Chapter 11 - Home sweet complicated home

For the past two months, Steve and I have spent most of our weekends in our new home:

We have been tracking our West Penn net meter which tracks the kWh we are transferring to the grid and what we are utilizing from the grid.  Here is a graph of our current energy surplus: 

 

 

We have had some home furnishings delivered from Room & Board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had to make our first service call to Morrison Geothermal. 

Several weeks ago, Steve noticed some minor leakage of the bluish tinged refrigerant from our TW series water-to-water (ground source) Bosch heat pump (http://www.bosch-climate.us/products-bosch-thermotechnology/geothermal-heat-pumps/). The technician was able to identify a leak in the one of the load side connections and promptly repaired it. 

We have also had some consternation when our Domovea server indicated that the ground source heat pump had switched to cooling mode (possibly during one unexpectedly warm day) even though the pump was still heating the house via the in-floor heating.  However, after our pump was repaired, it was clear that the pump was heating the tank that is responsible for the in-floor heating but the actuators were not opening to allow heating of the floors.  This is the upstairs unit containing the actuators and valves:

 

 

 

It got pretty chilly.  Steve contacted redblue Energy and sent some screen shots of our cooling-heating set point configuration for all of our rooms except the bathrooms. He also did some trouble-shooting of his own this weekend.  It turns out that parameters had not been set for our non-bathroom rooms. Steve inputted some parameters for each room from our KNX system

 to the Domovea server.

After that, functionality of the actuators and values was restored.  We are back in heating mode.  We are still concerned about the transition to cooling mode and plan to send some more screen shots like this one to redblue Energy.

We are also struggling with the complex issue of obtaining a mortgage loan application for financing the house ("cash out financing").  We were speedily approved for a loan but the appraiser was unable to appraise the house because of the lack of comparables.  We are trying a different tactic:  our financial adviser at Morgan Stanley

has referred us to an entity that has familiarity with appraising green homes (http://starsloanservices.com/.)  We'll see how that works out.

 

In the meantime, we have been enjoying the property including our pond, the spectacular night sky

 

 

and the easy access to the pristine Western Maryland Rail Trail: 

 

 

Steve also captured this beautiful double rainbow which we think is a good omen for our new home:

 

 

 



Chapter 10 - A really smart house

Since my last post, Steve and I have been learning more about the energy features of our Plus Haus.  When we signed out initial contract, we purchased a KNX starter package to control our blinds and lighting efficiently and remotely.  We were aware at that time that the blinds would adjust automatically to a weather monitor mounted on the roof of our home.  Since then we have learned more about our 

Suntracer KNX-GPS Weather Station

 



The device has been installed on our roof above the solar array and looks like this:

  

 

 

It's smaller than we thought measuring only 96 x 77 x 118 mm and weighing approximately 170 g.

It measures temperature, wind speed and brightness. It perceives precipitation and receives a GPS signal for time and position. The exact position of the sun (azimuth and elevation) is calculated on the basis of location coordinates and time.  The data is used for the control of switching outputs for our shutters depending on preset threshold values.  For example, right now, according to Stephan Koschnitzke at redblue energy GmbH&Co.KG, the wind setting is fixed at a windspeed from about 17 m/s. After the speed is under the level, the blinds are blocked for another 5 minutes, then they go back to the last position.

From the KNX website (http://www.elsner-elektronik.de/klima-haus.html?&L=1):  The automatic control of shading and ventilation has long been standard in public and commercial buildings. This type of building automation is becoming increasingly important for residential buildings as well.  This amounts to a very smart house.

 

Speaking of climate control, since my last post we have also been successful with net metering via West Penn Power (First Energy).  Last weekend, Steve seredipitiously ran into a West Penn service technician who was looking for our well-hidden home.  Together they hiked up our 0.28 mile long steeply graded limestone drive way and the techician installed the type of meter that monitors the kilowatt-hours we are returning to the grid starting from zero:

 

 

Right now, we are working on establish remote monitoring of our PV system output using our Sunny WEBBOX with Bluetooth technology:

 

 

We haven't been able to get the web box to talk to our SMA inverters.  Any comments/suggestions from readers would be welcome!

 

We are also waiting to hear from hager (http://www.hagerco.com/) about the possibility of getting a US version of the iPad or Android app for the Domovea server to monitor our home both locally and remotely, as opposed to relying on the web-based application, although I am pleased with the speed of our DSL connection from Century Link (we have FiOS in Maryland).   

 

The snow has prevented delivery of our sinks and our home furnishings which will be coming from Room & Board (http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/).

 This is what the house looked like last weekend:
 

 

 

Much better in terms of solar energy acquisition this weekend:



 

 

 

If you have a lot of stamina and love green homes, come visit:

 

	  

Chapter 9 - A waiting game

Since my last post, we have made some significant progress towards occupancy but we aren't there yet. Establishing a land phone line in a rural area was more challenging than we thought.  Getting net metering through First Energy is proving to be a Sisyphean task.  And we still waiting on a sink from Germany and hoping that it will arrive before our temporary permit expires on February 15, 2014.

We had some grading done by Akers Excavation

 

So it is starting to look like home:

 

 

 

Steve has spent a lot of time waiting for workers from Century Link to get our land line in.  This involved our new utility pole and 400 hundred feet of cable drawn through a conduit to a junction box in the carport.  Huf Haus had already provided a connection from the house to the carport.

 

 

 

This is the site from Google maps in October 2013:

 

 

Once we got the land line in, we were able to establish a DSL internet connection which permitted us to activate our home automation system using Domovea as a server (https://domovea.com) .

 

 

This allows us to monitor our weather station, carbon monoxide level, humidity, exterior and room lighting, shutters, interior and exterior door locks, individual room temperatures, and two security cameras  The carbon monoxide monitor is critical for a home as tightly insulated as this one.  The humidity monitoring will be very important when we spend our first summer in the house and rely on the passive cooling.  This is a snapshot from our webpage:

 

 

For example, right now, the outside temperature is -0.7 degrees Celsius; the wind is at 20.5 km/h; there is no precipitation; and it's cloudy (4908 lux).  Humidity is low (20.8%). The living room temperature is a chilly 15.3 degrees Celsius.  The CO2 is at a safe level.  The entrance door is locked.  One of the web cams is directed out of the narrow windows in the living room (pointed west).



 

One of the most striking high tech feature of this home is the link between our roof mounted weather station shown here

 

 

and our motorized exterior venetian blinds manufactured by Warema (http://www.warema.com)

 

 

The blinds are an important component of our energy conservation plan.  During the daytime in the summer months, they will help keep the house cool  In the evenings and winter months they will prevent heat loss.  The Sunautomatic component of the weather station tracks the sun and directs the sun shade control units.  The blinds have specific wind limits. The weather station tracks wind and triggers retraction of the blinds to protect them from wind damage.  The European version of this system can actually track blind retraction but our US version can't relay this information on our web portal.  Our system had to be modified because the European motor wasn't UL listed and couldn't be installed in our home. This is what the house looks like when the solar side is shuttered:

 

 

We have also been trolling the Ikea and Crate & Barrel websites and stores for furnishings.  Hopefully my next post will created from our new home and office in Clearville, PA and our adventure will really begin.









Chapter 8 - the Hand Over

On Thursday October 24, 2013, Steve drove to our site for the hand over procedure for our Huf Haus.  He met with Mario Merk from StilART and Stefan Koschnitzke from redblue Energy as building supervisors.  The Huf Haus fitters had returned to Germany.  During the day, Steve also met with Glen Deffenbaugh of Culligan (http://www.culligan.com/).  Culligan provided our water softener and water conditioner systems.  These systems were required because of significant iron levels in our well water.

He also meet with our US plumbers GM Shearer LLC who had helped to lay the ductwork for our under floor ventilation system and completed insulation for pipes in our Plant Room. 

When Steve got to the site, one of our three inverters for our new photovoltaic systems was not functioning.  Inverters change the direct current to alternating current and keep track of how much power each bank of solar arrays is putting out.  A replacement inverter was ordered for delivery and installation the following week.  This photo shows both the current power meter (upper left) and a revenue meter showing the total output of our PV system since installation.  After the system had been on for only 10 days at about 2/3rd capacity, we had generated approximately 350 kW-h.

Some extra roof tiles, ceramic roof tiles and a vat of extra refrigerant for our Bosch ground source heat pump were moved from the new house to the old lodge on the property which will now need to be demolished.  Towards the end of the day, the final large shipping container was lifted by crane onto a tractor trailer. 

 

Steve also met with our general contractor Chris Kontour to talk about our plan for landscaping.  At a minimum, we need to some grading and fill-in around the house. 

The handover consisted of a systematic walk through the house with creation of a punch list of to do items.  The whole process took about four hours.  We were given a giant binder (Our HUF House) of instructions about care and maintenance of our high tech house including wood protection, care of the glass, stainless steel, blinds, windows, garage door and floor coverings, along with owner/operator manuals for all of the appliances, some of which are in English and some of which are in German.  Thank heaven for Google translator. 

A major disappointment was the fact that three toilets and two sinks had not been loaded onto the final shipping container.  This was to have been Huf Haus' responsibility.  Comparable sinks and toilets could not quickly obtained in the US or from Germany in time for the handover.  The following week after the handover, one sink and three toilets were obtained from US distributors.  However, we are still missing one sink and a surface-mounded flushing unit for one of the toilets. 

 

 

A second significant disappointment was finding out that a 110 V outlet had been installed in the carport (for our electric car charging station) as opposed to the 240 V outlet specified in our fit out.  MEC (our electrician) determined that a new conduit would need to be created from the main line. As a compromise, the following week, the 110 V outlet was converted to 220 V which should still support a Level 2 20 amp EV charger. 

The 3rd disappointment was a missing green garage door which was gray instead.  Because of the white monotonous façade of the house, I had some discussions/e-mails with our designer about having our fit out modified to incorporate a green sectional garage door.  However, during the handover there was some confusion about whether this door can actually be painted green or not.  We are awaiting on a response from Huf about the door.  We would still like to corporate some more accent color into the exterior and favor the Huf green for our green[r]evolution home.

In spite of disappointments about the solar inverter, sinks/toilets, car charger and garage door, we are extremely pleased with the very high quality workmanship in our home.  All of the US workers felt like it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to work with the Huf Haus team on this unique project. 

 

What's left to do:  (1) establishing internet connectivity for the KNX system and the web cams and (2) a final electrical inspection which is required for (3) installation of our new net meter.  This will be accomplished through FirstEnergy (https://www.firstenergycorp.com/fehome.html)

The steps are outlined in an instructional PDF embedded on their site on net/bidirectional metering. 

We also need to accomplish: (4) installation of some additional lighting in the kitchen and dining room areas and (5) exterior grading which is required prior to (6) obtaining our occupancy permit. 

In spite of the lack of sinks and toilets, we had our first visitors to the house last weekend Tom Saunders and Michael Knoop from Western Pennsylvania Land Conservancy.  We also took a short hike through a breathtaking land parcel (Hardwood Trails) on Evitt's Mountain that the Conservancy recently acquired in Bedford County.  There is more about this important property on their website (http://www.paconserve.org/news/view/190).  Their visit and our hike reminded Steve and I of the reason why we decided to decided to embark on this green home building journey two years ago.