June 6th 2011 was the official ground breaking for City Cabins on Queen Anne Hill. Site logistics have been going on for the last several weeks, a detached garage was deconstructed and some of the lumber was used to make temporary stairs and a job shack. This is just a small part of green building reusing and repurposing as much of the old existing materials as you can, careful steps are taken at every phase of the construction process to eliminate and reduce waste.
The slab flooring in the existing 1940s duplex that been jack-hammered into small reusable fill material that will be used underneath the new insulated slab flooring prior to the rest of the structure being de-constructed. This serves two very important purposes, by reusing the broken concrete you avoid dumping fees and the cost of fuel to transport the material. Another key element is by reusing the broken concrete you minimize the amount of raw material that you need to bring in for fill and stabilization.
90% of the materials from the de-construction will either be given to a 2nd hand out-let store or a building salvage company.
The City Cabins building site will become a green class room over the next four months. At various stages of construction tours will be given showcasing the sustainable elements and the whole house system of building that is being incorporated into the homes. The new homes are being to receive not only the Built Green 5-Star certification but also certificates from Energy Star and Building America.
So much of green construction is behind the walls, so it makes perfect sense to showcase this technology before the walls are enclosed. In addition to the site classrooms much of the work will either be videoed or photographed which will be used for appraisal purposes, homeowner manuals and ongoing lectures.
Over the next 4 months classes and workshops will be held incorporating the following areas:
- Energy Efficiency
- Indoor Air Quality
- Conserving Natural Resources
- Water Quality
City Cabins on Queen Anne Hill are being built by award winning green builder Martha Rose, of Martha Rose Construction, and designed by CB Anderson Architects.
The events will be open to general public, building professionals, trades and the media.
For more information contact Adrian Willanger 206 909-7536.
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