Ideas for "Greening" Your Project

Making your home improvement project more environmentally friendly and sustainable – thus lowering your carbon footprint - is a 3-legged process. Though each leg works harmoniously with the next, it is important to understand the individual components of each. Here are some ideas to consider:

ENERGY EFFICIENCY – (lowering energy demand, thus saving money on energy bills)

Insulation and vapor barrier as a system

(R-values to meet International Energy Conservation Code for roofs, floors and walls)

- Batts – Fiberglass, cotton, or mineral wool – used with 6mil polyethylene sheets

- Blown-In Cellulose or Fiberglass – Loose Fill (can contain recycled materials)

- Spray-on Polyurethane Foam – Yields high R-value and is its own vapor barrier ($$$)

- Rigid Foam Insulation – Installed in sheets to interior OR exterior of home

Insulate water pipes and ductwork – they conduct, transmit, and “leak” heat

Lighting

- Use Compact Fluorescent or LED bulbs for long-life and low energy consumption

- Use “zones” and dimmers to reduce wasted energy where lighting is not needed

Appliance

- High-efficiency furnace – for forced-air systems

- Tankless water heating – point-of-use or central instantaneous, gas or electric

- Use only appliances that carry an Energy-Star rating

Solar Power – photovoltaic panels to store power to supplement or replace grid power

Geo-Thermal Heat Pumps – eliminate need for high gas or electric resistance usage

- Underground water loops use the earth to heat water in winter and store heat in the summer

Radiant Floor Heating – In-floor hot water loops to radiate heat and reduce ductwork

Air-Conditioning – Select a system with a high SEER rating

Windows and Doors

- Good quality, Air-tight construction and installation – weatherstripping!

- Low Solar Heat-Gain Coefficient (SHGC) and U-value

- Insulated, Low-E coating and Argon gas filled between insulated panes

NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION – (lower depletion and reduce landfill waste)

Low-flow plumbing fixtures – Conserve water demand while lowering water bills

FSC-Certified Wood – Forest Stewardship Council

Concrete with Fly-Ash – use this byproduct as a binder to reduce cement production

Gray water reuse – Reintroducing graywater back into supply

- Reduces demand on local water aquifer (oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams)

- Sources include sinks, showers, washing machines, and rainwater harvested in barrels

- Reused for non-potable uses like flushing toilets, laundry, and lawn irrigation

Renovating and Rehabbing – nothing is greener than reusing existing structures

Recycled Content – use materials with high pre- and post-consumer recycled content

Regional Materials – use products and materials that are manufactured locally to reduce the embodied energy lost in transportation

Rapidly Renewable Materials – use products and materials made from resources that can be grown, harvested, and re-grown all within a 10-year life-cycle

- i.e.: soy, cork, linoleum, bamboo, wool, cotton, straw insulation, and wheatboard

Recycle your own waste! – divert “garbage” from landfills by recycling regularly

- Participate in local government recycling programs or institute your own at home

- In construction projects, encourage tradesmen to order and install materials in such a way to generate less waste – and also to recycle their packaging, etc.

INDOOR AIR QUALITY – (promote healthier living at home)

Radon Mitigation – test your property and install a system to regularly remove radon gas

Natural and Mechanical Ventilation – promote air circulation in and out of the home

- Windows, operable skylights, ceiling fans, attic fans, exhaust fans

Proper Air and moisture barriers – reduce infiltration of allergens and pollutants

- Building paper on the exterior and polyethylene film or monolithic insulation inside

- Moisture barriers at basement floors and crawlspaces to reduce groundwater

- Waterproofing of exterior foundations at basements and crawlspaces

Insulation types – use those that do not produce and sustain airborne microorganisms

Low VOC-emitting materials and finishes

- VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) off-gassing can produce poor air quality

- Choose carpet, paint, adhesives and sealants with low VOC contents

Urea-Formaldehyde – use products free of this air pollutant (usually composite woods)

Air Filters – use filters with a high MERV rating (MERV 8 as a MINIMUM).

Carbon Monoxide Detectors – Mandatory requirement of Building Codes

- At least one installed in the home placed between 3ft and 6ft above the floor.

- Place near bedrooms and/or attached garages

These items are just a few categorical examples of basic ways to make your home more “green” and are intended to be a design guide. Consult a LEED Accredited Professional for full analysis of your home to see what options will work most thoroughly and cost effectively for your project.

© cj architects, inc. 2009

Mason-Ree

The first paragraph here is going to sound like another pet peeve post... but here it goes! I love masonry. I love the materials, the hardness, the structural capacity, the security, the versatility, the beauty, the patterns, the modularity, and even the name. The word is called masonry, pronounced mason-ree. A lot of people - sometimes within the industry and even masons - pronounce it mason-ary, like at the end it sounds like canary. No! there is no 'A' at the end of the word, thus we do not need this extra syllable. Before I turn this into a rant, I should explain that I am not trying to pick on or poke fun at anyone here - I am simply trying to spread awareness and educate the offenders so that they can stop making the mistake and we can all move on at the job site without having that quiet chuckle when someone slips up.

For those of you that know the difference and pronounce the word correctly, maybe you just want to learn a little bit about the building material. Masonry is a term that encompasses a wide range of modular building materials that start with a raw material and/or a mixture and are baked or cured to hardness - and are bonded together using mortar into the monolithic forms that we see cladding buildings today. Examples of masonry include any of a variety of bricks to concrete masonry units and even glass blocks. the difference in these subdivisions of nomenclature is all in the material and how the piece is produced. I could write a book on all the different kinds of masonry, their uses, and their construction, but I will try to keep this concise in the interests of your valuable time and bandwidth.

A brick is a smaller piece used for exterior cladding. A brick was once used as a structural product, but with the advent of stronger and quicker masonry units, it has come to be more of an aesthetic type of masonry - we call these "veneers". Bricks are made from firing red clay into a variety of modular sizes, the most common being 7-5/8" long x 3-5/8" wide x roughly 2-9/16" thick. You see these size bricks all over and they were used extensively in older urban construction as exterior bearing walls. By placing them 2 or 3 rows deep (called wythes) they could support 2 or 3 floors, with the rule of thumb ratio being one floor vertical for every wythe thick. Case in point is the Monadnock building in downtown Chicago that is an all brick skyscraper with about 6ft worth of brick wythes at street level. Today the brick veneer is backed up by stud walls and is only one wythe thick because that's all you need to see it. The irony is that bricks used to hold buildings up, but in new construction, the building supports the brick!

Another type of masonry unit is the concrete masonry unit (CMU), commonly referred to as the cinder block. This term is a little outdated though, because cinders are not commonly used anymore to make these units. They are a good utilitarian piece used for structural walls, including foundations, and also fire-separation walls because of their excellent fire-retarding ability. However, they can be and have been used as the exterior face of a building. Some utility buildings such as garages and warehouses use them for their cost savings and ability to take paint. The faces of CMUs can sometimes have patterns and clefts that are moderately attractive, so you may have seen them used for big box retail stores. CMUs are made of a concrete mixture that is cured into their familiar forms until they reach appropriate strength. They are made much larger than bricks, the most common nominal size being 8x8x16 - nominal means the approximate size of the unit plus one mortar joint added onto each dimension. CMUs come in a variety of different sizes; however, all based on need and usage.

Yet another type of masonry unit is the glass block. It is odd that this is considered masonry, but it fits the mold (no pun intended) because of its stacking ability and it is installed on union projects by a mason - meaning masons are specifically trained to correctly erect glass blocks. We all know what a glass block is, unfortunately we don't see them as much today as we did in the constructions of the 50s through the 70s. They can be clear or translucent/frosted/etched, so they can be used as a window or artistically to provide a peak at the scene beyond. They aren't really structural, so besides their own weight, they are not meant to support any additional floor or roofs, and must be used in conjunction with an appropriate structural system - they are usually used to divide spaces using the aforementioned trickery or as sculptural pieces on their own. Glass blocks are made in one of two ways - as a solid piece of glass, or as a hollow block of two halves fused together. The most typical nominal size is 8x8x4, but they too can vary, with a little more limitation than its brothers. Personally I like the look of glass block and would like to see it more widely used in modern fashion, but unfortunately due to its higher cost of building than other glass systems, it is eschewed in many contemporary building projects.

So that is a very watered down crash course on masonry construction. So please if you can find it in your hard to pronounce it correctly, you'd be doing this industry a lot of favors and would warm up this architect's lowly heart. If you want more information about masonry or have any questions, just ask in the comments!

Dream Machine

That little beauty above is my new all-in-one printer, copy, scan, fax device. I bought it and set it up yesterday and have been cranking away on the printing and copying features ever since. There is an underlying reason why I bought the machine, other than its sleekness, tabletop seating, functions, quality, and - most importantly - value.

I decided to move my operation into my home. When I started the business I had some friends in the industry who had an excess of office space. They offered electricity, high-speed internet, a desk and comfy chair, private restroom, microwave, refrigerator, and camaraderie. When it came down to it, the only one of those things I couldn't be provided with in my own home was the camaraderie. Even though I was paying a ridiculously cheap rent, it just made more sense to me to spend time here, that way I could spread out my down time and save the rent, albeit low, and put it into my own pocket.

In a few months or years, I hope that my business expands and consequently so will my need for larger office space. For now, this has been working out nicely for me and I have been really happy with my decision. Purchasing this one piece of equipment has been extremely liberating and I hope that the investment has a nice return with a lot of continued success.

Concrete

I want this blog to serve not only as a way to keep clients, colleagues and friends updated on the goings on at cj architects, but also to try to educate at the same time. For this particular post, my broad topic is to eradicate one of the most common misconceptions in the construction industry. The misconception is that the words 'concrete' and 'cement' are interchangeable, both meaning that hard, gray stuff used for buildings, pavement, and pools.

In fact, these two terms are not interchangeable. You see, cement is simply one ingredient that makes up the finished concrete product. Including Portland cement, some of the other components usually used in making concrete are water, sand, lime, and aggregate - usually limestone rock or gravel. Concrete is a concoction that was first used by the Romans for the purposes of sound and semi-permanent building.

So when you see that hard gray stuff in your basement, on the sidewalk, or in your pool, please, please do not call it cement... it is concrete. Concrete is not a product you can go buy, since it is mixture of which I have already explained. You can; however - and this is pretty typical - go buy either a bag of cement to make your own concrete, or a bag of concrete mix which contains all of the necessary components - when buying for a DIY project, you need to know the difference. These components are combined in a hopper or a ready-mix truck and then delivered in a timely fashion to the end site.

Concrete, when all of the ingredients are combined, begins its chemical reaction immediately upon mixing and thus begins to harden. It usually sets up in an hour and a half, so it is imperative to pour, finish, and begin to cure soon after it is batched. Since concrete gets harder the longer it is allowed to cure, it is typically cured for a period of one to four weeks to reach maximum strength - or at least the strength that the concrete was designed so that it can hold the loads planned to be imposed upon it. Curing is the process of keeping the concrete moist and covered through the length of the curing time it takes to reach strength.

So there is a little crash course in concrete. I also wanted to clear up the difference between concrete and cement to spread awareness and keep the two aptly separated, not only within the construction and design communities, but also in the public in general. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments and I will do my best to respond.

Facebook

CJ Architects is now on facebook! Click *here* to view our page and add us as a friend. Some extra portfolio work can be found there, in the 'Photos' section. Status updates may become a usual occurrence and we'll be sharing more photos, etc. Plus you can see who we're friends with and just stay informed at an extra layer to this blog and the website.

Thanks for visiting and checking us out!

Results

Last night I met up with a contractor in Evanston to whom I sent a marketing package last month, complete with portfolio booklet. He called last week and set up this meeting to discuss some renovation work to this house. The homeowners are new to the area and just bought this house a few months ago. Since then they have found it rather difficult to live in, so they wanted to add a master bath. I met beforehand with the contractor and he downloaded a lot of information onto me about the project and what the homeowners wanted to do. Then we went to the house so I could meet them and get a better look at the place myself.

When we arrived we took a quick look at the exterior of the home, to get better acquainted with its style and construction. One of the owners greeted us outside and ushered us inside to see the master bedroom upstairs. They have one normal-sized bathroom servicing the three bedrooms upstairs. They wanted to add the master bath where a current walk-in closet is located. It seemed like a good, easy plan... then the other owner showed up.

Upon the arrival of our second host, we continued the tour to the rear of the home. From there, a lengthy discussion was had about expanding the home out the back to accommodate more space on both the upper and main levels. Our group moved from floor to floor and from inside to outside and then back inside. We floated from room to room, talking and listening to one another. Their main issue is that they realized there wasn't quite enough house for them. The rear stair was too narrow to even get the bulk of their furniture up to the master bedroom. They just found it unlivable. We quickly realized that their project had grown to a home that will better affect their quality of life, so we expanded the scope.

I worked on a proposal for my services and fees this morning. I submitted it to the contractor shortly after (we are working as a team, so he is including my services/drawings as part of his complete package). He responded this afternoon, we discussed it and now he is preparing his part of the proposal for the homeowners' review. He will present it to them either tonight or tomorrow and will hopefully provide me with good news or at least some positive feedback thereafter. I am keeping my fingers crossed (and not getting my hopes up), but this could be a good job for me and I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into something like this again...

Net-working

Last night I went to a networking event provided by "Chicago After Work". It's really a cool setup that they have. They charge you 10$ to get into their event, which they host at a local bar or club - usually a higher-end establishment in a "hip" part of town. Last night's event was held at Luxbar just off Rush St. in the restaurant district of the Near North Side neighborhood. We had the entire 2nd floor to network and meet new contacts - mostly comprised of younger professionals and entrepreneurs.

I had a lot of fun and met a lot of new and interesting people - some of which could even help me out in the industry, and some vowed to and have already acted on that promise. I, in turn, offered to help a few people wherever I could as well and have since sent out a few emails to try to get the wheels turning.

I would like to attend a few more of these events. The organization puts them on once per month all over the city. The 10$ fee is used to not only reserve the space, but you also get your first cocktail for free (a 6$ value at some of these posh locales), plus there are servers constantly walking around serving complimentary appetizers and selling more beverages.

We'll see where this goes and if it produces any real work. For 10$; however, it is worth the investment and the return could be extraordinary. I was glad to at least have had a fun evening with some cool new people who share my ambitiousness.

Truth in Advertising

When I first got up here and started this gig, I decided that in order to get any real work I'd have to pound the pavement and get my name out there. And to me, that meant cold-calling. I have never done any real advertising before, so I knew I had to start from scratch. I decided that no one should be successful in this day and age without a website: good, bad, or indifferent. So I took the necessary steps to create one and I am proud to say that it is published and is a top search result on Google. This lead to the creation of a professional email address hosted off of the site. With the addition of a phone number and a physical street address, I was off to designing and printing business cards. I knew I couldn't just send business cards to people, that isn't flashy enough. So I decided to make marketing booklets.

I did a little research and sent these booklets out to 10 prospective companies that I thought would be good for a fresh young architect like me to collaborate with. Ten is not a very large amount of contacts, but the booklets cost a lot of money to produce, so I had to narrow down to 10 finalists from a larger list - so these were being sent to very exclusive company... haha. I sent them out about a month ago, and made follow-up calls a few days later. It's not easy to go in cold - in fact, it is sort of a pride-swallowing adventure, and I'm not exactly sure why. Regardless, I knew I had to make it happen.

I was a little discouraged when I did not get one single positive response. I actually only was able to get through to three of the companies, all of them telling me they would keep me in mind if anything came up in the future, which I guess is all I could ask for in this economy. Then it happened. Yesterday I got a call from one of the contractors to whom I sent a booklet and never got a reply. As it turns out they need some architectural work and I guess they had my marketing information handy, so they called me. I have a meeting setup to look at their project, and I am very excited about the prospect. This could turn into a long-term relationship.

You see, it does pay to advertise. If this one project turns into just one paying commission, it will pay for ALL of the marketing I have done to date - that is quite a return on investment, and it subsequently allows me to pay for more advertising to go after more work - a nice upward spiral. Plus I may have room for a little bit of a profit, but I am not going to push my luck. I'm proud to say that hard work may have paid off for me, and I hope for continued successes.

First "real" commission

I say "real" because this project is the first project I gained with the new business venture outside of any previous contacts coming into it. I have worked on a few other small things, but they all came to me via an outlet (or is it inlet?) that I had intact when I was still working for someone. Frankly, a few of my other commissions have simply been drafting work for other architects, but I'll take it!

What you're looking at here is a 3D rendering of some concept work I did for a client who wants to open a new fast, casual sushi restaurant. It's a really neat concept and I hope it takes off because if it does, I should be the go-to guy to produce the construction drawings for all of the new spaces it goes into - a nice cash cow if successful. This guy's concept is fresh and unique. I don't want to get into too many details, but basically you stand and wait while the sushi is made to order, as you the consumer designed it. This drawing is of the sushi prep area - the idea being that the sushi chefs would be "displayed" inside a "cube". The vibrant color and bulkiness really help set it apart from the rest of the space, so it becomes a focal point. The consumer can watch their creation being made and they can also see some fresh sushi pieces inside the display case built into the front of the "cube". They pick up their orders around the corner at another fun "slit" carved out of the cube form, but you'll have to visit the CJ Architects website to get a peak at that!

Like I said, I hope this one materializes for a few different reasons. I love enjoying buildings I've worked on and I'd love to grab a meal in this place. It is kind of interesting though that in my short experience as an entrepreneur that this job paid the fastest... I guess I will just have to come to learn how to manage and prepare for that kind of thing as coming with the territory...

Here we go!

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first post on the CJ Architects blog! I will try to update this as often as possible to keep current with the world and to allow a peak inside the operation.

I have been working very diligently to get my name (and logo) passed around here in Chicago. This blog is one step in that process, but i hope that it is simply a tool for me to stay connected, release, and share information. If anyone has a topic they would like to hear about, please email me and I will try to develop and publish an appropriate post. My goal is to keep this about architecture, but i will entertain all sorts of topics and probably will want to stray away from time to time.

Thanks for reading and enjoy!