our architect, lee calisti, is on board. we've met with him a couple of times, and one of the things we like best about him, besides that he seems to enjoy modern design as much as we do, is that he is completely flexible about how he works. he will work with us on an hourly consultation basis, as much or as little as we need. he has a great attitude about everything, too, and we really enjoy him.
we're getting our big-picture wish list for the project to him by the end of this month. yippee!
we're enlisting the services of certified energy inspectors palladio davinci energy and design services to help us green this project from the start. they offer three levels of consulting, from a home inspection to teach us how the house and its systems operate, which includes reference information and recommendations; to a design inspection, which includes measurements and a model of our current energy-efficiency performance, and ways to improve; to the ultimate: rating and certifying the home for an energy star label. this is what i'd love to do. we're talking to pdv now about what we'll have them come do, but we want to get them started soon, so that we can incorporate their recommendations throughout our plans with lee and the rest of the team.
lee is also going to get a structural engineer out here to evaluate the foundation and structural issues that are making the floors uneven. this is really what's going to inform the schedule and budget of pretty much everything that lies ahead, so that has to happen first. we will likely have to wait to do any big-ticket work until the spring, and that's when foundation work should be happening anyway (after the winter thaw), but if we get the evaluation now, we can do the design work necessary to get good bids from the people who could be doing the spring work. so we're eager to get that going.
i've also roped annie into going out to artemis in lawrenceville with me, hopefully with her sister-in-law popie, to help me get started thinking about interior design, fixtures, flooring, and the like. popie is not a designer by trade, but she is divine at design by eye. even though it's too soon to purchase, it's never too soon to plan :)
green living principles
- fly less.
- try telecommuting.
- try car-sharing.
- choose a more fuel-efficient vehicle.
- check our tires weekly to make sure they're properly inflated.
- keep our cars tuned up.
- start a carpool with our coworkers or classmates.
- walk, bike, carpool, or take mass transit wherever possible.
- eat less meat.
- avoid heavily packaged products.
- buy organic foods as much as possible.
- seek out and support local farmers' markets.
- buy fresh foods instead of frozen.
- buy locally grown and produced foods.
- plant a tree.
- buy recycled-paper products.
- recycle half the waste we generate.
- only run our dishwasher when there's a full load and use the energy-saving setting.
- unplug electronics from the wall when we're not using them.
- turn off electronic devices we're not using.
- use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible.
- wash our clothes in cold or warm water.
- install low-flow shower heads in our new shower and replace the existing ones with them.
- replace our refrigerator with an energy star compliant one.
- move the thermostat down two degrees in winter and up two in summer.
- replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.
Recent Posts
- we've moved :)
- craftsman style
- the master bedroom closet
- more design i can't wait to use
- rasterbation
- ecodesign
- wile e.'s coconspirators
- episode 6, in which wile e. considers the master bedroom.
- modern window treatments
- episode 5, in which wile e. considers the room in which one eats the road runner. er, the dining room, that is.
