Christmas Trees!

The Kid's Tree in the Loft above the Great Room

The Adult Tree in the Great Room

(still looking for a lightweight lighted topper)

Holiday Pictures

Here are some interior shots before Thanksgiving gets underway. Enjoy!

We are a "Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat"!!!!

We have had our property certified as a "Backyard Wildlife Habitat" by the National Wildlife Foundation http://www.nwf.org/backyard/. We should have a sign to post in the yard soon, but for now it appears that the word is out. Here is a new visitor that just started coming around in the mornings yesterday and today. I couldn't really get a great picture because he was about 70 ft away and I shot the photo through a window and screen. I don't have a powerful zoom on my D-SLR yet, so this is the best I could get with a little cropping and sharpen filter in Photoshop.

Kaila was the first to spot this guy yesterday. She said she saw a deer run through the yard and it looked wierd, "like a big dog with huge horns on it." I was a little intrigued with that description so I had her to describe whether the horns were big or little - she said big and made a HUGE gesture with her hands - so I was thinking we must have Bambi's Dad walking around and was expecting like a 12-point or something. As it turns out, this little guy appears pretty young - for a minute I thought it was a goat! Nevertheless, he does have antlers - although I couldn't get a good enough look to count them and I'm not sure my photo is good enough either. Anyway, I hope he sticks around a while and brings a few friends too. Enjoy!

She was \'green\' when it was just a color | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com

She was 'green' when it was just a color | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com

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Solar Tour and Artwork

Below are photos of a piece of artwork by local artist, Nicholas Yust that was installed at the house (very early) this morning before the Solar Tour (Thanks Nicholas!) He trained at the University of Cincinnati and does some fabulous metal work. This looks absolutely awesome in our house - the photos do not do it justice - especially daytime photos. I can't wait to take some at night when the house is dark and the only lighting is on the piece itself.

The solar tour today was very sucessful - it was a guided tour on a planned route this year, so we really were only alotted time from 9:55 to 10:30. We tried to keep to that schedule as much as possible, but we still had some stragglers afterward until about noon, and then a few more came around 2:00. All in all, I think there were between 75 and 100 people who toured the house today - not too bad considering last year we had between 150 and 200, but were open all day from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Feedback on the house was all very positive, and we were also featured on the front page of the Home Style: Life & Leisure section of the Cincinnati Enquirer today. We attended the solar tour kick-off Gala at Governor Strickland's residence in Columbus last night, and were up bright and early getting the house ready for the tour this morning. Overall it was a great day and I think everyone had a lot of fun! Thanks to all who attended!

Storm Damage

After the remnants of hurricane Ike ripped through the Ohio Valley yesterday bringing sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts reported up to 80 mph for several hours, we feel lucky to have such little damage to the house. Here you can see part of a 40 ft tall pine tree that snapped in our front yard and the neighborhood men trying to get it down safely without damage to my newly installed raingarden.

We were without power for almost exactly 24 hours, but Duke Energy is reporting that power will not be restored to everyone for about a week. All in all, over 800,000 people in the Duke service area - about 90% of it's customers were without power at some point. That is the most in this region's history according to the local news reports. I think there are still about 500,000 people without power. We had sent many of our crews down to assist with Hurricane Ike clean up in Texas, but the crews had to then be recalled back to Cincinnati. So we have to wait for those crews to get back home. Luckily, we had little damage and only one day and night without power. The kids were troopers and we tried to make it fun like camping. The worst part was driving around this morning (with all of the traffic lights out) to try to find ice to save the food in our refrigerator. We were able to cook with our grill and gas cooking stove inside, and our solar hot water heater performed beautifully of course. So the refrigeration was the only issue. For those of you that called to see if we were exempt from the power woes because we were solar, remember that we have a grid-tied system, so when the grid goes out, so do we. This is to protect workers who might be out working on the line - it wouldn't be good for us to be sending power down lines that they thought were dead. And also, we do not have any battery storage for our solar power, so we were just as much in the dark as everyone else. But again, it wasn't really that much of an inconvenience except for the refrigeration and having to fill the toilet tanks with water from milk jugs because no power to our cistern pump means no power to fill the toilet tanks with our rain water. There is a small add-on system that we can get that has some additional safety features and a small bank of batteries so that we can run critical circuits from solar power when the grid goes out. We may consider that more seriously now.
Below you can see that all of the siding and solar panels on our house made it through the storm safely and are in top shape. The only damage to the house was to the western-most sunshade above the first floor window. You can see below how it was damaged in the middle when a branch or something hit it. Actually, it's great that the sunshade was there to take the impact and protect the window.

ATTEND THE OHIO SOLAR TOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to remind everyone that this year's Ohio Solar Tour - as part of the National Solar Tour sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society - will be Saturday, October 4th. We're on the tour again this year and we're really looking forward to it. Our tour will be the second stop on the Cincinnati East Tour that kicks off at the Melink Headquarters in Milford. Tour guide books and other info should be available on the Green Energy Ohio (GEO) website soon. Check in there at www.greenenergyohio.org and click on Solar Tour on the left sidebar. Make sure you look for the 2008 Tour info because the last time I checked, they still had the 2007 info up there. Hope to see some of you in October! If you have any questions, just email me at nuttergreenhome@yahoo.com Thanks!

Snow Guards and visitors

Here's just a little update to show the snow guards we've added to the roof - the shot below shows that garage roof, but we installed the same system on the house roof as well. You can imagine what problems that snow falling from the house roof could do to someone trying to come to the front door, so we decided to get this taken care of before fall. These guards will hold the snow back and let it melt slowly and come off the roof in small pieces - rather than in one huge avalanche! Chris Stearns at Alpine Snow Guards http://www.alpinesnowguards.com/ was so helpful. We really like the fact that the guards installed fairly easily and they use the same clamping system that was used to install our PV solar panels. Thanks Chris - they look great!
The next three pictures show you some of our recent visitors. We've had a lot of deer coming through in the evenings lately. We have a momma and two fawns that have walked through a couple of times. The littlest one stopped to chomp on my new red chokeberry shrub, so I had to shoo them along! Here's one roaming solo . . .
One of the reasons we wanted to plant a raingarden was to assist with wildlife habitat - especially birds and butterflies. Below is what I've really been hoping to see. I'm not an expert on insects, but the plant in the picture is Butterfly Milkweed - also known as red or swamp milkweed. These plants are critical to the Monarch butterfly. I don't really know if this one in the picture is a Monarch, but nevertheless, the butterflies are loving this plant!

Yes, fence me in!

Here's the updates on the fence. This is the general fence we have along the property line. Right now you can see the baseball fields quite clearly, but after a year or two, we'll have some landscaping to soften and screen the view - AND give us some privacy in the back yard. This fence just gives us a backdrop for the landscaping and keeps the baseball kids out of the yard. The first picture below is from the ball fields looking back onto our property. The second one is a view from the back porch, and the last one is another close up of the baseball field side of the fence. It's just landscape timbers and 5/4" PT decking painted barn red, and 2"x4" welded wire fencing for the infill.

Rain Garden

Here's the semi-completed raingarden. We will be adding a few more plants and it will obviously look much more established in a year or so, but you get the idea. We'll also be switching out the small stones for much larger ones around the perimeter to highlight and outline the shape of the actual rain garden. The back part outside the stones is not really part of the garden, but receives mulch anyway until the Elderberry shrub hedge grows up and fills in.

I guess this is what they mean by "the cheap seats"

As you can see we've been busy taking away in order to add to the backyard. All of the dirt you see here was once non-native invasive shrubs (we seriously think some of them were man-eating). These things were wicked, thorny, vines and shrubs and we had the excavator pull them out with a back-hoe so that we could put in some more ecologically sound species along the back property line. As much as our friends think we should just put in a set of bleachers and charge admission for the baseball games, we decided against it and will instead put up a privacy fence (think Fenway Park's big green wall) and some native shrubs to give us a softer and more natural look along the property line - without fear that if the kids walk too close to the landscaping that they might get pulled in and swallowed by the vines a la the Robin Williams movie Jumangi.

You can see the wetland pond in the picture if you look closely. There is a white pvc pipe that flows into the pond. We'll be planting wetland trees, shrubs and plants in this area to try and bring in wildlife such as birds, butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, toads, and turtles. We already have some frogs and turtles, along with deer and rabbits!

View from the ball fields . . .

Landscaping - sort of . . .

Here is where the wetland pond will go. It's basically a detention basin for the water that comes off of our driveway and our neighbor's property. We piped it underground to this location

The clearing that we did to the left of the shed added about 4000 sf of area (40' x 100') to our back yard. This area will be used for a wetland and part of the general back yard. The area to the right of the shed that we cleared is about 50'x40' and much of that will eventually become a vegetable and fruit garden.

Here you go . . .

An update on the sunshades, as promised. You can see below a shot of the sunshades in progress. The single windows on the first floor all the way to the right and left are finished -you can see the shadows being created around the windows by the sunshades. On the long set of windows in the center of the house, you can see that the three to the right are complete and in shadow, while the two to the left are not complete and have no shadows.

Here's a close up of one completed . . .

Sunshades in progress

We should be finishing up the custom architectural sunshades on the exterior of the house today or tomorrow. The Memorial Day weekend is being kind to us and allowing an extra day of good weather to work in.

It also looks like we'll have another summer of frequent blog updates, as we've decided to add a pool to the landscape. Hopefully if all goes well with financing and planning, we should be able to start excavation for the pool in mid-late June. Of course we'll keep you posted with updates and photos. We decided that we aren't getting any younger and neither are the kids - and pools won't be getting any cheaper, so we're going to really do it. That means that our mini-vacation to Indianapolis is pushed back to next year, and next year's planned trip to Disney World is pushed to 2010. All the while, we'll be kicking back in the pool and having fun!

Anyway, look for an update later today or tomorrow for the sunshades, and don't forget to check back for updates on the landscape - raingarden, wetland, and prairie - soon too. The excavator will be starting to clear for the wetland next week.

As for an update on the inside - Kenny will be starting trim sometime this summer and I'll be working on touch up painting and getting another coat of wax on the floor. By the way, dogs are not kind to the wax finish on my floors! Oh well, it's otherwise indestructable and great for both kids and pets. I can't tell you how many times something has been spilled or dropped or there's been a pet/kid "accident" and it's just no big deal. In our old house we'd have to break out the towels, carpet spot treatment, shampoo machine, etc. Here, it's a quick 1-2 with the mop and you're done. I will never have carpet in my living areas ever again - it is so nasty.

Also, those of you who know me probably remember that I had a terrible time with springtime seasonal allergies. I'm happy to report that amazingly, I have not had the slightest problem with allergies since moving into our house - which is wierd considering that we now keep the windows open all the time. (Knocking on wood as I type).

Ok, so that's about it for the update today - I'll see some of you in August for the Dalton Reunion, and others for various tours that we'll be doing through the summer months, so be sure to mention that you still check in on the blog. I'll only keep it up as long as people want me to, so let me know!

Clean Energy Strategies for Consumers Workshop!

Green Energy Ohio has asked if I would post this announcement. For more info or to register, please go to www.greenenergyohio.org. Thanks!

GEO Southwest Ohio 2008 Regional Workshop
Managing Your Carbon FootprintClean Energy Strategies for Consumers

Saturday, May 17, 2008
9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Cincinnati ZooHarold C. Schott Education Center3400 Vine StreetCincinnati, Ohio 45220See Agenda & Register On-Line [CLICK HERE] Map & Directions [CLICK HERE]

This all-day workshop provides multiple sessions with expert speakers covering current topics in energy efficiency and alternative energy practices relevant to Midwest residential and small business applications. This Southwest Ohio Regional Workshop is co-hosted by Green Energy Ohio, the Ohio Department of Development, the Cincinnati Zoo and the Cincinnati Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. Companies providing sustainable design and energy services will be on hand displaying products and services. Expert speakers will discuss these issues:

How can you save energy and reduce your utility bills?
Wondering how to rehab a building in a green way?
Will renewable energy work for you?
Where can you find providers of sustainable energy products?
How will Ohio's new Energy Bill impact renewable energy and energy efficiency?
Two programs in three afternoon breakout sessions are offered:
Basic information on efficiency, renewable energy and green design.
Advanced information for those seeking more detailed knowledge for specific projects.
Registration: $60 Individual Registratin /$48 GEO/Zoo/USGBC Members Walk-In Registrations Welcome, But Lunches Limited
Questions: Contact James Kinsman at james@greenenergyoh io.org or 513.293.3241

Front porch paint!

We finally finished painting the front porch! I can't believe how much of an improvement it is. Next on our list is getting some landscaping and possibly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a pool. We are getting some bids and thinking it over. Of course, that's a whole other blog, right? For the landscaping, we are putting in a rain garden in the front yard - downslope from the house. And in the back yard, we'll be putting in a wetland. Eventually, I'd like to also have a native prairie.

If you look at the top of the blog you'll see I added a photo fixed to the top and a little general info to the right sidebar. The photo at top, shows the view of the house with the PV solar panels layed down flat to the roof (the solar hot water panels are permanently raised to that angle, but the PV electric panels can be raised or lowered based on the seasonal angle of the sun). This is the summer look. The panels are only raised up in winter. We'll see if the angle change really impacts us that much for our summer electric production. That's about all for now - we'll keep you updated (hopefully more often) on the landscaping and pool. As always, thanks for reading!

Final Paperwork is in . . .

Here is some of the final paperwork on the house. You can see here how well we scored. We scored a HERS Index of 36, which means our house is 64% more efficient that a standard 2006 home built to code. If anyone is interested in the process or the tests they performed, just let me know!

ENERGY STAR TESTING RESULTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well today was the day! The HERS Rater came and did the Blower Door Test and the Duct Leakage tests on the house today. First, let's talk about progress on the garage . . .

Below you can see that we've been working hard on the garage since the drywallers finished. We've installed new cabinets (actually used: salvaged from Building Value - see link at right for their website). We'll be painting these cabinets for a more professional look, but for now at least we have some storage. We've also got some misc. storage shelves on the other wall - you can see they need some adjustment to be more efficient, but it's a start. The cabinets that Kenny is sitting on are also salvaged, and the tops open up like a toybox. They are really narrow too, so they are perfect for the side of the garage for outdoor toy storage for the kids.

Below is Holly doing the Blower Door Test. She's from a company called Homes + here in Cincinnati. She's been doing a lot of commercial LEED work lately, she said.

So, we hooked up the contraption below to the door and made sure all other doors and vents were closed. She turned on the fan using the smallest ring (there's three different rings and the smaller ones are used for smaller houses). She said that even though our house was bigger and probably needed the bigger ring, she'd start with the smaller one just to see if we could get a reading considering how tight we think we'd built the house. I don't know much about these tests, but she said we had to reach a 50 in the readout window on the left and then when that one reached 50, we would record the number in the readout window on the right. As it turns out, our house - even though it is big - was able to make the reading using the smallest ring. The reading that we recorded was 320. She said that was the lowest she'd ever seen and that even though it was unofficial, it was a pretty safe assumption that we would receive the highest available rating of 5+ Stars!!!

In addition, Holly tested the ductwork for leakage percentage. We did this by covering all of the supply and return registers with wide tape. Then we ran the blower door fan again to get another reading and do another calculation. She said that a typical "production-type" house usually has around 24-25% leakage in the ductwork. An Energy Star Certified home must reach 17% or lower. Our ductwork had less than a 10% leakage rating - which is really low. We really don't know what the actual reading is because when taping off all of the registers we FORGOT to cover all of the upstairs returns in the bedrooms and halls (because we were concentrating on the floor registers and forgot that the upstairs returns are in the walls). So even with the upstairs returns uncovered, we still only had 10% leakage!!!

Now we wait for our certificate and stickers to come from Columbus! Of course I'll post photos when it gets here!

Below is the storage cabinet above the future sink. We have the stainless sink that goes there - just one more thing on the list to be finished!

Nutter Green Home - In Print

Here are a few of the print articles we have been featured in this month. The house was also featured in the program guide for the Cincinnati Home and Garden show that was held in early March at the Convention Center.

I've also been busy speaking to local groups about the home. In January, I spoke at Cincinnati State to the Green Energy Ohio group, then in February I spoke at the College of Mt. St. Joseph to an Interior Design studio, and then yesterday, I gave a presentation at Xavier University to a group of faculty. (and some of those were actually PAID gigs!) Anyway, hopefully we'll get more people involved with the native landscape this spring. We can use all of the funding and volunteer help we can find! Enjoy the photos! (BTW - both of the articles below of from the March issues of each magazine)


In Cincinnati Magazine's article, our house is discussed, along with a few other green homes in the area. It's kind of buried in the back of the magazine in the Home and Garden Section.

Drywall Complete!

Well, we finally have drywall in the basement and garage complete. Here are some pictures of the garage. Now we need to install shelving and the storage system so that we can clean out much of the basement and shed. Once that is finished, we'll be able to install the shelving in the shed and work through our storage woes.


The other big thing on the agenda for the spring is the landscaping. We're trying to get supplies, volunteers, and funding in place to install a native rain garden, and also a wetland to help with some drainage issues. In the fall, we're also planning on adding a native prairie. So if anyone out there would like to take part and assist us in some of these projects, we're looking for young people to come and spend the day with us learning about the benefit of these landscape techniques. My Daisy Girl Scout troop will be participating in some of the planting, and I've also contacted the Clermont County Master Gardener's and 4-H groups. Just send me an email at nuttergreenhome@yahoo.com for more information or if you are a native landscape supplier and would like to sponsor a portion of the project. Keep in mind that we give tours of the home and grounds frequently and have been featured in several local print media such as Cincinnati Magazine, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Home Improvement Magazine, and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Thanks!

Garage Insulation

Well, we rented a lift today and Kenny and I worked on insulating the garage ceiling. (We took a few breaks to allow the kids a little fun - see below). We were able to finish the ceiling, and only have a few wall pieces left until the entire garage is insulated. Then we can have the drywallers come in and finish off the room in the basement, garage, and fix some miscellaneous drywall goofs in the house that the previous drywaller never came back to fix. We hope to have the basement painted by the end of February. Kenny will be finished with basketball by then, so hopefully then we'll be able to move on to trim. You'll notice that we used the rolls of formaldehyde-free insulation on the garage ceiling, but used the regular batts (with formaldehyde) in the garage walls. It was just a matter of convenience and we felt we were ok in having the formaldehyde in the garage since there's an exhaust fan and it will be covered anyway.

Basement

Here are some pics of the basement. We've added some walls and insulation for acoustics. Hopefully we'll get the garage insulation finished so that we can have both drywalled and move on to painting, drop ceiling, and carpet. Note that the insulation in the basement is Johns Manville Formaldehyde-Free insulation.