Retrofitting for Sustainable Architecture
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Q: I will be purchasing a double wide manufacture home in Ash Fork Arizona and would like some input on how and what materials could be used for the outside. I found a web site last year of a professor in Tucson who used foam board and stuccoed his home.

A: I presume that the manufacturer offers a limited selection of exterior materials, with likely fiberglass insulation in the walls. To make such a house "greener", you might consider some of these possibilities:
1) Orient the house to catch some of the winter sun, but with shades to exclude the summer sun.
2) Incorporate as much thermal mass material (tile, brick, rock, etc.) as possible inside the house to help stabilize temperatures.
3) Possibly increase the insulation all around on the outside, with something like the stuccoed foam board that you mention. A more radical retrofit might involve wrapping the structure with strawbales or earthbags filled with volcanic rock, which are then plastered on the outside.

Q: What's the best strategy to retroactively remodel to be greener?

A: The first thing I would consider to retrofit a house to be greener would be to look at the possibility of introducing passive solar heating. This can often be done rather simply and pays back such huge dividends in comfort, savings in energy costs, and diminishing the pollution associated with conventional energy.

Q: I am the Executive Director of Theater for the New City in New York City. We have a footprint of approximately 17,000 square feet. Our roof is flat. We would like to perhaps have a Green Roof or Solar Panels. I don't know where to start in this mission. Can you help?

A: 17,000 square feet of open space in New York City is a significant resource, and I am pleased that you are considering green options for capitalizing on this space. Both of the options that you mention may be feasible, at least to some extent. Certainly solar panels for both hot water and for electricity generation are likely possible.

As for converting the roof to green space, i.e. earth-sheltered and planted, this possibility would really depend on whether the structure could support the considerable additional weight of all that soil, and whether the existing roof could be sufficiently water tight to allow this. It might be that some partial accommodation of this concept would be preferable, even done as independent planters arranged on the roof for trees and gardens.

It will take the expertise of local technicians to ascertain how and to what extent any of these options might be realistic. Perhaps a combination of several of them would work. I can image a lovely roof-top park that not only features lovely plantings and paths, but also demonstration solar panels for water and electricity. One place to look for expertise in these areas is http://directory.greenbuilder.com/search.gbpro  .

Q: We are in the process of remodeling a house in Boulder. We are wondering if a 2-story house is greener that a ranch style, with the same total square feet?

A: Yes, I would say that in general a two-story house will likely be greener than the same square footage spread out on one level, because of the savings in both foundation and roofing materials. Also, the heat accumulated on the first floor can be used to help warm the second story.