Many considerations combine in planing a Major Project to deliver a complete return on investment.
Fixing one thing at a time cannot achieve many desired transformations. There are many ways to fall short of intentions. Sustainability shares many informative posts with residents via facebook and median.
Keda House is vital to MSC's finances, yet the results of many problems exceed what some residents tolerate. The city noticed peeling paint, yet experience and consultants describe several chronic moisture issues that shorten the life of paint, sofits, decking, and the structure.
How soon can we get work completed and how quickly within a worth while budget?
We want to know, and so will the city.
To answer that architects need us to clarify more precisely what we want in their design. There are many options.
At the 27 July Members Meeting 14 of 38 of Members decided to have architects & engineers proceed with pre-schematic analysis for Keda Roof replacement that replaces 4 rooms with 6 while expanding usable floor area, creates space for proper insulation and roof deck ventilation, and implicitly designs in details that reduce costs to add desired features later if time or money make them not good investments now.
The design process will clarify costs in context and what parts combine or do not fit together. Final prices depend on bids we get.
What can we get on a clear schedule within a budget that will be repaid by project impacts of revenue and reduced maintenance requirements?
In Scope:
Condensing sealed combustion boiler with water heating zone is cheaper than a geothermal heat pump. -- This lets us Remove a Chimney to never repair it again.
Remove Chimney.
Reconfigure to have 6 rooms usable as habitable sleeping dens -- One will be used for storage.
R60 insulation, with more than sufficient passive ventilation under roof deck, and pest exclusion.
Hip roof assumed. Mansard style is initial consideration. Economical, durable, yet attractive.
The project must strengthen long term revenue, and our balance of Assets to liabilities.
Complexities:
What is the City height restriction?
ADA improvement is limited by structural details.
Permitting is more efficient if projects combine into one inspection and recommissioning process.
Deterioration can't all be seen, so we must budget for unanticipated abatement and have designs ready beyond the scope of the Roof Project Phase.
Final touches to include:
Replace gutters. -- Add tree debris proof gutter protection?
Durable paint or cladding. -- consider the cost of work above 1st floor height.
-- What painting makes sense to do now.
At least design for future inclusion:
Solar powered roof venting to cool the roof faster in Summer once it is properly vented.
Solar heat & hot water and PV. -- we can settle for a solar ready roof.
Controlled zoning to deliver heat more precisely to where it is needed -- improve access and pipe diagrams needed to zone.
HRV to merely control humidity, or to potentially cool every bedroom? -- improve access if not route some ducts.
Electrical. Can we finally get arc fault circuit interruption?
West Shutters & South facing Awnings.
Maintenance items enabled by the above:
Move the dryer closer to the boiler room and exterior to shorten exhaust duct length.
Upgrade bathroom exhaust systems during electrical work.
Not in scope:
Foundation repairs, regrading, level egress from basement to parking area.
The debate is more about what profound improvement is possible before roof fails, than about whether it is desired.
Sustainability Committee wants to at least correct ice dam and rot inducing lack of roof deck ventilation if not bring insulation up to code.
The extreme disturbance that any meaningful roof repair will cause 3rd floor residents forced consideration of an entire 3rd floor replacement to increase revenue while reducing whole building energy requirements and improving air quality + year around comfort within an intensely occupied home. The remaining life of such a building is finite, so we have limited time to consider upgrading the best that Keda residents will have to live in for the next few decades.
Tim Eian invites any Keda Roof Design task group and the MSC BOD to visit intep for a workshop on planning processes to clarify MSC values, asses what we have, define what we want to become, and set goals and priorities to get there faster than our buildings decay. This calls for a Sustainability Committee Meeting.
Architect on Keda Roof Project:
Richard Venberg 612 325-2154
richardvenberg@me.com
Local Architect & Master Carpenter with his own off the grid workshop close by. Familiar with local Codes and building practices. He is already helping to stretch dollars by installing a couple salvaged windows at E-House, and can help us to install functional awnings and shutters to let residents better control solar heat gain. Work Example: http://www.richardvenberg.com/residential-projects/seward-house/
“Design is not so much a solution as it is a negotiation.” – R.V.
“Materials... form influences our thoughts and actions.” – R.V.
Technical Architectural & HVAC Engineering Consultant:
Tim Delhey Eian 612 339-5515
eian@intep.us Involved in: testudio, LocusArchitecture
Reduced energy requirements of several buildings by > 80%. Expert in heat recovery ventilation and narrow ducts that don't accumulate dust which are essential to the health of people in very air tight buildings, and in homes with high occupant density. Familiar with the costs and time to assemble manufactured building structures on site. Eager to discuss the limits and potential to cost effectively improve performance of our existing buildings, and the need to both plan & budget reserves for inevitable replacements of most of most of our buildings.
“You cannot afford not to plan” – Tim Delhey Eian after assessing the condition of all MSC's 5 buildings and other structures.
The more we understand how parts fit together, the more each Project can reduce the cost of, or improve, the result of future remodels. Ultimately this is about how can we afford better housing and let residents know longer in advance what changes to expect while here. This is about making our homes reflect our values, and feeling pride in this expression of who we are. This is about securing a better future than we see evolving out of deterioration.