We've just completed the first of our two Columbia City Green homes and we’re proud to put this innovative home on the market. The open house drops this weekend and will be hosted by Eva Otto of Infiniti Real Estate & Development. For further information on the homes check out the sales website for the home here.





A special acknowledgment goes out to all those that poured those long hard hours into producing two great homes:

Matt Wasse, Ryan Wiedemann, Einar Osterhaug, Brandon Houghton, Devlin Rose, Michah Benson, Zach Gayne, Vera Giampietro, Tim Rahn, and Patrick McGlothlin.

The PI wants to know "Does Green Building Make Cents?

We think so. Look long-term, where our true interests lie, and there's the green. In all manners of speaking.

Yesterday afternoon we said a tentative goodbye to our dear friend Zach. He's off on a tour of South America with his wife Judy. On site we knew him as a carpenter and environmental moral compass. He'd ride in on his bike, inquire after your recyclables, extol the virtues of dumpster diving outside the Essential Baking company, and philosophize on the matters of the day. One of the best folks you could ask to work with, he will be greatly missed.



Sitting around a table of carrot cake, beer, and guacamole, we tried our best to equip him with a patchwork of Spanish phrases. Good luck Zach. Think of us as you sip a pisco sour, and don't forget the ñ in años. Come back for beer anytime!

Check out our tender go at a time lapse video we compiled over a few days of siding. The area being photographed is the South wall of the Southern house of our Columbia City Green Development. The exterior work of this project is winding down and we'll soon move inside to finish the interior of this fine example of sustainable urban development.

One wave in the vast sea of green building discussion is the concept of embodied energy. Embodied energy is defined as the total amount of energy required for the processes of extraction, processing, transportation, construction, and disposal of a material*. If you can think of all of the steps involved in creating a product, and if that list of steps is short, it is likely that the product has a low embodied energy rating**. Trying to conjure all steps necessary to produce a PVC pipe, for example, leaves us feeling dizzy and short of answers.

There is a good amount of literature available comparing embodied energy of building materials. While the numbers themselves may vary across charts, relative values remain consistent. Wood finds itself at the top of all lists, requiring little energy to bring to market. Clustered about the bottom of these lists are materials such as plastic, brick, and steel.

It seems that the consensus on using wood as a primary building material has come full circle. Now knowing that not all things rendered common by convenience ought to remain, we look to wood in a new way.

We are always happy to learn more about new and sound practices of low-energy design and construction. When it comes to using products that are beautiful to look at, easy to work with, and demand little from the earth, we are happy to find that sustainably harvested wood tops out in every respect.

Here is a graphic produced by the green building periodical Environmental Building News:



This shows relative carbon emissions for three common building materials:
steel wood, and concrete. Please note that emissions data are based on metric tons (1000 Kg) of each material. These materials are each their own density, as shown in the relative size of the “metric ton cubes” out in front.

Click here for the original article.

Articles and resources on the topic of Embodied Energy of Building Materials:

US Department of Energy
The Architectural League of New York: Ten Shades of Green
Washington State Department of Ecology

*US Department of Energy. “Embodied Energy of Building Assemblies.” Buildings Energy Data Book 1.6.6 (September 2008).
**Measured by the US Department of Energy as MMBtu/SF (millions of Btus per square foot