1005 West Fairview Ave

Carnival Elevation

2007-07-23T23:39:00.000-05:00

Today's success lay in Lorene bottom-lining the paint prep for the bathroom- what motivation! However, after everything was taped, removed, or covered in plastic we opened the paint to find that it had turned gluteny over the winter and isn't useable- yuck! So we moved on to attend to the poor stair risers- now transformed from their boring look of 'plywood' to a dazzling display of color that elevates enthusiasm as it elevates your body. Outside of the house, Tim installed and caulked the garage trim which he's prepped last week.

Places to Rest

2007-07-22T20:00:00.000-05:00

The newest addition to the house is the bench rail on the front porch, built by E-Co Lab (thanks, Tim!). It really improves the feel of the porch, and adds a lot of places to sit. Still to come is a piece of molding that will give it a 'layer cake' effect
as you can see on the edge, here

Here's a look from the east...

and from the front

So Long, so long ago!

2007-07-18T18:05:00.000-05:00

It's been almost a year, and lots of drama has unfolded... but the house has unfolded as well! So rather than trying to do a comprehensive backlog, I'm going to bring us up to date snippet by snippet. Starting with... the sunshade that was erected in June to keep the bright beams out of my first floor rooms. Grapes and clematis have been planted at the base. Soon I'm aiming to add wisteria over the west bedroom. When they grow, the ugly (but temporary) landscape fabric will be removed. In the winter, the leaves will fall off, letting passive solar gain wam the house. Sunshades aren't needed on the second floor windows because the overhang of the roof was designed to block the high summer sun, but let in the low winter sun.

Three types of clematis and one of the three types of grapes...

and the west sunshade!

In August...

2006-08-26T12:49:00.000-05:00

The drywall is going up...

Almost all of the supplies that have filled the yard are gone...

The roof is on...

There are morning glories amnog the weeds in the backyard (that's Beth's birthday flower- appropriate since the closing will be around her birthday)...

And the outside of the house is being prepared for the siding to be put on...

Electrical

2006-08-06T23:02:00.000-05:00

Here you can see the fuse box for the house, an outlet and some of the wiring. The basic electrical work is done. After an inspection, the final electrical work can be completed.

Ductwork

2006-08-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

The ductwork is now in place for the heating and cooling system. All of the air in the house will be cycled through the rooms and a machine called a 'counterflow heat exchanger.' This sends exhaust air past the incoming air in such a way to 'recover' 95% of the energy (for a detailed explanation, see www.e-colab.org). This system maintains a comfortable temperature in the house with 90% of the energy use of 'traditional' homes.

Insulation

2006-07-15T02:53:00.000-05:00

The insulation is in. Aside from the space between 1st and 2nd floor, all of the insulation used is fiberglass blown into a netting. The four exterior walls are being covered with a layer of plywall inbetween the insulation and drywall. This is both to add structural strength to the building, act as a water seal, and to increase the effectiveness of the insulation. The ceiling will simply have drywall.

The shape of things to come

2006-07-15T02:37:00.000-05:00

At this point in the process, the construction work is happening faster and more is happening at once. In the last weeks a number of dramatic changes have taken place. Steadily, the building looks more and more like a home every day. (Above left:... the upstairs hall from the study. Above left: the study from the hall.)

At this point in the process, the construction work is happening faster and more is happening at once. In the last weeks a number of dramatic changes have taken place. Steadily, the building looks more and more like a home every day. (Right: master bedroom from the study. Below: first floor bedroom)

You can now walk through the house and really feel the shapes and sizes of the different rooms. Of course the drywall is yet to come, but a lot less is 'left to the imagination.'
Or, looking at it another way, walking through the house allows your imagination to run wild now. Seeing where the closets are, the way light falls into the space, the slant of the roof, feeling the size of rooms from various directions... you can begin to imagine people and things filling the space. Where will the bookshelves go? What use of this little study area - better to have pillows on the floor, or a desk? Whose bedroom will this be? Where will the bed go?

And already you can take in the view from different directions, seeing the beauty of the house unfold... (Left: second floor bedroom)

Staircase

2006-07-15T02:16:00.000-05:00

Looking from the living room...

Looking Down...

Looking Up...

Plumbing

2006-07-15T00:30:00.000-05:00

(Top right: upstairs bathroom viewed from the study. Top left: upstairs shower/tub. Bottom left: installing the drains on the first floor. Bottom right: the view of the drains from the second floor to the first)

The plumbing infrastructure is almost set

The second floor bathtub is in, and the major portion of the piping is installed.

The plumbing requires a vent through the roof and another pipe to the for the garden hose: two breaks in the exterior wall. On the roof vent, an S tube was installed just below the roof to make sure that air doesn't come into the house. The garden hose pipe is run through another PVC pipe, so that if there is any leak or freezing of the copper pipe the insulation won't get ruined.

Note that there won't be any 'bathroom fan' as the ventilation for the whole house is centralized, moving air from the outside through the living room and bedrooms and then through the kitchen and bathrooms, then out. This is an important part of the passive design, further explained on the e-colab site.

Also, you can see in the photo above the view of the bathroom from the 2nd floor study down the hall. This upstairs hallway/study area is really beautiful, flowing all the down to the kitchen.

Picture this...

2006-06-21T20:28:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have mainly consisted of framing. First it was the first floor bathroom. Then there was a week break in construction. This week saw the beginning of building the staircase. Walking up stair case could be interesting, because, unlike other staircases where there is a slanted ceiling above as you go, the walls of the staircase will extend up to the second floor ceiling! The pictures are, clockwise from the top left: looking through the door of the first floor bedroom, looking from the living room at the stairs and utility closet (you can see entrance to the stairs and the landing. The utility closet will exist in the space under the stairs), the floor of the bathroom, looking from the bedroom at the stairs and utility closet (this will be walled off)

Wrapped Up

2006-05-25T22:54:00.000-05:00

The news lately is the roof!

The roof was put on by putting a petroleum based sheathing over the roof joists/rafters. This was difficult because the sheathing isn't strong enough to hold up a person, but it's opaque, so you can't see where to put your feet so that you're walking on the joists! Then tyvek was put on top, which was difficult because it's slippery and the large rolls are hard to handle. Finally the workers decided to cut the strips on the ground and carry them up to the roof, rather thatn deal with the roll on the roof. On top of the tyvek, 2x4s were placed '4' side-down across the length of the roof. The 2x4s create a space for air to move under the roof, so that it lasts longer. Plywood was put on top of the 2x4s, and finally, feltpaper was put on top of that. A delicious roof sandwich!

The windows and doors were cut out of the sheath, and tyvek wrap, which provides a moisture barrier, was put on using special nails, spaced out to make as few breaks in the barrier as possible. Also, the tyvek must be taped along its seams. Apparently it's rare for tyvek to be put on appropriately, because I've heard more than one person remark that this is the first house they've seen where it was done right! Go team!

Rob and I put in some plants along the back fence (thanks to the Urbana Permaculture Project, www.prairienet.org/upp). It turns out there are a number of peonies there, previously buried under weeds. We cleared it out, and planted Nanking Cherries between the peonies, and a native bamboo in the southeast corner. Unfortunately, I got involved taking pictures of the house and forgot to take pictures of the plants! (Pictures are: Rob and Beth, Rob with the UPP truck and hay/mulch, the house from the west, the interior north wall, the interior south wall)

The News For Now

2006-05-14T00:53:00.000-05:00

Obviously a lot has happened in the past almost two months. The fourth wall was raised, the second floor joist is in place (secured into the frame, and supported by pillars), the second story joists are in place (secured at one end on the second story main joist, and to the frame at the wall), the frame is covered with a petroleum basaed strengthening and protective sheath, and it's been covered in tarp to protect from water.

The pictures are, from left to right, looking through the kitchen (which is open to the second floor) towards the second floor bathroom, looking straight up through the stairwell to the north, the building viewed from the southwest side, looking to the east from the stairwell.

Wall Raising Ceremony

2006-03-20T13:19:00.000-06:00

On friday the walls were raised with minimal complication. The walls, bulit in two sections each, were on the ground with the edge on the foundation slab. Orignially the plan was to raise the walls with human-power, but they proved to be too heavy and a crane was brought in.

First the moisture wrap (which goes under the entire foundation) was secured onto the edge of the foundation, and caulk was applied so that once the walls were in place a moisture-proof barrier would be created. 2x4s were placed under the edge of the wall, so that as it was lifted, it wouldn't get punctured by the sill bolts.

Straps were wrapped around the top of a section, and the crane lifted it up. The wall was suspended in the air just a few inches above the perimeter, and when all the bolts were lined up with the holes in the wall's frame, the wall was lowered, checked to be level, and wooden 2x4 braces were put into place to keep the wall from falling forward or back. Then washers and nuts were put on the sill bolts to hold the wall down.

The only difficulty came with the first section of the north wall when, as it was lifted, a few points of connection in the joists came apart. The wall was lowered, everything was re-secured and it was successfully lifted into place on the second try.

On Saturday, a wall-raising ceremony, or Weihefest, was held. A traditional evergreen branch was tied to the peak of the roof, and we celebrated. Numerous people attended from all corners of the community including school board and city council members, city employees, neighbors, even visitors from other states (architects and students) came to partake in this community event.

Talented local photographer Nick Mann took the photo shown here, as well as a number of pictures, which you can see by visiting:

http://www.pbase.com/urbana_photographer/passive_house_march06

Wall Raising

2006-03-20T13:15:00.000-06:00

We held a "wall raising" ceremony to mark the occasion of getting the walls standing. I got a bunch of pictures and will post a few, but Elizabeth Simpson, the woman who will be the owner of the house, let me know that Nick Mann, a local photographer, had posted a bunch of pictures of the event.

Nick graciously let us use a picture here. He has a whole page of pictures from the event on his website, which has lots more, including pictures from many other local events.

I should also mention that Elizabeth will be joining me in posting items to this blog. Glad to have her aboard!

Three walls

2006-03-06T07:28:00.000-06:00

Three walls of the house are built. (There was still some work left on one wall, framing up the doors and windows.) The next step is to stand the walls up. The fourth will will be built in-place with the other three.

The Frame!

2006-03-02T19:26:00.000-06:00

They've started assembling the frame of the house.

The framing material actually arrived a couple of weeks ago, in three fairly compact bundles that got dropped almost at random on the 1005 lot and the lot next door.

The pink stuff over on the right in this picture is the insulation around the slab. The framing materials are the two bundles under blue tarps and the more distant bundle under an olive tarp.

The first thing Mike had to do was to get all the material on our lot and organize it.

Here's an end-view of the main structural pieces of the frame. The i-beam shape provides both great strength and a lot of space for adding insulation.

Mike told me the dimensions of the pieces and the materials, but I've forgotten the details. I'll get them and post an update, but the i-beams are roughly 12 inches deep, with all that space to be filled with insulation.

Here's the almost assembled frame for the east wall of the house, lying on the slab. You can see how the i-beams go together. You can also get a pretty clear idea what the profile of the roof is going to be.

These last two pictures were taken Monday, and there have been several nice days since then, so I suspect there's been quite a bit of additional progress already. I'll try to get out and take some more pictures tomorrow.

The slab

2006-02-11T13:22:00.000-06:00

They've poured the slab.

The slab turns out to be complicated. It's thick (15 inches, I think) around the edges (I suppose because that's the part that holds the house up). Except right around the edges, though, most of the space not concrete, but rather is insulation, with just four or five inches of concrete on top.

Around the perimiter are the sill plate bolts. You can see them in the picture above, and you can see one here:

They are bolts--the threads are just covered with duct tape so they don't get damaged. Once the frame of the house is constructed, it will be bolted to the slab using these bolts.

(The framing material for the house has arrived, just a couple of days after I took these pictures.)

There are some drain tiles that run from the front of the house to the back (which is the way the grade runs anyway). I didn't get any pictures of them.

You can see several layers of stuff here. The clear plastic is between the concrete and the exterior insulation. It will be threaded up onto the slab as the frame goes up, to provide one more barrier to cold air getting in. The black material running along off the slab, but on top of the exterior insulation, is a root barrier. It's supposed to help protect the insulation and the drain tiles from roots. I didn't get a good close up, but it's a woven fabric that water permiable, but a barrier to roots.

The backfilling of dirt to cover all this stuff has already started, as you can see on the left-most part of this picture.

The slab pre-pour

2006-02-07T21:24:00.000-06:00

Got a note from Mike Kernagis:

For the past three weeks or so the formwork has alternated between a swimming pool and an ice rink. I would get it pumped out only to see it fill with rain or snow again. FINALLY, last week was dry and warm enough that I could lay down and tape plastic, bend and set in the re-bar and mesh, and thoroughly brace and level the form.

Here's the slab shortly before they poured the concrete. You can see the plastic vapor barrier on top of the foam, and how all the joints and plumbing protrusions are taped. This vapor barrier serves two purposes, 1. it prevents moisture transfer from the ground to the slab, and 2. it prevents the concrete from sticking to the foam, allowing for the removal and reuse of the foam if the house is ever demolished. At the date of this picture, January 26, the rebar is in place in the deep parts of the form, but the re-wire is not in place for the thin part of the slab.

Friday morning our concrete finishers went to work. Kat and I measured out and set our sill plate bolts as the concrete started to set up. The concrete guys finished and sealed the slab and will be cutting a couple of control joints with in the next day or two.

Not much news

2006-01-21T12:31:00.000-06:00

I've swung by the building site a couple of times since Christmas, but not at a time when anyone was working. The site is covered with a tarp, which I didn't want to fool around with, so whatever work is going on, it's a mystery to me.

Foundation form and insulation

2006-01-05T18:51:00.000-06:00

These are the last of the group of pictures that Dave Stecher took in December.

In this picture, the final pieces of horizontal XPS have been cut out for plumbing penetrations and have been placed. The final wall of the form is up, and all vertical XPS has been placed. The final compaction of the sand is being performed as the snow begins to fall. In the background, you can see that the perimeter insulation has been cut to size.

This picture was taken after the final positioning and securing of the first layer of EPS had been performed. This layer rests on the ground and is prevented from moving horizontally by pieces of rebar driven through it every four feet. The second layer of EPS was glued to the first for a total of 16 inches. Footing holes for two posts have been cut. The vertical XPS was positioned to be even with the top of the form. A tent was built around the form so that we could pour concrete without having to put curing additives. (The additives can affect the strength and finish of the concrete, so you want to avoid them if you can.)

Preparing for the foundation

2005-12-28T08:01:00.000-06:00

Dave Stecher took these pictures on December 6th and 7th. I still have a couple more pictures that he took after these. I'll get them posted shortly.

After the plumbing was installed, they spread out the gravel to form a 6" base, and placed the concrete formwork.

The pink extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation has been placed around the perimeter of the slab. The thickened edge will rest on this material. Inside the perimeter, 4 inches of sand has been placed to bring the grade up to the top of the pink insulation. The white styrofoam (EPS) will eventually be placed overlapping the XPS by two feet.

I understand that there hasn't been much work on the site over the holidays, but that it should resume soon. I'll try to get out there myself and see how things look.

More plumbing

2005-12-25T11:17:00.000-06:00

I've been lazy about getting out to the site to get pictures, but there has been work progressing. This picture (and the next few I'll post) were taken by Dave Stecher.

The plumbing was installed and inspected (denoted by the green sticker) The blue tubing is the water line, the vertical white pipes are from left to right: kitchen drain, shower drain, second floor soil stack, bathroom sink, floor drain, toilet.

You can also see in these pictures the white expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation slabs which had been purchased on December first from ACH Foam Technologies in Waukegan, IL. The foam is being stored where the slab will be to prevent the ground from freezing.

Plumbing

2005-12-08T18:34:00.000-06:00

Plumbing, viewed from the north
Originally uploaded by bradipo.

This shows the partially installed plumbing, as it was last Friday.

There's nothing special about the plumbing, in terms of energy savings, in this house. There's a device called an "air admittance valve", that makes the plumbing vent pipe through the roof unnecessary, but the state plumbing code does not accept those yet. So, the plumbing in this house is being done just as in an ordinary house.

Small correction

2005-12-01T09:21:00.000-06:00

Dave Stecher tells me that code does still allow the water line to run in the same trench as the sewer line, as long as there's enough vertical separation (18 inches, perhaps). But our sewer line is high enough that the necessary vertical separation gets the water line a little too close to the frost line. That's why we're going with the horizontal separation.

I hope to have another update yet today. The plumbing is supposed to be going in. I'll try to get some pictures.

Before pouring

2005-11-22T14:05:00.000-06:00

Back when the previous house on this site was built, the sewer and water pipes could run in the same trench, with the pipes vertically separated (the fresh water pipe some distance above the sewer pipe). Code now requires that the pipes be horizontally separated by at least 10 feet, so there has to be a separate trench dug for the water pipe. Once's that's done, and the pipe is connected, they'll be able to pour the concrete.

The trench to the left of the pile of crushed rock is intended to bring in power. However, code requires that electrical conduit be laid by an electrician, and they haven't identified one yet.

Apparently there's been discussion of going ahead and finishing the foundation without the electrical conduit and then bringing the electricity in through the wall. That would require puncturing the envelope, which is something they very much want to avoid, for energy efficiency reasons. So, the trench is being left open for the moment. If they can identify an electrician before they pour the concrete, he or she can put the conduit here.

The hole got dug a bit deep in the corner here, so there's some extra 2-inch crushed rock to bring that up. The big mound is smaller crushed rock that will be spread around to serve as the base for the slab.

A dump truck arrived with another load of gravel while I was there.

In the picture below, the property boundary is marked by the most distant, left-most post. You can see that the foundation runs almost to the property line. (There's an orange flag on the boundry post, although it's not quite visible in this photo--click for a larger image.) Two feet inside, you can see white and pink lines marking the edge of footprint of the house. The house next door is about the same distance from the property line, so I suppose that's the required setback.

Sewer pipe

2005-11-10T21:14:00.000-06:00

Yesterday they had the existing sewerline excavated and televised. The portion of the line between the curb and the center of the street was in good condition, so they avoided having to dig up the street. The remainder of the clay line between the curb and the house was replaced, because portions were sloping the wrong direction and there was significant root infiltration.

This picture show the existing pipe where it goes under the road.

The picture below shows the new pipe as it is being "bedded in" (A process where pea gravel is placed around the pipe to prevent it from moving in the ground). The old pipe had not been properly "bedded in" which contributed to its failure.

Other e-colab activity

2005-11-09T08:22:00.000-06:00

The folks building the 1005 West Fairview house are having an open house at their office at 112 W. Main in downtown Urbana. There will be models, floor plans, tours, and all sorts of information about what a Passive House is.

Details are on the e-colab events page.

About the foundation

2005-10-30T16:31:00.000-06:00

Dave Stecher gave me the details on the area being excavated being larger than the actual footprint of the house:

We are digging 2 feet wider than the footprint of the house because of the type of foundation being used. It is called a frost protected shallow footing (FPSF). Instead of digging the foundation deep enough such that it extends below the frost line (32" in this climate), the area around the perimeter of the house is insulated with sheets of extruded polystyrene placed horizontally to prevent the frost from penetrating deeper than 12" (the depth of our foundation). The reason we chose a FPSF is because a normal foundation is very difficult to insulate, and if left uninsulated, acts as a fin dissipating heat into the ground.

A bigger hole

2005-10-29T18:53:00.000-05:00

They did most of the digging for the foundation over the weekend.

In the foreground you can just see one of the stakes that marks a corner. They mark out a space that's one foot larger than the footprint of the house--Kat explained what that space is for, but I've forgotten. I'll try to find out and post with the details.

They're in a hurry to pour the slab before it gets cold, but there's a possible hold-up. They need to know that the sewer line is in good shape first, but nobody knows. If they can't find out any other way, they may need to get someone to run a camera down the sewer pipe to check it out. That would be a source of delay.

Assuming they can get the sewer pipe confirmed as good, Kat is hoping things will move along at a good pace next week.

I'll try to get out and take some pictures, of the various stages.

The groundbreaking

2005-10-23T15:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the groundbreaking ceremony.

I expect I'll say something about several of these people, over the coming weeks, but for today I'll just mention the two with shovels.

Katrin Klingenberg is the Executive Director of the Ecological Construction Laboratory and the architect of the solar house. Dave Stecher is Assistant Director and "co-conspirator" of the project.

The lot

2005-10-22T21:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of the lot, before the groundbreaking ceremony.

As soon as they arrived, the contactor and the architects started talking about the grade. It's pretty flat where the house is going to go, then slopes down to the back, both apparently good things.

1005 West Fairview Ave project

2005-10-22T18:25:00.000-05:00

The Ecological Construction Laboratory is building a super energy-efficient house in Urbana, Illinois. I've agreed to document the process. My plan is to take pictures of the house as it goes up and post them here. I'll also try to get other people involved in the project to write entries about design decisions, construction techniques, and anything interesting that happens along the way.

The house is being built at 1005 West Fairview Ave, hence the name of the blog.

There'll be more as things progress, but I'll start with just the preliminary floor plans of the e-colab web site: first floor and second floor.