Q+A with Richard Renner, principal of Richard Renner Architects, on deep energy retrofits

From the May 2012 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Design:

Known for his expertise in green building, Richard Renner has been busy with two deep energy retrofits in Massachusetts—one full and one phased—both with the goal of increasing the energy efficiency of an existing home. We checked in with him to find out more about these projects.

Architect Rick Renner

Q: What’s the main difference between a phased and a full deep energy retrofit?
A: In a full retrofit, all the work is done at once, so the disruption is minimized and benefits accrue as soon as the work is complete. A phased retrofit unfolds over time, so it takes longer and is probably, in the aggregate, more expensive; however, it is more suited to a limited annual budget.

Before the retrofit

Q: What does each entail?
A: In the full retrofit we’re adding four inches of rigid foam to the roof and above-grade walls and basement and replacing all windows. The result is a complete upgrade of the exterior envelope making the home tight enough to require a heat recovery ventilator. The phased retrofit balances a desire for increased energy efficiency with the need for significant architectural changes, including a new kitchen and a master bedroom suite addition. So whenever we changed an exterior wall, we improved the envelope. Along the way we also added insulation to the roof, replaced all windows, and installed a heat recovery ventilator.

During the retrofit

Q: Are deep energy retrofits growing in demand?
A: Without some form of subsidy, it’s hard to see how full deep energy retrofits will be more than a niche market. It’s more likely that we will take the lessons from full retrofits and apply them in a phased way.

Completed deep energy retrofit

Learn more at rrennerarchitects.com.

Q+A with David Moser, principal designer at Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers

From the April 2012 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Deisgn:

David, youngest son of Thomas Moser, is the principal designer at the iconic 40-year-old Auburn furniture company with showrooms in Freeport and across the country. (Read profile of David Moser in Maine Home + Design by Rebecca Falzano.)

David Moser, photo courtesy Thos. Moser

Q: Describe your vision of sustainable furniture design.
A: We design our furniture to last as long as, if not longer than, it took the tree that made it to grow, and to be passed down through a family. I don’t design for fashion or timeliness, which ebbs and flows, but for timelessness—to create something that will survive my life and be just as current then as now. This seems to me the most basic form of sustainability. Products today often exhibit design obsolescence—they are made to break down within five years. Then you must buy another and another so in the end you consume and pay more than if you bought one table designed to last a lifetime.

Q: Is furniture art?
A: I don’t know that furniture ever really becomes art, but the process is artful. Art, for me, has no masters—it doesn’t owe anything to anybody. Design has a lot of different masters: economy, craft, utility. Still, looking at good design is like hearing music that satisfies the soul; you come into its harmony and are free for a moment.

Ellipse Dining Chairs in walnut, photo courtesy Thos. Moser

Q: What’s next?
A: The long-term plan is to build a showroom on the plot of land in downtown Freeport [currently featuring a Moser chair in a glass case]. I like to dream about what I would create for that space if I were an architect—glass and stone, natural materials, gardens, art. A place you go not only for the furniture, but just to visit. A reason to pull off the highway.

Share your comments here, and learn more at thosmoser.com.

Q+A with John Rooks, founder and president of SOAP

From the March 2012 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Design:

SOAP, Sustainable Organization Advocacy Partners, helps companies, governments, and non-profits understand, improve, communicate, and own their impact to the world via environmental sustainability, social/cultural sciences, and business strategies. John is also the author More Than Promote: A Monkeywrencher’s Guide to Authentic Marketing. He spoke at TEDx Dirigo about something he called “the wink” of green marketing.

Photo by Jason Esposito, courtesy TEDx Dirigo

What is "the wink"?

It’s when a teenager invites a date upstairs "to listen to music." They both know the sub-text, but it’s a safer question than asking to go upstairs and make-out. The Green Marketing Wink is the same. Most brands promote how green they are through advertising. Kermit the Frog’s "It’s not easy being …" has been used on everything from Fords to pension funds, but it’s often only lip service. The product manufacturer gets to say, "We are green." Wink. The consumer gets a guilt-free purchase and winks back, but underneath, both know it’s simply giving permission to do commerce.

What can businesses do to practice more authentic sustainability?

There are bright spots in the "collaboration is the new competition" movement where companies are collaborating with competitors to reduce environmental impact. Nike, particularly, has done this well by working with other footwear companies on "pre-competition" problem solving, and open-sourcing much of its material impact data and product design tools.

SOAP advocates that companies complete an Authenticity Audit. It’s a scary concept, but one that helps align corporate culture, business goals, and sustainability to create the most effective path toward achieving business goals and sustainability at the same time.

Learn more at tedxdirigo.com and thesoapgroup.com and share your thoughts here.

Q+A with Clare Hannan and Stephen Podgajny of the Portland Public Library

From the Jan-Feb 2012 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Design:

With the goal of cutting energy costs, phase one of Portland Public Library’s renovation by Scott Simons Architects incorporated many energy-efficient design features, including a solar chimney, low water-consumption plumbing features, high-efficiency gas boilers, radiant floor heating, improved HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) zoning, high-efficiency lamps and ballasts, and lighting fixtures with optical efficiency. The solar chimney takes advantage of the southern exposure and existing stone panels at the front of the building to direct naturally preheated air to the mechanical system.

Photo by Trent Bell for Maine Home + Design

Q: What benefits have these energy-efficient features provided? 
A: Of note was the impact on the natural gas usage—a decrease of just over 23 percent—due to installation of high-efficiency boilers. However, given that we added 2,400 square footage of volume, and that the first phase included only a partial renovation to our HVAC system, we weren’t surprised to see an overall expense increase of just under 10 percent, when comparing usage in 2011 to that of 2009 (the last full year on record), and using 2009 rates for comparison. Our kWh usage went up overall by 14.65 percent, in large part due to additional volume in the atrium area requiring cooling, and the age of our chiller, which was not replaced during the renovation.

Photo by Trent Bell for Maine Home + Design

Q: Are you happy with the results?
A: We believe the measures implemented during Phase One of the renovation resulted in improvements, and overall, the facility is more comfortable for our patrons and staff.

Photo by Trent Bell for Maine Home + Design

Q: What’s next?
A: In Phase Two we plan to work toward final HVAC system upgrades to include high-efficiency air handlers, a new chiller unit, and consideration of solar panels.

Learn more at simonsarchitects.com and portlandlibrary.com.

Q+A with Matthew O'Malia, architect at GO Logic

The GO Home is a 1,500 square-foot, single-family, zero-energy house built at costs comparable to standard residential construction ($225,000). The super-insulated building is heated and powered by a 2.8 KW solar photovoltaic array for electricity, a 60-tube solar thermal system for domestic hot water, an electric resistance baseboard heater, and passive solar gain. The GO Home is the twelfth Passive House in the U.S. and has received a LEED Platinum rating; for the past year it has been used as an office by O’Malia and GO Logic. (See Maine Home + Design article about the GO Home by Rebecca Falzano.)

Photo by Trent Bell for Maine Home + Design

Q: What has surprised you about the performance of the building?

A: The amazing comfort of an interior environment that is quiet, balanced, and consistent year round. Due to the tight envelope, the triple-glazed windows allowing very little heat out or cold in, and the existing heat being circulated by the heat recovery ventilation system, heating costs from the baseboard heater came in less than estimated at only $275 a year, and much of this cost was offset by the solar PV.

Photo by Trent Bell

Q: Which features have been less useful in retrospect?

A: We installed a buried water pipe to use for geothermal cooling in the summer, which was not successful due to condensation buildup.

Q: What’s next?

A: We’ve tried an air-source heat pump in another project and will monitor its efficiency, and if it does well, we will use that technology again. We are also interested in phase-change materials that act like a thermal mass to absorb air and regulate temperatures during heating and cooling seasons.

See gologichomes.com for more info.