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.

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.

So Much Confusion, So Little Time

Since the press release last week, publically announcing Redhook Green, there has been so many questions, comments, criticisms and confusion regarding the project that I thought I would devote a few posts to clearing up some of them.

There seems to be a general lack of clarity on the relationship between “Zero-Energy Building (ZEB)”, “Carbon-Neutral”, and “Sustainable” when it comes to construction as a whole and specifically as it relates to this project.  Each of these very important strategies are tools in helping the way we live fit more cohesively with the needs of others and our planet in general, but practicality needs to play a role as the various objectives are weighed and implemented.  For me they include feasibility, environmental impact, upfront cost, long term cost, availability and reliability.

There are three primary concerns relating to the energy consumption of Architecture:

1.  Energy to construct

2.  Energy to heat and maintain

3.  The total of both over the lifespan of the structure

From my simpleminded perspective, a net zero energy building is a great place to start.  It seemed to me if we could design a home that based on the nature of it’s construction, could consume significantly less electricity heating and cooling and then generate the power we needed using the sun and trade the rest for times we can’t, we would have to be a great start.  I like the fact that it’s reasonably easy to measure success here, if I sell ConEd as many kilowatts of electricity as I buy, then I am net zero energy.  Cool.  Right?

Next if you do a search on the web for a definition of “carbon-neutral”, in many cases it defaults to the ZEB definition and discusses renewable sources.   As I understand it, a building that is carbon-neutral uses no fossil fuels in its operation, creates no direct greenhouse gases, and, as a result, does not contribute to global warming. Also power drawn from the utility grid but it must be “clean,” produced by wind turbines, photovoltaic, or other renewable energy system. So, a building that is both Carbon Neutral and Net Zero Energy produces at least as much renewable energy as it uses each year.   But (big BUT) most definition neglects to discuss a very important use of energy that must be taken into consideration for a true carbon neutral structure.  That is embodied energy or as I mention above the energy to construct.

The Wikipedia defines “embodied energy (or emergy) is defined as the available energy that was used in the work of making a product. Embodied energy is an accounting methodology which aims to find the sum total of the energy necessary for an entire product lifecycle. This lifecycle includes raw material extraction, transport, manufacture, assembly, installation, disassembly, deconstruction and/or decomposition. “   Basically all the materials used in the house consume energy during manufacturing, delivery and installation on site.  Would you imagine that aluminum requires more energy than steel to be manufactured?  Or that recycled aluminum and steel use half of the energy to fabricate (just a few fun facts from a discussion with Jim)?  There is embodied energy in any processed product, from a drinking cup to a car. In embodied energy terms, buildings represent a huge, relatively long-duration energy investment.

Material	Unit	Energy Coefficient Mj per unit
Timber, rough	m3	848
Timber, air-dry, treated	m3	1,200
Timber Glulam	m3	4,500
Timber, kiln-dry, treated	m3	4,692
Timber, form work	m3	283
Plywood	m3	9,440
Building paper	m2	7.5
Gypsum board	m3	5,000
Glass	kg	31.5
Structural steel	kg	59
Aluminum	kg	145
Fiberglass	kg	150
Asphalt, strip shingle	m2	280

It seems to me that as the operating energy required for buildings declines, the embodied energy they represent becomes a more significant percentage of the total energy buildings use. In coming years more efforts will probably be directed toward measuring and reducing the amount of embodied energy in buildings.

So as you can see, this all gets very difficult to measure accurately. Measuring embodied energy is still in an early phase, but is very important.  But from my perspective for this project (right now) while I think that it is an important objective to build carbon-neutral buildings,  it might be less practical to get 100% there.  Remember ability to execute is everything!  So we move forward to reach our net zero goal while keeping our carbon footprint to a minimum via the materials we choose and construction methods employed (modular really helps).

If you want to learn more about what you can do, or how much embodied energy is used in different popular products visit, WattzOn.  It is an early stage online tool to quantify, track, compare and understand the total amount of energy needed to support all of the facets of your lifestyle with the goal of helping you find ways to reduce your personal power consumption.

More to come, including my thoughts on sustainability.

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

It's Option Two - Plus

It certainly is exciting being part of a team designing and building New York City's first zero-energy office/studio/home.  Yes that's right, I have researched quite a bit and I am fairly certain that we are blazing a trail less (or never) traveled.  There are many great examples all over the country, but the Big Apple does seem to be lagging a bit on adopting new building technologies.  If you can find any examples please pass them along, I'd love to post them.

Thanks to all of you, who posted comments and sent emails with your thoughts and opinions on your favorite design for the building. Option two was the overwhelming winner amongst the readers as well as mine.

This first 3D rendering of the project, represents the second option as it was originally envisioned. This design, as presented to me by Jim Garrison and his team, makes an attempt to integrate key neighborhood themes.

While the brick ground floor provides the structural support for the modular buildings, the walls for the garage and the green space, it also works to blend with the historical nature of the many neighboring Civil War era warehouses. The very container-like metal and glass factory-built modular sections (aka "boxes") pay tribute to the rich stevedoring history of Redhook.  This floor plan provided for 3,031 square feet, including about 800 for the garages/workshop/studio, but not including outdoor space and balconies.

As the design evolved, the rooms began to grow to accommodate live/work needs and code requirements.  Actually it grew quite a bit, all the way to 3,964 square feet.  At that point the "boxes" shifted from a perpendicular orientation with Dikeman Street, to a parallel one in order to accommodate the larger rooms.   The design below, illustrates those changes in addition to balconies on top floor (the den/office) and third (living suite).  The roof of the top floor will be home to an array of solar PV panels to provide electric generation to help us reach our zero-energy objective!

We are making great progress.  I will continue to share with you the details on the floor-plans, some thoughts on material, HVAC and energy generation.  The design team is busy preparing the schematic drawings for submission to the building department.   I will keep you posted.  YAJWN5BGP54G

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.

Ready, Set, Go!

So what do you think I woke up one morning and decided I want to buy a green-ish house?  Well, kind of, but it was slightly more deliberate than that. 

What exactly did I want? What did I hope to accomplish?  I thought about the various types of places I’ve lived and extracted what I loved, liked and hated about each of them. I reviewed past floor plans (yes, I have them all) and I then visualized the various attributes that would be important in making this new structure a long-term place to work and live.

• Energy/Water Efficient 
• Sustainable Materials
• High-Quality 
• Factory-Built Modern Structure 
• American Made Materials 
• Simple But Exciting Design 
• Design Augments Surrounding Neighborhood 
• Kid And Dog Friendly 
• Easy To Clean & Maintain 
• Open & Light Filled Spaces 
• Interesting 
• Fun & Comfortable 
• Private & Secure 

From that list I started to think about specific "must have" appointments were necessary to meet the above objectives.

• Flexible Commercial Space For Vehicle Storage, Restoration, Stone Carving, and Workshop 
• Open Office Space
• 3 Bedrooms, 2+ Baths
• Outdoor Green Space
• Leverage Water view to see Harbor and Statue of Liberty
• Connection for Electric Car (coming soon I hope)
• Flagpole and US Flag
• Leverage Government Energy Programs

As you will see, this list will change and as what was and was not possible, became more clearly delimited by land availability, design, time, and budget options.  I will cover most of them in detail in coming weeks.  Did I miss anything?  Any thoughts on my attributes and appointments?  Please jump in real-time as we work through the project by commenting below.

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.