How to calculate comparable CFL/incandescent wattage?

I was researching lights today to make sure that it would be bright enough at a client’s hallway when I came across this little web page.

It seems that the rule of thumb is to multiply CFL wattage by approximately 5 for an equivalent incandescent wattage output.

For a primer on which types of bulbs go in which types of fixtures, click on the big button that says “choose a light guide” from our friends at Energy Star.

When purchasing a CFL, you need to pay attention to a few factors:

Shape: What type of bulb: spiral, covered, globe, tube

Base: Screw-in (there are several different diameters), Plug in 4-pin, bi-pin, etc….

Color: The color is listed by temperature, 2700 degrees is a little yellower than incandescent, 3000 degrees a little whiter. Everything we wanted to say about CFL color, we posted here.

Dimmability: If you want the fixture to dim, make sure you buy a dimmable bulb. This may sound obvious but if you are used to incandescent light bulbs, you never needed to think about this before.

Lifetime rating: This is the projected number of hours the bulb is expected to last. Remember, though, that if you turn the light on and off a lot, it will reduce the bulb’s expected lifetime. Unlike with incandescents, if the light is going to be off for a short time (less than 15 minutes, you are better off just keeping it on)

Recycling CFL’s: here’s everything you want to know about recycling CFL’s.

Growing clean indoor air: We hit a snag

Sorry if these posts about house plants are about as interesting as watching grass grow. You may recall we bought seeds go grow houseplants which are especially well-suited to removing indoor air toxins. Based on availability, aesthetics and a few other criteria, we decided on a Rubber Tree which is supposed to look like this:

and a Pygmy Palm which is supposed to look like this:

well, after sowing the seeds (you can see all the fun here), and raising them from seedlings:

This is what we ended up with. They are growing like the weeds they probably are and smell like tomato plants.

Anyone know what they are? I emailed to the company I bought the seeds from.

UPDATE:

Turns out, these are volunteer (probably tomato) plants from the compost. Whatcom is sending us new seeds to try again in clean fill.

Stay tuned.

Indy House #8 - Toilet with a Lid sink?

No, that’s not a photoshop wonder - it’s real- a sink in toilet lid from Gaiam. What better way to save space in a small bathroom than to install a 2-in-one fixture?

This toilet, which functions as a toilet AND a sink does just that (you could call it a triple function if you count the built-in soap dish). Yes, a little strange that you have to straddle the toilet to wash your hands but it enables you to use the water from the sink (called greywater) that would have been wasted down the drain but is perfectly acceptable for filling the tank to flush.

So what about using this for the Indy House, a very small (some would call it intimate) green home that we’re designing? This might be a good way to reduce the number of fixtures in the limited space and it’s a bargain at $89 bucks.

We were going to try to avoid all plumbing in this project and us a Composting Toilet but it might be useful to have a bar sink or slop sink in the house. This is a question for the Owner. We’ll let you know.

Let us know if you’ve had experience with this toilet - its a fairly new product, so we’d love to hear your experiences (and what guests coming to your home have thought!)

Check out previous Indy House posts.

Carbon-free cooling

The dreaded triple-H’s are upon us (hazy, hot & humid for those not from here).

There was a brown-out this weekend in Brooklyn that stopped half a block from where we live so we decided to try and NOT use our air conditioning to see if we could remain somewhat comfortable.

What even allowed this possibility is that we finally rigged up the vented skylight (pictured above). It was installed 2 1/2 years ago but we finally hooked up the electric rain sensor cable which supposedly closes the skylight if it starts to rain. We have yet to confirm that it works. The idea is that as hot air rises, it exits the house at the top which pulls in cooler air from the windows on the floors below.

We opened all the windows and turned on all the ceiling fans (we have one in each room) and it wasn’t too bad. In the mornings, it was downright delightful to hear the birds out the open windows and feel a cool morning breeze.

However, on those beastly days that are so hot that your bed is warmer than you are when you get in, no amount of moving air around will keep you cool without air conditioning.

Here is a site full of good ideas to keep cool. I don’t know about showing up for work in a wet shirt though….

Embarking on a new project: Insulating my entire house.

I’m taking Barack Obama’s advice and insulating my house so that it can be heated by a candle. No, we’re not heating with a candle, it would ruin the indoor air quality. Just kidding.

Over the next few days, we will lay out the plan for insulating our little semi-attached row house and then get prices and do it, hopefully before the cold weather sets in. Our house is at the end of a row of 4 houses in the Kensington section of Brooklyn. Our heating bills have been double those of our next-door-neighbor who benefits from the heated spaces in our house.

Here’s the general plan - we’ll attack 1 area at a time, starting from the top down.

1. Roof: The area below the roof and above the 2nd floor ceiling is called a cock-loft. It is currently uninsulated and unvented. I want to blow in insulation and vent it to prevent mold build-up and heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer.

2. Exterior Wall: We have approximately 800 SF of wall which faces a community garden. It is brick construction with a layer of stucco, now cracked in many places. There are 3 windows on the wall which will need to be dealt with carefully. Our idea is to insulate the wall and paint it so that it can receive a mural painted by a community group.

3. Basement ventilation: We installed a fan a few years ago to ventilate the Basement. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication with the contractor, we ended up with the kind of vent that has a cover manually controlled by a chain which basically means we have an 8 inch diameter hole in the Basement wall.

4. Boiler Room: The boiler room is located adjacent to the exterior wall and is completely uninsulated. The plan is to insulate the room as well as the boiler, hot water heater and all exposed pipes

Ellen

Book Review: Green Greener Greenest

Green Greener Greenest by Lori Bongiorno.

First of all, I LOVE lists…all kinds of lists. Anyone who works on green buildings is familiar with lists.

Having written my fair share of green checklists, I was a bit wary of this book, particularly because it was published in the unchanging form of an actual bound book… in green ink no less! However, I was duly impressed by the breadth and depth of information included in this book.

Ms. Bongiorno presents much of the information in a refreshing non-definitive way. It’s not argumentative or holier-than-thou either. I’d much rather have an informed discussion about the vagaries, pros and cons of the issue at hand than read a know-it-all paragraph that is merely someone’s opinion. She had me on page 158 when she states that “It’s a matter of trade-offs and what issues are most important to you.

Ms. Bongiorno, a Brooklynite, clearly spent a good deal of time on research. There are 12 chapters ranging from food and beverages to home building and maintenance, personal care products and items related to babies and children. Each chapter and subchapter lay out environmental problems and steps that can be taken to mitigate them. Part of the fun is seeing how green you are according to her levels. (Apparently I’m greenest in food, beverages and home-related activities, not so green when it comes to clothing and pest control - who knew?)

And I’m always up for learning when it comes to sustainability. Here are a list of sites I never heard of before (in no particular order) that are very interesting. I would highly recommend this book - there are at least 20 dog-eared pages in my copy.

Power Scorecard: Rates the environmental impact of different types of electrical generation in states where consumers can make choices.

National Fenestration Rating Council: Ratings for energy efficient doors, windows and skylights.

Swaporama: Community wide clothing swap.

Kaight: An ethical eco-friendly store in NYC.

Gomi: Eco clothing boutique in NYC.

Under the Canopy: Affordable sustainable sheets

Arm & Hammer: All things baking soda

H2ouse: Sustainable garden irrigation

Children’s Gardening info at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Composting 101

Find our local air quality levels at airnow.gov

Book Crossing: Interesting book trading group who leaves books for members in public places.

When beauty meets sustainability

The other day I subscribed to Reactions a blog that was recommended to me by a friend. It is written by the graphic design firm MSLK, a local company (Long Island City) with an obvious feeling for sustainability. It makes me laugh and injects some much-needed inspiration that sustainable design doesn’t have to look like it’s off “the bottom shelf of the health food store” (that quote is unattributed because I can’t for the life of me remember where I read it - but so often apropos).

Lately I have been feeling that “green-ness” (is that a word) has been taking over all other aspects of design. We recently toyed with the idea of applying for LEED certification for one of our projects and I started getting completely wound up in the minutia of the green details and losing sight of the importance of aesthetic and experiential aspects of the project . Talk about losing the forest for the trees!

Kudos to this firm for sharing!

July 2008: Smart Car sighting month

The Smart Car finally made its debut in the U.S. this past January.

We’ve been starting to see them Brooklyn (we love when we see them parked perpendicular to the curb!) Although it took a little while to reach the US, they have been more than commonplace in Europe for years. Its great to see this compact, highly efficient and eco-friendly transportation buggy here, brought to you by the inventor of the Swatch watch, Nicolas Hayek.

Some of the future-friendly features of the smart car include: 41 miles to the gallon, use of only water-soluble paints for its three basic colors – black, white and yellow, and its molded-in color body panels are fully recyclable. I know it looks like it would be smashed like a tin can in an accident but it actually has a 4-star crash rating in the US. If you’re in Japan, you may even see a Smart Car in one of these Vending Machines. No, unfortunately a quarter won’t buy you one of these from the dispenser, but you can get information about the car, and where you can purchase one.

During the month of July, we’re going to blog each week how many Smart cars we see in the local New York area and surroundings.

Let us know if you see a smart car! Send us your photo, and we’ll add it to our list of Smart Car sightings in the month of July.

Ready … smart…. go!

Gas prices got you on the subway? Ellen’s guide to Subway etiquette

With gas priced at over $4/gallon, maybe you can no longer afford to drive and you’re new to mass transit? Maybe you’re a subway veteran who needs a refresher course…

If you have been reading my posts lately you know I have a very young baby. One thing that struck me was how incredibly difficult it was to get a seat on the subway even when I was enormously pregnant. The subways are only getting more and more crowded (ironically, with fewer drivers, the MTA in New York City projects less annual revenue from tolls which means they will continue to defer much needed maintenance and improvements throughout the system).

I have been riding the subway for over 20 years (way before they were air conditioned!) This is my short list of things you should do and not do when riding the rails.

Politeness issues: Basically, we’re all in this together.

1. If you see a pregnant woman, or old person, or a person with a cane or crutches or a parent with small children standing - or even just a really tired looking person, ask politely if they’d like a seat and stand up (this also has the benefit of giving you karmic credit for when you really need a seat).

2. Go to work slightly after rush hour for a saner, quieter trip.

3. Bring something small to read that you can hold with one hand so you don’t smack your fellow travelers when turning the page. Read the Times online, not on the subway…or try an audio book. I’m on the fence though about reading over someone’s shoulder. Don’t think people don’t know you are doing it. I sometimes let folks finish the page of the magazine I’m reading before turning it.

4. Don’t hold the door open - what may save you a minute, delays the rest of us.

5. Don’t throw trash on the platform or the track. If you see teenagers (or anyone else for that matter) littering, feel free to ask them to clean up after themselves.

6. Don’t put your feet on the seats or on the pole. It’s hard enough to keep gross shoe stuff out of our house when it’s on our shoes, let alone all over us.

7. If you happen to be the unfortunate soul sitting below the map, do lean over to let folks see where they are going. If it takes them more than 30 seconds, offer to help them figure out their route because they are obviously not from here.

8. This is what is supposed to happen when the train comes into a station: People on the platform near the door step aside so the people exiting the train can leave peacefully. People inside the train who may be blocking the door step onto the platform to allow the people who are leaving the train an easier exit.

9. I’m now going to tell you the secret code of riding the escalators: If you want to stand still and ride, stand on the right. If you want to walk, walk on the left.

10. Increase the peace: Try to smile at one person on the subway per day.

Proximity issues: Except for on an elevator, we never enjoy each other’s company so closely as on the subway. Here are some things you can do to make it a more pleasant trip for your neighbors and avoid unwanted physical contact.

1. Wear deodorant. If you have just come from an all-day outdoor basketball tournament, don’t grip the overhead bar so that your armpit is just above someone’s face. Keep your arms down and hold onto something else.

2. Please don’t sing or pray loudly, most likely no one wants to hear it. However, if someone near you is singing or praying loudly, just ignore it, don’t mutter under your breath in a passive-aggressive way.

3. Don’t get angry at crying children. They’re kids, they can’t help it. Similarly, if you can’t deal with noisy teenagers, don’t ride the train at 3pm.

4. Don’t lean on the pole on a crowded train so that strangers have to touch you just to avoid falling down.

5. Don’t stare at people (this goes for everywhere - not just on the subway).

6. Men: don’t spread your legs to take up more than one seat. One tush - one seat!

7. Be aware of where your bags are. It’s easy to forget how far your profile extends with a backpack strapped on or a big briefcase hanging on your shoulder

Be safe out there!

Indy House #7: Interview with the Owners

We took a little hiatus from this project for a few reasons - babies, construction projects, etc. but we’re back on track now! We’re calling this post # 7 to continue from where we left off.

To recap, (check out the previous blog posts), our goal is to document the design for a proposed secondary space in Indianapolis adjacent to a single family home. This small getaway space would be a backyard living space (mainly an artist’s studio) and will incorporate as many environmentally friendly design and construction methods as possible. The design of this small home design will attempt to create the most efficient home in terms of cost, energy efficiency, material waste, and carbon footprint reduction. Here are some of our goals:

* Modular Design: to save on material costs, ease of constructability and time.

* Zero Energy Home - designing a building with a net energy of zero over the course of a year.

* Passive Solar Home Design: Using the sun to heat and cool the house through orientation, materials and natural methods.

In our effort to achieve these goals, green guidelines are important to establish upfront not only for the design team but for all parties involved in the construction process. It is also critical for the owners to have baseline metrics and common language for green expectations. Although our priority for the Indy House is not necessarily to gain a green certification (such as LEED), we believe it is important to outline the major categories involved in the holistic design approach for any green building: Site, Energy, Water, Materials, Air Quality. Regarding certification for homes, this article in Sunday’s New York Times, points out some pros and cons of the current residential certification process.

To better understand the project and how the space will be used, we compiled a questionnaire for the Owner because we want to make sure we understand how the owners envision the space. Following are the questions and answers:

1. Use of Space:

* Will you cook in this space?
* How many hours a day will you spend inside?
* Will you entertain guests here?
* Would you like to garden here?
* What kind of maintenance do you expect from this space?
* Activities?

The space will be used as a retreat which will be used mainly for painting and writing. Rarely will we entertain here. We’re a busy family so low-maintenance is key. Eventually we will grow a garden, most likely after this building is complete so we don’t ruin the garden during construction.

2. How do you envision the relation of this house to the main house?
* connection or hidden?

The house should be connected visually but actually separate. The whole point is to find quiet space away from busy family life.

3. How will you use the house through the seasons
* Winter? Spring? Summer? Fall?

We intend to use the house year-round so comfort is crucial.

4. What do you think about generating power from this house for the main house?

If we can….ABSOLUTELY! It’s a no-brainer.

5. Of schemes A, B, C, D -
* which do you like the best?
* what don’t you like & why?
* what would you change or add?

We like Scheme D - we don’t need a green roof to grow stuff or to occupy since we have the lawn and the adjacent patio, we’d rather use the roof area for solar panels if possible. However, we’re concerned about leaks from the inverted roof.

6. How public/private will the spaces be?

Entirely private.

7. Composting waste on site for the garden – what do you think?

Absolutely, but let’s keep it hidden from view and as far from the house as possible to avoid contamination by bugs, mice etc….

8. Roof access – what do you think?

Don’t really need it.

9. Whats your thought on materials?
* texture
* feel
* color
* maintenance

We want the house to feel natural - that it’s part of the landscape, not that it just dropped down from outer space.

13. If there was a wood burning stove, would you use it?

Yes. By the way, with the rains we have had over the past 10 days, the backyard is a swamp so think about elevating the house somewhat so we can use it during Indy’s new “rainy season”.

Thanks. We love the design so far!