specified and replace them with a much more energy efficient system using a new device called an "Absorption Chiller". With this device, it is now possible to cheaply produce cold from warm temperature flow.  Using solar generated heat this is more environmentally friendly and cheaper to operate than conventional compression chillers, in fact there is no freon or alternative refrigerants. This is a viable option for generating cold from heat supplied from the Hybrid Solar Panels and with applying very little electrical energy.  Another positive from my perspective is that it contains so few moving parts susceptible to wear and tear, maintenance of the unit is very limited.  So Imtiaz and David are off working through the details and will re-run our thermal energy model to see if this combination of technology and engineering will help us reach our goals.

The Evolution Continues

The design team has been hard at work completing the details of the design, testing assumptions and continuing to prepare the drawing for submission to obtain permits. During this process, it became obvious that the solar (PV) panels would not drive a high enough yield positioned on the top of the garage/workshop as the sun is partially obstructed a point in the day.  The decision was made to relocate them to the top of the main building, but in order to do so; a redesign of the roof and associated terraces would need to be done. 

As you can see in the newest rendering, Jim and his team have done an amazing job of integrating the panels on to a new roof awning that cantilevers over the fourth floor deck.  This provides us protection from the sun and double the usable roof square footage.  Another change is the integration of the glass panels that sit atop the brick; they are nearly two and a half tall glass panels that wrap both structures.   They provide light and flow-through ventilation, given half of them are fully operational.  There are many other evolutionary changes and will be more obvious as I post different views and new renderings.

During early January, we will begin to develop a “thermal model” in order to maximize engineering options and to validate final design. Thermal modeling answers questions about airflow and temperature distribution under various weather conditions.   In addition it allows control over PV design and performance. The goal of energy modeling is to accurately predict the energy use of this building.  While costly, this will allow us to play ‘what if’ with various products, finishes, and design options to insure we reach our goal of net zero-energy, before we actually begin construction.

Make sure to check out a great article on the project on gbNYC.

US lab aims to build better, cheaper, zero-energy buildings

Reposted from Greenbang
While cars, trucks and planes might come to mind first as carbon emissions Enemy No. 1, all our buildings aren’t quite as environmentally innocent as they might appear.

In the US, for example, buildings account for 40 per cent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions. In the UK, that figure is even higher: around 44 per cent. Much of those emissions are related to the energy needed to keep our buildings liveable, heating and cooling in particular.

In an ideal world, our buildings should be able to generate all the energy they need all by themselves, both cleanly and on-site. And that kind of “net-zero energy building” is exactly what a new test facility in the US aims to develop.

Using $15.9 million in stimulus funds from the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory plans to build and operate a new National User Facility for Net-Zero Energy Buildings. The facility will contain all sorts of testing systems to figure out how best to tackle the technical challenges of building net-zero energy buildings.

“This facility will serve a national audience — and need — in an aggressive pursuit of DOE’s energy efficiency goals for widespread implementation of affordable net-zero energy buildings by 2030,” said Stephen Selkowitz, head of the Building Technologies Department of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division.

Berkeley Lab researchers plan to tackle the effort with a broad base of users in the building design and construction communities, as well as manufacturers, building owners and operators, and the academic community.

“We will also take maximum advantage of Berkeley Lab’s proximity to Silicon Valley and the growing interest in ‘Greentech’ innovation and investment to draw on experts there, as well as our location in a state that leads the country in applying research and advanced technology, supported by aggressive policies, toward reducing greenhouse-gas emissions,” Selkowitz added.

Net-zero energy buildings generate as much energy as they use on an annual basis through highly aggressive energy efficiency and on-site renewable energy generation, making them a key element in the effort to cut carbon emissions. The new laboratory facilities will help researchers develop, test and validate the technologies, systems and design approaches that will allow net-zero energy buildings to be built and operated affordably.

The new test facility will feature a series of unique energy-efficient building systems testbeds to be located in new and existing buildings at the lab. Researchers will be able to change out prototype building systems such as windows, lights, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, energy control systems, roofs and skylights.  The idea is to measure initial energy use and environmental conditions to understand how the systems perform, and then to redesign and optimise their capabilities and performance.



An exciting use of stimulus funds to help push the envelope (here in the US) on products to make projects like ours a bit easier in the future.

Have a great weekend.  I am off to look at electric cars at the LA Car Show :-)

Jay

It's Out In The Open

At 8:00 AM today, this release hit the wire, unveiling our very ambitious project to a larger group.  The reaction has been great and I have been getting a bunch of press inquires.  

New York City’s First ‘Zero Energy Building’ Coming to the

Red Hook Section of Brooklyn

Innovative Facility To Be Completed by Summer 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New York, NY – December 03, 2009 Designs for New York’s first sustainable zero-energy, live/work building are nearing completion, with ground-breaking scheduled for February and completion planned for summer 2010.  This structure is expected to become a distinctive new addition to the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.

As defined by the US Department of Energy, “a net zero-energy building (ZEB) is a residential or commercial building with greatly reduced energy needs through efficiency gains such that the balance of energy needs can be supplied with renewable technologies.”  Basically the ZEB concept is the idea that buildings can meet all their energy needs from low-cost, locally available, nonpolluting, renewable sources such as solar or wind power.

This approximately 4,000 square foot facility will house a studio/workshop, offices for a digital business, garages and an apartment, as well as outdoor green space. The form of the house is inspired by the shipping containers stacked along the adjacent waterfront. Modular units, proportioned similarly to shipping containers are stacked and shifted to create a variety of terraces and overviews to take advantage of the areas amazing harbor views.

The project, called ‘Redhook Green’ is the brainchild of New York technology and media entrepreneur, Jay Amato. 

“I’m thrilled that Redhook Green will become a very visible symbol of the continuing reinvention of one of New York City’s oldest neighborhoods,” said Mr. Amato.  “But I’m even more excited that I could practically illustrate the movement towards zero-energy building to the world’s greatest city.  Bringing to bear exciting new building materials, improved wind and solar technologies and more energy-efficient HVAC and home appliances, as well as state of the art sustainability strategies, Redhook Green will be a powerful answer to the question of what urban centers can do to reduce our dependency on foreign oil via renewable resources and to significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

With a long history as a shipping port and industrial district, Red Hook – not quite two miles across from the Battery at the tip of Manhattan – is thoroughly urban. In the evenings, however, it is as quiet as a remote and leafy suburb, bounded by water on three sides and the elevated Gowanus Expressway on the remaining side.  While other Brooklyn waterfront neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Dumbo have developed an image of youthful urban chic, Red Hook remained a gritty industrial district until the recent addition of Fairway, IKEA and the New York Water Taxi. Now, Red Hook's eclectic mix of artists and industrial businesses has created a neighborhood dubbed "Residustrial" in 2008 by artist and resident John P. Missale.

Award winning New York firm, Garrison Architects, located in Dumbo, Brooklyn, is the chief designer overseeing Redhook Green. Garrison has assembled a unique group of designers, engineers, and manufacturers to innovate for this project.

"Jay Amato’s Red Hook project draws from several promising trajectories – abstract modernism, modular construction, and zero energy consumption.  By combining state of the art approaches to all three in one structure we have moved the potential for affordable, ecologically sound, urban dwellings several steps forward," said James Garrison, Principal in Charge of Garrison Architects.

Simple and cost effective sustainability strategies are used to conserve and produce energy, conserve resources, and create a healthful environment. This sustainability approach was developed though an extensive research project that included digital energy modeling, detailed life cycle cost analysis of construction components and their related maintenance and replacement costs. Here are a few of its features:

·       8kw annual photovoltaic generating capacity, grid connected.

·       8kw annual comprehensive household energy budget including heating and air conditioning.

·       High performance building envelope that eliminates thermal bridging and achieves an average thermal resistance of R50.

·       Wall and roof systems vented to eliminate moisture build up and use “smart” moisture barriers to allow air movement in warm months.

·       Integrated south facing thermal solar wall generates warm air that is fed to the building ventilation system.

·       Heating and cooling provided by high efficiency electric heat pumps.

·       Whole house heat exchange ventilation system insuring air quality and recovering energy from conditioned air.

“In my entire career building and leading businesses, nothing has given me more satisfaction than developing this project,” added Jay Amato. “We are transforming what is essentially an empty space into a structure that can serve as an example of how we can live and work responsibly. This is truly gratifying.”

To view a chronicle of Redhook Green, design plans, technology and project status, visit: www.redhookgreen.com

For more information, contact: 

Laura Landers

PersonalScreen Media LLC

information@personalscreen.com

917-720-8953

Tamara Gruber

Garrison Architects

info@garrisonarchitects.com

718-596-8300

It's All in The Details

The original schematics for our building are being detailed and a finalized design is emerging.   It is our hope that we will be presenting the completed package to the NYC Department of Buildings for permit approval.  I promised that I would share details as they became available, so as I asked Jim Garrison to describe the building from his perspective as well as more of components that get us to zero-energy!

This structure combines open and flexible planning with integrated gardens, state of the art sustainability strategies, and modular factory fabrication. It is designed to be a zero energy structure, as it will produce as much energy as it consumes.

The first floor consists of large live/work loft areas arranged on either side of an exterior court. Glass walls adjoining the court (see images) can be opened to allow the complete integration of the garden, living, and work areas. The form of the house is inspired by the shipping containers stacked along the adjacent waterfront. Modular units, proportioned similarly to shipping containers are stacked and shifted to create a variety of terraces and overviews.

Simple and cost effective sustainability strategies are used to conserve and produce energy, conserve resources, and create a healthful environment. This sustainability approach was developed though an extensive research project that included digital energy modeling, detailed life cycle cost analysis of construction components and their related maintenance and replacement costs. Here are a few of its features:

• 8kw annual photovoltaic generating capacity, grid connected. 
• 8kw annual comprehensive household energy budget including heating and air conditioning. 
• High performance building envelope that eliminates thermal bridging and achieves an average thermal resistance of R50. 
• Wall and roof systems are vented to eliminate  moisture build up and use “smart” moisture barriers that allow air movement in warm months. 
• Integrated south facing thermal solar wall generates warm air that is fed to the building ventilation system. 
• Heating and cooling provided by high efficiency electric heat pumps. 
• Whole house heat exchange ventilation system insures air quality and recovers energy from conditioned air. 

We are putting the final touches on the press release.  It's an amalgam of many of these postings, but I will put it up as soon as it hits the wire.  Thanks for your interest.  Jay

Zero-Energy Building - A World Wide Movement to ZEB

I need to develop a press release to announce this project.   My goal is drive awareness of Redhook Green in an effort to obtain technological, equipment and product support from green-minded manufacturers of appliances, electronics, and furnishings, just to name a few.  I discovered there was no concise way to describe the movement towards lower or zero energy building, so I decided that I needed to give it a try myself.  

 As the United States moves to reduce its dependency on foreign oil via renewable resources and to significantly reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, automobiles have typically been the favorite targets of the press and politicians, but in reality buildings have a huge impact on energy use and the environment. According to the Energy Information Agency, commercial and residential buildings use almost 40% of the primary energy and approximately 70% of the electricity in the United States.

 There is a perfect storm of sorts brewing in the world of new construction.  As building technology improves, architects have developed exciting passive designs to reduce energy needs in order to maintain temperature throughout the sun's daily and annual cycles while reducing the requirement for active heating and cooling systems. Next add to that the ever-improving performance of wind and solar generation while continuing to drive lower costs to implement. And finally, manufactures are engineering more energy efficient HVAC and home appliances to reduce consumption and increase efficiency. The intersection of these phenomena’s is the Zero-Energy Building.

As defined by the US Department of Energy, “a net zero-energy building (ZEB) is a residential or commercial building with greatly reduced energy needs through efficiency gains such that the balance of energy needs can be supplied with renewable technologies.”  Basically the ZEB concept is the idea that buildings can meet all their energy needs from low-cost, locally available, nonpolluting, renewable sources such as solar or wind power. That building can generate enough renewable energy on site to equal or exceed its annual energy use. A zero energy building typically uses traditional energy sources such as the electric and natural gas utilities when on-site generation does not meet the need. When the on-site generation is greater than the building’s loads, excess electricity is sold to the local utility via the power grid. By using the grid to account for the energy balance, excess production can offset later energy use.

 There is a growing trend to for governments around the world to embrace the concepts of zero-energy buildings; a few examples include California and the European Union.

 Every two years, the California Energy Commission (CEC) releases an Integrated Energy Policy Report, in which it makes recommendations for energy policy in the state, including changes to the energy efficiency portion of the building codes. In its 2007 report, CEC recommends adjusting the code to require net-zero-energy performance in residential buildings by 2020 and in commercial buildings by 2030.   There are only a few examples of ZEB building in the U.S. according to the Department of Energy's Zero Energy Buildings Database that features profiles of commercial buildings.

 The European Union has taken a huge step toward zero-energy building.  Earlier this month an agreement was reached by representatives of the European Parliament and the Council, aiming to extend the scope and strengthening the current directive to upgrade the national building codes and by launching an ambitious policy of nearly zero energy buildings, so that all new buildings will be nearly zero energy as of 2020.

 In the EU buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions. It is estimated that, by strengthening the provisions of the directive on energy performance, they could achieve a reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 70% of the current EU Kyoto target. In addition to this, these improvements could save citizens around 300€ per annum per household in their energy bills, while boosting the construction and building renovation industry in Europe.  Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said: "Energy performance of buildings is key to achieving our EU Climate & Energy objectives for 2020, namely the reduction of Greenhouse gas emissions and the achievement of a 20% of energy savings. By this agreement, the EU is sending a strong message to the forthcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen. Improving the energy performance of buildings is a cost effective way of fighting against climate change and improving energy security, while also boosting the building sector and the EU economy as a whole."

 So what do you think?  Let me know, any edits, upgrades or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!  BTW, if you know of any companies that might like to participate in this exciting project, please forward them this blog or my email at jay@redhookgreen.com

It's Time for Design

Finally, it's time for fun.  After months of bouncing around ideas of what my building might look like, the day had come to review various designs that leveraged the space and light of the lot I purchased and the functionality I have defined.

The design team and I agreed on some basics early on.  First, that the ground floor would be a large masonry rectangle a little over nine feet tall, to serve as the basis of the garage/shop facility on the north end, garden walls in the middle and as the platform for the modular construction on the south end of the facility.   It provides a strong, secure and low cost base for the entire project, with  a virtual Lego set of possibilities on top.  Pictured below you can see just a few of the ideas presented to me.

Design ONE is a three floor version where the living/office space is spread across both ends of the compound, requiring a breezeway of sorts to connect.  It also creates a very cool 1950's "motor lodge"look, with terraces on both sides looking down into the court yard.  On the positive side, it created private living on both ends, but it might 'seclude' my seven year old son, and seems to close in the outdoor space/courtyard.

Design TWO is a four floor version that moves all of the living/office space to the south side, it is exactly the same layout and square feet but shifts two of the 'modules' to allow for a taller structure. The top floor, which will be used as an office/den should have a good view of the harbor and if I am really lucky the Statue of Liberty.   In addition it provides expansion space over the garage/shop for a future apartment or additional office space.  The thought behind this design is that with roll-up doors on both sides of the courtyard, it would create a great 100 feet long living space comprised of indoor and outdoor space.  Very open and flowing.

Design THREE is a five floor version that split the workshop/studio from the garages and shifted the galley, dinning/meeting, living area up to the second floor.  This layout while clearly raising the the office/den to a higher altitude and creating slightly more outdoor space, it did disrupt the concept of that floor through living experience, that I have really gotten to like.

So which one of these do you prefer?  Any one in particular?  Or some combination of all?  Love to hear what you have to say.  Next time I will tell you about what I decided and show you a 3D rendering.  Stay tuned for more details and drawings.

Looking in the Rear View Mirror at 90MPH

Let’s look backwards from today on this post.   I have been asked many times, how long I have been working on this Redhook Green Project, so I thought it might be helpful to review the process to date.  With not quite four months from the idea's inception, I feel as if I am making great progress in building a team.  I will be posting more detail on many of these milestones, in the next week or so.

• July 20 – I have been noodling the idea of how to live a more "green-ish" lifestyle for a while, this project 'hatched' while visiting my cousin Armand’s country home in Roxbury, NY.  The concept was to construct a factory-built country home in a place like Reinbeck, NY.
• July 24 – Met with friend/restaurateur/real estate developer Andrew Glassberg to discuss Brooklyn real estate and development projects.  After thinking through the country home idea, I thought it a better idea to build a 'country home' in Brooklyn.
• July 24 – Ran into a friend, Marc Koch the resident manager of my former loft building.  We chatted about my new passion and he offered to introduce me to Redhook “land baron” Greg O’Connell to assist in my search for land.
• August 5 – Letter to Modular ‘friendly’ Architects in NY area requesting a meeting to discuss my ideas and to understand their experience.
• August 10 – First meeting with ‘modular focused’ architect in SoHo
• August 10-27 Phone calls with various Tri-State ‘modular focused’ architects
• August 27 – Greg O’Connell meeting yields little tangible results, but conversation does confirm find the right site at the right price will not be easy.
• September 9 – First meeting with Jim Garrison Principal; Garrsion Architects.  Felt confident we would work together on this project.
• September 10 – First meeting with Hank Widmaier; Helmsley Spear Real Estate to assist in the search and represent me in a transaction
• September 13 – First discussion with Brooklyn landowner/builder to discuss his lots near the Fairway in Redhook.
• September 16 – During one of many scooter recon missions, I found a corner lot on the corner of Conover and Dikeman in Redhook.  Meets basic requirements, but Van Brundt lots wider.
• September 18 – Meeting with seller to discuss two Van Brundt lots, deal not possible based high cost of acquisition by seller.
• October 13 – Executed agreement for home design with Garrison Architects
• October 13 – Made Offer on Conover Street lot & Offer accepted pending contract
• October 22 – Long time friend and blogger Ellis Posner recommends I chronicle this project on a blog.  
• October 26 – My first blog www.redhookgreen.com launched
• October 20 – First Schematic Designs reviewed for  – 3 different options presented with Jim Garrison and Mathanki Kalapathy.
• October 27 – Basic Design Agreed upon with additional square footage; a hybrid of earlier versions
• November 6 – Site Survey, Test Boring, Environmental Testing and title reports all in hand with satisfactory results.
• November 09 – Conover Street lot purchase contract completed and executed.
• November 13 – Modular homebuilder selected.

Thanks for your interest, look forward to your thoughts, questions and comments.

Zero Energy "Factory-Built" Homes for the California Bay Area

A new a new San Francisco company, Zeta Communities is setting out to construct factory-built homes that create as much energy as they use - reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with operating buildings.  Read the San Francisco Chronicle article Startup's prefab homes aim for zero energy bills.

A Place to Be Happy!

I currently live in a place referred to as “Triburbia” a nickname coined after 9/11 , but better known as Tribeca in downtown NYC.  I am not sure what I was thinking when I purchased my 10^th floor apartment in a 35 story luxury building, but it turns out, at least to me, to be more like living in a “vertical gated community”.   It was time for a change, but what, where, was it time to sell again?  This is my fourth major real estate buy/sell in less than 10 years?  Where have I gone wrong?   What can I learn from those projects that would insure I construct a place from scratch that would serve as my home for a long time to come?

Build a house, now that’s scary.  I have lived through contractor hell, during many gut renovations over the years, all kinds of quality problems, cost overruns and missed deadlines and did I mention the LIES?

How could I build a cool green flexible house and minimize the cost, insure quality and address the time concerns? Could I do something to reduce the carbon footprint of this home by utilizing new designs, materials, and processes?  But wouldn’t that further exacerbate the contractor issues?   Round and round I went and then I remembered an issue of Dwell magazine called the “Prefab Issue”.  That was were it all started.

Going Green

How do you live a more ‘green-ish’ existence, while being practical about it? That’s a good question.   My name is Jay, I have been thinking about that and some other interesting life-style questions lately.  I decided to share my thoughts and experiences leading to my objective of building a green, sustainable, home in Redhook on the Southwest shore of Brooklyn. I will attempt to step, you the reader through the daily challenges and rewards of this project  I call “Redhook Green”.

So how did I get here?  Read on.