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Platinum LEED Homes use 51% less heating energy

Post author By admin
Post date May 4, 2010

Initial results from an analysis of LEED Platinum homes certified by the Alliance shows projects located throughout the Midwest use half as much energy as the typical baseline home.

Performance of LEED Platinum homes vs Baseline homes

From January through April, participated in the Intern InMichigan, Internship Initiative. which provided a grant to fund an intern that helped collect data for research on an Energy Efficiency LEED™ for Homes Case Study. The research compiled information from computer modeling of 150 LEED-certified projects that were located in the Midwest from climate zones ranging as far south from Cincinnati to as far north as Minneapolis. The Data shows that Platinum LEED certified projects potentially use 51% less heating energy in pre-occupancy than baseline average homes measured by the same modeling system.

Of course, pre-occupancy energy modeling is only part of the picture. This data is part of a larger research project being undertaken by . We are looking to release information based on project computer modeling results of LEED for Homes. Check back with our Website at a later date for more information based post-occupancy use, cost of gas and electric for different certification levels and overall performance for LEED homes.

Tags LEED Platinum, occupancy, performance, research

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USGBC Affordable Housing Webinar

Post author By admin
Post date May 4, 2010

Join USGBC for an important, free educational program – bringing you the tools you need to understand the intersection between green building and affordable housing.

Introducing The Keys to Green Affordable Housing: A Guide for Existing Multifamily Properties, a new online training designed to address key issues in the affordable housing sector, including: green multifamily retrofit projects, sustainable operations and maintenance of affordable housing buildings, and financial and incentive aspects of affordable projects. Register today for the three-part online training series, The Keys to Green Affordable Housing.

What You Will Learn

Join us as leaders in the field provide you with the lessons tools to:

Identify cost effective strategies and key sustainable facility management measures – as well as incentives and financing opportunities – for green multi-family retrofits.
Define key strategies to create healthier housing while ensuring long term durability and keeping cost down for building owner.
Employ effective resident education and foster changes in resident behavior.
Evaluate the costs, benefits, and potential savings of building green affordable housing.
Discover the tools to aid in data collection and analysis.

Cost: Free!

Note: Registering will give you access to the archive for this session, as well as the previous two sessions:

Affordable Green Multifamily Retrofits
Green Operations and Maintenance: Strategies for Affordable Multifamily

Tags affordable housing, usgbc

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Earth Day Marks Launch of 132-home LEED Subdivision near Chicago

Post author By admin
Post date April 22, 2010

Energy Smart Home Builders Joins the LEED for Homes
Green Certification Program

NEW LENOX, Ill. (April 22, 2010) – The Green Home Institute () is proud to welcome Energy Smart Home Builders of New Lenox, IL as a participant in LEED for Homes. LEED for Homes is a national third-party certification system for energy efficient, healthy, green homes. Energy Smart Home Builders, founded by Phil and Jim Regan, are planning to develop Prairie Ridge Estates, a community of 132 net zero energy homes using solar panels, geothermal power, wind turbines and other technologies. will be providing support and the third-party testing and verification for the green homes, which are planned to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

While net zero energy homes have been constructed previously, this is the first planned community of custom-designed net-zero energy single-family homes. More importantly, it marks the first time that the cost to develop a home of this type is comparable to traditional construction costs. “These homes have been built before, but at a cost of three to five times higher than traditional construction. That is not something the average home-buyer can afford,” said Jim Regan, president of Energy Smart Home Builders. “We’ve pushed the boundaries of construction and energy efficiency and, with our partners, are proud to have created plans for the country’s first community of affordable sustainable homes.”

Designed by architect John Stanton, these homes are quite different than traditional homes and, as a result, consume energy differently and more efficiently. “This is an incredible opportunity,” says Stanton, “to lower – or even eliminate – utility costs for future homeowners and reduce the impact on the environment through smart design and construction. These homes have been in the planning process for more than a year and we’re excited about getting started.”

Prairie Ridge Estates will consist of 132 LEED-certified homes, starting at approximately 2600 Sq ft in size, all including Energy Star appliances, individually custom-designed to account for passive and active solar energy, wind directions and enclosure issues such as window placement.

LEED stands for leadership in green homebuilding. LEED certification provides third-party assurance to homebuyers that their home complies with rigorous technical requirements for energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, non-toxic materials, and environmental performance. Homes that are certified through LEED complete a technically rigorous verification process that includes a home energy (HERS) rating and onsite inspections. Lower insurance rates, advantageous financing, and other benefits may be available for LEED-certified homes.

A participant in the Department of Energy Builders Challenge and the Energy Star Program; Energy Smart Home Builders are proposing to break ground July 16 and expect construction of model homes to be completed later this year.

For more information about Energy Smart Home Builders or Prairie Ridge Estates of New Lenox, please visit www.NetZeroDevelopment.com. Or find information on building a LEED home or LEED home benefits.

custom-designed net-zero energy single-family

Tags featured, leed, net zero homes, new lenox, prairie ridge, subdivision

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Plumb Tree Garden Duplexes LEED Gold

Post author By admin
Post date April 22, 2010

Plumb Tree Garden is a newly constructed 6 Unit Senior affordable housing project located in Noblesville. Every unit includes energy, water and resource efficient features including low flow fixtures, tankless water heaters, solar tubes, durable local materials, panelized roof and wall systems, native landscaping, and energy star windows, doors, lighting, appliances and home certification. Gold certification was easily earned for this project due to its vicinity to nearby downtown, with resources such as schools, restaurants, shops, as well as its dense urban site.

A CIR was awarded for this project for the alternative method of reaching awareness and education. In addition to a tenant open house and walk through training, the builder and architect of the project was involved in an affordable housing conference. Exhibiting their LEED projects, and participating in a panel discussions regarding green design and building in affordable homes. This project also achieved additional points for reducing urban heat island effect by using 100% light colored concrete for all sidewalks, driveways and patios.

Download or View Full Project Profile PDF Here.

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Spicewood Garend Duplexes LEED Silver

Post author By admin
Post date April 22, 2010

Spicewood Gardens is a newly constructed 26 unit senior affordable housing complex located in Sheridan Indian. Every unit includes energy, water and resource efficient features including low flow fixtures, durable local materials, panelized roof and wall systems, native landscaping and energy star windows, doors, lighting, appliances and home certification Local housing authorities have started putting an emphasis on community developers building LEED affordable homes in their areas. This is HAND’s first but certainly not last LEED for Homes project in Hamilton County. It is also the first LEED Silver affordable multi – family project in Indiana.

A CIR was awarded for this project for the alternative method of reaching awareness and education. In addition to a tenant open house and walk through training, the builder and architect of the project was involved in an affordable housing conference.
Exhibiting their LEED projects, and participating in a panel discussions regarding green design and building in affordable homes.

This project also achieved additional points for reducing urban
heat island effect by using 100% light colored concrete for all
sidewalks, driveways and patios.

Download & View Project Profile PDF.

Tags affordable housing, Duplex, Indiana, leed for homes, LEED Silver, Sheridan

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LEED ND and LEED for Homes

Post author By admin
Post date April 19, 2010

NEW LEED for Neighborhood Development launch event in Chicago on Thursday, April 29.

Since 2000, USGBC has been working to transform the built environment – one building at a time. During this time, the green building movement has experienced a surge so great that no longer can we only focus on single buildings. Expanding upon the promise of a more prosperous future through green building, USGBC, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) have partnered together to make green communities a core focus.

As humans, we spend more than 80% of our time indoors, but spend 100% of our time in communities. Neighborhoods and communities are where our kids go to school. They’re where we go to work each morning, and they’re the places we come home to each night. They’re where we shop, play, dine and enjoy life – the places that connect us to each other. There is an undeniable connection between accessibility among these important places and our collective environmental and economic well-being.

That is why the USGBC is publicly launching their seventh LEED rating system and the first international benchmark for green communities: LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND).

Applied to LEED for Homes, LEED ND can be considered the “performance path” for the Locations and Linkages credit area. If a LEED for Homes single-family or multi-family building is located in a LEED ND area, the project will receive 13 points in the Locations and Linkdages (LL).

Visit the official LEED ND web page to learn more, or attend the seminar below

Learn about LEED Neighborhood Development

USGBC Illinois Chapter event, May 13, 2010
Leo Burnett Building, 35 W. Wacker, Chicago, IL
$10 Members / $20 non-members

Tags chicago, leed nd

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Training: Advanced Air Sealing and IAQ Issues

Post author By admin
Post date April 14, 2010

Are you ready for the huge growth expected in retrofitting millions of American homes? Discover the latest techniques in the residential retrofit market to hone your skills and differentiate yourself from competitors, in this class to be offered in Evanston and Riverdale next month.

Join home performance expert and Energy Center University award-winning instructor Keith Williams for this first-time training in Illinois. This high energy and fast paced workshop will offer air sealing case studies to help residential building professionals learn building science and the skills needed to retrofit homes to make them energy efficient.

Keith brings more than twenty years of experience to the classroom and developed the Illinois low income weatherization program’s air sealing and dense pack sidewall training and certification standards. Participants will learn the importance of performance testing and building science, recognize that a house works as a system and attain measurable performance change in their construction practices.

For more information and to register online, please click here.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | Riverdale, IL

Thursday, May 13, 2010 | Evanston, IL

Tags air sealing, regreen, retrofit

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Earth Day Tour: Ravenswood Single Family Home

Post author By admin
Post date April 7, 2010

Tour a green home in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood on Earth Day! This LEED single-family home is attempting to obtain 93 points for a LEED Gold rating and features some interesting and unique features.

Earth Day 2010 – LEED for Homes project tour

The previous house on the site was “deconstructed“, taken apart piece by piece and donated so that materials like lumber and sheathing can be used in building projects elsewhere.

Some of the special features include a geothermal heating/cooling system with radiant floors, a rainwater cistern that collects all roof run-off for irrigation, advanced air sealing and insulation techniques, and framing that helps minimize the lumber used. The structure is sized to account for the actual loading to avoid using more lumber than needed. Even the curved roofs are made from 12″ deep trusses spaced 24″ o.c.

Some other great features will include salvaged fir flooring and wood trim, the soy-based closed cell foam insulation, and a whole house HEPA filter. The house will have over 90% of the light fixtures Energy Star rated.

Rigid foam insulation covers the exterior sheathing to provide a better thermal break and help seal the house. The LEED for Homes Green Rater will verify this with blower door testing performed before drywall to show us the actual condition of the house, and identify any needed improvements while the walls are open and accessible. Another blower door test will be performed upon completion of the house.

The mechanical system was engineered to help balance the system well. The owners also intend to have a solar hot water system installed for their domestic hot water use.

Tour this Ravenswood home under construction as the framing stage wraps up. See examples of advanced framing techniques on Earth Day, Thursday April 22 from 2:00 – 3:00. Reserve your tour spot now.

Tags deconstruction, framing, solar hot water, tour

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Deconstruction as Alternative to Demolition

Post author By admin
Post date March 31, 2010

The LEED for Homes rating system rewards projects that are developed on sites that have been previously developed, and many project teams take advantage of good existing neighborhoods with access to transportation and services rather than building on raw land. Sometimes, a site is chosen where the existing structure is so damaged or functionally obsolete that it is necessary to start over.

In the past, these homes would be torn down in a matter of days, with tons of debris being sent to landfills. An increasingly common alternative to demolition is “De-Construction”. Unlike most houses that are demolished, a deconstructed house is carefully taken apart piece by piece to preserve the useful building materials and virtually eliminate waste.

On a LEED for Homes project in Oak Park, IL a certified deconstruction auditor came out and provided a value estimation for the salvaged components of the home. For this particular site, the value was over $130,000 which the homeowners were able to use as a tax credit that can be carried over for up to five years. This ends up being more valuable than the cost for the deconstruction services itself. View photos of this deconstruction project.

One impact any project team must be aware of is the effect on construction scheduling. Deconstruction is a labor and time intensive process, and can take much longer than traditional demolition. If weather is not cooperating, it can take up to two months rather than two weeks. But if deconstruction is properly planned for, the environmental and economic benefits can be more rewarding. LEED for Homes values materials from deconstruction which are eligible under Materials and Resources credit 2.2 for both reclaimed and local production credit. For teams pursuing deconstruction, the process of deconstruction of existing homes by providing Innovation and Design credit.

ID credit: The below is taken from the LEED Interpretations database for inquiry number 5289:

Projects may earn ID credit for diverting demolition waste, on the following conditions: (1) the amount of demolition waste is roughly equal to the amount of material in a complete home; (2) at least 50% must be diverted for 1/2 ID point, and at least 70% must be diverted for 1 ID point; (3) no credit may be awarded for land-clearing waste; (4) the Green Rater must verify waste hauling documents and diversion calculation, similar to MR 3; (5) only the diversion strategies approved for MR 3 may be used; (6) the calculation can be based on weight or volume, but a consistent approach must be used throughout the calculation; and (7) the demolition diversion rate must be calculated based on project specific information; using the diversion rate for a disposal facility cannot be used (i.e. MR 03-25 does not apply)

Tags deconstruction, ID, ID 3, interpretations, MR2.2

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New Energy Code Aligns Well with LEED for Homes

Post author By admin
Post date March 29, 2010

On January 29th 2010, the Energy Efficient Building Act became effective in Illinois for most new residential construction and remodeling in Illinois. What does this mean for builders and project teams in Illinois? If you’re going to be constructing to the new building code, you are implementing many strategies that can earn credit in LEED for Homes.

The new statewide residential energy code was signed into law on August 28^th 2009, and covers new construction as well as remodeling. The Code applies only to the portions of that structure that are being added, altered, renovated, or repaired. Illinois joins states such as Iowa, Pennsylvania, Montana and California.

The Energy Efficient Building Act adopts the requirements of the latest edition of the International Energy Code, which is currently the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), also known as IECC 2009. Apart from a few exempted communities such as the City of Chicago, no local municipality has the authority to mandate energy requirements less than or greater than the requirements of the 2009 IECC.

So how does this new code match up with LEED for Homes? Well, the 2009 IECC reflects the good building practices people have been using to construct energy-efficient green homes such as a LEED home. In fact, IECC aligns very well with LEED for Homes prerequisites and the credit areas that earn points. Here is a matrix showing certain aspects of IECC and LEED for Homes:

	LEED for Homes	IECC 2009
2 x 6 exterior studs or 1” rigid insulation (R-20)	Earn points	X
Insulation around foundation walls / slabs	Earn points	X
Ductwork must be sealed and tested (Conditioned space / Unconditioned space)	X / X	— / X
Ducts in unconditioned space insulated R-8	X (R-6)	X
50% of lighting be ENERGY STAR lighting	Earn points	X
Gasketed doors on wood-burning fireplaces	X	X
Blower door test for air infiltration	X	Easiest option
Programmable thermostat required on forced air system	—	X

Remember, LEED for Homes is built on the successful ENERGY STAR for Homes program, and the lower the HERS Score, the more points a building can receive in the Energy and Atmosphere credit area of LEED. And ENERGY STAR for Homes currently references IECC 2006 rather than IECC 2009.

What does this mean for builders and project teams in Illinois? If you’re already constructing to IL state code, you are implementing many strategies that can earn credit in LEED for Homes. And if you’re doing a blower door test, you’re already doing some of the testing and verification required in LEED for Homes. So why not receive recognition for your work? Since the learning curve will already be much shorter, going through the LEED certification process will give your homes extra market recognition, as well as marketing power in northern Illinois’ green MLS.

By the way, for those that need to learn more about the IECC 2009 provisions, there are many training opportunities around the state of Illinois being delivered by ICCsafe.org.

Tags energy and atmosphere, energy code, energy star, iecc, leed

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