I've been thinking about this for a while. There is a lot of hoopla regarding green building and green lifestyle these days. There are certainly many levels of greenness and I applaud you for whatever level you have reached. Unfortunately, being truly green is a lot more complex than it might seem on the surface.
Let's start with transportation. When we think of green, we need to take into consideration the carbon footprint for sure, but we also need to take into consideration the use of resources (after all, we do live in a finite world) and how long will it take that new green product to become a net gain for the environment. You buy a new Prius. This is very green because it gets very high mileage. Not green immediately. How much steel, oil (including all the plastics) and polution was used/caused in its manufacture? How much oil was used in shipping it to the USA and then to your town? Compare this with a ten year old high mileage vehicle (since emission standards have not improved in this time I will not talk about that). The manufacturing costs (polution, resource use) have nearly been amortized. In the beginning, at least, the ten year old vehicle will be greener than the new Prius. How long will it take the Prius to catch up? In this blog I'll not talk about public transportation because the nature of most of our work requires private transportation (there is probably very little green about private transportation).
Food use and production; where does your food come from? Is it shipped halfway around the world? Is it a result of industrial monoculture farming (relying heavily on oil for fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and harvesting)? Truly green food is both local and seasonal. We eat what is produced in our local area, when it is produced. If you want it to be green, you also have to take into consideration the treatment of the land and animals that you eat. If the land is being despoiled with petroleum based chemicals, if the animals are treated as production units (feed lots, cages, etc.) it is not green. Even if it is organic, if it's shipped from far off, it's not green.
Local economies; A green economy is one that is sustaining of the locality. If your buying your goods and services from the big box stores/national or international chains, you are not sustaining your local economy. This is not green. Buying local circulates the money local. Buying from chains sends the money somewhere else.
What is a truly green house? The analogy written above about the Prius fits here too. Can we find truly sustainable wood products? Not with todays knowledge. There are certainly some small, local mills and timber operations that strive to do sustainability, but on a national level it is pretty grim. Building to LEEDS standards is certainly a large step in the right direction, but is only a step. Where do the materials and products for future housing come from? What is the carbon/resource footprint of future housing?
This post is not meant as a pooh poohing of green building and practices. It is only meant as a thought provoker. I am thrilled that our industry is beginning to take these things into consideration, and I know that all of us fit somewhere in the continuum of green; either not green, partially green, predominately green (I doubt that there is anyone in this country that is 100% green; we do, after all, live in an industrial society).
Thanks for reading this screed. I hope it provokes thought and action.
These days, I have added a new recommendation to the electrical section of my inspections. "Add a whole house surge protector". I learned through experience about this. As our electrical grid ifrastructure ages, we become subject to more problems.
Many of the appliances in our modern houses have computer boards controlling their operation. These boards are very susceptible to damage by power surges. We usually have surge protectors for our home computers, but what about that expensive clothes dryer or furnace. Both have computer control boards. I learned about the dangers when I came home one day to find the furnace not running, the dryer was dead and several other appliances were also dead (repairs came to nearly $1000).
It turns out that the neutral wire on the transformer (on the power pole) came loose. With no neutral wire there is no regulation of the voltage. The power surge was apparently dramatic. When the lineman showed up he did an emergency shut off of the power because of the fire danger.
Since they don't make plug-in surge protectors for 240 volts (dryer) and the furnace is hard wired, the only way to protect them is with a whole house unit. I have one on order and it will be installed as soon as it arrives. The good news is that we got a check for $990 from the power company today.
A recent post reminded me of this old post of mine from several years ago. Since there are many new members since then, and many did not see it, I thought it might be nice to share it again.
First a disclaimer. This is all in jest and is not meant to offend anyone. I spend a lot of time looking at listings, because I am a very small time RE investor. I always get a kick out of the adjectives used to describe homes in these listings. The following are some of my definitions.
ELEGANT You can't afford it!
FABULOUS See ELEGANT
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL Bring a bulldozer!
CHARMER Old and in the way!
LUXURIOUS See ELEGANT
PRIVATE LOCATION You can't get there from here!
REMODELED A few upgrades done twenty years ago!
FIXER or FIXER UPPER See DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL
HISTORIC See ELEGANT
CUTE Your family won't fit in this one!
STARTER HOME See DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL
NEWER At least thirty years old!
CLASSIC See CHARMER
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH See DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL
VINTAGE See Charmer
These are a few of the terms I've discovered. I know there are more. Feel free to add any you'd like.
Thanks for looking
David Helm
Bellingham, Washington Licensed Home Inspector #272
Whatcom County Washington Licensed Structural Pest Inspector #69844
I've been needing a new computer for a while now. Went looking two weeks ago and, to my surprise, nobody was selling computers. It seems that everyone had sold out and were waiting for the arrival of Windows 7. Got my new unit a couple of days ago. Took advantage of the removal of trialware service offered by the Geek Squad. Windows 7 is a revelation to me. I know nothing of the problems with Vista because I've been using a ten year old laptop with XP installed. Anyway, to make a short story shorter, I just took some pictures around the property, plugged the XD card into the slot provided and instantly had photos on my computer. I'm flabbergasted by the speed. I then attempted a CD burn which I had never been able to do on XP. Also was a snap! Can't wait to write reports on this new gem. My work time just improved!
Most of my blogs have been related to inspections and/or local color. This one is slightly different in that it showcases a vacation rental (that I own) near magnificent Mt. Baker in Northwest Washington. The home is located in a gated community two miles East of the town of Glacier. This is the jumping off point for the Mt Baker ski area and the trails and peaks of the North Cascades National Park/Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area.
This area is a year round playground with something for everyone. The community, Snowline, has many amenities including playground for the kids, swimming pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, picnic grounds and a large recreation building. It is the closest lodging to world famous Mt. Baker ski area.
The house is 1700 square feet of pine panelling, hot tub, stone gas fireplace, 2 queensize beds, one kingsize bed and a double hideabed. It has a complete kitchen, washer and dryer, wraparound deck, and gas barbecue. . .and it is completely furnished including linens.
Many Realtors and Mortgage brokers have written articles on short sales and foreclosures. One point the haven't touched on is what is necessary to prepare a foreclosed home for inspection. When banks own the home they often (usually) have them winterized and often allow propane tanks to empty. Other utilities are usually left on. It is understandable that they would want to protect their investment as much as possible. Unfortunately, this protection makes it impossible to do a thorough home inspection.
When buying (or selling for you Realtors out there) a foreclosed home, it is very important to insist that the bank has the home de-winterized and has propane put in the tank. Without these items being taken care of, the water heater, heating system and plumbing systems can not be fully evaluated. I just returned, today, from a re-inspect of one of these homes for just the reason I've stated. Not only did this slow down the process, it also cost the buyer an additional fee for me to go back out to the site ( a rural one and some distance to drive). So please, on foreclosure sales, get those utilities back in operation!
The following pictures are of three different siding materials that look quite a bit alike. Knowing what each is and the pros and cons of each may be important when you purchase that next home.
Cement Asbestos Siding
Asphalt Shingle Siding
Striated Cedar Siding
As you can see, each of these siding materials are similar. The top, cement asbestos has been given a bad rap. Asbestos is a problem when it is friable (fibres floating in the air where they can be breathed) but as long as it is intact and kept painted, it is one of the best and longest lived sidings ever invented.
The second siding, asphalt shingles, was popular in the forties and fifties (earlier in some farm communities). This stuff is fairly rare in Whatcom County, but it does exist. The picture was taken in Bellingham. It doesn't last much longer than an asphalt roof (generally in the twenty year range) and doesn't like hot weather because it softens and is susceptible to damage.
The third siding, striated cedar, is pretty common here in Bellingham and is often mistaken for cement asbestos. It is a quality wood siding that, if maintained properly, will last a lifetime.
This post is about solid fuel burning appliances and potential chimney fires. Solid fuel appliances are usually wood burning fireplaces or stoves, including inserts. The chimney serving these appliances should be cleaned every year. The picture below shows a chimney with major creosote buildup. The very next fire in the stove could be the one to set off a chimney fire; and chimney fires often burn houses down!
Creosote
What does all this mean for a home buyer? It certainly means you would need to have the chimney cleaned before ever lighting a fire in the stove.
The National Chimney Sweep Guild recommends a level II chimney inspection any time the ownership of a house changes. This is a much more stringent inspection than can be performed by a home inspector. This inspection must be performed by a certified Chimney Sweep. There are two companies in this area who carry this certification: Haulin Ash and The Chimney Sweep.
I have shown a number of photos of my gardens on this blog. We grow these gardens, obviously for the beauty and enjoyment they offer us, but we also grow them to provide food and cover for wildlife. We are visited over the course of a year by many birds. Numerous water birds, including Great Blue Heron, Kingfisher, Wood Duck and Bittern visit our pond. Red Wing Blackbirds nest at the pond. We have had nesting hummingbirds, primarily Anna's and assorted Woodpecker's visit our large trees (including Three Toed, Ladderback, Downy and the occasional Pileated). A large variety of songbirds also come to visit regularly. I won't try to name them all because there are so many. One of my favorite visitors is the berry eater Cedar Wax Wing. They come in flocks in the Spring to gorge on the Holly Berries and return in the Fall to gorge on Mountain Ash Berries. Over the weekend, I discovered an injured Cedar Wax Wing. Don't know what caused the injury, and ultimate death of this beautiful bird, but it did afford me the opportunity to see it up close and take a picture. I offer that as today's ration of beauty.
I haven't posted in this group in a while. Just took a few pictures of the perrenial gardens at my place yesterday and thought I would share a few.
This view is looking toward the house from near the street.
Looking at the house and gardens from the South.
Looking at gardens from the East side.
Just recently finished building this office/studio for my wife. These gardens, along with the firepit and stone walkway are brand new; not quite so jungle like yet.
This view is from the North, looking back toward the new gardens along the edge of our little woodland.
Looking into the little woodland.
Some of the vegetation at the North end of the pond. The large leaves in the foreground are Gunnera and the white blooms are my favorite Viburnam.
I like the Viburnam so much I thought I'd add a better shot of it.
Quick shot of one of our cherry trees. Looks like we're going to get a good crop again this year.
The pond from the Southwest corner.
Okay. That was the last picture in this series. I hope I haven't bored you. We call our little 1.3 acre property Paradise. Every time we leave we can't wait to get back. We've owned this property for 11 years. When we bought it there were a few big old trees, a very funky old farmhouse (marginal but with good bones) and no gardens. During the time we've owned it we've completely rebuilt the house (lucky that I spent three decades as a builder), dug the large pond, added a green house, developed a 6000 square foot vegetable garden and developed large amounts of perrenial borders and woodlands. Oh yes, I also built the studio/office for my wife.
My blogs offer a wide range of topics, from home inspection to cooking to woodworking to gardening to local area information and photos. I love talking about Bellingham, Washington and its surrounding area. Home inspection is my work; life is my passion.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
This view is looking toward the house from near the street.
Looking at the house and gardens from the South.
Looking at gardens from the East side.
Just recently finished building this office/studio for my wife. These gardens, along with the firepit and stone walkway are brand new; not quite so jungle like yet.
This view is from the North, looking back toward the new gardens along the edge of our little woodland.
Looking into the little woodland.
Some of the vegetation at the North end of the pond. The large leaves in the foreground are Gunnera and the white blooms are my favorite Viburnam.
I like the Viburnam so much I thought I'd add a better shot of it.
Quick shot of one of our cherry trees. Looks like we're going to get a good crop again this year.
The pond from the Southwest corner.
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