The grass is always greener…
If you’ve been following this blog, you know that we have received a grant from the City of Portland for our eco roof. All three levels of the house have their own eco roofs in addition to the main roof. We met today with our very talented landscape architecture firm, 2.ink Studio. They are a great fit for us as they are open to doing something that is out of the ordinary – maybe something that hasn’t been done before – and their graphic eye to modern design works well with our aesthetics.
Our roof is completely visible from our neighbors deck behind our lot. They’ve expressed concern with what they’ll be looking at visually. Because of the visibility factor, we really want to do something out of the box that is visually stunning, but still performs the functions of a typical eco-roof. 2.ink Studio has done a great first round pass at design and we’re really excited to hopefully have something electronic to post after we meet with them next.
Also – to follow up on the HVAC design. The reality of a forced air system seems to be looming over us. To aid in our informative decision process, we’ve decided to also get pricing on a Unico high velocity forced air system. I’ve used this system in the past and it works great for modern architecture where duct runs can potentially alter design. The system relies on a main trunk duct with multiple 2″ flexible ducts extending from the trunk. This allows for installations without the need to drop soffits for ducting. It also blows much more quietly and efficiently than a traditional ducted system, plus it can run off a heat pump, electric furnace, or can be coupled with your domestic hot water of all things. I’ll keep you posted on all bids when I have them in hand.
Tags: HVAC
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I think it is a big mistake to use a Unico unit – these are low-efficiency units with SEERs of around 10 – they are allowed by a special exception for compact installations that can’t be heated or cooled any other way.
If you are really interested in saving energy why not use a ductless heat pump – Fujitsu makes a unit with a SEER of 25! – versus 10 for the Unico unit.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:21 am
William,
I agree they aren’t the most efficient. We’re spending 10’s of thousands of dollars to ensure our envelope is as efficient as we can for the cost. Ideally, our mechanical system won’t need much use. At this point, the Unico system is the only forced air ducted system we can use due to lack of space for traditional ducting. We are having a mini-split ductless heat pump system priced out as well. I’m a huge fan of the ductless heat pump. We need to consider the layout of the house and the need for heads inside the house for the ductless system. We will need between 8 and 11 interior heads. The heads can be $2k per, so this adds up fairly quickly. If we had deeper pockets, the decision would be much easier. When we get all the bids in, I’ll post them. I think we’re getting pricing on every single system, or combination of systems we can think of.