Deconstruction photos

by akdm on July 11, 2011

A photo chronicle of the careful deconstruction and sorting performed by Greenworx.

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The old house is gone!

by Dave on July 1, 2011

We now are proud owners of a hole in the ground.
We chose to go down the route of deconstruction versus demolition not only because we feel strongly about the green aspect of it, but also because we are planning to reuse much of the framing lumber from the old house to create shelving, desks and interior siding in the new house.  Our contractor chose a company called GreenWorx to deconstruct the building and it went even better than we could have hoped.  They were done in a just 5 days, and we have some nice stacks of 100+ year old Douglas Fir wood in storage. GreenWorx used a system called GreenHalo to document the process, and we managed to get an 81% diversion rate!  You can read more on the GreenHalo website.

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West Coast Green

October 19, 2010

The West Coast Green conference took place a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve just finished combing through the business cards, cut sheets, and product samples that we brought home.  Having attended West Coast Green for the last five years, we’ve been watching its progression with amazement.  Just a few years ago, the offerings and [...]

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Greywater Rehab

September 27, 2010

Besides installing high-efficiency fixtures, one of the things that we have gotten most excited about is the potential to effectively reuse some of the waste water that we generate. Greywater is all of the water coming down the drain with the exception of the kitchen sink, dishwasher (too greasy) and toilets (also known as blackwater). [...]

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Water Efficiency

September 27, 2010

We’ve been taken with the idea of being much more efficient with the way we use water.  Without verging on apocalyptic paranoia, plenty of reliable sources predict that water is becoming a more and more precious resource in California.   A recent article by the National Geographic—California’s Pipe Dream—explains the issue better than the many government [...]

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Is it environmentally conscious to build a new house?

September 22, 2010

The “greenest” house of course is the one that isn’t built.  Building a house consumes immeasurable amounts of resources.  Why wouldn’t we just buy an existing house, make it more energy efficient, and call it a day?  This question can present a fundamental dilemma to people trying to make decisions about where and how to [...]

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Background: Our search for a site to build on

September 22, 2010

The moment we completed our first home remodel over ten years ago, we realized we wanted to do it again.  With solar panels easing towards economic feasibility and energy efficient technologies appearing in the mainstream, we knew that we wanted our next project to be “green” from the ground up (more on how we view [...]

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