Corvallis Green Building
The EPA and Oregon Energy Trust advocate efficient home construction. We have been using these practices for over 25 years. For example, we use advanced framing techniques that reduce wood use and increase insulation while remaining structurally sound. Our designers use passive solar design best practices that maximizing daylight during the winter and shade your windows during the summer.
If your home is uncomfortable, drafty or cold we can help with our energy retrofit services. Our subsidiary Complete Efficiency, can also reduce your home’s carbon footprint. The work can be done all at once or in a series of steps. A retrofit can block drafts by adding floor, wall, ceiling and attic insulation and air sealing. Additional steps include replacing your inefficient heating system with a new mini-split heat pump or furnace, installing new solar photovoltaic panels, adding solar hot water systems, and installing ground or water source heat pumps. Lighting, appliance, window, and door upgrades are another way to reduce your energy use.
Our Office’s Energy Upgrade
We installed this solar array as part of the remodel of the 100 year old building that became our new office at 644 NW 4th Street in Corvallis. The 26 Sanyo Photovoltaic panels, which are suspended on a metal track system, feed an inverter in the basement that converts the DC power to AC power. The panels produce about 5,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, and our net-metering connection to the power grid allows us to sell back the excess power generated during the sunny summers. We’re saving about $600 annually on our power bills.
John and Bea’s High Efficiency Home
Because John and Bea’s wanted a dream home that was comfortable and energy efficient, we built their new home to the Earth Advantage New Homes standard. To achieve the standard, we built with insulated concrete form blocks, sealed all of the walls and ceilings to reduce air leakage, and installed extra insulation. Then we installed mini-split ductless heating systems and a heat recovery ventilator. For water conservation, we built dual 1500 gallon rain cisterns to catch rain water for irrigating the hundreds of native plants Bea has added for natural landscaping. Pervious pavers direct rain water to a new manmade wetlands area.
The home features two separate solar systems. One cluster of panels are photovoltaic, generating electrical power. A second set of panels are part of a solar hot water system. Water pumped through the system is heated by sunlight and flows to a heat exchanger in a basement water storage tank that supplies the house with hot water. When needed, a Takagi instantaneous hot water heater boosts the water temperature.
Earth Advantage certification requires an inspection and a series of tests. John and Bea’s home earned a Platinum Award, the highest award given by the organization.
Energy Upgrade Services
- Install solar electric panels
- Install solar hot water systems
- Add insulation to walls, floors and attics
- Test ductwork for leaks and sealing
- Replace old windows with double or triple pane windows
- Replace inefficient heating systems with
- Mini-split heat pumps
- Ground source heat pumps
- Hydronic/radiant floor heating
- Thermal mass for passive solar heat storage
- Design with solar best practices for day lighting
- Add skylights for reduced lighting costs
- Build with reused, recycled or green products
- Paint and carpet with low VOC and formaldehyde free products
- Install high efficiency lighting systems (LEDs, Halogen, CFLs)
- Build with FSC certified wood products
- Build raised heel trusses to maximize attic insulation
- Add heat recovery ventilators for good air quality
- Replace water heaters with high efficiency tankless systems
- Install new low water usage fixtures
- Install new dual flush toilets
- Build with ICF or Insulated Concrete Block walls
- Build a new low energy or passive energy house
- We will help you find rebates
