Portland Press Herald’s Tux Turkel toured G·O Logic’s Belfast prototype house and the resulting front-page article is out:

‘Green’ to the Extreme: House May Cut Energy Costs by 90%’

The article reviews some of the fundamental differences between this ‘energy-frugal’ home and standard construction, from foundation to roof and beyond. The house is a model of energy-efficient design, contemporary architecture, high-performance building techniques and exacting standards (LEED and Passivhaus, to name two). Once built, it will be living proof that a self-sustaining home that cuts energy costs by 90% can be beautiful and affordable, too.

Read the full article here

View the article in PDF format

Orange area proposed house site

The building site for the prototype was chosen for its gently rolling topography, open space and proximity to Belfast’s downtown. The three acre lot was previously used as a hay field and woodlot, but in the recent years has only been maintained as a meadow. This gently sloping landscape allows for inexpensive, low-impact construction, while the open meadow allows for predictable solar gain.

Deciding the location of the house on site is a specific task, which will impact the site’s existing ecology and appearance, as well as the home’s future use, including creating solar access, public and private spaces. Careful planning must also be implemented before construction begins to manage the impact of the site disturbance. The GO Home’s location was chosen based on conserving as much of the trees and meadow as possible, while also creating sufficient privacy for the house from the road.

Most rural and suburban homes orient the primary façade, including the main entry and windows, towards the road. While we did orient the protorype’s front door to the road for clarity for arriving visitors, we then rotated the majority of the glazing towards the south for optimal solar gain and privacy. Articulating the difference between solar and social orientation in the siting of a house requires more consideration and critical thinking, but certainly is beneficial for both.

According to Ann Kearsley, Landscape Architect of Ann Kearsley Design, paying attention to the movement of the site (earth, water, air and sun) is key to limiting the disturbance of the landscape. Ann has been working collaboratively with G•O Logic to create a low impact construction site for the prototype house (see previous blog).

During the site planning and design process we took the following elements into consideration: water drainage, existing vegetation and sunlight. Planning for, and managing storm water runoff during and after construction is critical because the building will disturb the natural flow of water of an existing site. We tried to set the building elevation in the site to minimize excavation or filling. Because the site is sloped we needed to create a level area for the building and manage the resulting water runoff. To divert the run off away from the building we created vegetated bio swales that will become a distinct landscape element. Improper management of water drainage will result in soil erosion, which becomes a problem by creating unstable soil conditions for vegetation.

Top soil is also affected by site construction. Standard building practices, such as driving trucks all over the site and stockpiling topsoil in large piles, can destroy the top soil’s organic structure. Limiting the area of construction in the planning process on the site plan and during construction with fencing is important in order to minimize the overall impact on the landscape. The top soil excavated from the house site and driveway was stockpiled in shallow piles, mulched with hat and seeded to prevent erosion. Once construction around the house is complete, the stockpiled topsoil will be re-graded around the house to complete the landscape.

By Matthew O’Malia
Special to Roll Call
June 22, 2009, 5:43 p.m.

Read the Article at the Roll Call

I am a small-business owner and partner in G•O Logic LLC of Belfast, Maine, a design and building company building the next generation of sustainable, energy-efficient homes. So I understand first-hand the importance of investing in clean energy and the importance of Congress strengthening the Clean Energy and Security Act. If we invest in a clean energy economy now, we’ll create millions of jobs and set our country on a track to compete in a 21st century economy. Not only will my small business and thousands of others like mine be able to expand, but all of the local businesses we rely on for manufacturing, shipping, storage and many other tasks will benefit as well.

Buildings consume 40 percent of the energy produced in the United States, more energy than all of the cars on the roads today. And while automobile fuel efficiency is seriously debated as a path to save energy and money, building energy performance has not received as much scrutiny, even though we have the tools and technology to create super-efficient buildings today. A strong renewable electricity standard will mean these tools get used and these jobs created to make our buildings more efficient and begin to build the foundation of an American new energy economy.

G•O Logic has developed home designs that reduce energy consumption by 90 percent for space heating and 80 percent overall. These houses look and feel like custom-designed, conventional homes and are built for average construction costs. The energy efficiency comes from cost-effective design improvements — thicker walls with a lot more insulation, better passive-solar utilization, and an air-tight envelope coupled with a heat-recovery ventilation system. In simple terms, a 90 percent more energy-efficient home saves an enormous amount of money and energy — around $90,000 in heating costs, 22,000 gallons of heating oil, and 285 tons of CO2 over the term of a 30-year mortgage.

A stronger renewable energy standard in the energy bill would provide small businesses, like mine, with an important opportunity to provide quality, energy-efficient housing that people can afford to build and heat and cool. And this opportunity would not just benefit small businesses. It would also create an entirely new market for green jobs that are good-paying, skilled and valuable to the economy. And these are jobs that can never be shipped overseas.

In fact, study after study has shown that investing in clean energy creates jobs, and at a far faster rate than investments in dirty energy sources like oil and coal.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts found that investments in clean energy produce two to three times as many jobs as investments in dirty energy. The Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have issued similar findings.

Why settle for half as many jobs when we could have double or even triple?

And don’t forget that creating more energy-efficient homes and businesses will jump-start the local economies in a multitude of ways. Once homes and businesses stop wasting energy, it means more money in people’s pockets. The Department of Energy’s home weatherization program cuts energy costs by an average of 30 percent per home. Those savings will spur consumer spending — helping to create even more jobs.

A strong American Clean Energy and Security Act can open new doors to future green jobs, a green economy and energy security. G•O Logic, among other innovative small businesses, is ready to help lead the way, with the skills and vision necessary to implement this ambitious plan. But we need the help of elected officials. I urge Congress to act now to create a stronger energy bill that will provide the support needed for a strong green economy and a brighter future.

Matthew O’Malia is principal of G•O Logic LLC, a design and building company in Belfast, Maine.

Speech for PowerUp America- MidCoast Clean Energy Jobs Day

May 2009

My name is Matthew O’Malia of G•O Logic. G•O Logic is a design build collaboration that I started with my partner, Alan Gibson. In this company we have brought together my technical German architectural education and Alan’s many years of green building experience- in order to build the next generation of sustainable, energy efficient homes. I am here today to speak about how the Clean Energy and Security Act will help Maine, and how G•O Logic is already on board to implement the changes in building performance proposed by the Act.

G•O Logic designs and builds homes that are targeted to be 10 times more energy efficient than standard construction, and we build these homes at costs working families in Maine can afford to build, and more importantly afford to pay for heating in the future. In simple terms, a 10 times more energy efficient homes saves an enormous amount of money and energy- Saving around $90,000 in heating costs, 22,000 gallons of heating oil, and 285 tons of CO2 over thirty year mortgage. Now imagine if all new homes in Maine were built to this standard.. I can assure you, the global energy crisis would begin to look very different. In Belfast, we will be building this vision next year, in a sustainable development of 36 homes at the Belfast Area Cohousing and Eco Village…

As a small business owner, I see a huge opportunity in the state of Maine to provide quality, energy-efficient housing that people can afford to build and heat. I also see the opportunity to generate local, skilled jobs to meet that demand. But to move the current economy and people’s awareness to where this future can be realized, intervention is necessary.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is the type and scale of intervention that is required to realize this vision.

The key components of this legislation that benefit Maine businesses such as G•O Logic, include:
Updates for new construction to the National Model Building Energy Codes and Standards. Which would require a 30% improvement of energy efficiency now, and a 50% improvement of energy efficiency by 2016, with the eventual goal of creating net zero buildings.
One key requirement in the Act is that all improvements made to buildings must be cost-effective over the life-cycle of the building.

Now, how realistic is it to improve energy efficiency by 50% in a new home? Entirely realistic! G•O Logic has developed home designs that reduce energy consumption by 90% for space heating, and 80% overall. These houses look and feel like custom-designed, conventional homes. The energy-efficiency comes from very basic, design improvements—thicker walls with a lot more insulation, better passive-solar utilization, and an air-tight envelope coupled with a heat-recovery ventilation system. These homes are cost-effective because, even at today’s energy rates, the simple payback on the improvements is only about 10 years.

This legislation also creates an entire market for new green jobs. It provides funding for existing homes in Maine to have an energy audit. Based on that, a plan of action will be created and implemented to improve each homes performance. The higher the energy performance achieved in the renovation, the greater the tax incentives become. So now when I look at the thousands of old homes in Maine, I see an emerging market for green jobs that are local, skilled, and valuable to the economy.

This legislation also provides funding incentives on a state level to achieve the goals of energy-efficiency in all new construction. And the higher a state performs on reaching these goals, the higher level of federal funding the state will receive. And given the industrious and hard working nature of the people living in Maine, I think Maine will be in a great position to reap the rewards of this type of incentive plan.
Finally, this legislation proposes to create a building energy performance labeling system, with the purpose of providing home owners both the insight into a homes long term energy costs, and place an increased value on high energy performing homes. It is the same thing as monitoring miles per gallons on cars. Soon each home buyer can evaluate their choices with new important financial information. For G•O Logic, this is welcome legislation, finally there will be a federal certification establishing home energy performance, which will spur on the demand for energy-efficient homes.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act that is now before the Senate can open new doors to future green jobs, a green economy and energy security. G•O Logic, among other innovative companies in Maine, is ready to help lead the way, with the skills and vision necessary to implement this ambitious plan. Supporting this bill provides the support for a green future in Maine.