Real numbers for a LEED for Homes Indiana Success Story

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The Gulyas residence in Bloomington, Indiana was one of the first homes in Indiana to receive LEED for Homes Platinum certification.  Through the use of passive house techniques and additional sustainable design strategies this project easily met and surpassed the criteria for LEED. 

A home energy metric measuring energy per square foot calculation and spreadsheet was created by Allison Bailes III, PhD, to help effectively measure electric and gas usage in a house.  used this spreadsheet on this project to help get an idea of how efficient the Gulyas residence is.  The number of kilowatt hours per year for electric (no gas is used) at the Gulyas residence is 6,675, which averages to 556.25 kilowatt hours per month.  The cost per year in 2011 was $960.07, averaging to $80.011 per month for all energy heating, cooling & electricity.  The spreadsheet also contains a helpful key which describes the efficiency of the house in terms of kilowatt hour per square foot per year.  Anything less than 5 is considered “super-efficient” and anything above 20 is considered an “energy hog.”  The Gulyas residence uses 4 kilowatt hours per square foot per year, describing it as super-efficient.  Click here for Gulyas’ actual electric bill for the past two years.

In terms of water use, contacted the City of Bloomington Utilities Department to find out the average water use per household in the city.  Each person uses approximately 2,500 gallons of water per month, which equals 2.5 units (1,000 gallons equals 1 unit).  This means that the average 2-person household uses 5 units of water per month, which is substantially higher than the Gulyas residence, which uses approximately 2 water units per month.  Click here to view the Gulyas residence water bill for the past two years.

The Gulyas house is still a work in progress.  Gulyas prioritized energy conservation technologies in the envelope design of the house, and integrated a separate ducted ERV system for exceptional air quality and energy conservation.  He also plans to install a low voltage cable lighting system throughout the open areas of the house, which will have high output 12v LED mr16s.  The new products have a very high color rendition index (CRI) in a variety of color temperatures, making it realistic to create very high quality lighting design while using a fraction of the energy of halogen (8-9 watts per lamp would be used as opposed to 50 watts).  Gulyas would also like to implement rainwater harvesting system, as well as a photovoltaic and/or solar thermal system. 

In summary, the statistics regarding the Gulyas residence are impressive.  He has implemented a variety of energy saving approaches and is looking toward the future to implement additional technologies to create a home that is even more efficient.  Stay tuned to find out what new developments take place as the Gulyas house progresses.

Read more on the project profile here.

 

Green Homes Price Premium

Green Labels add Value to Homes

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More Evidence of Green Value

A recent analysis of homes done by UCLA Berkley researchers found that a green labeled home (LEED for Homes, NAHB Green, Energy Star, etc) had a mearurably higher value than non-green (standard) homes.

Green Homes Price Premium

Researchers from UC Berkeley and UCLA have found that green home labels typically add almost 9% to the value of a California home.

The “Value of Green Labels in the California Housing Market” study found that a typical California home valued at $400,000 sells for an average of 8.7%, or $34,800, more when it has a green certification label.

The study was conducted by researchers with UC Berkeley and UCLA who hoped to answer the question: Does the investment in an energy-efficient home pay off during resale? The short answer is yes.

According to the study, price premiums resulting from green certification were closer to 12% in hotter parts of the state. It also found the premiums were strongly correlated with an area’s environmental ideology as measured by the number of hybrid vehicle registrations — a phenomenon dubbed “the Prius effect” by visiting UC Berkeley professor Nils Kok, who led the study.

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Just as “people sometimes buy a Toyota Prius not just because of the fact that it’s more efficient but because of environmental virtue,” Kok said, “people might buy a green home because of ideology. In areas where the penetration of hybrid vehicles is higher, we find the premium paid for green homes is higher as well.”

Even though buyers of green homes were likely to save an average of $700 in energy bills annually, “consumers value aspects other than just energy savings alone when purchasing a green home,” said Kok, who cited intangibles such as enhanced indoor air quality and better insulation.

The study estimated that the cost of making a home 35% more efficient was $10,000, “so the benefit of green homes far outweighs the cost,” Kok said.

Green home labels seem to be increasing in value. Kok noted that green-label homes sold in the latter part of the five-year study period “seemed to have gone up relative to the beginning of the sample period.”

What about areas outside California?  Well increasingly as more regional areas add green MLS fields that support identification of green home features, it is becoming easier for real estate appraisers to identify the local impact on market value. Learn more at our Green Real Estate Toolkit.

Reprinted from LA Times Article

 

2012 IECC

2012 IECC Energy Code vs Green Home Certifications

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2012 IECCMany states are in the process of adopting in whole or with modifications the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).  This new code raises the bar in construction design for residential and commercial structures, and as a result, architects / engineers / contractors building to the new code will be affordably offer a choice to their clients for pursuing several above-code certifications such as Energy Star and LEED without too much additional effort or cost.

The new national energy code includes mandatory blower-door testing for building air leakage (less than <3.0 ACH at 50 pascals), which will measure how well contractors have sealed up penetrations between the outdoors and indoor conditioned space. This testing will be required for all projects permitted after the new code goes into effect. Some states have made modifications to the adopted code, such as Illinois which has changed the ACH rate to 5.0 ACH @ 50.  View our archived July 12 webinar to learn more about IL Energy Code changes.

Other aspects of the 2012 IECC such as requiring hot water pipe insulation and mechanical ventilation are new items that projects will need to implement.  Learn more on a free webinar held Thursday July 12.

So, how do national IECC 2012 requirements relate to voluntary above-code programs like Energy Star, LEED and Passive House?  Pretty well actually. has assembled a matrix identifying several energy-related items as written in the code and indicated what the impact or requirements would be in one of these above-code third-party green certification programs. Download national comparison matrix as PDF.
(Illinois-specific modifications are shown in the image below)

IECC 2012 Code Comparison

Download National IECC 2012 Code Comparison matrix as PDF

What does this mean?  Well just by building to the new code, these projects will be very close to meeting the Energy Star for Homes program requirements, and will score very well in programs that require Energy Star version 3 such as LEED or Green Communities. Other green programs that don’t require Energy Star, such as National Green Building Standard or local green home programs will also heavily reward these projects.

LEED for Homes will be requiring Energy Star version 3 beginning at the end of the year, so right now a project can still earn LEED certification by building to Energy Star version 2 requirements which should be easily met on any home that meets IECC 2012.

Take advantage of this sweet spot and earn market recognition by attending a LEED workshop or sign up to earn LEED certification today!

Smartphones Dial Up Energy-Efficiency Opportunities

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Already an indispensable aspect of many people’s lives, smartphones now hold the promise of helping to cut in-home energy consumption and costs. Consumers are well aware that mobile technology allows them to pay bills online, watch movies, check in at the airport and, of course, play “Angry Birds.” So why not also use a smartphone to remotely control appliances and adjust the thermostat at home? Used in conjunction with an eco-friendly home, mobile devices can go a long way toward residential energy efficiency.

Mobile trends indicate a turn toward green sustainability. For example, the national Green Button program is a public-private partnership that aims to give electricity customers direct access to usage data from their utility companies. The partners say the program allows consumers to better monitor their green efforts and encourages entrepreneurs to develop innovative eco-friendly technology.
To further the Green Button initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded cash prizes in May and June 2012 as part of its Apps for Energycompetition. The contest recognizes software developers who create apps to help consumers make use of Green Button data. The grand prize for Best Overall Application went to Leafully, which seeks to educate consumers on the economic and environmental impact of their energy usage.

There are a growing number of eco-related apps and other mobile products available for consumers seeking to shrink their carbon footprint.

● Smart Thermostats: Today’s thermostats aren’t just programmable, they are also teachable. By detecting motion, they can adapt to a household’s comings and goings while gathering data such as humidity and ambient light levels to find the most energy-efficient way to keep a house at its optimal temperature. Nest and ecobee are among the smart thermostat makers that offer apps for controlling home temperatures remotely.
● Controlling Appliances: General Electric’s Nucleus energy manager works in conjunction with a smart meter to provide homeowners with information on electricity consumption and costs. With the Control4 home control system, users can remotely synchronize control of appliances and other electronic devices, from window shades to a coffeemaker and a sound system.

● Empowering Power Strips: Homeowners have numerous options for managing energy use through smart power strips. Products such as the UFO Power Center and the EnergyHub strip allow homeowners to track the energy use of appliances and program and control them remotely, including via smartphones and other mobile devices.

● Energy Efficient Lighting: Even in the most energy-efficient of homes, light bulbs will burn out. Light Bulb Finder allows customers to locate the right bulb to match their preferences and light fixtures. The app also will place orders with the cheapest vendor and calculate how long it will take for the bulb to pay for itself in electricity savings.

● Social Energy App: Facebook and the Natural Resources Defense Council have teamed with Opower to offer an app that allows users to compare their energy usage against that of similar homes and that of their friends. They also can share tips for cutting costs and compete to achieve energy-saving goals.

  • Also imagine a Green Home Remodeling app that allows you to check off measures to green your home beyond energy efficiency, gain points, compete with your friends and certify under a Green Rating system.  Contact for more details (Info@allianceES.org)

Whether consumers are motivated to “go green” by money, conscience or peer pressure – or some combination of those factors – smartphones can work in tandem with sustainable home designs to help them conserve energy and cut costs.
BIO

This guest post was provided by Dean Vella who writes about supply chain management and sustainability training for University Alliance, a division of Bisk Education Inc.

A Green Future in the past – Habitat Registers 100th LEED Home in Grand Rapids

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After dozens of new and gut-rehab LEED projects, the Grand Rapids, Michigan Habitat for Humanity affiliate is ready to begin a new era. That happens to be a really old era too.  

With LEED for Homes-registered project #100, Habitat for Humanity of Kent County will start work on their ambitious “Wealthy Heights” neighborhood effort to rebuild homes built in the 1880’s as affordable, workforce housing. After building one new LEED platinum home (Grand Rapid’s 1st!) and preserving a single-family home and a two-unit in Wealthy Heights over the last couple years, Habitat is ready to start seven more projects this fall. It will also coincide with major road and infrastructure improvements by the City of Grand Rapids. Neighbors in Wealthy Heights get ready for construction season!

“The neighbors and business owners who have led the revitalization effort in this neighborhood over the last three decades made it possible for Habitat to step into the mix. Being historic has been a challenge and a blessing but now become a really desirable location for our home buyer partner families,” said Habitat’s Chris Hall.

As Director of Strategic Initiatives, Hall has been part of this project since 2009 when it was first brought to Habitat. With a history of results, Habitat Kent was in the right place at the right time. “It all happened as we were starting to look at ways to become more effective in transforming entire neighborhoods through our work.”

Since then, Habitat has completed the three home projects but also built a community garden and hosted an AmeriCorps Signature Service Project which offered basic exterior repairs, landscaping and a fresh coat of paint for home owners on Donald Place SE.

“We’ve seen residents show up at hearings in support, out working on site, and they have embraced our new families as part of the neighborhood. For-profit builders are doing work in the neighborhood too. This week I heard from folks as far away as New York City regarding a possible LEED-ND certification. Considering we haven’t even begun the major work yet you’d have to say it’s already been an amazing success story.”

After committing to 100% LEED for Homes certification in 2007, Habitat Kent has gone one to become recognized internationally as a leader in affordable, sustainable design and construction. In fact, they were awarded for “Outstanding Program Commitment” to LEED for Homes at the 2011 Greenbuild Conference and Expo in Toronto.

While the positive energy surrounding this project is building, Hall says there is still opportunity for you to help, “We are always looking for partners—either through financial contributions, donations of materials or professional services, as volunteers on site and even as home buyers.” Anyone can visit habitatkent.org to find out more. “Someone can even gain LEED project experience to use toward a LEED AP credential through Habitat! Anyone interested sustainable design will find something cool about this project.”

Future posts will feature a profile of the 100th registered home at 327 Freyling Place SE as well as the other upcoming and completed projects.

Research is being done by MSU and FSU students and faculty with support from Dow and Habitat. They begin with the lowest cost and simplest forms of energy efficiency including cans of spray foam at joints and in gaps, spray foam in rim joists, and other air sealing measures. From there they will test other wall insulation and mechanical system combinations. At each step the homes are tested and analyzed.

Habitat Director of Strategic Initiatives Chris Hall enjoys seeing young people included in the project, “The Michigan State and Ferris State students have really been on the frontline the whole way and they’re getting their hands dirty—in a good way. What they’re learning will directly be applied to what they do in their careers in architecture, engineering, construction management or beyond. And that their work on these homes specifically will benefit a low-income family is especially cool.”

More details on the research project https://greenhomeinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Black-Hills-Home-Energy-Research-Project-Habitat-for-Humanity-Kent-County-.pdf

 Want to learn more about affordable Green/LEED major rehabs to existing homes? Free recorded webinar on Habitat’s success here https://www.fuzemeeting.com/replay_meeting/50e23e6d/2385117  Need CEUs for watching this? Email us Info@allianceES.org

Numbers, Know-how and navigating LEED in affordable housing

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Join USGBC for a free 3-part webinar series exploring the green affordable housing movement.

– Examine market examples to discover factors driving green affordable housing, as well strategies for success and the benefits to going green when tackling affordable housing projects.
– Explore the synergies between keeping design and construction costs down and building in a responsible, sustainable fashion.
– Identify tools and strategies to finance retrofits of existing multifamily developments while taking an in-depth look at affordable housing and LEED.

All sessions will be held from 1:00 to 2:30 PM EDT.

Oct. 20, 2011

 Driving Smart Decisions in Green Affordable Housing

Nov. 3, 2011

 Financing Green Multifamily Retrofits

Dec. 8, 2011

 LEED Certified Affordable Housing: It gets better every time

Register today »

Each session in this series will be registered for 1.5 hours of continuing education with AIA/CES SD/HSW, and GBCI CMP hours for LEED professionals.

New Appraisal Form details Green and Solar Features

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The Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers, has made it easier to identify attributes of green homes. Last week, they released a form intended to help analyze values of energy-efficient home features. It is the first of its kind intended for appraisers’ use.

The new form is intended to be used as an optional addendum to Fannie Mae Form 1004, the appraisal industry’s most widely used form for mortgage lending purposes. Used by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, Form 1004 is completed by appraisers to uphold safe and sound lending. Currently, the contributory value of a home’s green features is rarely part of the equation.


“This addendum is another example of how the Appraisal Institute is at the forefront of real estate valuation,” said Appraisal Institute President Joseph C. Magdziarz, MAI, SRA. “It will help the industry standardize the way residential energy-efficient features are analyzed and reported.”

The Appraisal Institute’s addendum allows appraisers to identify and describe a home’s green features, from solar panels to energy-saving appliances. Form 1004 devotes limited attention to energy efficient features, so green data usually doesn’t appear in the appraisal report, or it is included in a lengthy narrative that often is ignored.

Magdziarz pointed out that the Appraisal Institute’s form also will make it easier for appraisers to determine whether recent home sales should be used as comparable sales. Sales that are truly comparable are key components in determining a property’s value.

While the addendum won’t guarantee that an appraiser will raise a property’s value by tens of thousands of dollars for energy-efficient upgrades, it should guarantee at a minimum that energy improvements will be taken into account based on value adjustments consistent with local market conditions. More importantly, appraisers using the new addendum should be better equipped to identify accurate, area-specific comparable sales.

One of the interesting aspects of the form is the emphasis given to describing renewable energy systems such as solar photovoltaic. The form has an area where data collected by the appraiser could easily be used to calculate the net present value (NPV) of the energy savings from a solar energy system.  Other aspects include identification for third-party certifications such as LEED for homes.

Green Homes Cost of Ownership Research

Research – LEED Homes Cost of Ownership

It’s worth noting that this is an optional addendum to a traditional 1004 appraisal form. Hopefully the lending community will embrace this and builders, architects, lenders, appraisers, and other real estate professionals all find value in encouraging the use of this form for green homes.

Download the Appraisal Institute’s two-page green addendum,  which is also listed as part of the Green Real Estate Toolkit.

Learn more about the Green Addendum and how it will be used at a free event on Oct 24, 2012 in Oak Brook, IL.

And don’t forget to review the Green Home Institute research report showing the total cost of ownership savings found from building healthy, efficient green homes.

Free Green Building Educational Offering from

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Fall is an exciting time for and high-performance homes.  We will be offering several free LEED for Homes introductory classes that will introduce homeowners, builders, architects, developers, contractors and all interested in learning more about healthy, efficient, durable and affordable construction practices. Perfect for those who are looking to obtain their Green Associates or LEED AP Homes credential!

HOMES 252 – Full Day LEED for Homes Workshop

October 28, 2011 – Indianapolis, IN
Early bird pricing ends soon: Wed 10/19
November, 7th – Detroit, MI
Early bird pricing ends: Mon 10/31
November 11, 2011 – Chicago, IL
Early bird pricing ends: Tue 11/1

LEED 205 – Demystifying LEED for Homes. Free!

East Lansing – Oct 10th

Detroit – Oct 12th

Ann Arbor – Oct 19th

Flint – Oct 27th 

Kalamazoo – Nov 4th – Details TBA

In this 2-hour class, the LEED for Homes rating system will be explained, and then applied to case studies relevant to the local market. Common myths regarding level of documentation, cost, and credit requirements will be dispelled. The session will be followed by a catered networking lunch for attendees.

 2.0 CEU GBCI

More details on the class(es) can be found here https://greenhomeinstitute.org/education-and-events/

USGBC Workshop:  Homes 252 Understanding the LEED for Homes Rating System

November, 7th, Monday 8:30 am – 5 PM. 

 71 Garfield LLC
71 Garfield
Detroit, MI 48210

Lunch will be provided

Faculty: Taught by USGBC-trained faculty with real-world expertise and LEED project knowledge to share.
Sign up today!

Can’t Make Detroit? This full-day workshop will also be offered in Chicago  and Indianapolis.

Michigan Beach Homes on Target for LEED Platinum & on SALE!

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More details Here! 

Cottage Homes Summer Gate Open Houses LEED Platinum