Sunday, October 10, 2010
Personal Connection
I never thought I would have a reason to do a blog, but now I realize that I really enjoyed the process. It is so rewarding to have my research in such a great format, and right there on the web for more inquiry in the future. I have definitely learned how to blog!!! I can't wait to see how much it will grow when we begin to build our home. I love to do research about lots of different things, but its so frustrating keeping up with magazines and websites, now I can just blog about what I like and its in one spot for future use without the clutter. ; )
Wishing
How did your project go? What were the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the project? I think my inquiry went well considering I have limited time and I have never done a blog before. One good thing about my research is the large amount of information about green home construction, the bad thing is the large amount of information, and its a challenge to weed through it all. One big challenge I have is that it will be a couple of years before I build so what is going to be different and how much will I have to alter the decisions I have made so far.
Personal inquiry experiences are as different as the people who are conducting them. The main similarity of all inquiry experiences is the fact that we are asking and answering questions through research, and experiences of our own or others. I can see where some people may not want their inquiry to be available to others, but I hope that the research I do will help others in making decisions or in just getting excited about green home construction.
Personal inquiry experiences are as different as the people who are conducting them. The main similarity of all inquiry experiences is the fact that we are asking and answering questions through research, and experiences of our own or others. I can see where some people may not want their inquiry to be available to others, but I hope that the research I do will help others in making decisions or in just getting excited about green home construction.
Waving
How will you communicate your ideas to others? Who will you share your ideas with? I have told a lot of people about my blog. I hope many will begin to follow it and make suggestions and ask questions that I may not have considered.
Would people be interested in reading about your experiences on the web? I think some people may be interested, but "green" isn't for everyone. I would really like for followers to see that building energy efficient green homes is not any more trouble and in many cases its cheaper instead of more expensive than traditional building techniques.
Would people be interested in reading about your experiences on the web? I think some people may be interested, but "green" isn't for everyone. I would really like for followers to see that building energy efficient green homes is not any more trouble and in many cases its cheaper instead of more expensive than traditional building techniques.
Wrapping
I really enjoyed this inquiry because it gave me the opportunity to put my research in a place that I can come back to and continue to add information. I have been interested in "green" home construction for a long time, and I watch the shows on HGTV and I have even bought some magazines, but I have never recorded what I learned. Now I have.
What are possible ways this information could be used? Who needs to know about this? This inquiry/blog could be used by anyone interested in building or remodeling a home.
What did you create to package your findings? I'm going to create a powerpoint that shows pictures of the choices I made for my dream home.
Why is this information important to you? How will it be used? I want to build a home that will be energy efficient, and green while putting less pressure on our planet. By answering my research questions I have a better idea of how I can accomplish my goals.
How can you effectively convey your ideas to others? I think the most effective way to show my research is by continuing the blog, building the house, living in the house, and blog about the success rate of our energy efficient "green" home.
What are possible ways this information could be used? Who needs to know about this? This inquiry/blog could be used by anyone interested in building or remodeling a home.
What did you create to package your findings? I'm going to create a powerpoint that shows pictures of the choices I made for my dream home.
Why is this information important to you? How will it be used? I want to build a home that will be energy efficient, and green while putting less pressure on our planet. By answering my research questions I have a better idea of how I can accomplish my goals.
How can you effectively convey your ideas to others? I think the most effective way to show my research is by continuing the blog, building the house, living in the house, and blog about the success rate of our energy efficient "green" home.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Weaving
The process of doing research on building a "green" home has been interesting. I cannot wait to put all I learned into actual conversations when speaking with contractors and salespeople. The main points I covered in my blog were: siding (natural stone veneer), exterior walls (ICF's will make up the walls, and insulation), insulation, hvac, and solar panels. All my research yielded information that made it easy to make practical decisions except for the solar panels. I'm still not sure how many I will need, but I'm confident that it will be easy to figure out once I decide on the house plan and know how much electricity we will be using in our "green" energy efficient home. Some problems are impossible to solve without being in a real instead of imaginary situation.
How did you analyze and apply what you learned? Unfortunately I can't apply what I have learned so far because I'm not ready to build yet. I do want to continue to add to this blog in the future as I continue to read, research, and ask questions.
Did you discuss ideas with peers or family? My husband and I discuss our future home all the time. He of course is following my blog. I hope we can continue it together and add different ideas and thoughts on our future home. He wants to go "green" too but he's a little more realistic than me when it comes to what everything costs. I agree with him in some areas because I don't want a huge house payment, but I think if we plan carefully then we can make it work.
How did you connect your ideas and address your key questions? I was happy to find out that the stone exterior I want so bad will look great and also give us great heating and cooling benefits along with the ICF walls. I feel the choices I made during the inquiry will result in a great house that is not only "green" and energy efficient but beautiful.
Determine findings of merit. I think the most important part of the house that will make the most difference is the walls and siding. Now a days hvac units are very efficient even more so than units built 10 yrs ago so the geothermal doesn't have to be installed. The solar panels are not absolutely necessary because if we use energy efficient appliances and have the super insulated walls our power usage will be low. I guess the point I'm trying to make is to use as little power as possible and keep your heat and cool inside.
How did you analyze and apply what you learned? Unfortunately I can't apply what I have learned so far because I'm not ready to build yet. I do want to continue to add to this blog in the future as I continue to read, research, and ask questions.
Did you discuss ideas with peers or family? My husband and I discuss our future home all the time. He of course is following my blog. I hope we can continue it together and add different ideas and thoughts on our future home. He wants to go "green" too but he's a little more realistic than me when it comes to what everything costs. I agree with him in some areas because I don't want a huge house payment, but I think if we plan carefully then we can make it work.
How did you connect your ideas and address your key questions? I was happy to find out that the stone exterior I want so bad will look great and also give us great heating and cooling benefits along with the ICF walls. I feel the choices I made during the inquiry will result in a great house that is not only "green" and energy efficient but beautiful.
Determine findings of merit. I think the most important part of the house that will make the most difference is the walls and siding. Now a days hvac units are very efficient even more so than units built 10 yrs ago so the geothermal doesn't have to be installed. The solar panels are not absolutely necessary because if we use energy efficient appliances and have the super insulated walls our power usage will be low. I guess the point I'm trying to make is to use as little power as possible and keep your heat and cool inside.
Wiggling
There is so much information about "green" home building. Its almost overwhelming because I'm not sure how far I want to take this whole "green" thing. I know my husband will only let me take it so far because of the price involved so I can sure see an argument while building our "dream" home. I hope it doesn't turn into a nightmare! All the resources I found were very informative, practical, and unbiased. I did get upset about the solar panels not being able to support heat and a/c. I decided to look around a little more and there are some units that can be supported by solar. There isn't as much information on these units so I'm going to wait and see what happens in the next couple of years. Thankfully there are many "green" guidelines that contractors must follow to ensure the home will be considered "green" and earn all the government incentives that are available.
What did I do with the information? I wish I was currently building my house, but it will be awhile. So, I am going to keep doing my inquiry until I the time to build begins. Right now I have my blog to continue.
How did I evaluate the content, ideas, and perspectives? Since green has guidelines that must be followed the information I found was very unbiased and practical because there are regulations that must be followed.
What tools did I use? I really like the insolation map that showed the states and what kind of kWh can be achieved in the area you live in.
Evaluate information sources. Many of the sources were government websites which are very dependable and accurate. As I stated in the blog incentives and tax credits change so there is no telling what will be offered in two years.
What issues I had? The main issue I had was about the solar panels not supporting hvac. I did find a little info about hvac that is supported by solar but not much and it wasn't on any of the original sites I used; I had to do a search for solar hvac. There must not be many units in place or there would be more information .
What did I do with the information? I wish I was currently building my house, but it will be awhile. So, I am going to keep doing my inquiry until I the time to build begins. Right now I have my blog to continue.
How did I evaluate the content, ideas, and perspectives? Since green has guidelines that must be followed the information I found was very unbiased and practical because there are regulations that must be followed.
What tools did I use? I really like the insolation map that showed the states and what kind of kWh can be achieved in the area you live in.
Evaluate information sources. Many of the sources were government websites which are very dependable and accurate. As I stated in the blog incentives and tax credits change so there is no telling what will be offered in two years.
What issues I had? The main issue I had was about the solar panels not supporting hvac. I did find a little info about hvac that is supported by solar but not much and it wasn't on any of the original sites I used; I had to do a search for solar hvac. There must not be many units in place or there would be more information .
Webbing--solar cont.
I found a website gpsgenpartners.com (Green Power Switch-GPS). GPS offers a $1,000 start up incentive for new solar power homes. They also buy excess power for .15 cents kWh. Not bad, but I am really having a hard time understanding how all this works. I can't get too involved with solar decisions now because the prices, and incentives are changing so much. I do know that utility bills are going up every month and I want a home that is going to be as cheap as possible to operate.
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