Winter weather at Casa Aguila

No, that's not the paint job! It's an advanced method of waterproofing and air sealing a building, liquid applied membrane... R GUARD system by Prosoco.

A 30 second update - Framing and roofing timelapse

This time lapse is a bit more interesting than the ones posted back in June and July - watch the walls and roof go up!

Thanks for coming out!

Casa Aguila was on the USGBC's Green Homes Tour this past Sunday, and we had a great turnout! It was nice to meet so many knowledgeable, eco-minded San Diegans. Thanks to everyone who was able to stop by our property or other sites on the tour!

View from where the 17kW wind turbine will be located. You can see Casa Aguila down the hill on the left. 

Site superintendent Jesse Heilig describing the project 

Signs were posted throughout the site describing green features (to see the rest follow the link below)

Katie, Jeff, and Rich working hard

Rich Williams answering questions about the home

If you'd like to see a list of some of the key green features at Casa Aguila, click here.

The hot water challenge

Gary and site supervisor Jesse Heilig
walking through Casa Aguila

Have you ever looked forward to a relaxing warm shower, only to find you need to run cold water for minutes before hot water finally arrives? Not only is it an inconvenience, but it is a significant waste of a precious resource. We were lucky enough to have Gary Klein, the nation’s leading hot water distribution expert, out at our Casa Aguila site to discuss energy and water conservation strategies. Our goal with Gary was to develop a hot water system for the project that wastes less than one cup of water while waiting for hot water to arrive at the faucet.

Gary Klein,  Former California Energy Commission

Domestic hot water accounts for about 30% of household energy consumption, so there is substantial opportunity to conserve energy and resources by increasing the efficiency of the hot water distribution system. An ideal system would 1) have hot water almost instantaneously, 2) have safe water (not too hot, no harmful bacteria), and 3) never run out. In larger homes such as Casa Aguila, supplying immediate hot water is a challenge because fixtures are often located far from the water heater.

We discussed installing a hot water recirculation pump throughout the house so when the fixture is turned on it has a hot water supply adjacent to it. However, then we needed to address how much water and energy would be spent recirculating and heating the water during long periods of time when no one is using the facilities, such as when the homeowners are normally sleeping. For this concern we explored the ideas of time and motion sensors, or a manual switch, so that ideally the pump would only run right before someone would need it. We look forward to testing the system!

San Diego Green Homes Tour 2014

Walls are up just in time for the San Diego's Green Homes Tour this year! This tour showcases eco-friendly homes across San Diego and highlights innovation in environmental construction and design.

This self-guided tour will take place on Sunday November 9, 2014 from 11am-4pm and is open to the public ($5 registration fee) and USGBC members for free. If you are interested in attending you can register here.

LEED for Homes Public Awareness

To achieve part of the Public Awareness credit, we've hung a 6 square foot LEED for Homes sign outside the construction site.

To achieve another portion of the same Public Awareness credit, we've created the website you're looking at! Keep an eye out for a newspaper article about the project closer to completion.

Nicest view a woodpile could ask for

Stockpiling wood for recycling

Framing Progress

Beginning Construction

Making progress on framing! To minimize the amount of lumber necessary, we use advanced framing techniques (also known as Optimum Value Engineering). You can learn more about these techniques here.

Rich, our LEED AP builder walking up to the construction site

Beautiful view over the San Pasqual Valley

Stockpiling lumber for reuse or recycling

Separating lumber from other mixed recyclables, which will be sent to a sorting facility

McQuillan Time-lapse July

Almost time for framing!

Project Timelapse June

This is a project time-lapse of initial construction in June. Keep checking back for updates!

Project Renderings

View from Northwest

View from Southwest