Eco-Friendly Renovations Part 1 – Greenspring Avenue
This is the first in a series of articles that the Mount Washington Post is going to run about green building and renovating in Mount Washington. The articles were all written by Polly Bart, a PhD who has been working as a builder for more than 20 years. Polly founded Greenbuilders, Inc. in 2004. The company mission is to help change the construction industry to better preserve and restore the environment. Greenbuilders accomplishes this through “green” home renovations and additions, and through consulting on commercial projects. I first came to know Polly when she helped my husband and me realize the possibilities and scope of a renovation we were considering on a house in Mount Washington. We ultimately decided not to buy that house based on the extensive renovations needed and the cost to do the work the way we hoped. This gave us a later opportunity to turn to Polly again to work with us on designing an addition for our current home. While we are still working through how and when to make the addition a reality, Polly worked with us extensively on the design and presented us with options to make a space that would fit the needs of our family and simultaneously be as healthy as possible for both our children and for the planet. We look forward to other neighbors being able to learn from Polly’s experiences and knowledge while reading these stories. Each one will focus on a different project in Mount Washington; as each home and family in Mount Washington is different, so are the green choices and impacts of each of the projects. – SK
Polly hammers bamboo in a bale wall
I met my first Mt. Washington clients through architect Julie Gabrielli, who lives in Mt. Washington. Julie had designed a lovely reading room/sunporch addition for Bob Byrnes and Ruth Sadler for their 75-year-old house on Greenspring Avenue.
Bob, Ruth, Julie and I were all committed to environmental preservation and particularly to energy conservation. The addition Julie designed was to be completely sealed and insulated for maximum comfort with minimum energy use. We were removing a small porch and we found ways to reuse almost all of the materials. The exterior siding would be HardiPlank and the interior finishes would be low VOC, meaning that they would not emit harmful chemicals called volatile organic compounds.
Jack puts up the first SIPS wall
This was in 2004 — ancient history for greenbuilding. None of us realized how adventuresome the design we came up with was. Julie had specified walls to be built with structural insulated panel systems (SIPS), a sandwich of oriented strand board and foam insulation. Instead of conventional studs and sheathing, the walls were built with panels joined with 2x4s. The panel walls required no other supporting structure, thus saving wood and creating an airtight seal for the building envelope. SIPS have been around for a while and are well tested, but when the building inspector came to the job — there was a long silence. It turned out SIPS hadn’t been used in Baltimore before.
The City has the responsibility to carefully consider any building material that is new to them, no matter how “green” it may be. Fortunately SIPS has pounds of supporting documents available, and we were allowed to proceed. When the building inspector came out to deliver the good news, I had to gently pull at his sleeve and show him the two straw bales that we had built into the wall at a point where it curves. Straw bales can be curved, and they create a built in window seat because they are so thick. It was a natural choice, but that hadn’t been done in Baltimore either.
Completed Greenspring Avenue project
“If I bring you some old clothes, will you build me a scarecrow?” inquired the building inspector with a laugh. I knew our project would be all right.
As a post script, the next year I was back in the permit office with another straw bale project, also in Mt. Washington. The gentleman reviewing the drawings took one look at our 21” thick walls and proudly announced: “I know what that is; it’s straw bale. My boss took me out to see your last project. Approved!” So, when a Mt. Washington resident takes an action for green, no matter how small it may seem, the ripple effect has started.
Completed Greenspring Avenue project Interior
Completed Greenspring Avenue project Interior
*The Mount Washington Post wants to acknowledge that Greenbuilders has been an advertiser on the Mount Washington Post. Polly was working with us on this series before Greenbuilders, Inc. decided to advertise with us and she has not paid us for this series.
Loading ...
Wonderful article! Every act does start a ripple, and one never knows where those ripples will go. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.