SUMMER READING

Architect & Developer: A Guide to Self-Initiating Projects

This time last year when construction on the Oakley Home 2.0 project was kicking off, I was contacted by an Architect in New York named James Petty who was in the process of researching and conducting a series of interviews with Architect-Developers around the country for a book he was planning to write as guide to help architects initiate their own development projects. We Skyped for about an hour discussing my experience with the Home 2.0 project and the larger topic of Architect as Developer. Fast forward a year later. The book, Architect & Developer: A Guide to Self-Initiating Projects has been published, the Architect & Developer website has been launched, and James is moderating a sold-out round-table discussion with several other Architect-Developers at the AIA National Convention coming up later this week.

Reading through the book, I'm extremely impressed with how well researched and applicable the book is and there have been a lot of useful takeaways from the various chapters and interviews with other architect-developers that I look forward to implementing in my development projects moving forward.

Here is a link to my interview on the Architect & Developer website, which is also featured in the book.

LOOKING FOR LAND

Property Acquisition Prospects

After closing on the Oakley Home 2.0 project and taking a week off to relax and reflect on that experience, I got back to business last week by beginning to look for land to develop for the next Home 2.0 project. In an effort to systematize this property acquisition phase, I created a master Google Sheets spreadsheet tracking the following databases in different tabs:

• Database of Hamilton County Residential Vacant Land
• Upcoming Hamilton County Sheriff Delinquent Tax Sales 
• Buildings Ordered To Be Kept Vacant By The City Of Cincinnati
• Hamilton County Land Bank Properties
• Hazardous Building Abatement List
• Active MLS Listings

While helpful to have all of these lists compiled in one place, the result is a spreadsheet with thousands of properties, so the challenge is filtering that number down to a handful of prospects that can be analyzed further to determine if they are worth making an offer on, and at what price.

At this stage one of my absolute favorite resources is the Cincinnati Area Geographic Information System (CAGIS) mapping service that integrates Hamilton County Auditor data, Property and Zoning Maps, and Satellite images all in a single location to help me quickly separate the contenders from the pretenders.

OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL

LEED Gold Certificate

When a home is Officially LEED Certified, you get an Official looking Certificate signed by the President & CEO of the US Green Building Council. Below is the LEED Gold Certficate for The Oakley Home 2.0 project that arrived in my inbox earlier today.

WEBSITE REFRESH

The New and Improved MBenkert.com

With the vast majority of website views now coming from mobile devices rather than computers, it only made sense that I get with the times and refresh the look of my primary MBenkert.com website so that it is 100% mobile-friendly. I'm still in the process of updating the content, but I really like the look and feel of the site so far. The new site is now live for those that would like to check it out.

OH2.0 REWIND: THE GOLDEN CHECKLIST

Flashback to LEED Gold Certification

This flashback goes all the way back to yesterday when I received confirmation that the USGBC had reviewed the final LEED Checklist and supplemental documentation submitted by Green Building Consulting for the Oakley Home 2.0 project and awarded the project LEED Gold Certification. How did the project get to Gold you might ask? Below is the Golden Checklist showing all the pre-requisites and points obtained that got the project well over the 77-point threshold for Gold, all the way up to 84-points.

OH2.0 REWIND: SMART SECURITY

Flashback to Smart Lock and Monitoring

After having a lever style handle on the exterior of the front door for several months and seeing it come loose from all the use it got, I decided to switch it out with a more stable and stylish thumb latch door handle, which also made for better integration with the Smart Lock and Security Monitoring System installed in the home. Eliminating the secondary manual lock from the door, leaving only the Smart Deadbolt Lock remaining with the new handle, allows for the front door to be locked, unlocked and monitored remotely from an app downloadable to the homeowner's phone. The app also lets the owner arm and disarm the security system remotely while monitoring the various other doors and motion detectors throughout the home.

OH2.0 REWIND: THE FINAL C OF O

Flashback to Obtaining the Final Certificate of Occupancy

While the Oakley Home 2.0 project was legally able to be occupied after being granted a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy back in February, I was told by the City at that time a Final Certificate of Occupancy could not be granted until after the landscaping was installed. Fast forward a couple months later to when the landscaping was in, I contacted the City about getting said Final C of O, only to be informed by the inspector that in addition to the landscaping, I would also need to get an Engineering Change approved by the city in order to obtain the Final C of O because I added a new french drain along the side property line to divert water runoff and that was not shown on the original approved plans. Fortunately, being an architect, it was pretty quick and easy for me to produce the drawing below that was requested for the Engineering Change and get that submitted back to the Building Department for review.

It took about a week for the plans examiner at the City to get around to approving the Engineering Change, but once that was signed-off on I was able to immediately set-up a meeting on site with the inspector to show him the approved change in the field along with finished landscaping. The inspector was good with what he saw, and a couple days later I was able to pick-up the Final Certificate of Occupancy shown below.

OH2.0 REWIND: TREE TAKEDOWN

Flashback to Dead Tree Removal

Ideally, dead trees that need to be removed from a site are taken down before construction starts on a new home, but that can't always be achieved. Case and point, the dead tree along the fence line at the Oakley Home 2.0 that didn't stand out as being dead until after Spring was in full swing with the tree remaining bare, shedding bark and loosing limbs in the aftermath of storms. Clearly, the tree had to be taken down before it fell down, so I reached out to several past and recommended contacts for tree removal and was able to get it cut down and hauled away within a couple days of noticing the problem. Below are some pictures of that work in progress and the final result once the yard was cleaned-up and mowed.

OH2.0 REWIND: MITIGATION ACTIVATION

Flashback to the Radon Mitigation System Activation

In my 'Ridding Radon' Blog Post I made mention of how one of the LEED requirements for homes built in high radon areas like Cincinnati, is that a passive Radon Mitigation system be installed during construction to facilitate the ridding of radon should it be present. The passive system consists of a PVC pipe that starts under the basement slab and runs vertically up the wall framing until it vents out the roof above, as well as a junction box roughed-in in the attic space to provide a place for power to run the radon ventilation fan needed to activate the system. 

Above: Radon Monitor Used to Detect Radon Levels

Sure enough, it turned out when the Oakley Home was tested for Radon as part of the part of the comprehensive home inspection package, the levels came back slightly higher than the EPA maximum recommended level of 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter), meaning the mitigation system would need to be activated. Fortunately, with all the infrastructure already in place, the activation was very simple and straightforward, simply requiring the installation of the vent fan in the attic and a manometer in basement to show that the system is operating correctly. Below are some more details on the specifics of each of these elements installed and guaranteed by Radon Protection LLC along with results from the radon retest once the system was activated.
The attic ventilation van Installed near the access hatch above the master bedroom closet exhausts any radon gases collected in the pipe under the slab up and out of the house. It operates continuously, but is so quiet that you can only hear it working when you are right up next to the fan itself above the ceiling, which is one of the reasons for having the manometer in an easy to observe location.

Above: Radon Mitigation Ventilation Fan in Attic

So what is a manometer? It is actually much simpler than what the fancy name implies. A manometer is simply a U-shaped tube plugged into a small hole drilled into the radon pipe that measures the pressure in the pipe to easily show if the fan is working. Having the levels UNEVEN is what you want to see. With the location of the radon pipe being concealed in the finished basement closet at the Oakley Home 2.0 project, I had to cut out a small portion of drywall and install an access door so that the manometer could be installed and easily viewed. 

Above: Access Door to Radon Pipe Manometer

Once the Radon Mitigation System was activated, the levels were retested and came in significantly below the 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) EPA requirement, ridding the radon as promised.

BACK TO THE BLOGGING

Resuming the Home 2.0 Blog

The Home 2.0 Blog has been on hiatus the last month with the Pending Sale of the Oakley Home 2.0 project in progress, but with closing now complete, I've decided it's time to get back into blogging and will begin by dedicating the next several entries to recapping some of the key events that have taken place these past 30+ days while I have been away. Stay tuned!

MORE PRO PHOTOS

New Oakley Home 2.0 Exterior Images

With the landscaping installed, sunny skies, and trees in bloom, it was a great time to update the professional photos of the Oakley Home 2.0 exterior. below are some of my favorites.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Landscape Installation Underway

With Cincinnati experiencing flooding, snow, more flooding and more snow the past couple months, the final LEED Landscaping work has taken much longer than anticipated to be able to be installed. That said, Spring has finally sprung in recent days, which has allowed for the installation of the Turpin Farms 1785 Natural Grass Turf, the cutting out of planter beds in the front and back, and the installation of a trench drain along the right side of the property to divert any runoff not absorbed by the turf away from the neighboring house towards the back of the property. Below are some pictures of the work in progress, which should be wrapping up with the final plantings next week.

GOING PRO WITH VIDEO

Professional Video Tour

Over the past few years I have enjoyed experimenting with video walkthroughs and construction tours of the Home 2.0 projects in Pleasant Ridge and Oakley, but I will be the first to admit that I am in no way a professional videographer. That said, Build Cincinnati recently worked with the professionals at Wow Video Tours to create the following video of 3874 Isabella, which shows the difference between professional and amateur productions.  

TEMPORARY C OF O

Temporary Certificate of Occupancy Issued

Last week the final inspections by the Cincinnati Building Department were completed and Temporary Certificate of Occupancy was issued for the Oakley Home 2.0 project. Much like the Final LEED Certification, the Final Certificate of Occupancy can't be issued until the landscaping is installed, which should happen at some point within the next couple weeks. That said, the Temporary C of O does permit the home to be occupied and lived in as a residence, so it is officially move-in ready at this point. Below is a screenshot of the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy.

DECK NIGHT

Rear Deck Perspectives

With temperatures in the 70's this week in Cincinnati, it was a great opportunity to get a feel for what nights out on the Oakley Home 2.0 deck will feel like in upcoming months as warmer weather becomes the norm. Below are a couple photos looking back from the deck into the main living space.

NEW & IMPROVED GARAGE STEPS

Garage Step Painting & Staining

It is amazing what a little paint and stain can do to improve the look of steps. Below is a before and after of the Oakley Home 2.0 garage steps that were colored to match the main interior stairs.

BATH PHOTO UPDATES

Color Corrected Bathroom Photos

When professional photos were taken of the Oakley Home 2.0 project last month, the one thing that bothered me always bugged me was how the bathroom color was over-saturated and not an accurate representation of the real life color palette. Below are the color corrected versions of the professional bathroom photos to give a better idea of what those spaces actually look like.

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SPRING PLANTINGS

Landscape Planting Plan

Earlier this week with some help from one of the best landscape architects in the city, I was able to update the landscape plan for the Oakley Home 2.0 project so that it now includes a variety of drought tolerant plant selections that will pick-up some extra points towards LEED Gold Certification. Below is a screenshot of the new landscape plan and a breakdown of the planting selections.

Oakley Home 2.0 Drought Tolerant Plant Selections

• Henry's Garnet Sweetspire

• Blue Star Juniper

• Dallas Blues Switch Grass

OAKLEY HOME 2.0 VIDEO BLOG UPDATE 20

Wrapping Up

This is episode 20 in the series of updates on the Oakley Home 2.0 @ 3874 Isabella project that will serve as a supplement to my other Home 2.0 Project Blog Posts.

• Topics Include: LEED, Listing, and Project Wrap-Up

A FINER FILTER

LEED for Homes Furnace Filter Requirements

The LEED Rating System is made up of a combination of Pre-Requisites (mandatory minimum requirements for LEED Certification) and Points, which are above and beyond minimum requirements and determine whether a project is LEED Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. One of the pre-requisites is for superior furnace filters that have a minimum MERV 8 rating. So why is a MERV 8 filter considered to be a finer choice than the standard filter? Here are few reasons... 

• MERV 8 AC and Furnace Filters are over 30-times more efficient at capturing micro particles than ordinary fiberglass filters
• MERV 8 pleated AC and Furnace filters utilize 100% synthetic media which offers significantly higher particulate efficiency than regular poly/cotton media pleated filters, with little change in static pressure. 
• These filters capture airborne particles/allergens between 3-10 microns in size, such as particles that carry viruses and bacteria, pollen, dust mites, mold spores, fine dust and pet dander. 
• MERV 8 filter media is naturally antibacterial and inhibits the growth of bacteria, mold, mildew, or fungi in normal operating environments, without being chemically treated.
• MERV 8 pleated filters use permanently charged electrostatic material that helps dust cling to the air conditioner furnace filter. 
• Finally, these filters last up to 3 months, meaning One 6-pack typically provides over a year's supply of cleaner air.

SHOE REMOVAL & STORAGE SPACE

LEED Indoor Environment Quality Credit 8.2b

One of the LEED for Homes credits that the Oakley Home 2.0 is picking-up in its pursuit of LEED Gold Certification is for Contaminant Control where a point is earned for 'Designing a shoe removal and storage space near the primary entry way'. In other words, provide a bench with some baskets for shoes underneath it by the front door. Here are a couple photos of said bench and baskets.