NEST Install

Posted on January 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

“Where has this type of product been ?” was what the clients said when  we introduced them to their new NEST thermostat.

We agree that the NEST learning thermostat is special. It is easy to use and learns from you; which makes it unique. The client we met this morning received their NEST as a gift from their son (great gift !). We explained how the NEST works and showed them a video on how it works. They liked it so much that they ordered a second one for their cape house in the first 10 minutes during the install.

As you can see from the pictures, we used the large plate that comes with the NEST because the client didn’t mind how it looks.We could have also installed just the NEST; which will involve a little patching and paint after the install.

The product is currently out of stock on the NEST web-store. BGB has half dozen available within a week. We will install the NEST and give you a tutorial on how it works and how to use it.

If you would like to learn more about the nest, you can start on their website and then email us with your order and preferred installation dates.
john@bostongreenbuilding.com

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Cambridge Attic Renovation Update

Posted on December 27, 2011 | 3 Comments

In an attic renovation, one of the most important challenges is accessibility. In this project in cambridge, we needed to get the lumber up into the existing attic space to sister the floor joists and roof rafters and start the rough framing of the interior.
Here’s what we did.
First, we roughed in the window opening in the front gable end. Then F.D. Sterritt Lumber used their Boom truck to boom all the full length lumber right into the work space. In order to do this, however, we needed to plan ahead of time to close the road for about 30 minutes and reserve the boom truck. 

All the existing attic insulation and mechanicals have been removed. Rough framing has begun; all existing floor joists  and roof rafters have been sistered.  ¾” AdvangeTech plywood has been installed over the new floor joists and interior partitions start to shaping the new space.



An electrical walk-through defines the fixture, receptacles and switch locations
locations. Any desired changes can be made before any of the electrical work is performed. This controls the cost and schedule. All doorways (door swing) and cabinetry have been located in the space to allow the client to feel the layout of the space and understand the electrical layout with respect to layout.
Most importantly,  the drop-down staircase has been removed and full staircase has been roughed in.

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Somerville DER update

Posted on December 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Our Somerville Nstar DER (deep energy retrofit) has the finish line in sight. The exterior is in punch list mode and is looking good.

As the series of photos below prove, there is no compromise on the aesthetics of a DER. No one (other than the people who executed the project and the people who are saving money on their energy bills) can tell that there is an additional 4″ of foam on the sidewalls and roof surfaces.

The interior is being painted on the first floor and trim being finished in the attic. The basement has been foamed and the Buderus wall hung boiler is up and running. We re-used the Ultra Super Store water tank, but all other mechanicals are new.

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JP Project Update

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 2 Comments

 

Progress report of one of our Jamaica Plain projects.

90% of the James Hardie pre-finished siding has been installed.If you recall from our previous post, the clients decided that they wanted to retain the deep window well on the inside and we moved the windows to the outside plane of the  rigid foam that we added.
What you cannot tell from the outside is that the shell is 5 1/4″ thicker, with the addition of rigid foam, strapping and siding. Without compromising on the aesthetics, we have managed to upgrade an energy-hogging building to a high-performing one that blends very well into its context.  We are working on the interior trim and will update pictures of the larger sill when done.

All that is left is the rear & front deck, gutters, new front door and finishing the HRV installation.

For the decks, we had initially spec’d fir posts, mahogany railings and 1 ¼”x 1 ¼” square fir balustrades, spaced 3″ on center. During our routine review of the specs with the clients to ensure that they are still on board with the idea, we understood that the client wanted a relatively unobstructed view of the garden while sitting on the deck. The current design did not allow that and we presented a couple of alternatives in order to accommodate their request. As a result, we will now be installing Mahogany posts with cable rail to allow greater views of the garden.

 

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JP Kitchen Project Update

Posted on December 9, 2011 | 2 Comments

Clever Green Cabinets have done it again !!

Jon Taylor first created a kitchen design that the client loved, then realized it by building, staining and installing the cabinetry. Clever Green first installed the base-cabinets unfinished  with all the face frames to be able to template early. Jon’s team then removed the face frames and applied the stain and finish in their spray booth. This ensured a consistent finish.

Some of the cool products installed on this project are the Blue Star range, 8” wide oak flooring and Ashfield schist stone.

The icing on the cake for this project just came on site. The hand-made and painted backsplash tile from Tile Showcase that took 7 weeks to arrive  and will be installed next week.

We will complete a project re-cap once the backsplash is installed.


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Toys for Tots at BGB

Posted on December 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Its holiday season and we are trying our best to keep the spirit, by becoming a Toys for Tots drop-off location. We have boxes in our entry foyer where you can bring new, unwrapped, non-violent toys and drop them off to be distributed to needy children in the Greater Boston community as Christmas presents.

We would also like to offer pick-up of toys near any of our current projects. Please comment on this post with your location and we will let you know when you can leave the toy out for pick-up. Current towns we have projects in: Belmont, JP, West Roxbury, Cambridge, Hopkinton, Medford, Arlington, Lexington, Beacon Hill, Dorchester and Newton.

We are located at 218 Lincoln St in Allston, MA ;
you can call 617-202-3777 if you have any other questions. We are collecting until the 15th of December.

If you want to read more about Toys for Tots,  here is their website.

Season’s greetings from the BGB family, we wish you a very happy holiday season !

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Hopkinton Project Update

Posted on December 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

Our objective during the last couple of months has been to be able to get from the paved road to the well location at the back corner of the lot on a hard paved surface.

Water on the site has made this more difficult than we had imagined. (See picture on the right). When we were asked to build a 550’ driveway through 2 wetland crossings; we thought the challenge would come from the granite on the site and replicating the wetlands. It turns out that when faced with water, all other issues seem to become non-issues. To create a solid, sound road that will hold drill rigs, excavation equipment, foundation & concrete trucks and a pre-fab house was a more difficult task than we anticipated.

Having said that, we did manage to achieve our objective !  Cliff and his crew at Northeast Water Wells, Inc of Hudson, NH will be on the site today with their equipment.

It is difficult to describe in words or capture in a picture the extents of the site. The picture that you see below is a collage of pictures taken from the same point, following the path of the yellow excavator from the beginning of the street to the location of the well.

Stay tuned for updates on how deep we had to drill for drinking water and pictures of the cleared land.

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Meet the brain behind the new BGB Blog

Posted on November 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

As some of you might have realized, the BGB Blog underwent a major revamp in May 2011.  Our blog which has been up since June 2008, had a total of 7,122 hits until May 2011. The content was being created by interns and was mostly a mix of “green” news and product showcases.

Our intention behind the revamp was to increase readership and connect with our readers by telling the story behind every project.  We wanted our readers to know how we did what we did.  This completely transparent approach, and the fact that the blog content is now created by  John Hourihan (Director of Pre-Construction and Operations) who has 15 years of experience in construction has almost doubled our readership in the last 6 months. We update the blog 2-3 times a week, give our readers a mix of project updates, green news in the Boston area and introduce them to our family of architects, subs and employees.

The blog was featured in November’s issue of Remodeling magazine, in an interview of John Hourihan by senior editor Nina Patel. Read the article here.

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Build Boston 2011

Posted on November 16, 2011 | Leave a comment


Today is the opening day of the Build Boston workshops and exhibit hall. The event will go on until Friday the 18th.

This evening Brian Butler (owner of BGB) along with Paul Eldrenkamp of Byggmeister, Declan Keefe of Placetailor and Kristen Simmons of Kristen Simmons Architects will be speaking from 6pm to 7.30, on a topic that is close to their hearts: “Passive House Retrofits: A tale of three residential retrofits in Boston”.
Be sure to register at www.buildboston.com hear about their experiences.

The BGB team will be attending this and the Exhibit hall over the next couple of days. If you see a BGB shirt, jacket or hat; be sure to stop us and say hi.

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Cambridge Renovation

Posted on November 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

This project is the conversion of an unfinished attic space to a Master Suite and Guest Bedroom. The attic is currently accessible through a drop-down stair, where we will now cut an open balustrade staircase to provide access. While creating space for the new staircase, we will be moving some walls and some cannibalization to create free space. The third floor, which is all usable space now will more than make up for the space lost in creating the staircase.
We are working with Smart Architecture in Cambridge as well as Transformations Inc. for the solar array that will be located on the South facing roof surface.

 

We will be re-framing the attic floor to account for the new live (people, furniture) and dead loads (walls, floor etc). The roof also needs to be upgraded with LVL (laminated veneer lumber). The reason for the engineered lumber is to maximize ceiling height. The alternative is to use conventional 2x stock, which would necessitate 2”x10” lumber, greatly affecting the design and actual ceiling heights in some rooms.

Rough framing is due to start this week and we will keep you posted as the project gains momentum.

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