Mullet Hall – Recycled Glass Concrete Aggregate (Poraver)
One of the most exciting aspects of the Mullet Hall project is one that will never be seen once it is covered with insulation and finished. About 6/7 of the fine aggregate (sand) in the wall concrete was replaced with Poraver recycled glass beads. This accomplished a few goals: Increased recycled content, reducing sand use. […]
Mullet Hall – Thermal Bridges
Paying close attention to thermal bridging in the details is something that is extremely important – as important as insulation. Here is a Greenbuildingadvisor.com post describing what thermal bridging is and why it is so important. According to Wikipedia, thermal bridging is “an area or component of an object which has higher thermal conductivity than […]
Mullet Hall – Living Building Challenge – Site Petal
Why does the Mullet Hall Project Team feel that it is appropriate to build on this greenfield site? Human Powered Living The Site is within 2km of a major train station providing access to NYC and other points along the Hudson River. This is within easy walking and/or biking distance, providing current and future owners […]
Mullet Hall – Trees Cleared for Milling
As part of the subdivision process, every single tree on the entire Mullet Hall property above 12″ caliper was tagged. This allowed for easily identification of trees for removal, saving, protection, and trimming. We learned that most of the trees on the property are Sugar Maple, Red Oak, and Black Locust. We learned through research […]
Pretty Good Home Site
So here it is. Here is where we intend to build a home. As David wrote somewhere on Green Building Advisor (or at Wolfe Island Passive House), the goal here isn’t “payback” as is so often mentioned in reference to “green building” metrics. Having been blessed with the good fortune of having the opportunity to […]
Land Development and Trees
As a self-proclaimed treehugger, it is certainly with some trepidation that I reach my arms around trees in order to tag them for removal. But what I have learned from my partner, the Landscape Architect Erin Muir, is that, if undertaken with care and integrity, the removal of some plants can be justified in order […]
Perfect Solutions and the Pretty Good House
Like most architects, I am susceptible to believing two things: That a perfect solution to a design problem has yet to be discovered, and If I think enough about said design problem, I can discover a previously undiscovered solution to it. As I have researched the various possibilities for wall assemblies at Mullet Hall, I […]
Wall Sketches
Another day of intense wall research and discussion, and we are back to the 2×6 Advanced Frame Wall Construction with Mineral Fiber Insulation (AFWCMFI Wall), with a total R of 47, and a modified version using TJIs on the roof for an R70 roof. There is some wiggle room there with the R values, and […]
CLT and Double Stud and PERSIST, oh my!
Those who have been around me any time during the last few months will know that one of the main topics on my mind has been the appropriate wall system for the No-name Passive House (working title: Mullet Hall). We began this quest looking primarily at Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Block. As I explained in […]
Design in 3d
One of the benefits of working in 3d is that a design that is merely in formation in plan can be examined from all angles – literally. This is mostly and advantage, but it can also be detrimental to the process for two well-documented reasons. First of all, a half-baked design idea can look pretty […]
