Introducing Lisa Pickert

We've added a new associate to our team. Lisa Pickert will be hosting our open houses as well as providing education about what we do and why we do it. She comes from a background of sustainable building practices and materials. Hit her with your toughest questions and I'm sure you'll find her expertise impressive.

Lisa will also be contributing to our blog on a regular basis. Below is Lisa's first post of what will be an ongoing series.

It's all about the "green", but what exactly is "green" building anyway?

Many years ago, my soft heart and worried mind gave me a sense of urgency about how to protect the environment when building. I've studied "green" building for a number of years now and it is complex. So here it is in a nutshell.

Green Building encourages a "whole-systems" approach, through design and building techniques, to minimize environmental impact and reduce the energy consumption of buildings while contributing to the health of its occupants. It evaluates the impact of construction, the impact of the building's use for its entire lifespan and the impact of its disposal at the end of its lifespan.

I told you it was complex!

So just what is a "whole system" approach? It is the premise that a building is more than the sum of its parts. Only by understanding how each part of a house functions in relation to the other parts can you understand how to build the highest quality house. At Miranda, this means engineering every aspect of the building process and making important decisions about the products that go into it.

How can builders minimize their environmental impact? At Miranda, one example of how we minimize impact is by forming 100% recycled steel studs in our plant to the exact measurements needed. The only waste created is from the punched holes for electrical and plumbing service. The small amount of waste we do create is sorted and recycled. At the end of its lifespan the steel we use is 100% recyclable as well.

Reducing the energy consumption of the final product is another huge driver at Miranda. By using our processes and products like insulated concrete forms, spray foam insulation and energy saving windows we are able to cut the home-owner’s energy use by an estimated 40%.

So, now that you know what Green Building is, you should know this: I think Green Building is important. That's why I've joined Miranda Homes.

Lisa Pickert - Miranda Homes

Making "Cents" of the EPS Score

Last week I posted our latest Energy Performance Score. The Energy Performance Score is a great tool for illustrating how much energy a house will use and how much carbon it will produce. However, it only has relevance if people can compare it to their current home or other homes they are considering buying. Today, I wanted to break that score down into something we can all relate to. Dollars and cents.

We've been told by the City of Portland's Office of Planning and Sustainability that the average household in Portland uses 11,500 kWh of electricity and 600 therms of natural gas per year.

If you dig up your latest PGE bill and divide the total amount due by the number of kWh you used you'll find that, with all of the fees, taxes and public purpose charges it comes out to around 10.5 cents per kWh. So, .105 x 11,500 kWh = a total average electricity bill of $1,207.50 per year.

Running through the same math with your NW Natural Gas bill you should see that usage and fees come to about $1.27 per therm. So, 600 therms per year at $1.27 is $762 per year.

So the energy cost for the average house in Portland is $1207.5 + $762 = $1,969.50 per year

Now, let's look at the EPS sheet provided to us by Energy Trust of Oregon. In the lower right hand corner you'll see that our home is projected to use $1,128 of energy per year.
Of course, some homes are better than average and some are worse but if you subtract our $1,128 from the average $1,969.50 you get a savings of $841.50 per year or $70.12 per month. That's a savings of 42% on your monthly energy bill and it's all done through conservation. The methods and materials we use to build homes allow the home owners to use less energy without sacrificing comfort or lifestyle.

Keep in mind that energy rates have been rising faster than incomes so, you can expect that in the future, the savings from buying an energy efficient home will only increase.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

This is Worth Watching

This aired on The History Channel yesterday. It's definitely worth seven minutes of your day.


Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

New Article in the Daily Journal of Commerce

There's a new article in the Daily Journal of Commerce about the project we're working on in Newport.

Click the picture below to read the article.



Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Open House This Weekend

We'll have the house at 14009 SE Sierra Drive in Clackamas, Oregon open on Sunday this weekend.

Hours will be 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Come by and meet Lisa. She has a great background in sustainable building practices and materials and will be able to show you what makes a Miranda Home different.


By the way.... Keep an eye out for our unique sign posts. When you see one you'll know there's a Miranda Home coming.....

(click on it to make it bigger)

Our Latest Energy Performance Score

We’ve just received our EPS score for the latest house.
Just like the MPG sticker in the window of a new car the EPS or Energy Performance Score is a scoring system for homes that gives consumers a way to compare. It was developed by Energy Trust of Oregon and is being adopted by states across the country. You can learn more about it HERE.

Here's our score sheet.



Today, more than ever, it’s vitally important to take all of a home’s costs into account when considering which one to buy.

Your mortgage broker can calculate your monthly payment quickly and easily. Property taxes and hazard insurance tend to go up over time, but generally not too drastically. There are some expenses however, that home buyers often underestimate; energy is one.

Energy costs have been increasing faster than incomes over the past few years. The newer methods for generating electricity, although “greener”, are not any less expensive. There doesn’t seem to be any near term relief in the cost of a unit of energy but if we can reduce how many units we use we can relieve the strain on the infrastructure and our own wallets. That’s where conservation comes into play.

By choosing a home that uses half, or less than half, of the energy a typical home uses, a family can regain control over the amount they spend on energy.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

That's "Tigerwood".... Not "Tiger Woods"

Hardwood floors are going in today. We're installing FSC Tigerwood floors in the living, dining, kitchen and family rooms.

For more on what FSC means click here or on the picture below.


Stay tuned for weekend open house hours....

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Builder Advantage Newsletter

The latest issue of Builder Advantage is out and Miranda Homes is on the top of the front page.Click here to see it.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

What's That Hanging in the Window?

It's the schedule. Before we even put a shovel in the dirt we've laid out the schedule. It's a day-by-day display of exactly what's going to happen and when. We hang one on each job site to be visible to our crew, subcontractors, inspectors, visitors, real estate agents, and anyone else who visits.

In previous posts we've talked about how important scheduling is. By keeping a tight leash on the schedule we ensure:

• All of the supplies are at the job site when they are needed; but not until they're needed which makes a less cluttered work area.


• Inspections can be scheduled with plenty of lead time.


• Subcontractors can be scheduled with plenty of lead time.


• New home owners know what to expect for closing and move-in.


• Provide consistent work for the crew.


• Complete a home in 45 days.

It seems simple but, as you can see, keeping the schedule is one of the most important things we do. Next time you visit one of our homes in process you'll see one.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Homes Built from Different Products

Another article has been written that includes Miranda Homes. Click on the image below to be directed to the full article.


Below is the text about Miranda Homes from the article.

3. Recycled junk cars

Rob Boydstun got into home building because he realized that his metal works business (which built commercial car carriers) likely wasn’t going to survive the economic downturn on its own. Still, he didn’t take a particularly easy route: Miranda Homes, the company he founded, is dedicated to building affordable green homes. Part of the design the new company created involves steel framing for homes… and that steel comes from “the crushed carcasses of junked vehicles. (About four to six cars per house).”

While an unusual material goes into the house’s frame, the homes themselves are pretty conventional… they’re also very green in other ways. Miranda has several dozen photos available on its Facebook page.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes

Earth Advantage Article about Miranda Homes

Earth Advantage has published an article about Miranda Homes.
Click on the image to be redirected to the Earth Advantage website or read the full article below.
Green Engineered: The Miranda Homes' Way
March 30, 2010

You're a new homebuyer. Imagine hearing the builder say, "Construction is set to begin tomorrow. In 45 days, you can move into your new house. And by the way, it will achieve the highest level of green certification." Yes, you heard right: 45 days. You could be living in a brand new, green-certified home in less than two months. Most people cannot find an apartment to rent in such little time. Thanks to new thinking and existing production capabilities, Miranda Homes is changing the face-and building schedule-of new home construction.

The concept for Miranda Homes was sparked several years ago when its owner, Rob Boydstun, also owner of Boydstun Metal Works, started exploring new ways to use his company's existing materials and machinery. "The initial idea was to use our machine shops to build roll-forming machines to make steel studs. But after studying the entire value stream of building homes, we determined that steel studs alone were not the answer to improving housing," recalls Mark Mecklem, VP of Sales and Marketing for Miranda Homes. It was time for a fresh start.

The first step in improving traditional home construction came in the form of a panelized wall system. Traditional framing practices cause excessive jobsite waste, allow insulation voids, and are susceptible to insects and the elements. Miranda Homes' 100% recycled, steel-framed panelized wall systems are produced with minimal waste, will last forever, and are not affected by moisture or pests. The wall panels are shipped to the jobsite and assembled in just one day.

The only problem with steel frames is that metal conducts heat and cold more than wood, so it is more susceptible to thermal bridging than a wood framed house. Thermal bridging is the loss of heating or cooling through the uninsulated studs. Miranda Homes solves this issue with insulation. The panelized wall systems are assembled with plywood sheathing and a layer of external, rigid foam insulation. Once assembled at the jobsite, spray-foam insulation is applied to the walls. Spray-foam insulation has the highest R-Value of all the types of insulation and it forms a complete seal in the wall cavity.

Another cause of heating/cooling loss is a home's foundation. To prevent this problem, Miranda Homes insulates the slab of the foundation and uses insulated concrete forms (ICFs) to create insulated foundation walls. This system, called a "mechanically vented crawlspace," improves a home's efficiency by eliminating passive vents and keeping any heating/cooling loss from hot water piping and ductwork from escaping. Additionally, Miranda Homes pours the entire foundation in just one day. This practice reduces waste, creates a stronger foundation, and cuts labor costs by two-thirds.

A complimentary step to insulation is air sealing. The more tightly sealed a home is, the less it is going to leak heated or cooled air. Blower door tests are the industry standard for evaluating how efficiently a home is sealed. To qualify for ENERGY STAR® certification and Earth Advantage® certification, a home must test less than 7 air changes per hour (ACH). On average, an Earth Advantage certified home tests between 6 - 6.5 ACH. A score of 2 - 3 ACH is considered excellent. Recently, a blower door test performed on a Miranda Home recorded a 1.5 ACH, but this wasn't good enough. "We identified some problem areas and sealed them up," says Mecklem.

Earth Advantage returned to the home for a follow-up blower door test. The result: a jaw-dropping 0.6 ACH. "I couldn't believe it," says MacKenzie Winchell, the Earth Advantage residential technical specialist who performed the test. "I retested it two more times to make sure the test was accurate."

The blower door test not only confirmed that the Miranda Homes' system is working, but that it is working incredibly well. For them, it's really just another step in the right direction. The company is constantly looking for ways to improve. To date, Miranda has made improvements to the truss system, air sealing, and whole house ventilation systems. In fact, every essential mechanical system (i.e., plumbing, HVAC) is carefully pre-engineered. The company's process has been refined to six distinct phases of construction and Miranda Homes only uses a select few subcontractors, reducing costs, eliminating delays, and improving the quality and efficiency of each home.

While some established builders seek reasons not to change, Miranda Homes embraces change and improves on it. The future for the company looks bright. Currently in the middle of constructing its fourth home, Miranda Homes offers seven floor plans and is developing the eighth. Additionally, according to Mecklem, "Miranda Homes is always researching new products to see how they fit into our building principles and methods. We're looking for products that improve safety for our people, reduce impact on the environment, and increase the quality, monthly savings, and longevity of our homes for the homeowners." Don't be surprised if you hear about a 30-day house in a couple of years.

Mark Mecklem - Miranda Homes