Sunday, February 8, 2009

A Truly Green Home








When I published a post back in November when the very white ICF foundation was about all that was visible, a friend commented that we weren't building a "green" home but rather a "white" one. As the pictures above show, the house is now truly "green" albeit temporarily. The green color comes from a special sealant that the builders applied this past week in preparation for stucco that will follow shortly. Before the green application, all the spaces between the exterior wood panels were specially sealed. Then a mesh was applied, followed by the green-colored sealant. Then, an additional layer of insulation was attached. The end result is to be a structure that will pass the "blow test." That's right--the blow test. As it has been described to me, the LEED certification team will essentially create a vacuum inside once all the sealing is completed. They will then be able to measure when/if/where outside air is leaking into the house. They will also be checking all of the ducts to be sure that no air is leaking from them. I will try to be present when this testing is done, so as to give more precise details as to how this testing is done. The LEED certification team has already inspected the insulation, which you see this writer gawking at in one of the pictures, and determined it met the required standard. Note the extra insulation accomodated by a 24-inch spacing of the 2 x 6s.
So, a further word about LEED certification. One of our goals in building this house was to achieve as high a level of certification as possible. To back up, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 1998 and has become the authority for green building. Newly constructed homes that meet LEED building requirements can be officially certified. Certification is based on scoring the required number of points in six areas: 1)Sustainable site; 2)Water efficiency;3)Energy and atmosphere;4)Materials and resources;5)Indoor environmental quality; and 6)Innovation and design process. The possible levels of certification are: Certified (45-59 points); Silver (60-74 points); Gold (75-89 points); Platinum (90-128 points). We are currently aiming at a Gold certification. Some examples of points achievable in the several categories include: water efficient landscaping (2pts.); energy optimization (10pts.); construction waste reuse and recycling (2pts.); build within 1/4 mile of basic community resources (1-3 pts. depending upon number of basic community resources available (4, 7 or 11)).
So, as you can see, this is a challenging process, but one that we are finding both educational and rewarding. Stay tuned.


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