LEED Prefabrication

While the New Norris House is committed to achieving LEED platinum certification, we have carefully examined every opportunity to earn LEED points. This process of identifying possible points typically begins even before the design of the building. For the New Norris House, we realized that many points could be achieved through off-site prefabrication.

There are many advantages to using prefabricated construction. First, it is generally less destructive to the site and requires less room for staging materials. As far as energy efficiency, there is typically better quality control, which leads to a tighter, more efficient envelope. Prefabrication also encloses the interior faster than traditional methods of building, reducing the time that materials, finishes and products are exposed to rain, sleet, and snow.

We have witnessed the advantages of using prefabricated construction first hand while working on the New Norris House. In one day, the house was brought from the factory at Clayton Homes and dropped onto the foundations with its moisture barrier in place. However, we have also seen how using this method of construction can be inconsistent with its original intent. One such shortcoming of prefabrication was seen during the installation of the home's dormer which was prefabricated by the students at the College of Architecture and Design.

For such a small component of the house, the dormer took a considerable amount of time and resources to install. Using seven people and a Sky Lift, we spent four hours installing a component of the house that had already consumed numerous man-hours in prefabrication and had been transported to the site. In reality, it would have taken about the same amount of time to build it on-site using conventional methods of construction as it did to merely install it. Another advantage of building it on-site is that we would have been able to adjust for certain construction tolerances that were overlooked while building it in a laboratory setting.

We have seen the advantages and the disadvantages of prefabricated construction while working on the New Norris House. While building small, unique components, prefab construction loses many of the efficiencies that it touts. However, its full potential can be realized at any scale when using repetitive systems.

Finished with one on to the other...

All the block are laid, the drainage is installed, and the back fill is in progress. After an exhausting couple of days of digging out clay the long, snake lie pipes are resting in a gravel bed. We had to slope the drains at an 1/8":12" (about 1% slope). This proved to be a fun challenge for the trenching. We had to dig far enough down at the front of the house in order to get the top of the drain far enough down to be effective against a rising water table. If the water table get to high and freezes it can actually uplift the foundation. Those drains are a very important part of this house. Chris led a team that applied the glue, water protection, and protection board to the house and retaining wall. The retaining wall needs the water protection mostly to reduce efflorescents on the interior of the wall.
In other news the plumber and electrician should be on site early next week, and we should be getting the eaves attached and the skylight framing up for the roofer to do his magic. Once the plummer gets the pipes in we can get the cistern slab poured and start our framing on that. The grader will be out soon to get the back of the site in order. All in all, the house is coming together and hopefully we can see a final product within the next couple of months.

Can you dig it?

Arya, now a professional ditch digger

The footing drain is an important aspect of the house. It wraps around the outside of the foundation to direct rainwater away from the house. The easiest way to install it is to dig out the footings and use formwork to allow a gap for the pipe to run. But since this method would consume a lot of extra materials, we decided an alternative. The footings were dug to their precise size, and the ground was used as a form to shape them. This way we did not use a lot of unnecessary wood to make the forms. Now a trench next to the footings needs to be dug by hand in order to install the drain. We didn’t realize how much work it would be until we started. The ground is mostly hard clay, and we have to dig a decent ways outward in order to dig the depth we need downward. The physical labor is intense, but if we get a good number of people to pitch in we will get it done in time. In the real world it would probably be more efficient to form the footings and install the drain in the beginning, but since this is something we can do ourselves we don’t have to worry about the labor costs of digging the trench.

On another note, the project as a whole is coming along nicely. The masonry team finished laying the long retaining wall next to the house, and once the capstones are laid we will be done with all of our block laying duties. At least for now until more of the site work gets started. Maxi and I have started cutting the rigid insulation that is applied to the interior of the foundation walls. This will insure a good R-value for the house to save on electric costs. A lot of the team members were busy on Friday with volunteering for the South Quad convention. It is an event organized through AIAS where architecture schools in the south east quadrant of the US get together to share ideas and experience different schools and cities. Starting on Monday the house will have the full attention of all the members again.

Dropping the house

Thanks to our fine friends at Clayton, the house has officially dropped. To this point, it had been precariously supported by a combination of temporary CMU spacers and a steel substructure, hovering approximately 16 inches above the sill plate of the foundation walls. This rather unique construction process allowed the masonry team ample room to lay the second half of the foundation and the interior piers once the two modules had been delivered.

The actual "dropping" of the house was more of an oscillating settling than a sudden fall, thanks to the coordination of the Clayton team underneath the house. Three installation experts used a set of 6 hydraulic jacks, 3 at the North end and 3 at the South end, to "see-saw" the entire structure down to the sill plate, approximately 4 inches at a time. While it was great to see the house finally settle onto our laboriously constructed foundations, I would be remiss if I didn't admit an overriding sentiment of trepidation concerning the ultimate fate of the CMU walls underneath the full weight of the house. Fortunately, everything seems to be holding!

This process of prefabrication and coordinated delivery has resulted in some interesting conversations about the potential for this particular method of construction. While I won't get into the many trajectories we've discussed, one pertinent issue that we've all had to grapple with is the scale of coordination within this project. In typical construction, various phases are more flexible in the overall timeline of the project, yet in the New Norris House we are constantly investigating logistical issues of phasing in order to ensure that every bolt, block, and beam are delivered and installed in an efficient order that (1) won't bog down the construction schedule (2) won't clutter the site with an "on-deck circle" of prefabricated components waiting to be installed and (3) takes advantage of the rapidity of assembly to ensure an exacting standard of quality that is hopefully reflected in the final efficiency of the home.

Save the Earth

This evening I attended the City Council Meeting in Norris with a couple of my fellow team members. They were kind enough to let us give a presentation updating them on all of our continuing progress as their newest neighbors. It’s wonderful to have the communities support and interest in all of our endeavors.

At this meeting I presented a synopsis of our endeavors in achieving LEED certification. This is an important system because it consolidates all our environmentally conscious efforts to be measured against pre-established standards. Right now, we are anticipated to obtain 97 points under the LEED for Homes rating system which will give us a LEED Platinum rating, which is the highest level available (go us!). To help us achieve our goal, we are attempting to obtain close to the highest number of points possible in several categories including Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, and Energy and Atmosphere. The majority of these points come from our pre-established design goals including limited material waste, re-use of rainwater, and efficient landscaping. Building in the Norris community also helps us attain points for the Locations and Linkages portion of the system. We get credit for building on a previously developed lot, having easy access to already established community resources, as well as for being half a mile from a publicly accessible park. While the LEED system itself is a great way to suggest goals for those looking into environmentally friendly building, it is important to concentrate on the ideals that underlie the system rather than getting bogged down with the paperwork and requirements associated with it.

Time Lapse: Clayton Onsite Installation

A short time-lapse film condensing the two day installation process by Clayton Homes on-site in Norrs, Tennessee.

Ready, Set, GO!

Well the last few weeks have definitely been a race to get the foundation ready for the big delivery as well as preparing the dormer for attachement. With both those accomplished last week and this week we are now moving on to bigger things.On site, the foundation and piers are now nearing completion with intentions of pouring the bond beam on the rest of the foundation tomorrow morning. This includes finishing up pouring the Perlite as the foundation insulation and getting things ready for the house drop next week!

Back at headquarters, Jimmy has been working on the window frames and tackling the monster of a frame that shall eventually flood northern light into the lofted area. Meanwhile, Katharine and myself have been putting together a temporary door for extra security until we get the final doors built. (You'll just have to wait and see what surprise is in store with this temporary door.) Arya and Michele broke in the new StopSaw working on the furring strips for the gabled ends of the house, though no one seems to want to test out the brakes on the system-I wouldn't blame them either. Plus the four of us have been continually working on priming more and more siding for the house. As Patrick noted, the feat of installing the siding is going to be just as time consuming, but the end results will be worth it.

With fall break encroaching on us tomorrow and Friday we all are assuring ourselves that our efforts will not go unnoticed while we are gone. I am sure we all will be rejuvenated and ready to kick it into high gear for the race to the end of the semester.

143: TEN-FOUR!

October 4th was a busy work day for the Norris House team. The class was split into a few groups in order to accomplish the multitude of tasks that need to be completed in the near future. Jimmy maintained his hard work ethic and powered through more windows and began working on the temporary doors that will keep all the creepsters out of the house while it is still under construction. He also began work on a beast of a window that allows for a clear view from the loft area towards the wooded area behind the house. The reason said window is a beast: it is a crazy trapezoidal shape and must be constructed within an inch of perfection so that it will fit into the already installed dormer. I believe in jimmy’s precision. go jim jim go!

My correspondent at 143 Oak Road, Andy Pittman, informed me of the Masonry group’s progress, and it seems that they are nearing completion on the foundation walls. Today they were able to lay both piers in the center of the house and finish the wall that faces the street. Apparently there was a lot of measuring of the block today in order to make sure everything was fine and level.

The rest of us left back at the architecture building were tasked with playing Dad on Christmas morning. We had the pleasure of putting together the new tools that we will soon be bringing to the site. We also returned to staining the never ending stack of siding. We are looking foreword to the day when instead of sitting there painting the siding for hours, we are actually nailing it to the side of the house.... for hours.

All in all we are working hard to stay on schedule. Thursday and Friday are fall break for us at UT so we are making that extra push now so we can enjoy a couple days off.

...GO!

It was a fantastic day in Norrisland. The weather was almost as beautiful as our freshly delivered house. The day started off with a little bump in the road (literally). The transportation of the dormer was rough, but after a quick pit stop and a very slow climb to Norris, we finally delivered the beast. When we first arrived, the Clayton men were hard at work. After a morning of prepping, it was the moment of truth for Team Dormer. Wall-by-wall and nail-by-nail, the dormer was guided into place. Placing the dormer might have been an extremely long and tedious task, but seeing that sucker hanging from the crane is a moment to be held dear in all of our hearts forever. It was great to finally see everything falling into place (not literally...it was more of a slow glide). It has been a very productive week and we all look forward to continuing this progress!