Research Proposal
Summary Statement:
An analysis of sustainable renovation techniques applied to an existing building in
Purpose:
The purpose of this research project is to develop a starting point for the average homeowner who wishes to increase the sustainability of their house, resulting in reducing the amount of energy consumption.
Goals and Objectives:
My goal of this research project is to analyze which renovations will result in the highest amount of energy savings, along with the lowest price-tag, for an average sized home. When doing renovations on any space, cost is always a factor. With green renovation having the reputation of being even more expensive then normal renovations, I want to focus on a dollar amount that an average family would be able to afford. My objective is to find a balance between decreasing the amount of energy consumption so that a homeowner would notice a difference in utility bills, and how much the renovations would cost. Since renovations can be a daunting and expensive task, I want to provide a starting point for a homeowner to enter the realm of sustainable building design.
Methodology and Analytical Approach:
My research will focus on the energy efficiency upgrades recommendations from government tax incentives. These include furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, air conditioning, hot water systems, insulation, windows, doors, toilets, and draft proofing. I will discus the benefits and disadvantages of the different options of upgrades and for which circumstances each would be more beneficial. For example, the difference between the thermal resistances (R-value) of fiberglass loose fill insulation and fiberglass blanket insulation.
I plan to draw an existing house in the
Related Information
Although similar studies have been done, my project will be different in that I want to focus on a lower cost as well as the energy efficiency. Also, my study will be focused on a specific, existing building, therefore being unique from any other study. Even though the study will be on a specific building, all of the concepts can be applied to any wood frame construction building.
Plans for Dissemination
I will be creating an online blog to document the progress of my research, and the final outcome of the research, and to hopefully receive feedback regarding my project.
Pretty neat idea Jennie. Do you have any plans on what age of house you plan to renovate? will the plans once done be applicable to various ages of structures?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Bert. I will be using my own house since I have access to it. Although it is only 18 years old, all of the concepts will be applicable to older structures such as resealing windows, adding insulation to an attic or a crawlspace. If you have any more questions please let me know. :)
ReplyDeleteSeeings how getting the most bang for the renovations buck is the what your trying to accomplish. Providing the home owner with a detailed guide to the various procedures could allow them to be engaged and take on some of the costly tasks them selves. for example easy things like some preliminary starting with a smoke test or thermal imaging may be a good place to identify problem areas quickly and cheaply on their own . if the home owner themselves had a good idea as to what the problem areas were, and contributed to the work then it could provide them with better end results at lower costs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Rob. I really like the thermal imaging and smoke test idea. I would like most of the renovations to be able to be DIY, but would also like to include the costs of hiring a contractor as some people may not be comfortable doing renovations themselves. I plan to talk to multiple contractors to determine average costs. Please let me know if you have anymore ideas or where I can rent a thermal imaging camera. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea rob. I think that every house in kamloops would require a smoke or thermal test to start. Every house is built different, and to get the bang for your buck, it would show where to begin with your renovations. Since heat rises my guess would be that ceiling insulation would be very important. Here is a site i found that describes a little about insulations
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_01.html
When dealing with the renovation of your older home where do you plan on paying most attention to? eg windows, walls...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the website Dave! Is has a lot of great information I will be able to use!
ReplyDeleteDillon, my research will focus on all areas of the home including windows, walls, attics, crawl spaces, etc. This will allow many different homeowners the opportunity to have instructions and guidance while renovating their home compared to focusing on one aspect of the home which would eliminate the majority of homeowners who have multiple energy loss issues. Fortunately, my own home which I will be using as an example house has a variety of problems that I will be addressing in my research.
ReplyDeleteHey Jennie,
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting topic, large range of research to be done. I know your dealing with house construction, but replacing appliances with energy efficient ones such as energy star brand would help reduce your bills as well. Were you going to include those in your costs?
If you ever thought about that here is an energy star website. Its a brand but maybe you could stick to a specific brand for appliances? who knows!
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.
Hey Jenny
ReplyDeleteI found some really neat sites that may be of use to you.
http://greeninghomes.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=32
http://www.homerenovationguide.com/articles/tips-for-selecting-green-windows-and-doors
This link’s information is not for the article, actually the article has nothing to do with your research, however, there are multiple links at the bottom of the page on the best way of renovating certain aspects of your house, from flooring to garages and offices.
http://homerenorepair.suite101.com/
Thanks for the website Jocelyn. I was considering including the cost of new appliances but since I am looking at many different aspects of renovating a home my reasearch seems to be getting bigger and my thesis statement longer so I would like to concentrate more on a specific area, (ie construction).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the sites Kari! There is a lot of usefull information on them, now I have something to read at work today! hehe
ReplyDeleteHey Jennie,
ReplyDeleteI signed out a book from the library called "Super Insulated Retrofit". It is all about energy efficiency of buildings and how to renovate homes properly. I think it is full of great information that could be quite useful for your research topic. I will bring it in for you on Monday. Hope it helps :)
Thanks Scotty! I'm looking forward to reading it
ReplyDeleteHi Jennie!
ReplyDeleteI started to look into boilers to find out what constitutes an efficient boiler and there seems to be a lot more to it than I thought. There is the initial investment that you make in the boiler but then you also need to think about maintenance and then also fuel costs. And that's just looking on the economic side, not to mention the environmental impacts side. I found this website, I hope it will help you:
http://www.energysolutionscenter.org/BoilerBurner/Eff_Improve/Primer/Boiler_Efficiency.asp
Thanks Sam! I hadn't thought about boilers, that's definitely something I will have to look into further.
ReplyDeleteHey Jennie I have a magazine that you need to look at. It's called "energy smart homes". There is three examples in it that go through a step by step process of turning old homes into net zero green homes.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dillon! What is the magazine called??
ReplyDelete