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Corn Cobs to Buttons

Posted on March 22nd, 2012 by Rob Smith, AIA, LEED AP

This is the second blog in a series featuring Iowa companies who are making an impact in sustainable construction.   The McKee Company  of Muscatine was founded in 1895 and at one time was the largest manufacturer of pearl buttons in the world.  Their buttons were found on men’s dress shirts made for JCPenney, Van Heusen, Arrow, and Land’s End.   When most clothing lines left the States and went to China the need for buttons was drastically reduced. 

via Google images

The company still makes buttons but has used button making technology and transitioned to sustainable building products.  Years ago the company looked for more sustainable ways of making buttons and turned to a biomass resin instead of petroleum based.   Buttons are made by pouring the resin into a spinning drum making a thin sheet which is peeled off the inside of the drum.  The sheet hardens and is made into buttons.  Corn cobs are used to polish the buttons after they are punched and tooled into the shape desired.

Jay McKee, fourth generation owner, says one day they experimented by adding corn cob material to the resin and voila, the Green Line of sustainable products were born.  The 22% bio content panel can be used for many uses such as shower enclosures, bathroom walls, countertops, and decorative cabinet panels.   Other options include wood chips, lemon grass, and fibers.  Since then the material was successfully used at restroom renovations at the University of Iowa Quadrangle dormitories.

The button making process allows many custom panels to be manufactured because small quantities can be easily made rather than setting up for thousands of square feet of material.

See the last blog on ReWall at IowaBiz sustainable design and construction

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Panels Made from Milk Cartons

Posted on March 8th, 2012 by Rob Smith, AIA, LEED AP

image via aedairy.com

The citizens of the USA dispose of 250 million tons of trash each year or about 4.6 pounds per day.  Luckily about 30% of trash is recycled.  The waxy cartons used for milk and juice account for about two million tons of trash and typically go straight to the landfill.

The Rewall Company of Des Moines is using a European process to turn the cartons into construction building panels.    The boards can be left natural where you see all the words and colors of the cartons (naked board) or a paper coating (essential board) is applied to both sides.  Either product can be painted.  You could panel your basement or go ultra-modern and make an accent wall in your living room.

The product is made from post-consumer and post-industrial waste  content found within 500 miles of Des Moines.  Rewall is working with Metro Waste to obtain post-consumer product from the Des Moines area. 

via Google images

The 8 foot by 4 foot panel is virtually inert and water resistant.  I personally soaked a piece of naked board in water for a week and the panel barely changed.  Anywhere you have used plywood or oriented strand board this 100% recycled product can be used.  Examples are under countertops, paneling, tile backer board, floor sheathing, and roof sheathing.

The product can be purchased at the Habitat Restore in Des Moines or Kinzler Companies in Ames.  You can buy 1/2” x 4’ x 8’ naked panels for $26.00 or 1/2” x 4’ x 3’ essential board for $5.75.  Tanner Kinzler of Kinzler Companies says he is always looking to replace existing products with others which perform better, cost less, and are greener.  He is excited about Rewall.

So next time you throw a milk carton in your recycle bin, you may see it next in your kitchen remodeling.

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Not So Big House

Posted on February 23rd, 2012 by Rob Smith, AIA, LEED AP

via Google images

While shopping at Barnes and Noble for the holiday I stumbled on a book I have been meaning to buy for years, Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka.  Originally published in 1998, it tackles head on the premise that bigger is not always better when it comes to homes.  As a result, the house is more sustainable because much less materials are used to build perhaps 30% to 50% less home.  Ongoing energy costs are also greatly reduced.

I can speak to this firsthand as my wife and I look for our next home.  Many houses have lots of space with no detail or character to make a house a home.  So much space the exterior became mostly vinyl or metal siding.  Compare that to the entry of a home from the Not So Big House which is rich in detail.  Can’t you see yourself sitting on the porch for hours?  The same concept from years ago is found in areas of Des Moines such as Beaverdale where small brick homes are still in demand.  Many feature built-ins and craftsman detail throughout. 

Consider if homes were more appropriately sized the amount of wood and concrete which would be conserved.  Imagine the amount of resources saved if houses were just 10% smaller?  With nearly 7 million homes built per year at an average size of 3,000 square feet a 10% savings would save 2.1 billion square feet of home construction.  That’s a lot of carpet and space which did not require heating or cooling.

So next time you or someone you know thinks about a new home, pick up a copy of Not So Big House and think about being more sustainable from the get go!

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Going Geothermal

Posted on February 16th, 2012 by Rob Smith, AIA, LEED AP

via Google images

More and more new commercial buildings are going geothermal as a viable means to reduce energy costs. The 40,000 square foot Central Iowa Shelter & Services building, currently under construction south of downtown Des Moines, features a geothermal system. The mechanical engineer for the project, Alan Langley of Alvine Engineering, says “the trend in Iowa is more buildings are using geothermal systems, in fact about 80% of the schools we design use geothermal systems. Offices and healthcare are good candidates also.” 

Alan also adds “the trend started in Iowa when the utility companies started to provide hefty rebates for energy conserving systems like geothermal”. Basically, the utilities pay companies to lower their energy usage rather than bring on a new power plant costing millions of dollars.

A commercial system costs $16-$20 per square foot so the cost for a geothermal system for a 10,000 square foot building would be $160,000 to $200,000. The payback is typically 5 to 7 years and from day one heating and cooling costs should be reduced by 35%-45%.

via Google images

A geothermal system takes advantage of the earth’s constant temperature. The diagram shows the earth’s temperature near the surface in Iowa to be about 52 degrees. Therefore, the temperature of water when circulated through a closed system of vertical or horizontal loops nears a constant 52 degrees. The loop is tapped into by mechanical equipment which either transfers heat to the loop during the summer or takes heat from the loop during the winter.

An amazing result of the loop is the potential transfer of energy within a building during the winter. The interior zones of a large office building many times require year round cooling while the perimeter usually requires heating. Mechanical equipment removes heat from the interior zone and transfers the heat to the loop. Mechanical equipment at the exterior zone reverses the process and removes the heat from the loop and provides heat where it is needed. Now that is being green!!!

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Mis-directed Homes

Posted on February 9th, 2012 by Rob Smith, AIA, LEED AP

via Google images

I have always enjoyed a daylight filled room and the warmth of the sun in the winter.  One of the first things people ask for when I am designing their dream home is lots of windows.  I translate that to mean “give me south facing windows so I can be warmed by the sun as I have my coffee and watch the snow fall.”

via Google images

Yet it amazes me, when I see the McMansions in the suburbs of America, how few pay any attention to the direction of the sun.   The shadow cast on this behemoth suggests the large blank wall could face south.  What a shame!  The owners are robbed of one of the easiest sustainable design principles; passive solar energy by just letting the sun shine in and heat the space during the winter.   This is an example of using a stock plan with no attention to the orientation of the house. 

The best orientation for a house is with windows to the south since it is easiest to shade glass during the summer and let it shine in during the winter.  The next best is east so you get light in the morning and not the beastly sun in the summer afternoons.  Since the back of the house typically has the most windows, that means 75% of homes do not have the best orientation and 50% are a disaster (since homes have an equal chance of facing any one of the four directions).

Finally, I was looking to move to the country and was amazed time after time how a new home was built on 10 acres and still faced the street.  Certainly with that much land one could have oriented the house to take advantage of the sun.  I saw many huge windowless walls facing south…must have been the walk-in closet.

Next home, think about the benefits of the sun on your pocket book and state of mind!

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