The Kastrop Group, Inc. Architects-Commercial and Residential Architects in California

Green Practices

Dear Consultants, Engineers, and Contractors,

We, The Kastrop Group, Inc. Architects, are taking the initiative to be actively involved in the Green & Sustainable Building movement. We would like your support and participation in our goal to make a positive impact on the building community and the environment, both locally and globally.

There has been much research done on the subject of how to build green, and the time has come to start really implementing the techniques that have been recommended. While we can specify the materials and the suggested framing details and practices, we need your involvement and expertise to actually get the job done in a way that benefits the environment and the community.

We have been doing extensive research regarding what can and should be done. We have come across a simple checklist for remodeling that we hope will be helpful in keeping construction on the green track. It is attached to this letter. It is part of a larger document by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority called Green Building Guidelines for Home Remodeling. The entire document as well as other important Green Building information can be acquired through their website at www.stopwaste.org.

Many of the items on the checklist will need the support of the homeowner in order to implement, such as solar power and alternative heating and cooling methods. As the Architect, we will be recommending many of these products and systems to the clients. We will need your support during construction to continue to encourage those as well as other sustainable products and systems.

One thing that is not mentioned on the checklist is our interest in optimizing wood framing. In order to lower our consumption of wood in home building, we would like to encourage more efficient wood framing techniques. The following framing recommendations were made in the May 2003 Building Safety Journal.

Frame at 24" o.c. even if this requires you to use 2x6 framing members.
Align framing members and use a single top plate. A single top plate is an acceptable option for in-line framing with properly tied joints.
Size headers for actual loading conditions.
Ladder block exterior wall intersections. This not only diminishes the amount of lumber that is used, but also increases the space for more insulation.
Use two-stud instead of three-stud corners. Since the third stud is typically provided only as a nailing edge, it can be eliminated. Drywall clips, a 1x nailer strip or a recycled plastic nailing strip can be used instead.
Eliminate redundant floor joists.
Use 2x3s for partitions. Interior, nonload-bearing partition walls can be framed with 2x3s at 24" o.c. or 2x4 "flat studs" at 16" o.c.

By no means is the research complete, as new technology and building techniques are being tried out and researched on a daily basis throughout the building community. We would like to encourage open communication throughout the building process in order for us to make the best decisions going forward. Our goal is to keep up with the latest techniques and processes in order to ensure that our projects are designed and built as environmentally friendly as possible. We are looking at this as a learning process and would like to hear what works and what doesn’t from a construction and/or engineering standpoint. Feedback is highly encouraged.

We thank you for your past and current involvement in our projects and look forward to working with each of you on a continued basis. While these suggestions are entirely voluntary, the decisions are ultimately to be made by the client. We hope that we can work with all of our business partners to help make the construction industry become more conscious of how we can have a positive effect on the global environment as well as our client’s experience of their individual projects.

A list of websites that have been of great help in our research can be found below. We hope that they will be of help to you as well.

Additional Information for our Consultants

We would like to reduce our paper consumption and in order to do this we would like to encourage electronic communication whenever possible. We would like to receive check sets via email, either in AutoCAD or PDF formats.

For drawing sets we would like to encourage the use of 22 x 34 sheets for drawings. This will reduce paper consumption, printing costs, and will allow us to plot ½ size drawings to scale in the 11 x 17 format.

We are doing what we can to become a socially responsible, environmentally friendly business and would like to encourage you to do the same. If you are not already aware of the program, please review www.greenbiz.abag.ca.gov for information regarding how you can become a "Green Business" in the Bay Area. San Mateo County has not hopped on board yet, but we are encouraging it to do so.

Thank you for taking the time to review this information. We hope that we can work together to make a difference in our communities and therefore in the global environment by thinking globally and acting locally.

Please contact us with any suggestions or comments that you might have.

The Kastrop Group, Inc. Architects
D. Michael Kastrop, A.I.A., I.S.P., President
Lorianna Kastrop, Vice President
Nicolas Mallas, Job Captain