From Ashes to Energy Efficient House
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In November 2006, Dave Premer's farmhouse exploded due to a contractor rupturing a gas line, leading to plans for a new energy-efficient bungalow. The new home, designed to use 50% less energy than traditional houses, incorporates modern features like insulated concrete forms and a tankless water heating system. Premer aims to move in by Thanksgiving 2007, hoping to reclaim a sense of normalcy after the disaster.
From Ashes to Energy Efficient House
- 1. Gary Dymski - October 2007 So, what do you do when your house blows up? “You can’t even write what I was thinking,” says Dave Premer, 44, whose thoughts last week returned to a Saturday afternoon in early November 2006, when his 1830s Huntington farmhouse went up in smoke. Premer was having the house updated with a 600- square- foot addition when a contractor operating a backhoe ruptured a natural gas line. As gas leaked into the basement, the site was evacuated. Minutes later, as Premer watched from a neighbor’s driveway, the house literally exploded. Thank heaven, Premer thought at the time, the blast injured no more than two people, both of whom were treated and released from the hospital the same day. As for what was next, Premer simply thought about starting over. For Premer, the rebuilding meant turning his insurance settlement into a new house - a four-bedroom, three-bathroom $550,000 bungalow that hints of California Craftsman style while boasting modern-day energy efficiency. Premer and his two dogs - female Weimaraners named Stormy and Thunder - expect to move into an Energy Star-rated home sometime next month, about a year after the blast. “Just in time for carving the Thanksgiving turkey,” Premer says. An Energy Star home uses about 30 percent less energy than traditionally built homes and must be certified using a series of tests approved by the Long Island Power Authority and developed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. While Premer, who works in software sales, knew what style he wanted in his new house, it took several months for the idea of energy savings to take shape. He confesses his mind was on other things. All of his belongings - clothing, possessions, photographs, personal and business documents - had been destroyed. “All I had left were my golf clubs in my car and this,” he says, pointing to a leash for his dogs in a friend’s photograph of Premer on the day of the explosion. Premer and the dogs relocated to a two-bedroom apartment in Melville, and he began planning his new home. The bungalow concept with energy-saving features began to take shape in late February, after his insurance company, State Farm, referred several contractors for the project. Armed with a set of plans from a local architect, Premer selected a project bid from a national firm with a franchise in Brentwood. Mark Gunthner, owner of Paul Davis Restoration & Remodeling of Long Island, Huntington architect Pete Smith and Premer worked together to revise the original house plans. The result will be a residence using about 50 percent less energy than a traditional home its size, about 2,600 square feet. “As we talked and revised the plans, all the energy features just seem to make sense,” says Premer. “I knew about some of them, and Mark and Pete helped educate me with the rest.” Premer lived five years in California before moving to Long Island in 2001. He grew fond of Craftsman-style bungalows while driving through older Southern California neighborhoods - in and around, for example, Pasadena. With principal exterior colors of cypress green clapboard and light maple cedar shakes (each a premium vinyl siding from CertainTeed), a front porch of cultured and natural stone and a multi-gabled roof, the house stirs memories of West Coast architecture prominent between the early 1900s and the late 1950s. While the design may be revisionist, much of the home technology is thoroughly mod- ern. Energy features start at the foundation, with a basement of insulated concrete forms (ICFs) and build up to the second floor, where a heat-recovery ventilation system is located. In between, the house offers a tankless water-heating system, a gas-fired high-efficiency hydron- ic heating unit and Energy Star appliances and lighting fixtures. “To reach the minimum Energy Star standards for this home, it probably cost an extra $12,000,” says Smith, who has been increasingly drawn to energy-efficient design and green building for about a decade. “This home probably has about $20,000 total in ener- gy-saving features.” Whether building new or remodeling, there’s no limit to upfront spending for reducing energy consumption, Gunthner says, but the idea is to work with a budget that makes sense and show homeowners a payback period that meets their approval. For Premer, savings for heating, cooling and lighting are expect- ed to exceed $2,000. Total payback period for the $20,000 invested in energy-saving is likely to be six to eight years, says Gunthner, whose company has been restoring, remodeling and building on Long Island since 1994. Premer passed up some energy-saving ideas - like solar photovoltaic panels - because of bud- get and payback concerns. “But the design of the roof allows the homeowner to add solar PV when prices come down,” Smith says. For Premer, the next step is getting back into his home. Plenty of work remains, including land- scaping, flooring, interior trim and kitchen installation. “Thanksgiving - right now, that’s what we’re shooting for,” Premer says optimistically. And if the deadline isn’t met, Premer won’t be too disappointed. Looking at Gunthner and Smith, he says: “I know at least a couple of places I can go for Thanksgiving dinner.” an energy-efficient From the ashes, home rises Article which appeared in Newsday - October 2007 Mark Gunthner, owner of Paul Davis Restoration & Remodeling of Long Island “ ”The idea is to work with a budget that makes sense and show homeowners a payback period that meets their approval. Sealed ductwork: Special sealants and tapes reduce air infiltration in ductwork and can increase the efficiency of residential heating and cooling systems by as much as 20 percent. Heat-recovery ventilation: This system reclaims energy from exhaust airflows. By using exchangers to heat or cool incoming fresh air, up to 80 percent of conditioned air that otherwise would be lost through exhaust can be reclaimed. In cold climates, where indoor heating is required, creating better air flow and introducing humidity to the indoor environment can help control winter window condensation. During humid summers in which air-conditioning is required, incoming fresh air is easier to dry, which reduces energy consumption and the buildup of mold and mildew in ductwork. Energy Star appliances: These units consume up to 50 percent less energy and water than conventional appliances. Annual savings overall can reach about $100 per household. Insulation: Basement walls of insulated concrete forms (IFCs) reduce air infiltration. Above-grade exterior walls are coated with a layer of spray foam, then covered with a blown-in-blanket (BIB) fiberglass system. ThermaTru exterior doors: Raised panels and leaded glass mimic the look of real wood doors. But because they are made of fiberglass, these entry doors won’t crack, split, splinter or warp and also have better insulation properties than wood. Tankless water heating: Also called on-demand and instantaneous water heating, the system eliminates the standby energy found in traditional water tanks that are being heated when not in use. In homes that use 41 gallons of hot water daily, energy savings can reach 35 percent, according to studies by the U.S. Department of Energy. WHAT THEY DID: Dave Premer’s restored home on Carley Avenue in Huntington, less than a year after it was leveled by a gas explosion Project Coordinators: Mark Gunther, President Peter E. Smith, A.I.A. 44 West Neck Road, Huntington, NY 11743 Tel: 631.673.0561 16 Cain Dr Brentwood, N.Y. 11717 Tel: 631.434.1717