e m o H Hunter

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Sunday, October 6, 2013

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Home Hunter

The house that ingenuity built heads to national competition

By Kathleen Lynn The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)/ MCT HACKENSACK, N.J. Plants grow on the roof. A device that looks like a crystalline sculpture sucks moisture from the air. And a sensor figures out when no ones home, switching off the lights and air conditioning. Welcome to Ecohabit, a twobedroom house created by 60 students at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. They hope that its gee-whiz technology will help them win the U.S. Department of Energys biannual Solar Decathlon, which takes place this year from Oct. 3-13 in California. Twenty college teams, mostly from the U.S. but also from Europe and Canada, will compete. The Stevens team also is hoping that the house, and the competition, will introduce builders and homeowners to efficient technology that goes beyond solar power. One of the features is a computerized system that monitors energy use and even the weather report. A lot of teams use this competition as a home showcase, said Zak Moy, a 21-year-old recent Stevens graduate who worked on the two-year project. Were engineers, so we see this as a problem-solving competition. Under the rules of the competition, the house must be handicapped-accessible and solar-powered, and it must use products that are commercially available. The 920-square-foot, onestory house has an appealing Prairie feel, thanks to its wood siding, horizontal profile and deep overhanging roofs, which extend the living space onto two decks. The technology may be sophisticated, but the design is simple: two rectangular boxes that lock together to form an L. One is the dry wing, containing the living room and a bedroom/den. That wing is faced with red cedar. The wet wing, which is covered in fiber-concrete panels, contains the kitchen, washer/dryer, bathroom and master bedroom, as well as a closet containing the heating, electrical and air conditioning systems. The idea was to bunch all the plumbing close together, to minimize the distance that water must travel. The most efficient plumbing will have the shortest route from the heater to the tap, Moy said as he gave The Record a tour of the home before it was dismantled and shipped to California. The appliances, of course, are all the most energy-efficient available. The wet wing includes a green roof and green wall to provide insulation and soundproofing. The roof will have low-growing sedum plants; the greenery continues down a side wall, which will have cubbies to hold plants, and onto a flat garden. All this helps absorb rainwater runoff. The dry wing is roofed with solar shingles; its the only house in the competition that uses shingles instead of solar panels, Moy said. The home has a market value of $300,000. Student designers tried to address the cost of environmental innovations, which are often an obstacle for the average homeowner or builder. A lot of people feel (energy efficiency) is too time-consuming, too costly, Moy said. Solar energy takes a couple of decades to break even. Research has shown that some green technologies deliver more bang for the buck. A 2011 study by the Rutgers Center for Green Building for the New Jersey Association of Realtors found that efficient framing and insulation techniques are among the most cost-effective green building tools. The use of solar energy, EnergyStar appliances and more efficient heating and cooling systems take longer to pay for themselves, but can still be worthwhile, while geothermal energy which uses the temperature of the earth for heating and cooling is the least cost-effective, the study said. Moy said that one of the most useful elements in the Ecohabit house is the computerized monitoring system. The spirit of this competition is to show it isnt that hard, he said. Just learning and evaluating how much energy youre using can help you adjust your lifestyle. To that end, all the rooms have smart sensors, which are about the size of motion detectors. They detect information such as temperature, humidity, and how many people are in the room. The sensors are monitored by the homes private computer server. If no ones in the house, lights and air conditioning will be turned off. The system also tracks how much energy is used by the appliances or systems. Homeowners can access the information wirelessly through their smartphones or tablets. It helps provide feedback to help the residents make more energy-efficient decisions, Moy said. The homes computer system can even monitor the weather report so it can tell you, for example, that you should wait to do a load of laundry till the next sunny day, which will create cheaper solar energy. Or tell you to hold off on watering your plants, because its going to rain tomorrow. A new-age dehumidifier hangs on the wall of the dining area. Air is sucked in at the bottom, then dries out as it passes over tubes covered in a liquid salt solution, and comes out drier at the top. Condensation is sent outside, where it evaporates. The system takes about 200 watts of power, compared with 750 watts for a traditional humidifier, Moy said. The walls contain something

Zak Moy explains the difference between sholar shingles, that he is holding, and solar panels at a home the Stevens Institute is entering in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. The home is being disassembled in New Jersey to send to the contest in California. (Kevin R. Wexler/The Record/MCT) called biologically based phase-change material, a passive technology that helps stabilize internal temperature. The material, a bubble-packed soy-based paraffin, absorbs heat during the day and melts; as it cools and solidifies again at night, it releases the heat. So in the southern United States, for example, you can have temperature swings of 20 degrees a day; this product reduces that variation to 4 degrees, Moy said. In a standard home, you have to run water and wait for the hot water to reach the faucet. In this home, water is heated on demand. It heats it when you need it, Moy said. Youre saving energy and not wasting water. When the water is hot, a button in the bathroom goes from blue to red so you know its ready. About 60 students from a number of different disciplines worked on the project over two years. Architects and engineers occasionally clashed, according to Moy. The architecture students would come up with an idea, he said, and then the engineers come in and say, You cant do that. After the decathlon, the house will be donated to a veterans resource center at California State UniversitySan Marcos. Whats the point of just building a house to try to win a competition? said Moy. If you can help someone out at the same time, why not?

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Sunday, October 6, 2013 |

Does your house have what homebuyers are looking for?

Whether your home is on the market, or you plan to sell one day, knowing homebuyers preferences can help you make smart upgrades that will increase your homes value and offer a great return on investment. Luckily, a 2012 survey by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is giving savvy homeowners a clear look at what potential buyers are looking for. Here are a few insights: When it comes to windows, energy efficiency is the prime consideration for consumers. ENERGY STAR rated windows, triple-pane insulating glass windows, and Low-E insulating glass windows are the three top must haves and desirable types of windows among new and potential homebuyers, according to the NAHB survey. With that in mind, when replacing your homes windows, youd be wise to look for those from an ENERGY STAR partner thats committed to meeting the strict criteria of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For example, Simonton Windows has developed glass packages for each climate zone -- Northern, North Central, South-Central and Southern -- which utilize insulating glass units to drastically reduce the transfer of heat and cold, as well as block ultraviolet rays. As far as materials are concerned, opting for lower maintenance vinyl frames is a good bet, as survey results from the study also show that vinyl framed windows are the leading preference for homebuyers for their low-maintenance features, durability and great insulating factors. More information about ENERGY STAR qualified vinyl windows can be found at www. simonton.com/energystar. storage features, like laundry rooms, linen closets, garage storage and walk-in pantries, says the NAHB survey. If you dont have these features or the budget to knock down walls or build additions, you can at least make the most of the storage you do have. Get organized and use easy-to-install closet systems that fit into your existing closets. Doing so will put your home in the best light possible. Homebuyers want quality and beauty in their doors and entryways, according to the NAHB study, and fiberglass doors are gaining popularity. Its no wonder, since the door is the first thing anyone sees when entering a home and fiberglass doors are durable as well as aesthetically pleasing. With quality in mind, consider selecting a door with a complete system of components engineered to work together and sourced from the same

Windows

Entry Doors

Storage

Homebuyers want great

manufacturer. A door system designed to work together for lasting performance, security and energy efficiency, such as Therma-Tru fiberglass doors, can withstand severe weather conditions along with day-today family activity. They also provide the home with strong

protection from air and water infiltration. Dont forget to add some beauty and detail to your entry door. Request decorative, clear or privacy doorlites and sidelites to reflect the personality and style of your home. More information about up-

dating your entry doors can be found at www.ThermaTru.com. Dont make home upgrades blindly. By taking the pulse of homebuyers, you can ensure you get a great return on your investments.

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Home Hunter

Home improvement projects perfect for fall

Home improvement projects can add value to a home and do-it-yourselfers know the sweat-equity that goes into such projects can give homeowners a greater sense of pride in their homes. But no two home improvement projects are the same, and homeowners should know that certain projects are best tackled during certain times of the year. Fall is a great season to work on your house, as the weather is often at its most agreeable once the summer heat has gone and before winter weather arrives. The following are a handful of fall-friendly home improvement projects for homeowners looking to improve their homes. interior, which can mount up if a leaky roof is not addressed until the following spring.

Window work
When the weather outside gets frightful, poorly insulated windows can allow cold air into the home. That often has a trickle-down effect on finances, forcing you to turn up the thermostat in an attempt to offset the cold air pouring into the home. Whether you need your windows replaced or simply need to patch up any leaks, a proactive approach to leaky or older windows in the fall can save you from unnecessarily high heating bills come the winter. Addressing leaky windows also makes a home more comfortable for its inhabitants. Fall is the ideal time to address a homes windows because the temperature outside tends to be pleasant. This means you likely wont have to make much of an effort to offset the elements, and open windows in the fall wont make your homes interior very hot or cold like they might if you were to tackle the project during the summer or winter.

flooring to dry and bond, which will prove problematic down the road. Whats more, many people entertain friends and family come late fall and into the holiday season, and it can be difficult to do so if you are busy installing new flooring.

Painting projects
Painting is another home improvement project that seems tailor-made for fall. A fresh coat of paint or a new color scheme around the house can give a home an entirely new look and feel. But paint can be pungent and the aromas may last if its applied at a time of year when it cant dry while the windows are wide open. Paint fumes inside a home can make the home uninhabitable, but painting at a time of year like the fall, when you can keep the windows open during and after the project, can help air the home out. But interior painting isnt the only painting project homeowners can tackle in the fall. Many exterior paints are temperature-sensitive and need the temperature outside to be above 40o F. Paint that freezes wont dry properly, and homeowners might be left with a costly and unsightly mistake on their hands. Fall temperatures tend to be amenable to both interior and exterior painting projects, just be sure to check the weather forecast before making your first brush stroke.

Roof repair
Whether youre repairing or replacing the roof, fall is a great time of year to dust off the ladder and get some work done on your roof for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, fall is ideal for roof work because you wont have to be up on the roof with the summer heat bearing down on you. This can make the project move along more quickly, which is especially beneficial if you are paying laborers to work on the roof. The fewer hours workers are fixing your roof, the less you will be paying in labor costs. In addition, fixing up the roof in the fall ensures those winter storms, be it rain or snow, wont find their way into your home via leaks. A leaky roof in winter is hard to fix, as the roof surface could be treacherous in the winter and winter winds can make it dangerous to be up on the roof at all. Addressing leaks in the fall can prevent damage to your homes

Fixing the floors

Wood flooring is a hot commodity for many homeowners. But not all flooring can be added to a home at any time of year. Thats because certain types of flooring employ adhesives that need temperatures inside the home to be within a certain range, and that range is often within 70o to 80o F, which makes fall a great time to install such floors. Colder temperatures can make it difficult for the

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