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Thanks GBA!

Kevin Spellman| Posted inGreen Building Techniqueson

Huge thanks to the entire GBA community. My house is finally complete and we are moved in. I feel our house is 100X better for having spent so much time here at GBA. It ended up being Platinum Level Greenbuilt, Net Zero. Our blower door was .43 ACH(I was disappointed I missed the door sweep that wasn’t adjusted and had a 1/4″ gap beneath it–DOH!). The house is comfortable, solid, easy to heat, etc. Without all the answers I found here, we wouldn’t be nearly as happy with how it turned out. It’s not just product selections that come from reading here, but Dana classics like “make sure you use AGGRESSIVE assumptions for your Manual J.” The knowledge I gained allowed me to talk intelligently about HVAC, or heat pump water heaters, air sealing methods, window parameters and so many other topics to make sure it was done correctly(or I was doing it correctly!). So, thanks again to the entire community–your collective wisdom is invaluable!

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Replies

  1. Expert Member
    Malcolm Taylor||#1

    Kevin,

    That's great to hear! Enjoy your house, and if you feel like it I'd love to see some finished pictures.

  2. Kevin Spellman||#2

    Here is a shot Malcolm. Almost finished(stucco work in progress).

    1. Expert Member
      Malcolm Taylor||#3

      Beautiful Kevin. Well done! I can see why it would be a joy to live in.

    2. But Why?||#9

      Beautiful view from a lovely home...not many houses that have to have a guard rail on their driveway like that!

  3. Expert Member
    Rick Evans||#4

    Kevin,

    Congrats on your home- The house is absolutely stunning!

  4. Expert Member
    Zephyr7||#5

    That one roof with solar is perfect for solar! Was that by design, or did it just work out that way?

    Looks like a nice setup with a good view. Glad to hear things worked out so well for you!
    Don’t feel bad about missing that door sweep, a blower door test is a DIAGNOSTIC test, intended to find things that need to be double checked. It’s not like you failed your finals in school :-)

    Bill

    1. Expert Member
      Dana Dorsett||#6

      When going for certifications it often IS a bit like failing a question the final, unless they let you fix it on the spot. For the rest of us it's a diagnostic tool.

      The picture of the house looks almost like the perfect rendered output of an architect's tool- are you SURE it hasn't been photoshopped !?! :-)

      1. Kevin Spellman||#8

        I only noticed the unadjusted sweep at night when I saw light coming out into the dark garage. Didn't catch it during the blower door test.

        Definitely not a photoshop job or else I would get rid of the plastic and the wood platform where they were just prepping for stucco!

    2. Kevin Spellman||#7

      We definitely had solar in mind when doing the design. That is only a 2:12 pitch, so not ideal for winter production, but should be good in the summer.

  5. Eric S||#10

    Congratulations!

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