Construction Committee Meeting, Jan. 9, 2011 4 pm, Sunday, Golden Eagle Saloon, Ester Agenda:
Draft notes: notes taken by Deirdre Helfferich Meeting started at 4:07 Present: Eric Glos, Deirdre Helfferich, Todd Hoener, Hans Mölders, Mike Musick MINUTES Deirdre read the minutes from the December 5 committee meeting.
Deirdre read notes from meetings with (1) Thorsten Chlupp of Reina LLC (Real Estate in North America) and (2) USKH. Correction from Mike: USKH will send proposal for doing more work on the design. Eric moved to accept minutes as amended, Todd seconded, approval unanimous. DISCUSSION Passive House standard Hans & Todd: not sure that USKH understood what Passive House design is, maybe thinking in terms of passive solar design. Hans presented description of Passive House standards, taken from article in April/May 2010 Fine Homebuilding (linked to PDF from Passive House Institute US website). Standards:
Mike commented that it is a very rigorous standard. Todd calculated that the energy standard for BTUs amounts to 1.4 kwh/day/sq ft. He said that we need to get the construction drawing done, approve the design, get our cost estimate and get going on the grants. Mike noted that we need to make sure the Passive House standards above are right: need to verify them. Passive House doesn't concern itself with green or local materials, just with energy consumption. Todd: combine the LEEDS standard with Passive House Mike: took three years to get CCHRC building certification with LEEDS, ended up being Platinum. The process to prove that one has met the standard is difficult. Deirdre: Passive House buildings don't require a furnace, according to the PHIUS website. Mike: true. Thorsten has an on-call water heater, no furnace. Built Karl Kassel's house, which was awarded for being the most energy-efficient building in North America. This house has a frost-protected shallow foundation. (Eric asked where it is--on Murphy Dome past the end of Spinach Creek, on Old Murphy Dome Road.) Todd: the extra storage space in the library would be static space, so no concern for sprinklers. Some discussion of sprinkler system need ensued: not needed unless occupancy load goes over a certain amount, USKH comfortable with space/occupancy. Todd: "All these costs don't bother me." Better to do it during construction and get what you want in the design. Mike agreed, saying, "Spend it now instead of over the life of the building." Hans described how fifteen or twenty years ago that a passive house kindergarten was built in Frankfurt, and it saved so much money that the city now requires new buildings to be constructed to this standard. Mike said that if someone else pays for it now, we don't have to pay for it later. Meeting with USKH Mike: we eliminated the septic system, instead we'll go for a LifeWater treatment system. $20,000 range, approved by DEC for surface discharge of the treated water. Can be noisy due to the pump running constantly. System is aerobic, churns sewage and uses bacteria to break down material. An ultraviolet bulb sterilizes the finished effluent. Since the system will be inside and in the basement, noise will be reduced and we don't have to dig up the west side of the property for a septic tank and leach field. Eric: would pay for itself -- no or little pumping out? nobody was sure. Cost about the same as installing a septic system? Mike commented that he and Chlupp worked on creating a green building standard for Alaska, but that was set aside for the LEED standard. Eric: USKH has been giving us more what they want rather than what we've been asking for--I want to spec out fixtures, light bulbs, be more actively involved. The others concurred. Mike asked if the building would qualify for Builder's Sense or Business Sense with GVEA; Todd said no, it's a residential program only. CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE Deirdre: Capital Campaign Committee needs the sequence/timeline for use with grants. Not necessary to have dates, just the actual process. Eric: USKH may have a template. Todd: This is really a project management schedule: can ask USKH to include proposal. Don't mention volunteer hours in grant proposals (except in local match, Mike pointed out). Funders really want to know that you have a business plan and are thinking about maintenance and operation and understand what you are doing. Mike asked about the space freed on the main floor by having a basement: this is supposed to be a rental space. Deirdre: not necessarily. The board seems divided about what to use it for; some members are thinking more space for books, others for rental or meeting space. Mike: access to the basement would be at the northwest corner, with a dumbwaiter. Estimated cost of elevator seemed high, but isn't necessary anyway. VENDOR LIST Eric hasn't gotten to yet, will for next time. SITE PREP 2011 Eric: basically it's just clearing a flat spot. Todd: we need to make a decision about what to do and when. People need to see progress. Clear area around the site of the library, cut down the trees, driveway. Eric: move the nice trees, get a backhoe in. Hans suggested hiring somebody, Todd said no, this is where we can use our volunteers. Eric: put in the power pole--don't necessarily need to hook up the power. Mike: Swiss Chriss can drill a hole--he has an auger on his Unimog. Hans pointed out that the scale is messed up on the drawings, area is 68 x 40 feet, but one inch isn't right. Drawings shrunk down. Deirdre asked about further survey points for the drive and parking lot; Eric said it's part of the site plan work. General consensus to leave in trees alongside Village Road.
Mike: we'll need to talk to Gary and Thorsten about the design, levels of insulation, standards, etc. Do we really want to meet the standard or just get close? NEXT MEETING: to be held at the JTEL office, date will depend on talks with architects and builder. Hans will call Gary find the cost of the design proposal to give $ amount to the board. Meeting adjourned at 5:30 pm. | ||||
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