Reaching for Home

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I went to my first ever city council public hearing tonight, because it mattered. I’m pleased to say that I was there to witness the Missoula City Council adopting a 10 year plan that targets the end of homelessness. I didn’t bring prepared comments, but found myself at the podium anyways. While I enjoy public speaking, tonight was not one of my better performances. I came home and organized my thoughts more coherently.

To the Missoula City Councilmen&Women

“As we talk about long-lasting affordable housing, I feel compelled to talk about long-lasting affordable buildings. Worthy visions of affordable housing solutions have time and time again been implemented as low-cost construction projects resulting in housing that is of low value to both the occupants and the surrounding community.

Montana state codes are deficient in addressing ventilation standards that support occupant health, these codes do not reflect the modern state of energy efficient design and construction (leading to high energy bills for occupants), and these codes do not encourage the use of sustainable, durable materials.

As a contractor, I am certain that we can do better. I urge you to forego many of the often repeated assumptions in building design. Challenge your working group, design teams, and fundraising teams to strive for more than code minimum construction. Consult with design experts that truly believe in your goal of sustainable housing, and have demonstrated it in their own work. Developing cost effective, durable, and low energy use buildings demands rigorous dedication to these goals, from the beginning of the fundraising process to the moment we hand keys to a tenant. I believe that sustainable buildings are instrumental in providing sustainable housing. I am proud to be part of the the community that is willing to take this on, and eager to help see this vision through.”

There it is. Let’s get to work.

Rent

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(the views below are my own, and are no way professional opinions or necessarily the views of my employer)

Yesterday I signed a lease on a new place to rent for the next year. 2013-2014 will be another year that owning the space I live in eludes me. Several friends though, have made this the year and know that I have opinions about their position. I haven’t bought a house. There’s a huge amount on the internet that covers this topic. Several friends have requested this post repeatedly of late. I wanted to share the top three things I’ve thought about digging into their questions from the perspective of a contractor, engineer, and fiscal tightwad.

Track Your Money.

Use Mint.com. If you can’t say exactly how cash positive you were in the last 6-12 months, you’re probably not ready to buy a home.

Learn About Mortgage Finance

Make sure you understand exactly how much money a bank is about to extract from you. Spend an hour on the Wolfram Alpha Mortgage Calculator and write down what you learn. This is going to determine how much house you can actually afford. The number one headache I see clients struggle with is being unrealistic about what they can afford for both new buildings and additions. Don’t buy more house than you can afford.

Look Around Carefully

People will tell you all kinds of things, and NOT tell you all kinds of things. There are three things that are a barrier to doing other (more fun) energy efficiency improvements down the line. Here’s what I look for:

Look for white PVC pipes sticking out of the furnace and hot water heater- this is the sign of a “sealed combustion” appliance. These are more efficient than code minimum systems, but more importantly they are much, much safer. The first step in doing any other energy efficiency work is having sealed combustion systems. Learn more about the relationship between energy efficiency and combustion appliances here. Even in brand new houses, speculative builders will still prioritize granite counter tops over seal combustion appliances.
Look around the crawlspace. Crawlspaces are prime sources of mold, mildew, and radon, as well as energy loss. They are expensive to retrofit, and again are more pressing than doing other sexier improvements. You are looking for plastic on the floor that is sealed to the foundation wall. Look at the foundation wall and make sure that it is solid, smooth concrete. I would not buy a house with a rubble foundation, or a crawlspace that I wouldn’t be willing to crawl to the outer extents of.
Look (and listen) for a dedicated kitchen range vent, and a functional bathfan in each bathroom (be prepared to negotiate several thousand dollars out of the purchase price). If the fans whine like your 1985 Corolla driving up the mountain, it’s probably not working right. Dedicated ventilation does increase your energy bills, but it reduces the risk of ending up with a mold or mildew problem in your house. Even better, look for a house with a heat recovery ventilator. Again, having a functional ventilation system in the house will give you more options down the line to make other improvements.

The Energy Vanguard blog is one of the best contractor perspectives on the internet. While it does focus on energy use, Dr. Bailes covers a wealth of knowledge and experience. Set aside a Tuesday night and just start reading.

I hate to bang this post out, but it’s the weekend in the spring and people are shopping. Happy hunting.

Stars

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A few weeks ago I made a goal to sleep under the stars more. Last weekend Sarah had a great idea for just the place to do that. I made it to Salt Lake City by Thursday night, and Friday we headed promptly for Zion National Park.

Kolob is the name of the star that Mormons believe that God lives on- it’s also the northern part of the park. If I were God, I could see living here…

Opening views.

Drive the WHOLE overlook road…

Hiking Friday afternoon was stellar, but the camping just outside the park was stellar. Red sand, bright stars, and dinner par none. We talked about what we might do, and while Zion is famous for rock climbing, I can do that at home. Technical slot canyoneering, not so much…

Lets go.

Going down.

Lead on!

We headed down the famous Keyhole Canyon- which is pretty much everyone’s first Zion canyon, and while short, it had all the right elements. That is, the right elements to make you want more. So we jumped in Pine Creek next. More of everything, including full on darkness and free hanging rappels. So, so good.

Ready to be cold.

Last rappel- 100′ free hanging…

Mid-air photos.

Our new friend Taylor following after us…

Despite my new found love of canyoneering, it seemed criminal to go all the way to Zion and not rock climb, so after a leisurely Sunday brunch we headed out for a few easy pitches before heading back to SLC.

Putting the crack machine to good use.

Amazing views from the belay…

The verdict? I had a stellar weekend. I like sandstone, I like canyons, I like traveling, and I like this girl. Life seems pretty good that all these things fit together.

Ps. I got to hang with my buddy Bryce in SLC who is starting a rad new thing to bridge the gap between gearheads and dirtbags- check it out.

Crack Machine

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A few weeks ago I was desperate to climb outside, but didn’t plan for it and needed to spend most of my day taking care of things around town. It was gorgeous out, and I was unwilling to head to the gym. I’m trying to focus on training like I hope to climb, and had had one idea kicking around for a while.

Trad climbing almost always entails some form of crack climbing, and I am not terribly good at either. The rock gym is relatively useless for training towards crack climbing, so I took a lead from one of my favorite climbers and built a little tool for the specific exercise of learning to cram my fingers into rock fissures. Welcome to the crack machine:

(2) 2×8’s, sanded smooth on one side and one edge.

Using carriage bolts and PVC pipe for spacers makes this set up adjustable.

I used 2x8s, carriage bolts, and pvc pipe as spacers to make the system adjustable- meaning I can work any size crack. The size of lumber matters quite a bit- I would have like to use 2×10 or 2×12 so that I can practice armbarring and chickenwinging but they would have been too heavy to lift.

Clearance holes required.

One big note on the building side- the holes in the board on the left, above, need to be ~1/8″ to 1/4″ larger than the holes on the right. Carriage bolts don’t tend to sit perfectly straight, so you want some clearance to get things to fit together nicely. Using carriage bolts and nuts allows you to crank the boards apart to any width crack- mine is currently set to “rattly fingers” or “BD 0.75.” You don’t actually need the PVC spacers, I just thought they would add some rigidity which really wasn’t necessary with six carriage bolts in 8′

Ready to hurt?

For the record- these guys crush it, and they trained almost exclusively in a basement. Look forward to updates on how training is going.

I’ve been in Seattle the last few days to attend the Passive House Northwest Conference. The German Passive House energy efficiency standard is alive and well here in the Pacific Northwest, perhaps moreso than almost anywhere else in the country. Beyond lectures on earthquake stabilized R-35 foundation details and vapor open assembly design, I’ve been here to represent Zola Windows– high performance European built windows. Energetechs represents Zola because there are no windows made in the United States that absorb more radiant energy than they release in conductive heat loss (standby for an explanation) in the Missoula climate. Only the Europeans make these things, and surprisingly, it makes sense to bring them here.

That, is a great place to put a Zola Window.

Zola is a young company run by a brilliant Swiss Architect out of Colorado who started the company at age 26. Like many of the other awesome people I’ve met through the Passive House movement, his core motivation was to maximize the sustainability of buildings and knew that high performance windows are a key part of the equation. He saw the niche, and had the guts to fill it.

I admire him for the fact that he runs a very successful company that he built, from the ground up, and still finishes his day in time to pick up his young child from day care. He figured out that selling hours as an architect limited his impact, when he could have both more personal time, and more impact by selling what he knew was really part of the problem. I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking- “I’m in the wrong game.” I am unimpressed with what I have accomplished in my life, and that frustrates me. This post had previously slammed my friend because I was, on a deep level, jealous of his success- and in a way, knowing him makes me question some of the hard choices I’ve made.

There are many parts to be played in fixing our buildings. Zola fills an essential need. Skilled and talented contractors are clutch. An engaged populace is the foundation. Manufacturer, builder, consumer- what part are you going to play to maximize your impact on the problem at hand?

The first Zola uPVC windows installed in the US, as of Thursday…

Feedback

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First thing today at work, I got some feedback that I had dropped the ball on a few things, and we probably lost some money, and some respect, because of it.

After work, and my weekend facilitating NLC sessions, our board for the group met and reviewed some of the feedback we had received- as I had invited most of the speakers, and facilitated most of the sessions- I felt pretty invested in it, and some of the negative feedback we got hit me hard.

After that meeting, I got some feedback from a friend that I had really let her down in a big way. I care about my friends a lot, so I took this more seriously than all of them.

Feedback is the most important thing in the world because it’s when we find out if what we thought (or guessed) and did actually resulted in the outcome we had hope for. In short- it’s how we actually learn.

Professionally it’s pretty easy- if we reduce utility bills, make people happier, and put a little money in the bank, we win, but it usually doesn’t keep me up at night. In my personal life it tends to hit harder, maybe because the lessons feel closer to home, and maybe because it takes a long time to really change who we are. I’ve still got plenty of work to do. Everyday, most of us strive to do our best- and every day, we guess, and we get things wrong.

I have to remind myself that my best is good enough for today. If you get it mostly right, most of the time- you’re probably doing well. Half the battle is letting go when you’re in the wrong, the other half is hanging on to the lesson.

Branding

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If you’ve followed the site for a while, you might notice a few changes today- stickthefeeling.wordpress.com is now stickthefeeling.com. You can expect to see some custom layout changes, some video content, and soon- an updated professional page for friends and small businesses.

Elke lays it out for our group.

Last year, I wrote a lot about New Leaders Council – Montana and the important relationships the group has helped me cultivate in the Western Montana community. This year, I’m on the board and have been coordinating speakers for the seminar series and setting up mentorship for our fellows to foster some of these awesome relationships for other people. One of the notes I took during last years seminars was to continue to build the strong personal brand that I started here in 2011. Part of that is owning this domain, and committing to keeping the content fresh and growing. No, building my brand does not mean slighting my work at Energetechs- if anything, my work there is only growing deeper, stronger, and more meaningful. I think having a strong personal brand will only compliment that work.

While facilitating the NLC sessions has certainly absorbed quite a bit of my discretionary time, we’ve had a weekend full of amazing presentations with leaders from the following folks. A huge thank you to the following people:

Stephanie from The Truman National Security Project
Bryan&Erin from AERO & WVE
Russ & Tynille from Energetechs and Monkey Bar Gym Missoula
Susan from United Way of Missoula
Gen&Josh from Garden City Harvest
Elke from MamaLode

Many people complain about the economic environment in Missoula, but I am continually blown away by the quality of leaders and entrepreneurs that we have met with. Please check out the awesome things happening at each of the above organizations.

IWD 2013

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It’s more important than ever. Sadly, we’ve had a problem in my community in the last several years, and we need to do better. For some reason, I was still at my desk with a client during this rally, and I regret not being there.

Remember the women in your life today- love them, respect them, support them. Not just because you are a dude and feel frustrated that we live in a world that regularly denigrates 50% of our species, but because on the most basic level, it is damn important to celebrate basic human equality and decency, for all of us- right here, right now.

Silver Wattle. Traditional IWD gift. Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Acacia_dealbata-1.jpg AND Eugene Zelenko.

(yes, there will be a post on this every year- enjoy 2012, here)

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Old Guard

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I’m behind on posting, but not for lack of adventure. A week ago I was in Jackson, WY- fighting a nasty cold, loving some time with my lovely lady, and catching up with one of my Denali partners via a foot of Freshiez off of WYO 22.

Getting our fix at the Teton Ice Park.

Bryan @ Top of Glory, reasonable name…

“No officer, we are not hitch-hiking.”

This weekend I’m in Bozeman for much of the same. Despite not ice climbing much this year, this afternoon I was able to tick a line that has inspired me since my second ever trip to Hyalite in 2009. The Sceptre gets WI5 in the guidebook, but at this point in the season it climbs like a stiff grade 4. I felt really fortunate to share the beautiful weather yesterday with two wonderful climbers (one of whom I had known only by reputation)- thanks to Marko and Echo for being such strong and inspiring partners.

Sceptre is in fat. (Photo: Echo Oak)

Top out stoke. (Photo Echo Oak)

Echo, burning laps.

The Scepter is adjacent to The Mummy II, which makes for a nice warmup. The title though relates to one of the coolest parts of my Saturday. I’m warming up on top-rope in the foreground, but in the back you can see The Sceptre- with someone else climbing on it. I had noticed two older gentlemen and a younger guy approach the climb before I left the ground and I assumed the younger guy would lead it. I should have known better- there is an old guard in Hyalite, guys who have lived and climbed here for over 40 years. They are responsible for most of the established climbs, most of the mentorship, and most of the special energy and spirit that this place has.

In good company.

I had only heard of Pat Callis from guidebook descriptions, but those guidebook descriptions credit him with first ascents as early as 1973. Pat was out climbing yesterday, I’m guessing he is in his mid-60s, and leading The Sceptre as confidently as most people his age discuss bond investments or board a flight to Paris. He was also mentoring the younger man in his party, as I’m sure Pat has done for countless other Montana climbers. I found the climbing challenging and wasn’t entirely sure I’d finish things cleanly. Climbing is a beautiful equalizer, and also equally accessible- if you want to do it, take care of your body, and are humble enough to learn- there are very few limits on what you can accomplish. The climbing community in Montana is riddled with the old guard, and I’m privileged to be around them.