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Solar Arrives at the Eastside Harvest House

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Eastside Harvest House Solar Panels

 

Let the sun shine in!

On February 6, 2012, our Eastside Harvest House project (formerly called the Northwest Harvest House) flipped the switch on the home’s solar photovoltaic (PV) system.

Solar PV systems collect solar energy from the sun and convert it to electricity that feeds back into a building site or into our power grid.  The home’s utility is Puget Sound Energy who credits the homeowners for the energy the solar system generates that they push back into the grid.  A Washington state incentive production tax credit of  $0.34 plus .105 savings from PSE results in a net benefit is $0.45 per kWh for the homeowner.

Using part of the first day as an example and extrapolating the results for 24 hours, the system should produce 12,000 watts of electrical power per day. Based on occupant lifestyle as well as historical and regional usage and capacity data supplied by energy management companies, this projected production will be more than enough to power the entire home’s appliances and systems.

Homeowners’ goals and the energy team’s design created a system that has a 17kWh capacity.  Variables include weather, roof angles, efficiency of panels, backup storage. Daily results may vary.

This is a huge milestone in moving this soon-to-be-completed, high-performance home toward its net zero-energy goals.  Currently, there is a drive toward net-zero-energy certification that would require 12-month occupancy to monitor live results before issuing the new Z certificate.

Please contact us anytime to learn more about solar and other high performance home features on the Eastside Harvest House.

 

Photography provided by SolTerra Systems.

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MRM Participates in Neighborhood Home Fair

January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Model Remodel is supporting the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s Home Design and Remodel Fair and Public Radio through a series of radio announcements on KPLU and KING FM inviting the community to join us this Sunday, January 29th from 10a – 4p. Listen to our current public radio spot: For MP3 click here

Our booth will be located on the second floor and staffed by several of MRM’s finest :) .

MRM will also host a raffle so invite your friends, bring the kids, come down to Phinney Ridge and try out your luck for your chance to win several prizes.

Contact us for more information at 206 282 2150 or check out the PNA website http://www.phinneycenter.org/events/homefair.shtml.

We look forward to seeing you this Sunday! —MRM Team

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Design Professionals Harvest House Tour

December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the greatest benefits of working on green projects is the underlying goal of going beyond the finished product and revealing the process. We’re fortunate to live in a community of innovators who are willing to share new technologies, products and practices and who are committed to making green building and remodeling more accessible to everyone.

This commitment was evident last week when the Harvest House Design Team hosted the Cascadia GBC Behind-the-Walls Tour. Despite the sub-40-degree weather, we had a great turnout of enthusiastic Seattle-area design professional – architects, construction engineers, urban planners, municipal workers, non-profit professionals and homeowners. The project is targeting LEED for Homes Platinum and Built Green 5 Stars certifications.

As participants walked through the chilly construction site, informational signage highlighted key eco-features of the project, and our design team added important technical details on several key deep-green components:

• Overall design concept and clients’ green goals
• Deconstruction process where over 98% of the materials were recycled, reused or repurposed
• Built-to-last design and highest quality construction techniques
• Air tight building sealing and wrapping for an well-insulated envelope
• Materials chosen for durability, ease of upkeep, and high-recycled-content
• First permitted potable rainwater harvesting system in King County
• Onsite water filtration system: catchment and extensive rain gardens with several mini retention ponds
• A 90-panel solar PV array to provide 100% of the home’s energy needs
• Specialty residential energy management system
• Permaculture and edible landscaping plan that includes orchards, berry bushes and vegetables

SPECIAL THANKS
Our design team presenters included Jason Legat and Walter Goodwin of MRM; George Ostrow, Velocipede architects; Jenny Pell, Permaculture Now; Jessi Bloom, NW Bloom; Brian Heather, SolTerra Systems; and Scott Waller, Converged Green.

Brianne Culley, Magellan Architects represented the Cascadia GBC Education and Tour committee and Kyra Hughes of GLY represented E-Leaf (formerly Eastside LEED Users Group).

Participants were treated to baked goods and hot coffee courtesy of MRM and E-Leaf, which helped warm our guests and staff and created an atmosphere of casual networking and information sharing.

Look for a future MRM announcement on a tour of the finished house in early spring.

All photography provided by Cindy Apple Photography

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Harvest House: A Green Classroom

November 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Last week, we had the pleasure of taking students from BEST High School in Kirkland through the NWHH jobsite. The small but highly engaged Green Sustainable Design class spent an hour the day before the tour hearing about green building practices and green careers. One student was particularly interested in solar systems installation work and another had a parent in the commercial construction business. Their teacher Dan Weiss has a professional background in biology and environmental science and leads several science classes at the school.

The small group and sunny day gave us a chance to dig deeper into the systems and construction techniques of the project. MRM’s Walter Goodwin, Marc Sanchez and Jeremiah Blond also shared their personal journeys – how they got into the world of construction and why they chose Model Remodel. One takeaway for the kids was that there are many paths that lead to the green building field.

We received an email from the teacher thanking us and underscoring how the experience inspired his students. Word is they were still buzzing about the tour in their afternoon classes.

Education is certainly the gift that keeps on giving. We at Model Remodel see ourselves as committed to supporting a learning journey in and out of the classroom. Here’s to inspiring the next generation of green!

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Kirkland School Tours Harvest House

November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A special shout out to Lake Washington School District’s International Community School and Mr. Heil’s Environmental Science AP class for recently touring our deep green under-construction project, the NW Harvest House in Kirkland. Joining the 7:30am class were our presenters – Model Remodel‘s Jason Legat, Walter Goodwin and Mark Sanchez, Solterra Systems’ Brian Heather, and EcoMaven’s Alex Steele.

During the home’s tour, students heard about its key eco-features and learned about demolition and waste management processes, the importance of the building envelope design and construction, insulation methods, high air quality standards, featured water retention and reuse systems, solar powered renewable energy, green materials and finishes. Then we moved to the outdoor portion of the tour, where students heard about the site’s planned rain gardens and edible urban landscape.

The tour’s parent hosts were impressed by the thoughtful questions posed by these high school seniors and their overall awareness of environmental issues in our community. A couple of the classmates come from homes with green features and several were interested in exploring green career paths. One of the students is interested in journalism so look for a future guest blog post coming soon.

A thank you email from the teacher mentioned that the tour connected very well with the work the class is doing on sustainable communities, soils and water and firmed up one student’s decision to pursue a career in green architecture!

We all made plans to meet again in the spring to see the home completed, its systems working and the landscaping in place.

Overall, the experience was an A+!

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Demolish With Care – Deconstruction

November 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment


With nearly 40 percent of our landfills filled with construction debris, it’s time for our industry to do some major rethinking about what gets hauled to the dump and what can be recycled and/or reused.

Following one of our key strategies – to act responsibly at all times – Model Remodel creates an aggressive waste management plan for every project and aims for recycling or repurposing 90 percent of existing site materials.

During our demolition at the Northwest Harvest House (NWHH) site, we surpassed even our highest expectations achieving a nearly 99 percent recycle rate and taking barely one percent of our onsite debris to the nearby solid waste transfer station.

The elements of the NWHH waste management plan included deconstructing the existing house and working with strategic partners that have also evolved their business models. We worked with the area’s waste management companies who make it simpler than ever to properly sort construction waste and called upon others to haul away salvageable fixtures, doors and windows – giving these things a second life in another home, business or backyard.

Model Remodel tested for lead and asbestos and, when found, met or exceeded the requirements for safe removal of these harmful building materials. Toxic materials are safely dealt with to protect people as well as our storm water system and nearby Lake Washington. We also protected and preserved healthy vegetation, donated plants to local organizations, and sold unusable trees for milling into lumber.

This sloping, one-acre lot also required extensive excavation of existing soils. We’re protecting it during construction and will reuse it elsewhere onsite as the project progresses. Reusing soil saves time, money and fossil fuel!

Everyone associated with the project warmly embraces the responsible tenets of recycle/reuse and are thrilled knowing that this project did not adversely contribute to expanding our landfills. Besides saving the planet, it makes financial sense, too, as any revenues realized during deconstruction are passed along as a refund to our clients.

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MRM Authors Green Remodeling Article

October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Built Green, the non-profit arm of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, invited MRM‘s Jason Legat, to author the green remodeling article currently featured in this season’s Home Matters publication. If you didn’t get your copy at the 2011 Seattle Home Show this past weekend, download this resource-rich publication here or copy and paste link into your browser. (http://www.masterbuildersinfo.com/library/docs/news/Publications/HomeMatters_2011Fall/index.html) and check out Jason’s article on pages 16 and 17.

If you are considering an update to your home, give us a call. Together we can discuss green remodeling options with a broad range of benefits that include healthier materials and finishes, reductions in energy use and costs, and enhanced environmental stewardship.

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Model Remodel Presents at Built Green

September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The 2011 Built Green Conference and Festival was held on Wednesday, September 14th at the Pickering Barn in Issaquah, Washington. Hundreds of like-minded building professionals, real estate agents, municipal representatives and homeowners attended this deep-green event.

Model Remodel was selected by the conference review committee to be a panelist for one of nine educational sessions. Our session, “Harvesting the Power of the Sun, Soil and Rain,” gave us a chance to tell the packed room about the Northwest Harvest House – our exciting new construction project. The panel consisted of Walter Goodwin, Project Supervisor, Model Remodel; George Ostrow, Architect, Velocipede architects inc; Brian Heather, President, SolTerra Systems ; and Jenny Pell, Owner, Permaculture Now!. The team of experts shared key design goals and eco-strategies of the project from rainwater harvesting to operating off-the-grid. They also pulled the curtain back on project challenges and workarounds of building a net-zero-concept modern home. Following the presentation, I moderated a lively Q&A session where questions focused on project costs, green strategies, technical details of various integrated systems, and composition of the edible landscape.

If you are interested in learning more about this project and green building in general, or you would like to us to present this case study at your organization, please contact us via email and add NWHH to your subject line.

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Model Remodel Launches New Blog

September 6, 2011 By 2 Comments

Welcome to the Model Remodel and Northwest Harvest Home blog!

Interested in green building and remodeling practices? Want to add green elements to your next project? Don’t know how to get started? Then you’ve come to the right place.  Maybe you’re considering a new kitchen, bathroom, whole-house remodel or new construction project and are curious about great design, responsible contracting, energy efficiency or where to find qualified subcontractors. We promise this insight and more when you check in with us monthly.

Right now we’re most excited about our first new construction, single-family home project.  Currently under construction in Kirkland, WA, this deep-green home is targeting LEED for Homes Platinum and Built Green 5 stars.  Over the next year, we’ll share our journey as advisers and students as we tackle each new project milestone.

Today’s lessons: clearly identify your project’s goals, matching them to your scope and budget; find an architect and contractor that are good communicators and trustworthy; and make sure that your team has a long history of supporting the green-building movement.  We refer to this as the three-legged stool of success for delivering a sustainable project without a paying a cost premium.

Taking time for this upfront thinking, design and planning are all critical first steps often overlooked by those that sub premium services. Beware of “the man in the truck” who says he can deliver your champagne dreams with a beer budget.

Next post:

NWHH Project Overview: Harvesting the Power of the Sun, Soil and Rain

Bringing together a great building site, responsible clients, solar power, urban edible open spaces and rainwater harvesting.

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Model Remodel Owner 40 Under 40 Honoree

August 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Here’s some exciting news to pass along — Model Remodel founder Jason Legat was selected by The Puget Sound Business Journal as one of its 2011 40 Under 40 honorees.

For 13 years, the PSBJ has been spotlighting the area’s top business leaders under the age of 40 who excel in their industries. Our robust business community is globally renowned for its innovation and creativity, and this year’s list is no exception. Jason and the other recipients will be profiled in the publication’s September 9th special edition and honored at an event later that week at The Showbox Sodo. Click here to see Jason’s profile and slideshow.

Jason is thrilled to be included on this prestigious list saying, “What an incredible honor for me and my talented team. It’s terrific recognition for Model Remodel’s decade-long commitment to our expanding portfolio of quality projects, repeat customers and ongoing referrals.”

Jason’s staff and crew consider him a visionary leader. When the recession hit, he immediately saw an opportunity to learn about and teach eco-building practices. He also connected with area architects who deliver 21st-century green homes.

Jason grew up in Coupeville, WA, where he learned his trade as a contractor’s apprentice for a local construction company. Jason also loves to play the drums, hike and practice yoga with his wife and young son.

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