Landscaping & Site Work
While the mechanicals (plumbing, HVAC, and electrical) go into the house and the roof goes on, our landscape contractor, Moniz Landscaping, has been busy with site work and the largest part of the hardscape, the rear patio. Once the rough [...]
Installing the roof
Our roof is a complex system of multiple layers of waterproofing, insulation, and structural supports for the solar PV array that will get mounted later. We reframed the existing roof with new 2x12 rafters and a new ridge beam to [...]
Making fireplaces work in a green home
A few weeks ago our two fireplaces showed up and they’re now installed. Fireplaces can be a large source of air pollution in a home (particulates, carbon monoxide, and other noxious gases), so the guidelines for tight homes are [...]
Testing for airtightness
After a lot of diligent work from the framing and carpentry crews, we’ve reached the point where the house is tight enough for a preliminary blower door test. The purpose of this test is to measure how airtight the [...]
Open Wall Open House: July 28
Green Phoenix Development and Leading Edge Real Estate invite all to an Open Walls Open House of their latest project at 346 Highland Street in Weston, MA on Saturday, July 28 from 1:00 - 4:00 pm. Meet the project team and many of the [...]
HVAC installation starts
Now that the house is weathertight we have started MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) work. Our HVAC contractor has been out routing ducting and has started installing and connecting up the system components. There are two separate systems: the heating and [...]
Window installation
The windows arrived a few weeks ago. Now that the blueskin is up on most of the house the team has been busy installing and sealing them into position. Window selection was a challenge for this project. Many high-performance projects [...]
Rainwater management
Rainwater runoff from properties and roads is a major contributor to poor water quality in our aquifers and streams. The water picks up fertilizers, organic chemicals, debris, and other materials before entering the water table. LEED recognizes the importance of [...]
GORE-TEX® for the home!
In early May I wrote about our wall mockups. Our wall assembly cross-section is designed to keep the house comfortable and dry by providing four important barriers: thermal barrier (keep the home comfortable), water barrier (keep rainwater out), air barrier ([...]
