Green Update/Home improvement time...

OK, OK - it's not time to watch "Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor"... We are attempting to make our lifestyles more "green." Not only is it a chance to lessen your impact on the environment, it's cool. There's even TV channel devoted to it.

We've done the smaller things: use recycled materials where possible/practical. We fill our recycling bin and place it at the curb every two weeks. We're even using less gas by combining trips as much as possible.

But our house... a 1950's era modernist, flat-roofed gem that is tucked into a group of like houses in Midtown Tulsa - leaves a little to be desired in terms of being green. There's lots of glass (very modernist) but it's thin (1/8th inch to be exact) and it's only single paned with steel frames. The roof is flat and there's no attic space - which is bad because it's not thermally efficient and there's no attic storage. And there's gaps, holes, cracks everywhere - and you don't expect any less of a 55 year old house.

Since we moved in, we've:

• Replaced the roof 2 times, once thanks to a bad inspection report when we purchased the house, the other thanks to Mother Nature spilling her ice ball tray right over Midtown.
• The air conditioning system was replaced in 2002 - two summers of high electric bills with a 25 year old condenser unit that shorted out every time it rained was enough for us. We replaced it with a completely new system that had a 15 energy efficiency rating (the old one was a 1 at best.) Our bills thankfully went down by over 50%, but they effectively didn't drop much thanks to an AEP rate hike the next year.
• When the roof leaked the first time, the wall in our living room was drenched, and after a year or so it started flaking off. So we replaced it and 6 feet out from the wall of the ceiling. In that area we placed new insulation in the roof cavity (we can only do it this way or when the roof is off) as the original insulation was riddled with mold spores and compressed so it was on longer effective. When we are subjected to another roof replacement, and being in the heart of "Tornado Alley" we're sure it's coming... we will do a full replacement of the insulation then.

But there were bigger problems. This summer, we noticed the A/C was running quite a bit more than summers past. Last December's ice storm from hell took down several large trees that had provided shade for the northwest sides of our house leaving us to take the full brunt of the late-afternoon summer sun. Essentially, our window wall was turning the back part of our house into a virtual greenhouse. On top of that, we felt that the biggest amount of winter heat energy was lost through our wall of windows in the back of the house.

The back wall of our house was all glass. And they were the original 1950's vintage windows (some of which didn’t close completely) all with 1/8" thick single pane glass. With the back wall of our house essentially facing north, you could imagine how drafty it was in the house. Worse yet, the windows "sweated" profusely on cold mornings after hot showers (much to the delight of our cats who would lick the condensate off the glass!) We had replaced the windows in the front part of the house in 2000 due to the same problems, and we noticed a huge difference in comfort of the rooms where we did this.

So earlier this summer we started the process of getting some bids and replacing the window wall. We went with a company called Thermal Windows. The prices were competitive and we really liked the fact it was a locally owned company and that from the sales people to the installers, everyone is an employee. (Many window companies contract out to various installers – so you never know who/what you will get or the follow-up service etc…). This also helps out in the "Green" aspect of the product too. Principles of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (a.k.a. "LEED") actually give credits towards certifying buildings as "environmentally friendly" for using materials that are locally produced. (For more information go to the U.S. Green Building Council website.)

Finally after weeks of waiting our windows were installed this week. Here is a before shot of some of the windows:



After:



A close-up of the workmanship in the trim:



The "before" group of windows:


The whole wall, completed:



(The deck is a work in progress - the one you see here is coming out, and a new one is going in... as soon as the "gopher trail" where we replaced the sewer line this summer is flattened out.)

We think they did a great job, the guys who came to install the windows were nice, professional and kept the mess to a minimal. The new windows look wonderful! They finished yesterday afternoon, and right away we noticed our living room does not have the glare it use to get, it is also much quieter. Today we noticed that the temperature in the house was much more consistent.

Lastly, we leave you dear reader with this thought that is making the viral e-mail rounds:
“If you had purchased $1,000 of Delta Air Lines stock one year ago, you would have $49 left. With Fannie Mae, you would have $2.50 left. With AIG, you would have less than $15 left. But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drunk all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214 cash. Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle."

So there you go - going green is the way of the future! Heck it can even make you some $$ :)

R&S