Mel's House News

APA Energy Efficiency Seminar Draws Crowd
February 4, 2009
Green building and wood construction were the topics of a recent APA seminar, Energy-Saving Techniques in Wood-Framed Housing, on February 4, 2009, in Houston, Texas. The free seminar was attended by more than 50 builders, designers and engineers.

In the seminar, speakers Bob Clark, an APA Engineered Wood Specialist, and Gary Beck, P.E., of E co-Holdings ( ECO ), discussed energy-efficiency and the structural shell of wood-framed houses, and the many energy-saving advantages of building with wood. “Gary Beck has evaluated multiple construction methods, including building with concrete and steel,” Clark said. “He has consistently found that wood is the most energy efficient and green building product.”

Michael Strong of GreenHaus Builders also discussed the energy-efficient building practices being applied to a Houston-area demonstration home, referred to as the E3 House. The house, the product of a partnership between GreenHaus Builders, APA and the Southern Pine Council, is being constructed to demonstrate raised floor construction and other disaster resistant and green building techniques that meet the building demands of the Gulf Coast.

E3 House Live in Houston
December 19 , 2008
APA’s Bob Clark discussed methods of improving energy efficiency in new home construction with a reporter from KHOU-TV's Great Day Houston on location at Mel’s House. Upcoming segments include energy efficiency, durability, green finish materials and the housewarming finale in early 2009. View the KHOU Great Day Houston video segment.

Crawl Space/Moisture Control Take Center Stage
December 10 , 2008
APA held its third open house at the E3 demonstration home in Houston. Held in conjunction with a seminar on moisture control and closed crawl spaces, the half-day event attracted an audience of 40 architects, builders, engineers, energy raters, building scientists and city code officials.

“We had great diversity in the turnout to showcase what we’re doing in that home,” said Michael Strong, builder of the demonstration home and principle with Greenhaus builders. What they did was install Houston’s first approved closed crawl space system in a residential structure. The closed crawl space is one of many crawl space options that are compatible with raised wood floors in the South. To mark the occasion and further educate area building professionals, APA brought in Melissa Malkin-Weber with Advanced Energy's Building Science Research group. As a research professional charged with investigating the energy efficiency, peak load, durability and health aspects of high performance buildings, she outlined the closed crawl space system’s key features – greater energy savings, and higher quality indoor air – and presented research results to bolster her claims.

APA’s Bruce Cordova followed with a 30 minute presentation on how moisture, particularly bulk water, moves through the building envelope. He offered several details for moisture prone areas. The seminar then shifted to the job site where attendees were able to see the closed crawl space installation. Andrew Hicks with Crawl Space Care out of North Carolina was brought in by APA to oversee the installation and speak at the seminar.
APA’s Bob Clark taped two more KHOU segments in early Dec. The first on endurance covered points that every homeowner should know regarding moisture intrusion and prevention such as layering, proper window detailing and sealing around wall and roof penetrations. The second segment focused on energy conservation features such as radiant barrier sheathing, the use of oversize OSB wall panels to overlap floor and ceiling seams and the closed crawl space.

The next open house is slated for mid January.

E3 House Live in Houston
November 19 , 2008
APA’s Bryan Readling discussed wind resistant construction with a reporter from KHOU-TV's Great Day Houston on location at Mel’s House. Upcoming segments include energy efficiency, durability, green finish materials and the housewarming finale in early 2009. View the KHOU Great Day Houston video segment.

Mel’s Open House Turns Into Classroom
October 30, 2008
Mel’s second open house took place in Houston on October 28, 2008. Held in conjunction with a two-hour APA training seminar nearby, the format proved to be effective as more than 30 designers, builders and code officials gathered for a lunchtime tour of the two-story structure.

With the rafters and nearly all the metal connectors in place, a final framing inspection was ordered. Pending the inspection outcome, roof and wall sheathing, house wrap, window and door flashing are next on the schedule. There were many good questions ranging from the use of LSL headers, and the spans on the I-joists to the use of a conditioned crawl space sparked by a short presentation from APA's Bryan Readling and Dow Corporation's Frank Aranza.

A properly closed crawl space can provide much better moisture control than conventional, wall-vented crawl spaces in temperate humid climates. Homes with closed crawl spaces can save significantly on energy when compared to homes with wall-vented crawl spaces. Gaining approval for the closed crawl space in Mel’s House was not without its challenges. In fact, the city of Houston had never approved a closed crawl space system. After the open house, Aranza and Strong met with Houston's building department, reviewed the requested changes and were granted the first-ever conditioned crawl space in America's fourth largest city.

In a further testament to Houston’s green building commitment, APA toured the new Green Building Resource Center, a 2000 square foot space dedicated to green products and applications. APA is working with the center’s director, Steve Stelzer to show the complete line of engineered wood products.

Mel’s House Unfazed by Hurricane Ike
October 14, 2008
When construction commenced on Mel’s House, a traditional style demonstration home featuring a raised wood floor, in the heart of Houston Texas, no one thought this house would be put to the test so soon and so often. Though Hurricanes Eduard, Gustav and Ike delivered their best blows, only the construction schedule suffered serious dents. The engineered wood and southern yellow pine products withstood the test.

This project evolved out of APA’s Gulf Coast initiative. Prominent local builder Michael Strong, president of GreenHaus Builders, along with the Southern Pine Council (SPC), APA and many product manufacturers have come together to showcase raised wood floor foundations among other disaster resistant and green building techniques. The project house is a custom, 3,000-square-foot two-story home in northwest Houston. The residence is qualifying as a green built home with the Greater Houston Builders Association’s Green Building Initiative program and the USGBC LEED for Homes program.

The project is targeting a range of audiences – consumer, designers, code officials and builders. The marketing tactics include televised segments on CBS affiliate KHOU’s Great Day Houston, open houses, local seminars and articles. Progress on this and other Gulf Coast demonstrations may be followed on the dedicated website www.e3house.org. Additional details about the raised floor construction system can be found at www.raisedfloorliving.com.

Open House
October 14, 2008
With many in Houston still reeling after Hurricane Ike, the first open house on October 7, 2008 was understandably small. Of 45 registered roughly 30 attended. One prominent attendee, who has followed this project from the start, is Mr. Steve Stelzer, head of Houston’s Code Enforcement Green Building Resource Center. He shared the City’s green vision with the attendees. Stelzer oversees a 2,000 square foot center in which products and techniques will be on display for builders, consumers and designers. Stelzer indicated that engineered wood products will play an important role in the center as Hurricane Ike reinforced the need for products that meet structural needs as well as green guidelines. APA is following up with Stelzer on his need for product displays and literature.

The next open house is slated for October 28. APA will combine a wind resistant design and bracing seminar with an afternoon tour of the home. APA will tape two KHOU segments on the same subjects the following day.

Interest is high for the October 16, seminar and open house in conjunction with the B.C. Daniels demonstration house in Mobile, Alabama. More than 80 people have registered for the event. APA has contracted with Daniels to build two raised wood floor homes. These homes are part of a larger NAHB Research Center study involving nine homes spread throughout Southern Mississippi and Southern Alabama. The study will analyze cost data for three slab-on-grade, three slab-on-elevated fill and three raised wood floor foundations. Results will be featured in trade and consumer marketing.