Stuffies on the windowsill
Arrangement by Nicholas. Left to right: Pengie, Little Pengie, Fire Dog, Snake, Yellow Bear, Fluffy, Mr. Awesome, Peng Ball.
First morning rush for the school bus
The bus drivers know we’ve moved South by one driveway. One loooong driveway. Chris drives Nicholas to catch his bus at 7 am and Lily to catch her bus at 8 am. When it’s warmer, and maybe they are a little older, we’ll make them walk for some healthful fresh air, as Nanny McPhee advises.
CO celebration
We transferred the flag from the grandparent’s house where we’ve been squatting to take up legal residence in the new house as of Saturday, March 16, 2013. Suddenly we needed to celebrate, so we called a few nearby friends and family members to come over for cake and champagne.
Announcing our CO
We are delighted to report that today – March 14, 2013 – we obtained our Certificate of Occupancy from the Town of Stuyvesant. To mark this momentous occasion, I am re-posting the photo from the day we broke ground: April 4, 2012.
Five Key Elements of a Passive House
Being a presenter at the 11th Annual New York State Green Building Conference was a “first” for me and I loved it. Chris and I appreciated the high level of interest in our home. Here is a short slide show capturing the take-away learning. Though few in that standing-room only event are likely to build a Passivhaus of their own, these techniques can be widely applied to improve energy efficiency: 1. Architecture / Purposeful design that lets the sun in; 2. Super Insulation; 3. No thermal bridging; 4. Airtight structure; 5. Air exchange with a heat recovery ventilation system. Click here for the SLIDESHOW: http://photopeach.com/album/13o82mc
Installing kitchen cabinets and appliances
The cabinets will be painted in place, matching the color of the beams. The island countertop will be fabricated from the same local wormy maple that is on the floors. We’ll repeat the grey tile used elsewhere for the countertop by the induction cooktop and the wall behind it. One missing cabinet above the stove vent is on re-order from Thomasville, which participates in an environmental stewardship program (though our main motivation was finding unfinished cabinets in a rush!).
Making progress on West stairs
This is a temporary fitting of the stairs. They will be removed and pre-cast foundation posts installed. Mounded backfill will bring up the ground level to meet the bottom step.
Kitchen cabinets
The Bosch appliances have arrived
The refrigerator is our first kitchen appliance to be unboxed and plugged in.
The passive house plan requires ventless clothes dryers. Individually, they are too small for our family of four. We have installed two dryers with matching washers to handle the volume.