From a health standpoint, natural daylighting is maximized with many large windows, transoms, and solar tubes. Indoor air quality is maximized with 0-VOC sealants, varnishes, and paints, and an HRV (heat recovery ventilator) system optimizes heat distribution and refreshes indoor air.

The home’s landscaping includes 95% permeable surfaces; a large (1000 gallon recessed) rainwater harvesting system and rain barrels; a rain garden and bio-swale; 90% drought-resistant native and edible plantings (including fruit trees, a raspberry patch, a greenhouse, and sub-irrigated raised beds); and bee, butterfly, and bird-friendly plantings to attract and help restore habitat. The landscape design mediates storm water on site, addresses LEED’s sustainable sites and water efficiency principles, and meets The Conservation Foundation’s Conservation@Home certification requirements.

We were already conservation-minded when we came to this project, and had spent several years already deeply involved in sustainable community projects. But the green building process taught us a lot about sustainable innovations; energy use and efficiencies; insulation, insulation, insulation; LEED documentation; working with a team of great green professionals (our green rater/3rd party verifier, energy auditor/modeler), and practicing thinking as they do about the “whole-house” balancing of energy & water conservation with human health optimization.

The construction process taught us much about PATIENCE (how to live in disarray for 7-12 months in phase 1), and also about the coordination and logistics of a large project like this — working with a project team and seeing from the point of view of an architect, or a builder, or an HVAC service provider, or a landscape designer.

At the end of the day (perhaps it is because our minds and hearts are already rooted in sustainable living) our biggest learnings had to do with taking the long view when it came to decision-making and weighing the benefits and drawbacks of certain solutions or approaches. Perhaps what kept us going through the complexities, the processing of difficult technical concepts, the surprises (all projects of this size have surprises!) — was our macro-focus throughout the project on the way we want to live. The prize we tried to keep our eye on was that this project was just an expression of our belief in and attempt to carve out a new/better/lighter/smarter way to live physically with and in support of our environment, with respect to our resources, with an ethic of conservation, and in order to improve (or at least be “less bad” with regards to) the health and well-being of our home and our planet. We found that when we thought this way, though it was often difficult (there is plenty of consuming work and decision-making in a project like this), it helped some of the more challenging pieces feel simpler, and some of the “stickier” pieces seem worth working through.

Some materials and finishes (doors, door hardware, a toilet and sink, mudroom lockers) were obtained at:
Jan’s Antiques
Salvage One
Craigslist

Reclaimed Materials

Mud room lockers were purchased from http://chicago.craigslist.org/, after being cast off by a high school in Indiana.
99% of interior doors are reused from original home, or locally procured from salvage (via http://chicago.craigslist.org/) from a warehouse in Wisconsin that had earmarked them for landfill; the “new” (salvaged) doors are made from Hemlock wood.
90% of interior door knobs/hardware are reused from the original home, or salvaged/reclaimed.
Master Bathroom door is reclaimed and local, from salvage; was an office door from downtown Chicago.
Many of the landscaping elements from the original garden (bricks, fencing, stumps from recently trimmed trees, etc are reused in the updated sustainable garden design).

Local Wood Flooring
The flooring in the old part of the house is original to the home (local, reclaimed), and was re-sealed (see Robio Monocoat below) for durability and protection. All new wood flooring was sourced locally at the Indiana plant of Missouri-based Smith Flooring.

Wood Floor Stains & Sealants
Floor stains and sealants are by Robio Monocoat, which supports LEED and develops “plant-based, VOC-free and completely non-toxic oil finishes of extraordinary durability. All Monocoat finishes are easily maintained, and provide a subtle lustre that reveals and complements, rather than covers, the natural grain and patina of the wood.”

Wood Trim/Door Stains & Sealants
Safecoat Durostain was used to stain all the wood and door trim in the new part of the home. Durostain “fast-curing flat finish, semi-transparent stain promotes penetration of porous surfaces and has high adhesion for superior protection as a decorative colorant. It has excellent pigmentation stability and is a durable stain. It contains no aniline dyestuffs, no gilsonite or asphalt, no aromatic solvents and no formaldehyde.” This product is SCS Indoor Advantage certified and LEED qualified.

Interior Paints
Paints by AFM Safecoat — in zero VOC, fast curing Pearl — is SCS Indoor Advantage certified and LEED qualified. Safecoat is “the leading provider of environmentally responsible, sustainable and non-polluting paints, stains, wood finishes, sealers and related green building products… (they aim to) set the standard for protecting personal health through reduced toxicity.”

Interior Painting
Dwayne Ferrell at Stroke of Art Painting and Varnishing utilized water-based and O-VOC varnishes, sealants, and paints throughout our home when painting walls & ceilings, and staining wood trim and doors.

Exterior Painting
Andrew Schlacks and his crew, our exterior painters, were professional, efficient, fast, and affordable. We highly recommend them.