Benton Rehab Tree Root Experiment and Damage Update

Day 5 in the Benton Rehab Roof Project uncovered some interesting hidden gems in the roof system.  In the photos below you can view the extensive tree Stump and Root Ball that started out as a sapling years ago and was left to its own accord.

Benton Rehab Tree Root Experiment-How Far Did the Roots Grow when left unattended?

Experiment to see how far a tree root will grow when left unattended for 10 plus years.  Benton Rehab Roof Project

The photo is of the tree's root ball that was growing in the built up roof system.  While this was not the only culprit as to the roofs demise in the past 10 years it has led to the steady degradation of the roof system.

Note: Part of the reason we left this tree and root system intact was so that we could trace the roots to ensure it was removed completely from the wall and roof system-eliminating a tree restarting from its roots.  Its also part of an:

Experiment to see how far a tree root will grow when left unattended for 10 plus years.

Note Added May 1st 2013- I found a tree root growing down into this section of wall yesterday.  I believe the tree root started this crack in the wall long ago and as the Invasive Tree Root grew it widened the crack in the wall.  When we replace this section of the wall.  We will find out more.  Stay Tuned for further updates.

This last photo was included to show the before tuckpointing the parapet wall. [And the saplings that are attempting to gain a foothold] Required step before installing the new roof system of: Bar Joists, Pan Decking, and Concrete Topping.

Photos added May 1, 2013

Additional Tree Root Photos and the Damage They Caused

We traced the Invasive Tree Root for another 10 Feet and found the tree root had followed the top course of Masonry alongside the Parapet Wall.

I did not actually measure the Tree Root and am going to venture to say the Invasive Tree Root had grown to a distance of 15-20 feet in length and followed the top course of brick alongside the Parapet Wall.

Additional Benton Rehab Stage 2 Project Green Blog Postings

• Scotts Contracting Green Team Celebrated Earth Day 2013 by Starting Stage2 Benton Rehab Project:Replacing Water Damaged Roof on the Benton Warehouse
• Benton Project Stage 2 Dismantling Roof Demolition

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

Benton Roof Project Daily Report

On Day 4- The Crew and I have the first dumpster filled and ready for pick-up and 75% of the Roof has been removed as seen in the photo taken 1pm on Thursday.

In these photos you can see the I Beams that will be utilized to hold the Bar Joists and Pan Decking for the New Roof System.


Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

Benton Project Stage 2 Dismantling Roof Demolition

Stage 2 Benton Rehab Warehouse Roof-Before Photo

With the Dumpster delivered and parked in the bay the crew has started removing the roof-despite the rain StLouis has been getting as of late.

We estimate the Roof we are removing was 50 years old and was originally a rock ballast roof system with an additional 4-5 layers of patching.

Tearing Off the Existing Roof-Stage 2 Benton Project

Tearing Off the Existing Roof-Stage 2 Benton Project

Parking the Dumpster in the Warehouse Bay we estimate will save 1 days worth of  Labor for the Crew and makes our lives much easier for the roof tear off!

Despite the Rain the Crew is making good progress with removing the existing roof with 1/4 to 1/3 of the old roof removed.

See additional photos of the project at Google Plus






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My Earth Day Celebration-Benton Rehab Project

Scotts Contracting Green Team Celebrated Earth Day 2013 by Starting Stage2 Benton Rehab Project:Replacing Water Damaged Roof on the Benton Warehouse!

See photos of the before work that must be completed before starting the renovation at Scotts Contracting Google Plus Photo Album

When a Good Roof goes bad from a simple water leak 20 years ago

After we get the existing roof removed we will be Welding Bar Joists and Pan Decking to the existing metal support beams before covering will a concrete topping and weatherproofing.

Stay Tuned for additional details and photos of the new roof we will be adding!  As well as all the stages of work to be done prior to adding the new roof structure.  To Include: Extensive Tuckpointing to the Building and Rebuilding the Garage and Man doors on the Main Street Access.
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Day 2-Dumpster Delivery & Rain Delay

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

Pt1 Spray Foam Insulation StLouis Brick Building

 To help educate the people of StLouis against future problems in regard to: Air Quality, Durability, and Creature Comforts I put together: Part One-Basement, Crawl Space, Stone Foundation Insulation Series on: Cost Effective:Energy Conservation for StLouis Brick Buildings [ where, how and why with suggested solutions in regard to spray foam insulation.]

Recently I've had a couple of requests to "Spray Foam" Insulate a StLouis Brick Home with Spray Foam Insulation-I don't know who has been telling people its ok to do 'this or that' but I want to show all the readers the basic principles behind the Actual Building Science behind Spray Foam Insulation and the best practices for using this product.

Many times the shows on TV and supposed building professionals performing similar home improvement services [in some instances these shows are correct;many times they are not.]  So before you start spraying foam insulation on the walls of your building there are a few areas that need to be considered before starting on a project such as this-follow the suggested Building Science Principles for

#sprayfoaminsulation 

  #ClosedCellInsulation 

#MoistureControl  

  #brick 

#BuildingScience

  

#Masonry 

#StoneFoundation

  #RockFoundation  

See, Review and Comment on the Google Cloud Document: Spray Foam Insulation St Louis Brick Buildings

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

Exploding the Myths Surrounding Renewable Energy

SustainableBusiness.com News

One of the main arguments fossil fuel interests use against solar and wind energy is fear - that we'll no longer have reliable energy if we depend too much on these intermittent sources and that energy will become very expensive.

Stick to the tried-and-true fossil fuels, they say, or your lights could go out.

A new study adds to the growing research that severely weakens that argument.

The Lights Will Stay On Even When the Wind Doesn't Blow And the Sun Doesn't Shine ... Exploding the Myths Surrounding Renewable Energy

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

The 1st Alternative Power System That Keeps You Safe In Your Home

The 1st Alternative Power System That Keeps You Safe In Your Home and will keep the electricity on!

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

I’ll Follow The Sun: How Does Your Utility Rank On Solar Power?

I’ll Follow The Sun: How Does Your Utility Rank On Solar Power?: pHow much solar energy did your utility add last year? We know Australia has embraced solar. Germany too. Even Bangladesh has jumped on board. But what about U.S. states and communities? For the sixth year in a row, you can take a look at the utilities that have done the most to incorporate solar power [...]/p

They are ranked both by total megawatts added, as well as watts-per-customer. This means the big utilities with lots of customers are going to dominate the total megawatts added rankings, because they can invest in large projects. Small utilities have a chance to rise to the top of the rankings that measure solar energy added per-customer. The rankings take into account large-scale solar projects as well as smaller customer net metered projects that anyone could have on their roof.

Here are some key takeaways:

• 2.4 gigawatts = 8 natural gas plants: Utilities added 2,384 megawatts of solar capacity in 2012, compared to 1,480 in 2011. This can be compared to 8 natural gas-fired power plants.
• Both big projects and net meters: 1,106 megawatts of the total came from large-scale projects, and 1,151 megawatts came from smaller, customer-sited solar projects. There were far more of the smaller projects – 90,000 small to just 70 large, which gives you a sense of the scale of both how much power is generated from a large project, and how widespread the smaller projects have become. The large-scale projects grew the most from 2011: 250 percent.
• 88 percent through power purchase agreements: Utilities purchased the vast majority of the solar power on their grid from solar companies — only 12 percent of the projects are owned by the utilities.
• California domination: Pacific Gas and Electric’s purchase of the 250 megawatt Agua Caliente project (which received loan guarantees from the Department of Energy), the largest solar PV project in the world, represented more than a quarter of its 805 megawatt total. Along with the solar power added by Southern California Edison and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, that brings California’s share to well over 1 gigawatt. PG&E added more in 2012 than the entire country added in 2010. Sacramento had the only municipal utility on the top ten list, largely though its 50MW of large-scale projects.
• All panels: No projects fueled by concentrated solar power came online last year, though 750 MW worth of projects will be completed this year.
• Solar power concentrated: 80 percent of the smaller net metered projects were in California, New Jersey, Arizona, Hawaii, and Massachusetts.
• Northeast Ohio as Silicon Valley of alternative energy?: Looking at the watts-per-customer rankings, the Ohio towns of St. Mary’s, Bryan, and Napoleon all made the top ten, along with utilities in Hawai’i, Tennessee, California, Arizona, and New Jersey. Rural Northeast Ohio is not typically known for investment in solar, but proportionally, it rose to the top in 2012. St. Mary’s dominated, with 562.8 watts-per-customer (Kauai Island Utility was the next highest at 282.1). As Patrick McGowan, Mayor of St. Mary’s put it: “It is my opinion that the City of St. Mary’s should have a diverse energy portfolio embracing various technologies. I feel that Green Energy solutions, including solar power, offer our citizens clean and economical energy.”[...]/p

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

Act Now to Save Solar in Missouri!

Tell your Legislators: Vote NO on HB44

Dear St Louis and Missouri Solar Advocates,

Some of the smartest, most successful companies and organizations in the world are deploying solar — including Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, FedEx, GE, GM, Google, IKEA, Macy's, Target, Walmart, and the U.S. military. So, why is the Missouri General Assembly dismantling incentives to bring more solar investment to the state?

Help us spread the word and tell your legislators to protect the state's solar industry.

Across the nation, the solar industry is creating jobs, building a more resilient power grid and tackling climate change head-on. By nearly all measures, the solar energy industry has been one of the fastest growing industries over the last five years and 2012 set records for new solar installations, despite a slow economic recovery.

And yet, Missouri's legislators are considering a bill that would stall renewable energy development by allowing the renewable energy standard to be met by existing hydro power. Tell them this makes no sense. The best way to encourage companies to invest and create jobs in our state is to give them certainty about policies.

This bill signals to the business and investment community that the rules are changing and their investments are no longer welcome here.

In 2012 alone, $32 million was invested in Missouri to install solar on homes and businesses. There are 64 solar businesses creating investments and jobs in the state. This bill would cripple that momentum. So why are your representatives moving backwards? Because there is a lot of money and power invested in keeping the status quo.

Tell your legislators -- you want more, not less, incentives for solar.

Thank you for all you do, Carrie Cullen Hitt Senior Vice President, State Affairs Solar Energy Industries Association

Our StLouis Flower Garden 2013

Since learning about the decline in the Bee and Butterfly Populations in the past few years we have decided that anything that could be done to help the much needed Pollination Services that these insects provide is not only helping to create a beautiful garden but also has the added benefit of helping the USA farmers- that grow the food that we need for the USA.

We decided to add some color to our yard and property this year by Starting the following seeds in our Mini Indoor Greenhouse Facebook Page.  You will notice that all of the majority of the plants are: Butterfly and Bee Friendly.

Read More About Butterfly Gardening and Bee Population Decline

My Nature Loving Friends at Karmik Korner at 3131 Morgan Ford, StLouis MO also have in stock Butterfly Houses if you would like to help protect the much needed Butterfly Populations.

1. BLUE and PINK ROCKET LARKSPUR DELPHINIUM Ajacis

2. TROPICAL BIRD OF PARADISE Mallowwort Mallow
   

3.PORTULACA MOSS ROSE MIXED COLORS

4. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   CARDINAL CLIMBER VINE Red Flower Ipomea Quamoclit

5. SWEET PEA ROYAL FAMILY MIX Lathyrus Vine

6.  
   Himalayan Tibetian GOJI BERRY

7. Cosmos
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

8. 
   Babys Breath

9.  
   
   Rainbow Rose

Web Link for the Indoor Seed Starting Station-See how the plants are growing at my girls facebook page



Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

St Louis Residents-Add your voice to this petition before its too late

Compliance with Missouri's Renewable Energy Standard

Missouri utilities are blatantly disregarding the state’s renewable energy requirement. So Renew Missouri and our partners across the state have filed legal action to require compliance with the law. Add your voice with this petition! History/Context: In 2008, two-thirds of Missouri voters demanded that investor-owned utilities increase their use of renewable energy. This was the highest passage margin of any statewide renewable energy initiative ever. Last year, utilities were required to demonstrate that 2% of their energy came from renewable sources. However,utilities have built virtually no new renewable energy; instead, they have sought to confuse the intent of the law through their influence in Jefferson City. How are they out of compliance? 1. Roll-Over Energy: Utilities claim they can comply by using "old renewable energy" created at a time when the law wasn’t even in effect.  This is like trying to roll over cell phone minutes from a time before you even had the phone. 2. Old Hydro-Electric Plants:  Utilities are trying to use large, century-old hydroelectric facilities, even though the law explicitly forbids the use of these large hydro facilities. 3. We Demand Power, Not Credits: The Missouri renewable energy law was passed to bring Missouri new, cleaner sources of energy and create jobs here at home. Instead, IOUs are wasting our money on “renewable credits” from far-away states that deliver no electricity to Missouri. This means that Missouri sees no new jobs and no change in how we get our energy, while out-of-state energy producers see larger profits. We need to invest in Missouri's economy and create local jobs! Missouri gets roughly 85% of our energy from Wyoming coal, sending $1.3 billion out of our state every year. If we instead invested in clean energy back home, we would keep some of that money in our local economies and create thousands of jobs, giving us cleaner air and healthier people in the process. Help us deliver 21st century jobs and clean energy to Missouri by signing on to this petition that asks the Public Service Commission to do THEIR job and FORCE utilities to follow the law.

Supporting Organizations The following groups have signed on to our complaint and are aligned in efforts to require utilities to follow the law. RES Complaint News January 31, 2013 Post-Dispatch: Complaint says Ameren is circumventing green power law January 30, 2013 Renew Missouri Press Release: Advocates Take Legal Action Against Non-Compliant Missouri Electric Utilities Documents filed with PSC EC-2013-0377-Formal Complaint (Ameren)EC-2013-0378-Formal Complaint (Empire)EC-2013-0379-Formal Complaint (KCPL)EC-2013-0380-Formal Complaint (GMO)EC-2013-0381-Formal Complaint (Ameren)EC-2013-0382-Formal Complaint (Empire)

Renew Missouri is a project of the Earth Island Institute, a 501c(3) non-profit organization.

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

3 Green Articles from Sister Site Scotts Contracting

3 Snippets of the latest green blog posts at ScottsContracting.Wordpress.com

This Green Blog Post is part of the ongoing experiment: Comparing how well a wordpress site does with a blogspot site

• Here's my thoughts Answering : What about Green and Cost Effective Decks?  Asked by: BentonPark West - Buying Locally Grown and using Missouri Resources and Lumber Mills

• Rather than spend $200 for 2 TV Mounting Brackets.  I fashioned these  Flat Screen TV Mounts for the New Bar Design. Labor and Materials was well under the $200 price tag alone. DIY Flat Screen TV Mounting

• Simple Comparison of Clothes to a Buildings Envelope-Its all about Comfort

• Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Conservation Needs for your Property Needs in the St Louis Region- 

• Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

StLouis Your Future Electric Bills-Missouri Madness:Round 2

The Missouri General Assembly is currently considering legislation that would allow Missouri's monopoly utilities to place an expensive new surcharge on their customers' electric bills. This new surcharge would bypass the traditional ratemaking process that has served Missouri consumers well and weaken Public Service Commission oversight.  Vote the proposed new utility surcharge the worst idea in Missouri here.

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Dear Scotts, We advanced to Round 2 of Missouri Madness! Missouri has voted the proposed new utility surcharge one of the worst bills in the Missouri legislature. Make sure that this legislation makes it to the next round. Vote here today. The Missouri General Assembly is currently considering legislation that would allow Missouri's monopoly utilities to place an expensive new surcharge on their customers' electric bills. This new surcharge would bypass the traditional ratemaking process that has served Missouri consumers well and weaken Public Service Commission oversight.  Vote the proposed new utility surcharge the worst idea in Missouri here. Let's make sure that our Missouri legislature gets the message: the new utility surcharge is bad for Missouri consumers. Vote today and forward this message on to a friend and ask them to do the same. Sincerely, The FERAF Team Fair Energy Rate Action Fund • PO Box 1153 • Jefferson City, MO 65102 Paid for by the Fair Energy Rate Action Fund. www.fairenergyrates.org