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Living Green Matters – No Matter What Shade
TheBeachCoast.com, October 2010 Issue
www.thebeachcoast.com
Interior Outlook Classic Choices, Simple Update
TheBeachCoast.com, May 2010 issue
www.thebeachcoast.com
New Green Housing Materials
Shore Magazine, April 2010 Issue
www.visitshoremagazine.com
The Greening of Shoreland Hills
The Beacher, September 2009, Volume 25
www.thebeacher.com
As published in The News-Dispatch, Michigan City, IN, April 22, 2009
By Laurie Wink
SHORELAND HILLS — Today is Earth Day, the 39th annual
celebration of efforts to promote a healthy environment.
The green movement has become a daily endeavor for those who
are committed to lifestyles that reduce their carbon footprint.
Two of those environmentally sensitive people are building a SIPS
house in Shoreland Hills.
SIPS – Structural Insulated Panels – form the skeletal structure of
the duneside house being built by Larry Zimmer and life partner
Ted Perzanowski.
SIPS are the latest in green building materials, formed of
Styrofoam sheets sandwiched between oriented strand board.
The SIPS roof panels are a foot thick and wall panels are 8
inches thick. Zimmer selected Kevin Flemington of Flemington
Construction in Long Beach as his builder in part because
Flemington already knew about SIPS and had been trying to talk
clients into using the building material. “He seemed to get what
we wanted to do,” Zimmer said.
Flemington said SIPS are 50 percent more energy efficient and
40 percent more physically sound than conventional building
materials. And construction goes faster – five days to frame a
SIPS house as compared to two to three weeks for a stick house.
“Most people don’t know abut it,” Flemington said. “We can take
anybody’s plans for a house and convert it into a SIPS house.”
Flemington said the building material is so airtight that an energy
recovery ventilator is needed to allow air exchange with outside
air. The system traps heat and reuses it to heat fresh air coming
in. Zimmer said its energy efficiency made the choice of SIPS “a
no-brainer.”
For Zimmer, who designed the house, the project commemorates
his 30 years in the interior design field and gave him an
opportunity to create a reality out of ideas he’s contemplated
for years.
Zimmer and Perzanowski share a commitment to using only as
much as they need, and decided to have a modest 1,000 square
feet of living space. A lower level will have another 1,000 square
feet of office space – the two have their own businesses – that will
double as rooms for guests.
Zimmer’s rule of thumb in selecting building materials was
that they come from within 500 miles of the Michigan City
area, reducing the amount of fuel needed to bring items to the
construction site. The SIPS came from PorterCorp in Holland,
Mich.; the triple-insulated Marvin windows are from Minnesota;
and a Corian-type countertop material is made in Stevensville,
Mich. The ceramic tile surrounding the living room fireplace comes
from Terra Green Ceramics of Richmond, Ind., and is made from
50 percent recycled glass. Cabinets are being hand crafted by
Doug Barnes of Michigan City. The drywall is made in Indiana
from 97 percent recycled materials.
“A whole web of pluses come from making these decisions,”
Zimmer said. “We know the Indiana economy is struggling,
and if we can spend our money in this area, why not help our
economy?”
One construction item was found in their own yard. Fifteen red,
white and black oaks were harvested from their property, milled
and will be used as flooring. As Perzanowski said, “The trees have
come back home.”
Their appliances all have Energy Star ratings, the toilets are low-
flow and the water heater is an “in-demand” model that heats
water only as needed. Lights will be on dimmers and kept low to
conserve energy.
Flemington said the house has received an Energy Star gold
rating from Energy Diagnostics, an independent auditor of energy
efficiency.
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