It's The Custom

When the holiday rush is over we are left with great memories, full bellies and a lot of stuff that needs to be recycled. Gift wrapping and bags are easy to feed back into the stream with curbside recycling in many communities or the many recycling facilities all over the metro-area (check out our post, Will it Recycle?, for  a location near you). But getting your live Christmas trees recycled can be a whole different story.

When the last cup of eggnog has been toasted and the last ornament has been boxed, here are a few ways you can recycle your trees in St Louis and St Charles City and County, and make your Christmas just a little greener:

Curbside Christmas Tree Pickup-Many local communities will offer curbside recycling during the first couple of weeks following the holiday. Simply call your local waste management provider to ask what their policy or drop-off locations, or if you receive email updates about holiday trash schedules check those. If you have any questions about whether it will go to waste or recycling feel free to contact your waste management facility to clarify, and if it is going to waste consider a drop-off location or chipping your tree for use in your landscaping.

St Louis & St Charles Christmas Tree Drop Off-Three St Louis City parks accept trees for drop-off two weeks after the holiday. You can bring your bare trees to Carondelet, O’Fallon and Forest Park in the lower Muny parking lot to have your tree recycled. If you are a St Charles County resident there are several options where you can drop-off your trees from December 27 until January 18, including Laurel Park, St Peters Golf and Rec Center, St Peters Earth Center, Civic Park, O’Fallon Sports Park, Founders Park, Progress Park, and Quail Ridge Park.

Recycle Your Tree in Landscaping-Mulch can be expensive, but really it is just made from chipped tree bark. If you have access to a chipper or rent one you might want to consider chipping your tree and spreading it in your flower beds. The acidity of pine makes for especially vibrant hydrangea colors, and they also make great winter ground cover for new plantings.

If you opt to have your tree picked up or if you drop it off at a collection point there are a few things you should do before you go: remove all decorations and lights, cut it into four foot lengths to be accepted and do not wrap it in plastic.

We do not recommend folks recycle their tree for firewood, however. There is a high concentration of oils in the tree that can cause build up and result in creosote fires in your chimney.

And next year as your family makes time to select the perfect tree, why not consider a tree with a root ball which can be planted it in your yard to enjoy after the holiday season has passed?

Kim Hibbs of Hibbs Homes and consulting partner Matt Belcher of Verdatek Solutions are partnering with the Active House Alliance to begin construction on the first Active House prototype in the United States in early 2012.

This custom home brings together expertise from industry leading sustainable building practices in the United States and the Active House practices that have been developed in Europe, and will define the next generation of sustainable building.

We are working with several key Active House Alliance partners in Europe as well as industry leading green building partners here in St. Louis to develop and construct the home in Webster Groves, MO.  The home is being designed using Active House Standards and to meet or exceed four North American sustainable building certifications: Energy Star, EPA Indoor Air Plus, Building America Builder’s Challenge and ANSI ICC-700-the National Green Building Standard.

Active House USA balances three key sustainability factors: actively balanced energy consumption, outstanding indoor climate, and positive impact on the surrounding environment.

To those familiar with green home construction practices this is all probably sounding fairly familiar. It is when you dig a little deeper into the three key components of active house building principles where you begin to see the difference. Active House specifications for the three key components are defined as following:

 Energy-An Active House is a building which is energy efficient and easy to operate, a building which substantially exceeds the statutory minimum in terms of energy efficiency, a building which exploits a variety of energy sources integrated in the overall design.

Indoor Climate-The indoor climate of an Active House promotes health, comfort and sense of well-being, is a building which ensures good indoor air quality, has adequate thermal climate and appropriate visual and acoustical comfort, provides an indoor climate which is easy for occupants to control and at the same time encourages responsible environmental behavior

Environment-An Active House building exerts the minimum impact on environmental and cultural resources, is a building which avoids ecological damage and adds to local biodiversity, is a building which is constructed of materials which have high recycled content and provides for its own recycling or re-use

These standards are all taken into careful consideration when deciding which materials and resources to use when building the home, and they are integral to the overall design of the home as well. Basically the vision behind an active home is one that does more with less impact.

Many of the major players in Active House USA met at the St Louis Home Builder's Association office to discuss plans and the project with the homeowner and Active House Alliance.

Russia recently unveiled an active house just outside of Moscow, and we are very excited to announce that soon Hibbs Homes will be breaking ground on the first active house in the United States! Active House USA is located just fifteen minutes outside of downtown St. Louis. This location is ideal because designing the prototype in St. Louis’s mixed humid climate requires that cold and warm climate specifications be taken into account, allowing for easy translations of the prototype into other homes in the United States.

Architect Jeff Day of Jeff Day & Associates is working with the homeowners now to define the design requirements, and the homeowners are excited to begin construction on their new home.

You can learn more about other active homes around the world as well as the active home movement by visiting ActiveHouse.info. There you can see photos, read about the other Active House projects and even download a brochure outlining Active House building specifications.

Image credit: EPA

Recently we came across a great post by St. Louis Realtor Karen Goodman on radon risks for Missouri homes, a hot topic for many home builders and buyers in the St. Louis area. It caused quite a buzz among the Hibbs Homes staff.

To get some more insight on the matter we turned to our consulting partner, Matt Belcher of Verdatek Solutions. Matt, one of the country’s leading green home standards experts, recently joined our home building team and brings with him a wealth of knowledge not only about green building standards here and abroad, but also a very unique expertise with radon in Missouri homes.

A few years ago Matt received a grant from the Department of Health to attend a Radon educational symposium in Washington D.C. At the time, he was one of the first builders to begin roughing in a radon mitigation system during new home construction.

Matt said of the symposium, “It really drove home the nature of the importance of these systems in every home we have build. We are one of very few builders who do this or frankly understand Radon and its effects.”

Radon is naturally occurring, radioactive gas produced during the decay of deposits of uranium and radium in the soil and air. When radon enters the home it radioactively charges dust particles, which become carcinogenic and when inhaled can lodge in your lungs. In fact, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking, and the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers according to EPA estimates. And studies conducted by the agency show that even a small amount of radon can cause lung cancer.

As the map in Karen’s post points out, Missouri is located in a “median” risk radon zone. This means that while the risk is slightly elevated, concentrations are not as predominant as they are in areas to the North and west of us and mitigation is optional by code.

In terms of risk, Matt explained, “The maximum standard measurement level for Radon is 4 Picocuries/liter (pCi/L). However, that is a somewhat “arrived at” number. The average home has about 1.3 pCi/L indoors. The true effect of any Radiation is time vs. exposure. If you spend the bulk amount of your time in the lowest level of your home and are in an area with even lower levels you may be effected more than someone even in non-conforming areas but spend little time in the lower level.”

Now that many home buyers are aware of the risk a radon inspection is an increasingly common closing inspection, and if detected a mitigation system can be installed by a contractor prior to closing, which can be costly.

However in St Louis new home construction a more proactive approach is being taken with the knowledge that our area has a slightly elevated risk. In new homes a passive mitigation system is being installed in the form of a pip that runs under the lowest floor slab, and using the natural tendency for warm air to rise the vapor vents up through the roof. And even more progressively, Matt explains, “We always leave a length in the attic adequate to install a fan if our client would desire to make it an active system in the future.”

While radon detection and mitigation may only be optional in this area, a radon inspection and a proactive preclusion system is an important when building your home in St Louis to reduce your family’s health risk.

For more information about radon’s risks and effects we invite you to explore the EPA’s radon website, and, like most important homeowner issues, consult a trusted contractor or realtor.