The Painted Lady Gets her Color Back... August 14th, 2007 Anne DeWolf, Designer Arciform LLC

 

Build it Green: Reducing Resources July 16, 2007 Eric Miller, Homeowner

Reduce/reuse/recycle. Think globally, act locally. We’ve always tried to live by these ideas. We do our best to reduce our impact in our everyday lives. Jen works only 3 miles from home, and while I work 18 miles from home, I bicycle and take max probably 9 out of 10 days. We recycle. We take our hazardous waste to the correct facilities. We reduce water use with drip irrigation and low-flow showerheads. We divert our stormwater to the yard, rather than into the sewer. We support “green energy” subsidies though our monthly bill from Pacific Power. We try.

But now there’s a new idea we’re trying to live by: build it green. Before last fall we’ve never really considered it. But, due to our unfortunate circumstances, we’re forced to rebuild our wonderful old home. If you’re gonna rebuild it, rebuild it green.

Regardless of what building practices we choose, rebuilding our home will use a lot of resources. We’ve thought long and hard about the choices we have for the rebuild to try to reduce the impact. Our first idea and the one we cling to most is to reuse. We’ve scrapped and scraped in order to not throw away the remnants post-fire and to use them in the rebuild. Some of the old moulding was not destroyed, so this will be refinished and reused directly. Much of the old moulding was partly destroyed, but because the burnt pieces must be cut off, they can’t work in the open spaces. So these will go into some shelving in the pantry. The wonderful old fir floors are burnt through in many places. But in the places they’re not, we’re opting to sand them down and refinish. There may be some water stains and old nail holes remaining, but this character is much preferred to throwing away and starting new. Unfortunately, it’s almost always cheaper to buy new stuff than it is to clean and repair old stuff, especially, if you must get someone else to do it. In as many cases as we can, (which admittedly isn’t as much as we’d like), we’re doing the work ourselves to prevent having to buy new. The door hardware is all being salvaged. This hardware has years of old paint and varnish, with a fresh coat of soot. But, with enough elbow grease, it can all be removed to restore all the brassy character of the original. And, most importantly, without throwing out the old and buying something new.

Another reduce/reuse item is the exterior paint. With 1/3 of the house exterior destroyed, conventional wisdom says to just paint the whole house when it’s done. But if you stop and think about it, why would you repaint the whole house? We had a whole-house paint job just a few years ago. Most of that paint is just fine. Surely, it’s dirty from the smoke stains. But our paint contractors assure us that it hasn’t lost its durability. It comes down to cosmetics only. So, where we can, the old paint will just be scrubbed clean and left in place. The new paint will come right up to join the old. Maybe you’ll be able to see the difference, maybe not. But in few years of aging we think they’ll look just fine next to each other. And that’s worth it to not use all that paint all over again.

Aside from the reduce/reuse aspect, when we do have to use new materials, we’re trying to be as earth friendly as possible. The wood will be Forest Stewardship Council approved. The paint will all be low-VOC and locally made. The low-e windows are made by Jeld-Wen, a company located in Oregon as well, and one with a good environmental record. We hope all these decisions will help us to reduce our environmental impact as much as possible.

 

Build it green: Energy/water efficiency
July 16, 2007
Eric Miller, Homeowner

Rebuilding under these circumstances requires many very tough choices, but it also provides many opportunities. We’ve decided to embrace these opportunities at every turn we can and use them to our advantage. Specifically, to reduce our water and energy consumption. It’s hard to say it, but if I can forget the tragedy that brought us to this point, we’re very excited to build our home to be as energy efficient as possible. We may not be able to achieve it right away due to expenses, but we expect to see a time in the near future when our home is truly carbon neutral.

The place to start is with reduced energy consumption, followed by effective insulation. Even though the consumption-reducing measures are almost always more costly up-front, in the long run they can payback the investment. Some of the energy-reducing measures we’re taking are fairly obvious:

• Energy Star appliances
• All new windows with U-factor near or below 0.3
• Shade trees along border of house

Others are not so obvious, and will require substantial investment or changes to our previous house design. We’ve decided to install a solar-thermal system to heat our domestic hot water. This may not seem obvious in a cloudy area like Portland, but the benefits are there for a lot of the year and worth the investment over time. We estimate we can reduce our gas bill by $150/year. The substantial incentives by non-profit organizations (such as Energy Trust of Oregon) as well as tax breaks from both the state and at the federal level, will help make this economically beneficial. Floor-installed hydronic heat is another way to improve energy effieciency. And for both of these systems, we’ll have tankless water heaters, which reduce the static heat losses inherent with storing hot water.

Probably the most exciting opportunity for us to reduce energy use is by installing compact fluorescent lamps throughout the entire house. CFL bulbs use approximately ¼ the energy of standard incandescent bulbs. I estimate we’ll have ~ 40 bulbs in the house. Imagine replacing all your 75-100 watt bulbs with 17-23 watt bulbs. This should be noticeable right away in our electric bill. In our efforts to rebuild our home respectfully, trying not to change the character of her 1899 charm, finding fixtures that are period specific has been a main focus. We’ve really lucked out in that Rejuvenation has decided to offer almost their entire line of period fixtures in a CFL format called GU-24. This is a new system that solves some problems of ballast heating and allows fixture-mounted CFL where it wasn’t before.

The final piece of the energy puzzle would be to install solar-electric. Prior to the fire, our carbon footprint of our home was about 6.5 tons of CO2 per year, about 50/50 between electric and natural gas. Based on electricity consumption, we would have required a 3.5 kW solar system to produce 75% of our electrical energy needs. We don’t really know what our carbon footprint will be after the rebuild, but after all the energy-reduction measures we’ve taken, we should be able to reduce this significantly. We’ll install the framework (conduits, etc.) initially for a solar electric system, then after the first winter we’ll estimate the needed solar system and go from there. 0% carbon footprint could be a reality!

The last bit of conservation we’re doing is to install a recirculating hot water system. You know that water that runs down the drain while you wait for hot water to come out of tap? It’s estimated that we waste 8000 gallons annually of water doing this for a 4-person household. Essentially, this system takes this wasted water and puts it back into the home water system to be used. This system is pretty low cost ($500 for the parts) and has immediate benefits.

The Butterfly July 16, 2007 Melissa Fryback Writing on behalf of Arciform LLC

In November 2006, I had my first chance to meet the Millers and tour their fire-damaged (damage seems like too small a word here – more like destroyed) home.  I was surprised by how little “visible” damage had occurred to the exterior of the home. The outside of the home provided clues to it’s well-cared for past.  Under a heavy layer of dark grey soot, a beautiful, brightly colored façade, expertly painted by Fresh Paint (www.freshpaintpdx.com) , was still visible.  The garden path winding along the side of the home, while also dingy with the residue of the fire, still glistened with brightly colored, hand-set mosaic tiles in the shapes of leaves and dragonflies done by their friend and mosaic artist, Margaret Kuhn.  The inside, sadly, was a sharp contrast to what I saw outside.  As I traveled through the front door, the smell took over and the dark, charred interior scattered with debris, felt ominous and lifeless.  As my three-year old, who was with me at the time put it so well, it was “scary”.  It was in those first moments that I envisioned the image of a butterfly as the perfect symbol of this home.  

In my job, I commonly use imagery and logos to help create an association with a project or campaign to the people I am trying to connect with or deliver a message to. In the case of the 1899 House, the butterfly was that perfect image.  It symbolizes the environmental, the ornamental, and the transformational elements included in this project’s purpose and the story of this wonderful family.

So, if you want to know more about what that butterfly on the logo means to this home, please click here.

And along this same vein...
Last July, while my cousin and her family were camping at the coast, an electrical fire occurred in their home and, well, like the Miller’s, they lost everything.  Like so many, they struggled to make ends meet. Times were hard enough and the tragedy of the fire took them to their knees.  The fortunate news, if there was any to be had at that time, was that while the fire started on the wall of their two girls room - they were not home.  They’ve also had a great number of friends and family rallying behind them and following along as they get through the process of rebuilding their lives – and things thankfully have gotten a great deal better!  Coincidentally, their rebuilding is occurring right along the same timeline as the Miller’s home!  

A couple of weeks ago we had a family bbq and I began to share the 1899 House story with my cousin.  I mentioned how our team’s intent is to help educate on fire safety, green building practices, sharing one family’s story of getting through this ordeal, and the “theme” of the butterfly.  Immediately my cousin began to tear up.  It turns out that (unknown to me) it was the symbol of the butterfly that helped them to get through their loss in those first few dark days.  WOW.  So here was my own sign that an image, like the butterfly, can beautifully embody the spirit of renewal, rebirth and the incredible power of transformation that can follow a disaster like fire.  

Below is my cousin’s email about the butterfly and adjacent to this entry is the picture that she shared with me.

M - Here is my picture of our butterfly that Mark purchased 2 days after our
fire - to bring us some color and cheerfulness.  I will never forget that
moment,  he brought it to me as I was having a bad break down, hugged me and
told me that this butterfly stands for our  metamorphosis and the new
beginning of rebuilding our dream.  It was very sweet.  He put it in the
rubble and I snapped the picture, I am glad I did.

Wanted to share it with you!
Love ya Tam

 

What To Do When Your Old Home is Essentially Destroyed by a Fire...
June 26, 2007
Jennifer Miller, Homeowner

...and you're in Bratislava...and it's late and everything's closed. No call centers, no phone booths, no nothin'. We tried to get direction from our hostel but there just wasn't anything they could do, so we rambled through the empty nighttime streets looking for a phone....until the shock waned and we realized we could use our mobile to call home. So we stood on a corner under a streetlamp and tried to piece it all together. We talked to our rental agent who expressed her sorrow for us and gave us phone numbers (I'm still amazed she was able to track down our insurance info without our input). Then we talked to our insurance company, who tried to explain our coverage and told us it was all going to be OK. Then we talked to a contractor that specializes in disasters and he explained how his crew had already boarded up our home and that they were going to take very good care of us. In response to both we tried desperately to help them understand that this was a special house and that we loved her very much and that we prayed they were going to help us. We were devastated and in shock, but everybody said just the right things to us. Thank goodness.

Another week and we were still devastated and in shock, but at least now we were at home. Seeing our home, smelling the noxious smoke fumes that permeated everything, touching the charred moldings, sifting through our garden that was now inches deep with a toxic, black debris...made it all too real.

We spent the next several weeks at home searching for a contractor that could work with us and our home. There were those that were confident they could help us because their specialty was fire restoration but, in our opinion, they didn't have enough experience working with older homes. Then there were the folks that specialize in older home restoration, but many were daunted by the conditions of the home as well as the prospect of working through insurance issues. We decided our best option was to put together a team that included one contractor handling the aspects of restoration specific to fire damage and another (brave) contractor with experience in old homes. So we did just that and we flew back to Ireland on Thanksgiving Day, stopping at the Garden State Diner in the Jersey airport for nachos and a Philly cheese steak. Things were beginning to look up.

 

A Perfect Pair: Green & Historic Preservation June 22, 2007 Melissa Fryback, Writing on behalf of Arciform LLC

Recently, I read in a local, quarterly newsletter entitled News & Notes: Architectural Heritage Center a message from its Director, Cathy Galbraith, on the relationship between green and historic preservation.  I was so moved by her points, that I felt it belonged republished on this site.  

The 1899 House is an example, based on her suggestion, of what we need to consider and embrace as it relates to our existing built environment & the future of sustainable development.  

Her words struck a cord with me as I consider what is occurring in this lovely little old house, that very well could have been raised due to the severity of the fire, but instead has been granted another IMPROVED life by its owners.  It should make us all consider - what is more green?  A new home with all new materials and the highest energy efficiencies or the reuse of what exists and putting sustainable practices/materials into it while making improvements to its energy efficiency?

I'd like to offer one last thought on this subject. After reading her message, I was driving downtown and passed this sight.  (See image adjacent to this entry.) Cathy's words resonated again in my head.  Perhaps we should all rethink what “green” is... And if you aren't already a member of this fantastic organization, I invite you to do so!

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Cathy Galbraith, Director -  Bosco-Milligan Foundation/Architectural Heritage Center
www.VisitAHC.org

The “Green Buildings” and “Sustainable Architecture” movements have been described as the “flavor of the decade” in various media, given what feels like a sudden attention to all things “green”. I suspect that history will prove this view to be incorrect; this movement is here to stay, in an era of ever-shrinking resources. What is remarkable is how long this movement has been around in the historic preservation field. There is nothing more “green” than a standing building, and historic preservationists have always understood the value of energy and resources that have been invested in our surviving historic buildings. And historic preservation is certainly not a fad, but is a movement based in environmental integrity. Even Thomas Jefferson orated about the concept he called “usufruct” – that each generation is a steward for the next one; that concept of stewardship has been the basis of the preservation movement from its very beginnings.
A 1987 United Nations report gave us the classic definition of “sustainable development”…it is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sounds like everyone has been on the same page for a few hundred years!

Historic building preservation is also an attitude about managing inevitable community change, as growth and development continues to accelerate in the Northwest, in a positive and responsible way. Perhaps we have simply been belated in more vocally celebrating our connectivity to the newer movements. We all face the same challenge: changing the culture and the values we cherish. As it is often said about America's “old-fashioned” values: ‘Waste-not, want not' is not just a saying to stitch on a sampler. So why do we subject every proposal for preserving historic buildings to an economic test that presumes that new development is somehow better, and that removal is part of some natural order, instead of the other way around?

At least part of the answer is that we need to be more vocal in articulating the “sustainability” benefits of historic preservation. Perhaps economics guru Donovan Rypkema – who is light years ahead of most people on these issues say it best… ”Historic preservation makes sense because its makes dollars and cents, but it also saves dollars and cents. Historic preservation is a rational and effective response to over-consumption. To make a new brick today to build on a site where there is already a building steals from two generations. It steals from the generation that built the brick originally, by throwing away their asset before its work is done; and it steals from a future generation by using increasingly scarce natural resources today, when it should be saved for tomorrow. We have already consumed enough of somebody else's assets – it's time to make better use of our own. Historic preservation is the way for us to do that.”   Don Rypkema said this in 1990…and it's taken too long for everyone to hear him.

 

Design Overview
Anne De Wolf, Designer - Arciform LLC

The number one goal for this design is to make sure Jennifer and Eric feel at home when they come back from their world travels and that the home will feel like as if it never was hurt by a fire.

The changes we had to make due to code requirements from the city where the staircase and the upstairs bathroom. These impacted the space plan on the back of the main floor and most of the space on the second floor. Initially we send back and forth many layouts to be sure we studied all the options available to us. The staircase moved all over the house. Finally we decided that we wanted to located the stairs in the north west corner of the home.

The results of this layout are that we can open the kitchen to the back yard, that we have a large size pantry, that the staircase lands in the new family room on the second floor which now is at the back of the house and that we have more room for the second floor bathroom. We also have room for three large closets on the second floor.

The sense of space to be created is to reflect the Victorian era of the home as if it had never changed. Jennifer and Eric love the saturated colors and the ornate fixtures. Also the kitchen is a large open space with furniture like cabinetry. Jennifer sketched the stove and sink elevation to reflect the simple and efficient use of space. The large pantry enables us to keep the amount of cabinetry to a minimum.

Jennifer and Eric spent a week with me in my office working very hard to select all the millwork, fixtures and finishes for the different spaces. We had to document the details like the length of the pendants and the exact location of each fixture as well as the finishes. It was a crazy week. I
loved having them here in the office, we were very efficient.

We also walked through the home to determine what we could salvage and what needed replacing and Jennifer and Eric cleaned door hardware at our wood shop. They also tried to salvage some light fixtures but the damage was just too great. So now we are going to reuse as much of the millwork, the doors and the flooring as we can on the first floor. On the second floor
some of the flooring is salvageable but everything else is being replaced.

The challenge in this case was the long distance. I had a client whom I had worked with last year how lived in Sacramento while we designed and remodeled their home. I send her an e-mail asking for any feedback she could give me and she told me to be sure to clarify architectural
terminology when I corresponded with Jennifer and Eric, because she sometimes did not understand what I was trying to tell her. Also, a lot of images help. I had learned from that experience to leave nothing unsaid. It is important to give the client an opportunity to think even about the smallest of details.

So to summarize the experience, I would say open communication, a lot of images and a lot of updates. It is hard enough for Jennifer and Eric to be so far away so I felt that I needed to check in with them as often as I possibly could.

Stairs:
The original stairs were very steep and narrow. During the fire they were also badly damaged. So the decision to rebuild them was made right away. There was really no chaise. Since whenever a staircase in an old home needs to be rebuilt it needs to meet current code requirements. The new stairs take up a lot more space than the old ones did. So we needed to find that space. Initially Eric and Jennifer wanted to have an open space in the north-west corner of the home for an office area and a large kitchen. Once we started to lay out the new staircase though I felt that that corner would be ideal for the staircase location. After a few options to make sure this was really the best plan we all agreed and the desk is now located in the kitchen. Even within this new large space it was hard to fit the stairs properly because they had to provide head room for the new basement stairs below and they had to fit between the exterior wall and the walls created by the bathrooms.

The large question with regard to esthetics was opening the stairs up or keeping them closed. Ultimately we compromised and closed the center run of the staircase with the first run open to the new back entry and an open railing at the family room. This saved some money and provided nice wall spaces for artwork. We are using McCoy Millwork's railing elements. The railings will be painted black, which I am very excited about.

 

Project Status
June 6, 2007
Richard De Wolf, Founder - Arciform LLC

The weather has cooled off a bit, and it feels more like a Portland spring. We can't smell residual smoke anymore and the houses bones have all been healed. The framing is done, the house is getting cleaned out from this step and you can actually walk upand down the stairs comfortably. The houses new layout feels great. It maintains the Victorian feel while creating space for modern conveniences and safety. Many framing upgrades were done to bring the house up to our standards and to help the house last another hundred some odd years. We had to cut a small concrete pad out of the basement to make way for the new staircase and that new concrete will probably be poured tomorrow. Plumbing alsostarts tomorrow which will include plumbing the whole house again with new supply lines. The good old heavy cast iron wasn't phased at all during the fire, but now is the time to get rid of all those nasty lead bends. All of the supply lines will be new coming from a newer service from the street that the Millers put in a few years ago. A recirculating pump will be placed upstairs to move the hot water through the pipes without wasting any water at the source. The vintage lookingfixtures will be to today's current standards and have water saving features incorporated.