Entry 27: Site Update

Hello all,

As you can see from above, the drywall has been hung up in most places in the home. The 2nd floor (pictured above) is a busy spot for inside work.

The slow process of installing siding will hopefully be finished soon, but the picture below shows only the back (north) face completed. The workers have had a difficult time hanging it up properly, which has resulted in numerous attempts.


The air conditioner units were installed outside the home recently. They were donated by Trane and will each work for one level of the home.

In the basement, 6 large 350 gallon tanks for rainwater were installed. 9 were originally specified, but 6 could only fit in the back room! There are 2 other larger tanks outside the house that are yet to be installed.

The air conditioner units have been installed but the system has not started up, so the house is still pretty hot.

I only have 3 more weeks left in my summer internship, and I have yet to figure out who will take over until school starts up again. Next week is an OAC meeting which will be full of new updates.

Until next week,
-Scott

Entry 26: Tour to Future Residents

Good afternoon,

This morning I met with 3 future residents of the home and a 2 interested students and gave a tour of the home. We looked around and luckily I brought along the camera to snap some shots of things going on since last week.

The first thing to see is an update on the very slow exterior siding panel by Cembonit. Only the north face is covered and not completely.
The second thing to see is the completed Icynene insulation throughout the entire house. Drywall should close it off and will begin on Monday.

The last thing is light fixtures began to be installed this morning now that the insulation is finished.
That's about it for this week, see you next week.
-Scott

Entry 25: A Rainy Summer Visit

In the sporadic rainy weather, I rode my bike over to the site to snap some photos of the latest happenings in construction. What I have to show you are the 3 biggest developments:

1) Cembonit Paneling: It's a slow process, but some more panels are up.

2) Lab Counters: Heavy duty steel frames are up in the lab spaces and bedrooms to support the counter tops that will rest on them in those rooms.

3) Icynene: The spray foam insulation has begun and is currently in the basement. It should be done by the beginning of next week. Then they can put seal off the dry wall.

That's all for now. I'll give another update next week after our OAC meeting.

Take care,
-Scott

P.S. - Always browse through the Picasa account with more photos and captions since the beginning of the project.

Entry 24: First Sign of Cembonit

Hello reader,

Yesterday, I attended the bi-weekly morning OAC meeting to discuss the issues with construction and the project. The only updates I have for you as of now is the Cembonit exterior siding started to go up yesterday. It is a long and tedious process because each board must be pre-drilled beforehand. Ray, the site supervisor, expects it to be complete in roughly 3 weeks.

The First 2 Cembonit Panels!

Baker roofing was also finishing up the soffit work for the roof by installing the white large Hardiplank panels today. Check out the photo below:

Installing Hardiplank as soffit for the roof

I ventured into the basement on a site visit today and wanted to show you the solar thermal collection tanks. Each one holds 100 gallons of hot water.

Solar Thermal Collection Tanks

I also saw in the basement the Trane CleanEffects unit that we had recommended in Entry 16 from February. There are 2 units - 1 for each heat pump and it is installed within the ducts to filter air. The only maintenance is to wipe the collection filters clean when they are dirty.

Trane CleanEffects

Next Monday, they will begin spraying the dry wall insulation, Icynene, into the walls that are open on one side.

Today, Verizon came to visit to get an update on one of the other interns here, Jack Li, who is working on a project on social communication. I don't think I've mentioned this before, but we have another intern this summer from the far away lands of Ithaca, New York (Cornell). She is working on a cheap wireless power monitoring solution.

Check out the Picasa site for some more photos (26 in total from today's visit) and I'll be sure to write again soon.

-Scott