The artistic homeowners of this Greenwood bath and kitchen remodel viewed their home as the latest canvas for their artistic expression. Intention and personality shine through all the color, patterns, and small details. 作为艺术家, the homeowners’ goals were focused on the long-term livability of their home, 展示他们对艺术和色彩的热爱, 并限制它们对环境的影响. 当内森·库恩斯 库恩建筑有限公司, presented the idea of certifying their remodel with 构建绿色’s new 2023 Remodel certification, 没有任何犹豫.

就像西雅图的许多其他家庭一样, 他们那栋上世纪60年代的分层住宅隔热效果很差, 中央暖气, 没有空调的天然气炉, 在过去的几十年里进行了部分改造. The kitchen remained mostly original while the bathrooms had attempted to be remodeled more recently.

To maintain the home’s livability for the coming decades the homeowners wanted to incorporate changes related to accessibility, 室内空气质素, 热舒适. The primary bath was fitted with a walk-in bathtub and grab bars were installed in the new shower. The low-flow bath and kitchen fixtures and water-smart landscaping was modeled and showed a 45% reduction in the home’s total water use over a standard home. A Moen-Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff provides real-time leak alerts and protects the home from potential water damage. 低挥发性有机化合物和绿色卫士金牌认证饰面, 使用天然Marmoleum地板来维持更健康的室内空气质量. Air sealing and electrification were important components of the project scope to improve indoor air quality, 安慰, 减少他们的碳排放.

The homeowners communicated they did not want any walls to be removed, because they were an important part of displaying their art collection. 老房子的空气密封和绝缘一直是一个挑战. This is especially true when only a small portion of the home is being opened during the remodel, but it’s one of the most important and cost-effective ways to improve 安慰 and reduce energy consumption. 2:12的低斜度屋顶增加了这一挑战. The initial blower door test resulted in 14 Air Changes per Hour (ACH). Coons maximized the insulation throughout the attic and garage ceilings to the current code minimum of R-49. Wherever they could access, air sealing took place, even if it was a single outlet in a room. Blueskin, 一种自粘的空气和蒸汽屏障膜, 被尽可能地使用, including to create an air separation between the home and the attached garage. At completion, the efforts paid off, the new blower door test was 6.5乙酰胆碱，改善53%! 这个家庭的最终ACH分数可能看起来并不令人印象深刻, when compared to the much lower ACH scores that are typically achieved in new construction or down-to-studs remodels, 但想象一下，如果所有现有的房屋都这样做!

For this older home to be ready to exist in a future of electrified, zero carbon emission homes the homeowners were not satisfied with just removing gas at the meter. They had gas capped off at the street to ensure this was a gas free property. A Tier III heat-pump water heater and induction cooking range were installed. New wall-mounted heat pump mini-split units supply heating and A/C to the main living space on the upper and lower floors and are zonally controlled for maximum 安慰. Bedrooms and bathrooms are supplied by a new forced-air heat-pump air handler and its ducting in the garage was insulated. The original electrical panel was replaced with two new 200-amp panels that are pre-wired with infrastructure to support installation of future solar panels and an EV charging station.

To keep materials out of the landfill and limiting consumption of new resources, 重用成为该项目的关键策略. The homeowners spent a lot of time shopping at salvage and reuse suppliers. Elements and materials in the home that still had life and were saved and reused, 包括灯具, 厕所, 和门. In the bathrooms two hand painted vanities had previous lives as commode dressers. Excess materials were donated to Habitat for Humanity Snohomish County. Nathan found that recycling debris had the biggest visual impact during construction because they utilized on-site separating of debris. The piles of debris being taken to recycling facilities, versus landfill, were enlightening. He noted the biggest challenge was creating the habit with crew members to separate debris on site, 而不是把它们都扔进一个垃圾桶. 该项目回收了85%的拆迁和建筑垃圾. This project benefitted from a lot that provided room to easily facilitate the on-site separation. Nathan intends to maintain the crew’s new habit by source-separating recycling as much as possible of future remodel projects.

这是库恩建筑公司第一个获得绿色建筑认证的改造项目. 内森发现这个项目成功的关键是计划, 沟通, 监督, 和研究. 他最近在 2023绿色建筑大会 并告诉那些考虑绿色建筑改造的人, “绿色改造没有什么激进之处. Most of the 构建绿色 Remodeling requirements are likely to become standard within the industry as the building code is already starting to require these strategies.” He went on to share the resources available to learn about what materials to use, the benefit of using a third-party verifier and 构建绿色 framework, and how networking was a great way to get good supplier and subcontractor referrals. While the initial learning curve required more time to be allocated during the planning stage, getting experience remodeling green homes now would give a remodeler a head start on what will be required to be built in the future.