Brooklyn Life

Green on Brownstoner: Reusing Rainwater in Boerum Hill

[nggallery id=”24610″ template=galleryview] Installment #3 of Green on Brownstoner finds us at a four-story, 20-foot wide, 2,920 square foot, 1860s-era brownstone in Boerum Hill that will be part of the 2008 ASES National Solar Home Tour on October 4th. If you’ve got a green project for us, send a note. Nomad Architecture was tasked with…

by lisa
09/24/2008 2 minute 5

[nggallery id=”24610″ template=galleryview]

Installment #3 of Green on Brownstoner finds us at a four-story, 20-foot wide, 2,920 square foot, 1860s-era brownstone in Boerum Hill that will be part of the 2008 ASES National Solar Home Tour on October 4th. If you’ve got a green project for us, send a note.

Nomad Architecture was tasked with a massive renovation, as the interior had been damaged by uneven settlement and water damage. They retained the party walls and facade, and reinvented the inside. Their goal was to minimize water and energy consumption as well as the environmental impact of materials used. Rainwater will be caught and reused, low-flow toilets and Energy Star appliances installed, envelope sealed to make the building 66% more energy efficient.

They used Paperstone counter tops manufactured with recycled paper, Eco-Tech ceramic floor tiles with 60% recycled content, low VOC paints. All floor framing members were donated to Brooklyn Farm Tables for reuse in furniture manufacture, and the homeowner’s office table was manufactured by Brooklyn Farm Tables from wood salvaged from the original Douglas Fir floor framing. All five stone mantles and all wooden stair banisters and pickets were salvaged and sold to neighbors. Most bricks from rear wall were salvaged and donated to neighbors for use as pavers.

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  1. Hello, We are the architects for the project. I gather from some of the comments that the initial project description did not adequately mention or describe all of the green features so I will try to explain more here.

    Our energy modeling indicates the building will consume 61 mbtus of energy per year, 66% less than the previous house and 38% less than if it simply met the NYS energy code.

    As to costs, most of the energy efficiency features do cost more. However, with energy modeling, we can calculate the pay back period for each feature and select only those that have acceptable paybacks. Photovoltaics for example had a 20 year + payback so was not included.

    energy saving features include;

    An evacuated tube type solar hot water, providing an estimated 70% of total anual hot water demand.

    A Baxi condensation type high efficiency boiler with AFUE of 94% is combined with radiant floor heating and each floor is a separate heating zone.

    In addition to high insulation levels, a blower door tests confirms air infiltration rates in the range of ,25 ACH, very tight.

    An Aldes heat recovery ventilator provides bathroom exhaust.

    Cooling is provided by a number of passive cooling strategies. mechanical AC is not provided.

    By the way, regarding ground source heat pumps, conventional wisdom is that they will only pay back the initial investment if they are also providing AC. If just heating, they can not pay back compaired to an efficient boiler.

    The rain water system here is used for site irrigation only. This is fairly easy. With a bit more work one can use rainwater for non potable uses such as flushing toilets or even for potable uses. we choose not to do so here.

    Thanks

  2. This green feature is beginning to look more like greenwash.

    Yes, it would be a lot clearer if brand names, cost, energy saving figures and ROI’s were included. Green is not just installing more efficient devices, it’s what’s saved as a result. And if you spend twice as much to make something “green”, is it?

    What’s mentioned above is simple stuff: low-flow toilets? Energy Star appliances…why buy anything else? There are plenty of super-efficient appliances, were those used?

    Insulation figure is impressive, but details would make it more understandable; compared to what, for example?

    Rainwater harvesting is good but hardly the best thing you can do. The ROI on this as PS above states, is very long (though if it were me, I’d just collect rainwater and use it for gardens or toilets, damn the UV sterilizers and all that unnecessary stuff, go low-tech).

    What about major things like a green roof, solar power (says it’s on some tour, but the link’s broken), heat pump (admittedly rather difficult), special a/c units (or none) etc etc?

    And finally, while recycling the floor timbers is laudable, could they have been not taken out instead…thereby saving energy? Much of the time, “gut”, high-end renovation is just a wasteful way of throwing a lot of money at a problem which could be solved in a simpler way.

    This renovation is not typical…look at the floor plans…two offices but 1 bedroom?

  3. I too would like to get more details on the specifics. I’m in the middle of a large renovation myself. I wanted to capture and reuse the rainwater on my roof (and from 2 neighbor’s roofs) but my plumber estimated that it be $30,000 worth of equipment and installation. 9it’s more than just a rainbarrel. There’s extra piping, backflow valves, ultraviolet sterilization, filters, etc. if you want to be up to code and use the water for any household uses (toilets, dishwasher, washing machine.)

    I’m all for green building, but with an annual water bill of $600 or so (I currently live alone) it’s would take me 50 years to pay back my investment.

    Is there a less expensive way to do this? Details are appreciated.

  4. Hey, why is richard’s office so much bigger than irene’s? but seriously, what’s the tour on the 4th? the link didn’t work…

  5. this is interesting but would be A LOT more interesting if you could get the people doing these projects to reveal the various costs of doing things relative to non-green route.

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    Green on Brownstoner #1: Salvage on a Budget

    [nggallery id=”23709″ template=galleryview] Our first installment of Green on Brownstoner finds Gennaro Brooks-Church renovating a Carroll Gardens brownstone with the environment in mind. Unable to find the kind of help he wanted, he ended up becoming a green contractor himself. If you have a tale of going green in Brooklyn, please let us know. We…

    by lisa
    08/26/2008 2 minute 26

    [nggallery id=”23709″ template=galleryview]

    Our first installment of Green on Brownstoner finds Gennaro Brooks-Church renovating a Carroll Gardens brownstone with the environment in mind. Unable to find the kind of help he wanted, he ended up becoming a green contractor himself. If you have a tale of going green in Brooklyn, please let us know.
    We were in contract for over a year because when we started it was easy to get a no doc reasonable rate loan with 10% down. By the end we were happy just to get a loan. We scraped equity lines of credit and loans together to meet the down payment and finally closed in March for $1.4 million.

    The house had been cheaply renovated in the 50s and needed some work. I decided to do the job myself because I’m too experimental with out there green ideas and I knew this would cause all sorts of problems with a contractor. I got my contractor’s license, formed a company called ECO Brooklyn Inc. and started pulling stuff out. At first we were just going to pull a little bit out but the floors were full of termites and the ceilings were bowed and before we knew it the whole place was gutted. This was the first green decision we had to make: keep it or trash it. (more…)

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    What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

    1. Evergreen solar water heater co.,ltd , specilized in china solar energy system,including solar collector, active split solar water heater ,http://www.solar-water-heater-china.com/ pre-heating solar water heater ,high pressure compact solar water heater ,passive China solar water heater ,solar water heater project system.

    2. To answer “off the grid’s” question;
      I’m consulting with Gennaro for the green roof portion of the project. The plant’s that we have chosen are native desert plants that require little water for survival. The second consideration for our selection is flowers for the bees. We want to have at least two species blooming at all times between April and October. Some edible plants do great in this environment and may make it into the mix as well. Over the course of the year conditions may be better for one plant than another; one may flourish and the next may die back. Because of this at least eight species will be planted to ensure that the green roof is lush through 3 1/2 seasons. It is also common to replant particular areas because of various conditions like wind or shade. Every roof is different and a little trial and error is sometimes necessary.

    3. I’m not sure what you meant by “on demand only works once in a while but a boiler heats all day”…they will both run as much as needed to produce the heat necessary.

      A modern boiler, particularly a modulating one (more expensive, yes, but able to regulate the heat output), has an OVERALL efficiency of 96-97%. The amount of time it’s actually running is irrelevant. The small amount of water stored in the boiler may need a fraction more energy to heat, but that’s taken into effect for the eff. calculation.

      Wouldn’t mind discussing some your ideas…my email is cmurthi [that character] seeinggreen [dot] net.

    4. hi cmu,
      that is interesting what you say about boilers being more efficient than on demand. it was my understanding that on demand was more efficient. i’ll have to do more research. are you taking into consideration the fact that on demand only works once in a while but a boiler heats all day?

      and of course that addresses the other point: my on demand WOULD work all day if it is heating the floors….hmmm….that is the main point.

      and yes on demand does not have a reputation for lasting as long…i grew up in Europe and only had on demand so i know how well they work and might be partial.

    5. yes shahn settling is an issue for dry spray in cellulose if you don’t use this plastic chicken wire that you attach to the studs that allows you to spray it in an see it at the same time. once the walls are closed you can’t see. it is pretty common to top the cellulose off after a year or so by cutting little holes in the top of the wall spraying in and then pluggin up. a pain but maybe worth it. the wet is definitely the way to go to avoid all that. but like you pointed out icynene is probably better in possibly humid places since it is open celled and allows the space to breathe without storing any of the humidity in it’s cells.

    6. [lost my comment, may be duplicated]

      Wonderful news, excellent ideas.

      Don’t see how on-demand heater could be better than a super-hi-eff boiler, the former are about 85-88% eff, the latter top out at 96-98%. Also, on-demand may not be durable in a near-100% duty cycle in winter as they are not designed for that; boilers are.

    8. I used Icynene in my basement and dry cellulose in the rest of the walls in my house. They both serve a purpose and seem to be doing a good job. If I had to do it again, I’d use the wet spray cellulose on open framing rather than dry cellulose in closed walls. I have my suspicions that the company I used missed a few places when they sprayed into the wall cavities.

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