Quail Park Remodel: Austin, Texas

We worked closely with our client to give their 1970's, three bedroom fixer a contemporary update.  We did a massive gut rehab that included a small bump out addition, compete rewire, new windows, and energy upgrades. In a few months, we transformed a dark, dingy and suffocating space into a bright, modern, and luxurious home. The clients added their sophisticated design touches to create a lovely and relaxed space.

Welcome! (E Green Group gut-rehab, Austin, Texas)

Dining Room (E Green Group gut-rehab, Austin, Texas)

Livingroom (E Green Group gut-rehab, Austin, Texas)

Exposed compressed wood creates a compelling frame for the fireplace. (E Green Group gut-rehab, Austin, Texas)

Kitchen detail of tiling (E Green Group gut-rehab, Austin, Texas)

Kitchen (E Green Group gut-rehab, Austin, Texas)

bedroom 3 (E Green Group gut-rehab, Austin, Texas)

The back of the house updated with streamlined wood paneling (E Green Group gut-rehab)

back of the house, full view (E Green Group gut-rehab, Austin, Texas)

Please be sure to visit our website to see our full line of services! 

www. egreengroup.com

Outdoor Deck

 "I would recommend E Green Group to anyone, in fact I recommended them to my neighbor recently for kitchen renovations!"  

--Chris Bishop

Recently, E Green Group was hired to build a very large, second story outdoor deck.

New construction deck, Austin Texas, Equitable Green Group

"Nick and his team built a large deck and did some interior renovations on my home. From the very beginning communication was great: Nick was flexible when changes needed to be made, tried his utmost to make sure costs were kept low, and was careful to minimize the amount of inconvenience caused by such a large job. 

I would recommend E Green Group to anyone, in fact I recommended them to my neighbor recently for kitchen renovations!"

New construction deck, Austin Texas, Equitable Green Group

New construction deck, Austin Texas, Equitable Green Group

Austin Texas Rainwater Collection System

We recently installed this rainwater collection system and hammock trellis for Bradley and Jennifer Linscomb in Allandale. The large rainwater collection tanks fit well into his backyard design (You almost don't notice them at first!).

Rainwater collection system installed by E Green Group

Our client is experimenting with an innovative system called aquaponics.  Aquaponic systems create a symbiotic relationship between plants and fish.  The fish fertilize the water used to irrigate the crops, which are planted in hydroponic grow media.  The water filters through the planter boxes where it is oxygenated and freshened before being returned to the fish.  Then as the fish (usually tilapia) grow, you get to eat them too.

Aquaponic system

The picture below shows the creative way he integrated the work of a local artist, Michael O'Brien.  Mike travels around Texas taking imprints of dinosaur tracks.  The recycled water in the system pours over the imprint of an ancient Acrocanthosaurus foot.  The Acrocanthosaurus is about 112 million years old, and is an ancestor of the T-rex.

Close up of the Acrocanthosaurus track.

 
The backyard oasis is complete with a chicken coup filled with some healthy looking chickens which my son was happy to pet!

What is a Green Collar Job?

A main mission of E Green Group is to merge the green movement with the race equity movement through the building of "green collar jobs."

Van Jones is the author of an  inspiring book called "the Green Collar Economy" that explains why merging these issues is so important. So what is a "green collar job?" From a book review on treehugger.com:

"Jones defines a green-collar job as a 'family-supporting, career-track job that directly contributes to preserving or enhancing environmental quality," but is also part of what he calls the "one solution [to] fix our two biggest problems" — namely, poverty and our environmental crisis. You may ask: what does environmentalism have to do with alleviating poverty? According to Jones, it has everything to do with it — and his simple premise has a populist but pragmatic ring to it. By directly engaging working-class, low-income and urban communities in the retrofitting, weatherizing and solarizing of America, not only will they benefit from hundreds of thousands of non-exportable jobs in the emerging green economy, but they will also represent the pivotal force sorely needed to turn America's environmental tide."

This book is great read if you are interested in environmental change and the social change we need to get there! For more info about Van Jones see his website here.

Van Jones, author of "The Green Collar Economy"

Meeting with Interns

Ben Goldberg and Elizabeth de Regt are the latest and greatest to intern with E Green Group.  We've begun work on prototypes for a standard 1,500 sq ft home, the Colony Park affordable housing/multifamily project, and detailed cost breakdowns for each of them (all Passive House projects).  Ben is part of the undergraduate architecture program and Elizabeth  the master's program (both at UT), although they both have skills, and wisdom far beyond their years.

 

My son, Kazimir,  commending their floor layout.

Nicholas in the Austin Statesman

Today the Austin Statesman, the local newspaper for Austin, Texas, published a front page article about the debate around gray water collection in the area.  They interviewed Nicholas for the article because of his experience installing rain water collection tanks throughout Austin. Equitable Green Group is a big promoter of gray water; the wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, can be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation and constructed wetlands.

From the article:

"'The city doesn't have a realistic view of health risks versus the benefits of the system,' said green builder Nicholas Blaise Koch, who has been trying to shepherd a client's gray water proposal through the city for more than a year."

A Word About Passive House: The Most Strignent Energy Efficiency Rating in the World

“The Passive House movement shows us what's possible with ultra-low-energy buildings. These homes are pushing the envelope and creating an invaluable collection of case studies that demonstrate just how dramatically energy consumption can be reduced--and how we can meet the targets for carbon emission reductions that are needed to slow global warming. It provides metrics and a path for implementation.”

 –AlexWilson

Bronwyn Barry, Assoc. AIA, CPHC

RESNET Conference in Austin, Texas

The first Passive House in Texas was on display to a group of energy auditors from around the country during the 2012 The RESNET Building Performance Conference here in Austin.  The conference is the premier national forum on home energy ratings, commercial building energy modeling, and improving the energy efficiency of existing homes.  Testing verified the balancing of the ventilation system and gave the raters hand on experience in a Passive House setting.

Nicholas giving a tour of the house; blower door test equipment standing by.

VIDEO: Building the First Passive House in Texas

Texas Passivhaus from Anlo Sepulveda on Vimeo.

Insulating a Passive House

One of the main elements that differentiates Passive House from other “green building” styles  is the approach towards insulation.  You have to build a house that is super insulated while making sure that you don’t create moisture problems.  In our retrofit application we had 3/4 inch of XPS foam insulation on the outside of the house, and 10 inches of packed cellulose on the inside.  The cellulose is cheaper, uses less energy to produce, and also contains (safe) chemicals that discourage rodents and bugs from living in it.  In the pictures below you can see the layers of our wall assembly, as seen from the inside looking out the window, and also our air infiltration layer before we’ve insulated it and completed taping.  Keep in mind that the walls you are seeing are the second, inside walls, and that another 2×4 wall is behind the OSB plywood.  So if you’re interested in building a Passive House, get ready to do a lot of insulating and a lot of taping.

 

 

LOVE YOUR TAPE! have fun with it.

Quail Park Bathroom Remodel

Here is the first in a series of photos of the overhaul EGG did on the Quail Park house.  Although EGG is interested in green building, we also do traditional remodeling and new construction.

 

This bathroom was tiled with Travertine; a form of limestone with soft, earthly hues that add warmth and tranquility to the space. The toilet is a high efficiency model with dual flush technology.  The cabinets, sink and mirror came from Ikea and give a modern, casual formalness to the room.