Filed under: Eugene Realty Listings, Home Improvement, People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, eugene oregon, Eugene Real Estate, Eugene Real Estate Blog, Green building, house prices, Lane County Real Estate, leed, Oregon Real Estate Blog, springfield oregon, sustainablility
Cap rates for LEED certified commercial buildings are ½ percentage point better than for standard, non-green buildings. Green building is a nice concept, but the marketplace’s acceptance will really help it take hold.
In Eugene and Springfield, there are very few LEED certified buildings so it’s hard to know how they’ll fare in the marketplace. One problem with both commercial and residential green buildings is that appraisers don’t yet value them appropriately. Of course, that will change—but for now it can cause problems if lenders are involved.
More buildings are going green these days.
Filed under: Home Improvement, People and Business | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, electricity, eugene oregon, Eugene Real Estate Blog, Home Improvement, Lane County, power, renewable resource, springfield oregon
Locally produced electricity for 13,000 homes will soon start to flow through Eugene’s power lines. Seneca Jones has completed construction of its $45 million cogeneration plant. Some two years in the making, before long, the plan will be feeding our power grid. The cogeneration plant will use woody biomass—a renewable resource—produced from the mill and forests.
The concept isn’t entirely new however. The old Weyerhauser mill in Springfield has a power generation plant producing over 2 ½ times Seneca’s 18.8 megawatts. And, old timers will remember that EWEB used to burn hog-fuel (a very course saw dust) at its facility on the banks of the Willamette River.
Eugene is known for being green and environmentally friendly. We also benefit from inexpensive electricity—keeping our cost of living down. It’s an interesting world in which brush from the woods can be powering our cars.
Cogeneration feeding local power.
Filed under: Home Improvement, People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, Home Improvement, housing crisis, Lane County Real Estate, remodeling, Springfield Real Estate
Remodeling and renovating is another area of the market in Eugene and Springfield that fell on hard times during the Great Recession. We have bottomed-out though—and business is improving.
While home improvements don’t return dollar for dollar on resale, they still make sense if you plan to stay in the house for a period of time.
Rebuilding the housing market brick by brick.
Filed under: Home Improvement, People and Business | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate Blog, Green building, Home Improvement, Oregon Real Estate Blog, recycling, selling your home, sustainability
Fluorescent light bulbs are becoming more and more popular in homes—so much so that incandescent light bulbs are being phased out in the U.S. Why? Because flourescent light bulbs are proven to help residents save money on their utility bills. But, the downside of the fluorescent bulb is that they contain mercury. Therefore it is very important that these bulbs be recycled. In Eugene and Springfield, Jerry’s, among other places will accept fluorescent bulbs for recycling.
Tip: If you are selling your home, making sure you have operable light bulbs (non burnt-out) in the highest wattage rated for the fixture is one way of helping your home seem bright.
Filed under: Home Improvement, People and Business | Tags: eweb, smart meters, sub
If you haven’t heard about “smart” electric meters, you might want to familiarize yourself now, as they could be appearing in your home soon. Smart meters allow utility companies to watch in real time how much electricity you use and when.
Smart meters will allow power companies to charge more for electricity at peak hours, influencing your use patterns. By spreading out power consumption throughout the day, power production is more efficient, and can lead to decreased costs.
Neither the Springfield Utility Board nor EWEB use smart meters yet, but they are on their way. While less then 10% of homes in the U.S. currently have smart meters, that number is projected to increase to one third in the next 5 years. Proponents of smart meters point out the following benefits: reduction in the cost of power during non peak times, reduced greenhouse-gas emissions, no more meter readers, and more accurate meter readings.
Your old meter could be on its way out.
Filed under: Home Improvement, Uncategorized | Tags: Energy Credit, Green building, NW Natural, sustainablility, tankless hot water heater
New Programs from the Federal Economic Stimulus Package provide money for home energy savings, including high efficiency gas equipment. One of the standouts is tankless water heaters. Oregon homeowners converting to natural gas can now receive a combined incentive package worth up to $2,200. Existing gas customers are eligible for up to $2,040.
The stimulus plan allows for a 30 percent federal tax credit off installation costs, up to $1,500. This credit can be combined with a $200 rebate from The Energy Trust of Oregon and an Oregon State tax credit up to $340. Also, Rinnai dealers are offering new NW Natural gas customers a $160 gas credit. Northwest Natural can be reached in Eugene at: 342-3661.
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
Filed under: Home Improvement, Uncategorized | Tags: Green building, sustainablility, tankless hot water heater
Tankless hotwater heaters are all the rage right now. Claims of decreased energy usage by ½ are common. These are also called instant hot water heaters, which leads to confusion. While a good product for certain uses, shelling out the dough for tankless hotwater heater will not necessarily green up the planet.
In Western Oregon, there may be no or very little energy savings when tankless are compared to conventional hotwaters, if both are located inside the living space. For either style of hot water heater, the energy used to heat water is shed into the environment. So, the energy used to heat the water in turn heats your house. If you use air conditioning, there will be an added cooling load for the couple of months it’s needed.
While the hot water is made instantly by a tankless model, that does not mean you’ll have hotwater immediately at the tap. In fact, if you locate the tankless model in the same place as your old hotwater tank, it will take exactly the same time for the water to turn hot at the tap, or other point of use.
I went to Jerry’s, the world’s greatest home improvement center, and talked with them. They stock all kinds of hotwater heaters, and they’ll help you size your water heater, which will depend on the number of major draws. Tankless hotwater heaters cost around $1,000 for an average house, compared to about $350 for a tank model. For both hotwater heaters, both electric and gas models are available. The electric models of tankless hotwater heaters require some serious dedicated circuitry: 60 amps for a very small, one draw unit, and 120 amps for a full house model. Older houses may have only 100 amps available at the panel, and newer standards are for panels of 200 amps. For comparison, an electric clothes dryer needs 30 amps, a traditional hotwater heater needs 30 amps, and a stove needs 50 amps.
Instant hotwater at the tap requires a different set up, namely a recirculating system. The price for these are about $300-$400 in materials. This set up actually increases energy consumption, because it keeps water at the tap hot at all times. One other option for instant hotwater is to have a small point-of-use tank located near the tap.
The chief advantages of tankless hotwater heaters, as I see it, are: that they can be located outdoors, thereby conserving living space, and they don’t run out of hotwater, which is useful if you need to fill a large bathtub.
The Inside of a typical Tankless Hotwater Heater
Filed under: Home Improvement, People and Business, Uncategorized | Tags: Land use planning, Landscape architects, Landscape architecture, Landscape design, Site planning
I recently had the chance to talk with Michael Sanchez of Schirmer + Associates, a landscape architecture firm in Eugene. Many of us don t have a clear idea of what landscape architects do in Lane County, and Michael cleared up some of the confusion.
Site design and the creation of places are major skills landscape architects bring to residential, commercial and public projects, and probably what most of us think of as their primary roll. Proficiency in areas such as: grading, drainage and storm water management, planting and irrigation design, design of site features like pergolas or gazebos, and paving designs fit into this category of site design.
Land Use Planning is another significant area in which some landscape architects are involved. Land partitions, sub divisions, planned unit developments, conditional use permits and annexations come under this area. But, Mr. Sanchez was quick to point out that landscape architects are concerned with anything that has to do with any area outside of a building. Are we clear now?
So, from the simplest to the most complex of garden design to the planning of your next subdivision, keep Schirmer + Associates in mind. You can reach Michael at 686-4540.
Michael Sanchez: Landscape Architect
Filed under: Home Improvement, Uncategorized | Tags: Good earth home and garden show, Green building, sustainablility
The annual Good Earth Home and Garden show recently concluded in Eugene on 25 January 2009. As a “green” show, it had a good home in the Emerald Empire. I’ve gone to a lot of shows at the fairgrounds, and can’t recall one with better attendance.
Admittance was free, which is a plus in these hard times. There were some 69 seminars held and 250 exhibits. There was a common element of sustainability or naturalness to most exhibits and seminars. Seemingly, Eugene is a hotbed for sustainable practices.
I stopped by to see a friend of mine who was exhibiting. She was so busy, I put my bag down and helped her work her booth. It was a blast. Make it a point to attend the next show and you’ll have a good time.
Eugene's Green Home Show was a busy place.
Filed under: Home Improvement, People and Business, Uncategorized | Tags: Associated Design, Custom Plans, House Plans, Rick McAlexander
If you’re looking for a dynamite set of house plans, keep Rick McAlexander of Associated Designs in mind. Most of us in Eugene Springfield don’t know what a big deal he’s become. His design column is published in some 1,000 newspapers around the United States. And, he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll meet.
The old time builders around will recognize the name. Rick’s out on his own and has been doing exceptional design for the last 20 years. He has 5 people working for him to keep those plans rolling out. They have over 750 plans available. And, if you can’t find what you like, they’ll be happy to design a custom set, just the way you like it.
Rick tells a funny story about toilets. He says that if you want a toilet in your living room, he’ll do his best to educate you about the pitfalls of such a plan, but if it comes down to it, and that’s what you really, really want, that’s what you’ll get.
Associated Designs also offers a revision service to modify plans to fit your lot or to your other specifications. They’ll also do an inexpensive site plan and quickly too, I’d point out. They can also tell you what to expect when you apply for a building permit.
So, what’s it all cost? A study-set of plans runs about $425. and a set of building plans starts at $650. What a deal!
There are plenty of good lots in Eugene Springfield and now’s a great time to build. New construction financing is available too.
Rick McAlexander of Associated Design.
