Installing Wall-to-Wall Carpet, Building an Energy Star Certified Home, and Saving Electricity and Protecting Electronics in the Home

Project: Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable, Episode 17, Part 3



At the Mashpee, Massachusetts homes, general contractor Wes Lohr is adding finishing details like the Permex shutters from J&L Shutters. Developer Joe Valle reviews Massachusetts' Act 40B affordable housing law and John Livermore looks at how homes become Energy Star-certified. He also shows Bob energy-saving products for any home. Homeowners Kelli and Scott Jacobson tell how a first-time homebuyers seminar at the local housing assistance corporation helped them discover programs designed to help working families purchase their first homes. Bob talks with them about the open floor plan of their Cape Cod-style home, the Vermont Castings electric fireplace that will tie their design together, and the Kenmore stainless-steel appliances Kelli selected for the kitchen. Bob also meets homeowner Kim Brown, who selected Maple beadboard cupboards and black finishes for her Kenmore kitchen appliances. Kim's ranch-style home, open layout, and Whirlpool high-efficiency, large-capacity laundry system are perfect for a young family. Emma and Jacob Josselyn welcome Bob to their Cape Cod-style home with a look at their new Vermont Castings cast-iron electric stove. Designer Katherine Kaess joins them to review the design principles of feng shui and make suggestions for encouraging the flow of life-force energy or chi throughout the home.
Part 1: Installing Permex Shutters, Viewing the Open Floor Plan, and Meeting the Affordable Home Buyers
Part 2: Reviewing the Kitchen and Layout of the Ranch-Style Home
Part 3: Installing Wall-to-Wall Carpet, Building an Energy Star Certified Home, and Saving Electricity and Protecting Electronics in the Home
Bob meets Scott Howard of Dean's Carpet as he installs Stainmaster nylon carpet in one of the Mashpee, Massachusetts, affordable homes. This nylon carpet is engineered to fight off stains from kids, pets, and food. Howard uses an eight-pound rebond pad underneath that is made from recycled foam and will last the life of the carpet. This type of installation is not for do-it-yourselfers since there are so many specialized tools required. The installers fit carpet under the baseboard heat enclosure and tamp it onto the tackless underneath for a tight fit. John Livermore joins Bob to explain the Energy Star Homes program started in the 1970s by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The red blower door is in place to do the blower door test required for certification as an Energy Star Home. Certified homes must be at least 30 percent more efficient than the model energy efficiency code. Once certified, homeowners and builders are eligible for rebates and services from a consortium of utilities and energy service providers. Livermore reviews key areas of energy-efficient building with Bob, including air sealing. He repeats the builders' motto, \build tight and ventilate right Damon Markowski from Leviton shows Bob the dimmers that have been installed to control light levels and save power. Leviton has also provided a built-in surge pression module that protects all of the electronic components of the home, including the cable television and phone, from damaging power surges.
Part 4: Feng Shui for the Home
This project deals with two very different notions of home. Bob begins on New York City's Upper West Side, where an 1890s Brownstone is revitalized through high-quality craftsmanship and sensitive design. New York's past meets its present, as the entire floor is recaptured and refurbished to create a spacious urban apartment on the doorstep of Central Park.

At the same time, Bob works with a Cape Cod developer to apply Massachusetts land use statute 40B to create affordable housing, and a neighborhood of homes in Mashpee, MA. These Energy Star certified homes show how quality building practices and reasonable asking prices can work together to provide livable, affordable homes and neighborhoods to those who work in our communities.

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