Can This Home Be Greened? Sleepless No More

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This attractive Avalon Hideaway fireplace by Travis Industries of Mukilteo, Washington, heats rooms of up to approximately 650 square feet in Seattle’s marine climate. The Avalon Hideaway takes in fresh air from—and vents to—the outside of the house.
This attractive Avalon Hideaway fireplace by Travis Industries of Mukilteo, Washington, heats rooms of up to approximately 650 square feet in Seattle’s marine climate. The Avalon Hideaway takes in fresh air from—and vents to—the outside of the house.
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From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
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From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
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Look for MOLD around roof or plumbing leaks, damp basements or crawl spaces, where there’s been flooding, and where there’s moisture condensation on cold ­surfaces.
Look for MOLD around roof or plumbing leaks, damp basements or crawl spaces, where there’s been flooding, and where there’s moisture condensation on cold ­surfaces.
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The old pink TOILET ain’t what it used to be, and it never was very green.
The old pink TOILET ain’t what it used to be, and it never was very green.
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Which type of fiberglass is green? Possibly none because formaldehyde binders color most FIBERGLASS BATTS.
Which type of fiberglass is green? Possibly none because formaldehyde binders color most FIBERGLASS BATTS.
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From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
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From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
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From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.
From basement to roof, Brian and Jill’s Seattle home will benefit from Chris’s recommendations.

Brian Higgins, a young landscape designer and environmental consultant, and his fiancée, Jill Weems, recently bought their first home: a 550-square-foot (not including the unfinished basement) “war box,” built in 1928 to house workers for the nearby Boeing plant. Previously a rental, the house had endured much do-it-yourself work; its infrastructure, space utilization, energy and resource efficiency, indoor air quality, and aesthetics now provide ample opportunities for green upgrading.

Because Brian and I are both designers with strong environmental consciences–and white­water kayakers, too–we had instant rapport. We started in the basement because I like to see the home’s bones and circulatory system first. Brian and Jill had already made some improvements, including new wiring and plumbing, compact fluorescent lights, a natural gas heater with a carbon monoxide sensor, and a high-efficiency Fisher and Paykel washing machine. For their efforts they had received a $100 rebate from Seattle Public Utilities.

How’s the skin?

Problem: The home has wavy, multi-layered, asphalt-composition roofing and cracked, beveled-cedar siding.

Solution: Brian can recycle the old roofing and install a standing-seam metal roof (with recycled content) that facilitates rainwater catchment, or he can choose Ondura corrugated sheet roofing, with 50 percent ­ post-consumer recycled cellulose content, which costs about the same as thirty-year composition-roofing material but carries a fifty-year warranty. He can add ridge and soffit vents to minimize attic condensation in winter and overheating in summer. He can also fill in siding gaps with paintable silicone caulk, although cracks larger than one-quarter inch require applying backer bead (also called “backer rod”) first so the caulk stays pliable.

  • Published on Jul 1, 2005
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