Passive House links

Found some good links on the topic of passive house building. Would have just subscribed to feeds if they had them, but some of them didn't, hence this post.


http://www.minnephithouse.com


http://bruteforcecollaborative.com/bfc/blog/


http://www.passivehouse.us


http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/passivhaus-institut-germany-disowns-its-us-satellite


http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/american-passive-house-institute-responds-dr-feist

Graywater Heat Reclaimation

Just some links/notes on a topic I became interested recently. Why do I find graywater heat reclaimation interesting?

• cost saving: reduced energy bill
• cost saving: extends the life of the water heater
• cost avoidance: average water heater recovery times are markedly improved
• environmental goodness
• low/no risk: passive system with no moving parts

See

• http://www.watercycles.ca/
• http://www.ecoinnovation.ca/residential-solutions/thermodrain-connection-options/
• http://www.theenergyconscious.com/wat7005.html
• http://www.ecoinnovation.ca/residential-solutions/
• http://gfxtechnology.com/contents.html
• http://dailyhomerenotips.com/2008/02/11/dwhr-drain-water-heat-recovery-follow-up/
• http://www.ecoshift.ca/Drain-Water-Heat-Recovery-DWHR-Overview.html

Seems like the price is around $750 for a bit of copper pipe that is supposed to last about 50 years.

New Toilet - Toto Drake II

We recently bought a Toto Drake II CST454CEFG to replace a poorly installed (and poorly performing) "builder grade" Mansfield Alto 160. The Toto uses only 1.28 gallons per flush, but it never clogs like the Mansfield did. It also is an elongated style, ADA height and overall just seems to have a higher quality fit and finish.

We ended up purchasing online through National Builder Supply, where we got $20 off for using Google Checkout. Shipping was free and the packing was impressively solid with no damage at all to the parts at all.

Installation was pretty straightforward, once I learned that a good way of coping with a broken PVC flange included overlaying it with a metal one expressly made for that purpose.

Obsoleting our plunger was reason enough to make the switch, but we really like that this minimizes our water usage and saves on the bill.

Our take:

• Environment +1
• Reduced rate of consumption for water service and softener salt +1
• Improved aesthetics +1
• No more plunger needed +1
• Price was right, at $306 after $20 discount

We expect to place one of these in our other 2 bathrooms in the coming months.