Solar PV ROI

Posted on February 21, 2012 | 1 Comment

An update from the Medford DER that is a part of the Thousand Homes Challenge.

Here’s what a 6.9kw solar array can do to your electric bill:

In the span of 2 months, we’ve gone from consumers to producers of electricity back to the power grid, with all of our home’s electricity demands met !

The solar PV system on the roof is leased from Community Energy and installed by Transformations Solar of Townsend, MA.

This, combined with the ultra low heating demands of this super-insulated home is a major triumph for proving the efficacy of retrofitting an old home. This 1908 2-family now outperforms “code built” new-construction homes by a wide margin!

More to come, as we continue tracking our Thousand Homes Challenge compliance over the next 10 months.

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Somerville Renovation Update

Posted on February 20, 2012 | 1 Comment

There has been a lot of quick progress on this project. Since our previous update, which introduced the project, we have finished  completed all the demolition & repurposing, rough framing and rough mechanicals.

The rough framing involved a small crane and a couple tons of steel. This gave us the ability to remove all the interior partitions except one half-bathroom. Cronin Welding and Build-it-up Builders quickly executed the new layout.


One of the major objectives of this projects was to open up the floor plan. In order to do this, we removed the existing chimney and reclaimed the space since the new mechanicals do not need it for venting.  Improved efficient of the mechanical systems and tightening of the building envelope meant that we could increase the ceiling height by removing the existing dropped ceiling without increasing heating costs. We added clerestorey windows for more natural light.

The main steel beam on the first floor  initially projected down by 2″; we added 3″ more inches to it to make it look deliberate.
Lights define the space on the first floor. Malsky Electric, the electrical subcontractors used air-tight receptacle boxes for the rough-ins to cut down on air leakage.

Insulation is scheduled for the end of the week and plaster for the end of next week.



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Cambridge Attic Renovation Update

Posted on February 16, 2012 | 2 Comments

Our attic conversion from un-heated storage space to Master Suite and Guest Bedroom is progressing nicely. We are about to start blue board and plaster.
The strategy for insulation was to spray the open -cell spray foam before installing the HVAC equipment. This ensured that we were able to spray every inch of the space without having to deal with the duct work being in the way. Having said that, this method also protects the duct work from accidental damage. The pictures should give you an indication of the difficulty with spraying the foam behind the duct work.

The City of Cambridge has adopted the Stretch Energy Code, which means that the R-values required in the walls are higher than what is prescribed by the building code. Cambridge also requires all HVAC duct work to be hard piped (no flex).

In the rough framing stage we reinforced the floor joists and roof rafter, installed ¾” plywood and the interior partitions. We also installed 4 Velux skylights and 5 Marvin windows.

Next stages: Dennis Bourne of Bourne plastering is on site and preparing the site for the delivery of blueboard. We love seeing the tarpaper with the seams taped with duct tape; this sets the tone for the rest of the plaster job.

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Cambridge Renovation Project Update

Posted on February 9, 2012 | 2 Comments

Here’s what we said about this project earlier. We are happy to report steady progress.


We have finished the demolition : repurposing and salvaging as much as we could.The project has now moved into the rough framing stage.

In finishing a third floor attic, the challenge was to get the rough framing material up to the attic. We decided to take the extra effort to occupy the street (with the neighbors’ consent) and boom the lumber directly into the attic rather than carry it up manually through the front door to avoid going through the finished spaces. We are using FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified lumber for this project. This means that the lumber has been sourced from responsibly managed sources.

We are also saving the decking and floor joists for re-use on the project. The design calls for barn doors for different spaces, we will be milling down the old floor joists to create these doors.

We are heading up to Nor’east Architectural Antiques today to view, evaluate and tag some reclaimed timbers for the new collier ties & ridge on the second floor; living room hearth and beams for the kitchen and dining room opening.  The existing second floor ceiling and old 5/4” floor boards will be removed to create a vaulted ceiling.

The images from Stack Design & Build below show the second floor finished perspective.

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Another mechanicals project in JP

Posted on February 6, 2012 | 1 Comment
As part of the Boston “Green Triple Decker” pilot program, this Jamaica Plain 3 family residence will now reap the benefits of energy savings, comfort, and increased property value.
The project entails the replacement of 3 aging furnaces, and 3 water heaters.  2 of the 3 furnaces were installed in the 1920′s and were expensive to operate and maintain, delivered poor comfort, and were of questionable safety to continue operation.  The 3 “standard” efficiency water heater tanks (appox. 55% efficient, were replaced with 96% efficient Navien models that only operate on-demand, so there are no standing losses of heat.
The improvements to the building envelope improvements include a program of air sealing in the basement and attic; addressing thermal bypass issues with pipe and wire penetrations where air was infiltrating.  The attic sloped ceiling cavities are being insulated with densepack cellulose, and the open ceiling framing will be covered with loose fill cellulose.  Behind the difficult to access knee wall areas, we will spray open cell foam to insulate the roof, and seal it to the top of the 2nd floor walls to address this notorious air leakage concern.

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Certified NEST Concierge Partner

Posted on February 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

A little over a month ago, we were introduced to a great product. We blogged about it and installed one soon after its launch. We are now one of the few certified concierge partners in the Boston area. We worked with NEST to learn and understand the proper way to install, service and educate users.

We have installed more than a dozen thermostats in the past 3 weeks. About a half of these have been from clients purchasing their NESTS from the NEST webstore. The others were when we installed a NEST as a part of a boiler upgrade.

Education is an important part of our installation process; we talk to the clients about how the NEST learns, how it helps save energy and how to use it. We also cycle the heating system twice and set your away setting (lowest temp you want the NEST at while you’re not home). We also take your old thermostat away for recycling.

We have a half dozen NESTs in stock and charge the same price that you will find on the website ($249.99 plus MA sales tax). We install all the NESTS we sell.

Please email us to order.

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Another boiler swap in West Roxbury

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 3 Comments

Our Green Touch  niche has finished another boiler swap in West Roxbury. This dated boiler was better at creating dangerous carbon-monoxide and high utility bills then heating the house.

The MassSave Heat Loan program and the GasNetworks Rebates made the immediate out of pocket expense on this project under $500.00.

The project took 5 days to complete and there was no loss of heat throughout the process.  The only impact to the actual heated space was when we installed the new NEST learning thermostat. We install the NEST stock on all our heating system upgrades. The client choose to install the smaller of the two back plates supplied by NEST.

The boiler we installed was a 95% efficient Buderus which created hot water for both the heating and domestic hot water. We installed a 45 Gallon Superstor Ultra water tank to expand the domestic hot water capacity.

We pride ourselves on efficiently installing efficient systems. We start by installing a wall with plywood to create a solid surface to install the boiler, valves, piping, electric, etc. This makes for an easy and clean install. Further maintenance is made easy with clean and labeled installation.

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New Renovation Project in Cambridge

Posted on January 20, 2012 | 1 Comment

We started another BGB project in Cambridge this week. This is a renovation with scope for a Phase II sometime in the future.

The first step of starting a project is protection. We protect any areas that we will not be working in;  objects, fixtures or appliances that the client would like to save or reuse. We are saving the kitchen cabinets and dishwasher for reuse. The heart pine floors, historic mantel and fireplace are all slated for pick-up by John Isgur at  Nor’east Architectural antiques for repurposing.

The next step is to mark out all the surfaces to be demolished. We mark out on every wall what needs to happen to it, as you can see n the pictures below.  If there are no marks on the walls, it stays the same.

Stack Design Build in RI is the brain behind the exciting new layout of the space. The interesting  design coupled with the clients’ enthusiasm to live in a healthy, efficient home that uses local and repurposed materials is right up our ally and we are thrilled to be working on what promises to be an exciting project.

The Scope:
New Kitchen, Pantry, Master Suite, Kid’s Bath,
Renovation of the entire second floor to remove the attic space and add cathedral ceilings in all the rooms ; an a loft space in the kid’s bedroom

We will be setting up a time-lapse camera to capture the transformation of the space into an open floor plan and new kitchen space; and will come back with more !

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JP project update

Posted on January 13, 2012 | 2 Comments

Our JP project is drawing to a close and here’s the final update. Here are previous posts about this project.

We had previously briefly talked about design options for the deck railings.
The clients have a thriving organic garden in their back yard that needed to be enjoyed and shown off. Like we said earlier, the Mahogany railings and Cedar balustrades, although beautiful would have obstructed the view of the garden.
The lighter cable rail system that was the result of a few brainstorming sessions allowed us to have code-compliant, sturdy railings that are visually lighter and aesthetically more pleasing. Cedar posts and the top rail complement the light cable rails. IPE decking with hidden fasteners complete the rear deck and allow the client to enjoy an unobstructed view of fruits (and flowers) of their hard labor !

We used James Hardie skirt trim with Fir lattice in the front deck.

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Somerville renovation : new project

Posted on January 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

We received the green light to start a large scale renovation of a house in serious need of  upgrades in Somerville last week.

Our scope:
First Floor: To create an open floor plan by removing all the partition walls; kitchen, ½ bath, flooring and removing the lowered ceilings

Second floor: new master suite, full bath, flooring

Attic: upgrade finishes and add 3 Velux skylights

Basement: dig out half the existing basement slab to create a level surface and pour a new slab; install closed cell foam on the blockers (area where floor joists meets the foundation wall).

General: Upgrade electrical, plumbing, mechanicals, roof, windows, insulation Rough-in for Solar PV.

We will wrap up demo this week. The electrical walk-through is scheduled for next week, followed soon after by rough-ins for the mechanicals.

The project team:
Project Manager: Ryan Barr
Project Arch:Hans Strauch of HDS Architecture 
Project Engineer:   Scott Nelson of Structural Response

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