Roberts Wygal is committed to building green – an effort that benefits the homeowner, the community, and the environment. Better energy efficiency provides long term savings for the homeowner. Healthier indoor air provides comfort, improved health, and piece of mind for the family. Durable maintenance materials provide a longer life for the home and preserving natural resources leaves a better place for future generations.
Roberts Wygal worked with Nickel Bros. House Moving to barge this house from Seattle to Vancouver Island.
Read more about the move in The Seattle Times: "A spectacular" house finds new home up north and Preserving our unique Northwest neighborhoods is everybody's business
Roberts Wygal is an approved installer of the energy efficient Quad-Lock system. Learn more about Quad-Lock.
Roberts Wygal has been certified as an EnergyStar partner. Learn more about Energy Star.
Green means different things to different people; use the information and links below to learn about the possibilities for your project and decide how you can best meet your green building goals.
Designing for a green lifestyle
Changing attitudes about how our communities look and operate is an important part of sustainability. Start by talking with your family and your designer and choosing the project goals and strategies that are right for you; setting clear goals and making a plan for your sustainable building project will help you evaluate products, costs and opportunities as they arise.
- Bigger isn’t always better – determine the minimum square feet that your family requires and make your design efficient through multi-use spaces, stacking rather than spreading, and well-designed built-in features
- Smaller footprint reduces overall costs and materials usage
- Greater flexibility on small lots, increased green space
- Reduced operation costs
Get inspired by small-footprint living with This Old House online.
Check out hip, modern solutions to organization and multiuse space at ApartmentTherapy.com.
- Make lifestyle change easier by including recycling facilities, bike storage, easy access to the outdoors, and other green features in your home design from the beginning
- Utilize outdoor space in a positive way – organize a community garden or plant a row for the hungry, set up a power generator to feed the grid, use organic gardening products and methods… just setting aside green, growing space can make a big difference in a busy urban environment.
Preparing for construction
- Location
- Site selection factors: density and brownfield rehabilitation
By selecting urban sites with pedestrian, bicycle or public access to frequently used services and locations, you can substantially reduce the environmental impact of your lifestyle.
- Choosing a building site: use Passive Solar design for an energy efficient home
Reduces loads on mechanical equipment by capitalizing on passive heating and cooling, solar gain, thermal mass properties and natural ventilation/lighting
Learn about Passive Solar design guidelines
- Local resources and restrictions
- State and Federal Rebates and Incentives
Caring for your building site
For general information on water management, site planning, soils and habitat preservation in our area, visit http://www.psp.wa.gov/downloads/LID/LID_manual2005.pdf
- Preserve existing vegetation and native soil – consider using cleared vegetation onsite in landscaping or construction
- Minimize soils compaction/protect ecologically sensitive areas
- Minimize: building footprint, impermeable surface, construction footprint
Efficient design based on available resources and intended use
Efficient scheduling and staging
- Low water use landscape and other landscape strategies to improve soil quality and habitat
- Erosion control, storm water management and biofiltration
- Visit the University of Washington’s Stormwater Management page
- Use bioswales and rain gardens to mimic natural drainage patterns and filter chemical and particulate pollution from water before it re-enters the watershed or water table
- Maximize Permeable Surface
- Permeable concrete/pavers, gravel, and other permeable hardscape improve site drainage and reduce the heat-island effect of concrete, asphalt, metal, masonry, conventional roofing materials, and other impervious surfaces.
Percocrete is one popular pervious concrete product.
Over time, pervious solutions may lose their effectiveness due to compaction and debris accumulation. The best pervious solution is to leave it green!
- Green Roof/Living Roof
Correct selection and installation eliminate common problems such as water infiltration, weediness, high maintenance watering, etc: well-executed living roofs are low-maintenance and long-lasting. Modular Green Roofs are made up of a series of trays that can be arranged and shifted side to side allowing for easy installation, repair & maintenance.
Recycling
- Construction waste management – sorting, recycling and donation
- Developing a plan to share with your builder and subcontractors will improve the effectiveness of jobsite recycling and also help you earn points with programs like Built Green and LEED for Homes.
- Selective demo and salvage
- LEED Credits can be obtained by re-using existing structural or finish elements
Materials salvaged locally also count toward local supply chain credits
- Recycling benefits you financially through reduced cost and tax write-offs
- Second Use, Re-Use, and ReStore both offer tax write-offs for donations of usable building materials. Pick-up service is available. The ReStore also offers manual demolition services and a choice of store credit so you can buy more recycled materials.
Water Use (Interior)
By reducing your home’s total water use and supplying non-drinking water fixtures with alternative water sources, you can reduce your utility bills and preserve our supply of clean drinking water.
- Low flow plumbing fixtures
The EPA offers WaterSense, a program for rating home plumbing fixtures (similar to the EnergyStar rating for appliances)
- Rain water harvesting can supply non-potable water for toilet flushing and irrigation with rooftop rainwater collection and rain barrels
- Grey water can also be collected from sinks, showers and laundry. The Brac System is approved for use in the City of Seattle.
- Composting toilets: reduces cost of plumbing to low-use areas
Electrical Generation
In order to make home generation cost effective, electrical use must be substantially reduced through passive strategies and efficient features. Consider making daylighting a part of your overall Passive Solar design before shelling out for Compact Flourescents, and remember that lifestyle is one of the biggest contributors to energy use. Little things like the setting on your water heater thermostat, inactive appliances left plugged in (“phantom loads”), refrigerator thermostat, etc can have a big impact.
The cheapest energy is the energy you never have to buy!
- Start with a Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audit
- Wind Turbines: does your property have open space and generous height restrictions?
- Photo-voltaic: do you have un-shaded roof area with a southern exposure?
- Find out what it would take to supply all or part of your home’s electrical needs with photovoltaic panels using a Solar Payback Calculator.
- Be solar-power ready with these Square D brand combination service-entrance devices.
- Micro Hydropower: if you have access to a river or stream, you may be able to put it to work with a micro hydropower generator.
- Net Metering allows you to stay connected to the grid and offset your electrical use by selling your site-generated power back to the utility company. This is usually more straightforward than a battery storage system.
Heating and Cooling
- Geothermal: also known as ground source or ground coupled heat pumps and geoexchange
- Duct Sealing
- Leaky ducts can reduce the energy efficiency of your home by 10-20%; a leak of conditioned air to the exterior means your heating system is trying to heat your whole neighborhood in addition to the inside of your home. Participating in a certification/testing program like Energy Star can prevent these problems and improve efficiency, comfort, energy bills, and indoor air quality. A certified performance tester will use a Duct Blaster or Blower Door test to determine the overall tightness of your HVAC system and/or building envelope.
- Heat recovery ventilator: tightly built, efficient houses may require mechanical ventilation to maintain healthy flows of fresh air to the interior. Heat/Energy Recovery Ventilators use passive heat exchange to keep space conditioning costs down by warming or cooling fresh air to the temperature of stale, exiting air before distributing it throughout the home.
Hot Water
- Solar hot water heaters are a cost-effective way of using free fuel (sunshine) to generate hot water for your home.
- On Demand Water Heaters (also knows as Tankless or Instanteous) heat water directly, avoiding standby heat losses associated with storage water heaters.
- Recirculation Loop uses a pump to continuously move water from a water heater to the fixtures. The system delivers hot water to faucets quickly, adding convenience and reducing the waste of water by ensuring that hot water is always available without any waiting.
- Drain-Water heat recovery recoups heat from hot water used in showers, clothes washers, sinks and dishwashers. This system captures and utilizes this energy to preheat cold water.
- LaundryPure – is an easy to install upgrade for a washing machine that reduces or eliminates the need for detergent and hot water.
- Many energy-efficient water heating ideas are simple, inexpensive solutions that can conserve water and lower your water heating costs.
Building Envelope
With some careful pre-planning, building methods and materials selections can reduce costs, increase energy efficiency, and minimize the environmental impacts of a home.
- Advanced Framing
- Reduces lumber needs
- Increases depth of wall cavities for improved insulation
- Insulation: get region-specific insulation information from the Department of Energy
- Choosing non-toxic, renewable insulation materials can also improve moister management: for example, cotton and wool batt insulation or soy-based foam
- Spray Foam Insulation: improves air sealing as well as reducing conductive heat loss
- Windows: all new windows should be double-paned and gas filled to improve thermal performance
- Learn about the components of window performance at the Department of Energy’s Consumer Guide
- When placing and sizing windows in your design, don’t forget to check your Passive Solar design guidelines and utilize shading from landscaping, overhangs, curtains or awnings
- Sun-bronzing or low-emissivity coatings can decrease heat loss or gain from windows and improve your home’s energy efficiency. You may be able to apply a low-e coating as an upgrade to existing windows.
- Performance Testing: when new homes are built to Washington State Energy Code, it is not necessary to test envelope tightness with a Blower Door test. Washington State University’s Energy Extension has evaluated existing code as a cost-effective and climate-appropriate approach to insulation and building sealing.
Material Selection
A lot of materials are marketed as “Green” these days; make sure the product you choose fits your own definition and your project goals. Your selection criteria may include durability, ease of maintenance, toxicity, use of natural resources, manufacturing and transport-related pollution, contribution to energy efficiency, and recyclability when the end of its lifespan is reached.
