3 Reasons for LEED in Minneapolis

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A recent homeowner describes their rational for buidlgin a green home in Minnnesota in a recent article in the Downtown Journal.

She outlines three reasons for her decision:

  1. Authoritative Source: the LEED rating system helped tremendously to guide us along the path toward building a sustainable home. Its 342-page reference manual provides green building strategies in five key categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. The rating system itself is a gold mine for any builder or remodeler to learn more about building high-quality, durable homes.
  2. Third-party Verification: LEED requires a Green Rater to come to the site, twice: first, to inspect the insulation (pre-dry wall, post-insulation); second, to test the leakage of the entire building envelope, duct system and air flow. These tests were inexpensive relative to the entire cost of the building, and it was more than worth it to have the peace of mind that the house was actually built to specification.
  3. Triple Bottom Line Benefits:  The green rater had predicted the home’s energy consumption to be 35 percent of a similar-sized home built to code, meaning the utility bills would be 65 percent less than if we had not built a LEED home.  The homeowner now has almost two year’s worth of utility bills to compare against the planned design. And they are coming in right on target — the bills are actually slightly lower than predicted!  In addition, a healthy home for their family and is a large step towards a sustainable lifestyle.

Learn why more people are building LEED homes.

LEED reaches its 10,000th Certified Home

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More than 10,000 homes across the U.S. have earned LEED certification through the LEED for Homes program, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED-certified home projects span the residential market, from multi- and single-family, to market rate and affordable housing.

“Reaching this milestone signifies the continued transformation of the home building industry towards high-performing, healthy homes that save home owners money,” said Nate Kredich, Vice President of Residential Market Development, U.S. Green Building Council. “Market leaders across the production, multifamily, affordable and custom home segments have recognized that there are green homes, and then there are LEED Homes, and they are acting accordingly.”

LEED for Homes is a national voluntary certification system that promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes that use less energy and water and fewer natural resources; create less waste; and are healthier and more comfortable for the occupants. Since its launch in 2008, 10,161 homes have certified with over 38,000 additional units in the pipeline.

The 10,000th home to earn LEED certification was Tacoma Housing Authority’s 91-unit development, Salishan 7 in Washington. Salishan 7, built by Walsh Construction Company, is the first federally funded HOPE VI Redevelopment project to achieve LEED Platinum. The project was built within an affordable budget, and was designed to be at least 30% more energy efficient than the average home, effectively removing 27 homes from Tacoma Power’s electrical grid.

“We are proud to be a part of the community of over 10,000 homes that have committed to excellence through the LEED for Homes program,” said Michael Mirra, Executive Director, Tacoma Housing Authority. “Our LEED Platinum housing projects are less expensive to operate and are healthier inside, which means a world of difference to our residents.”

Nationally recognized market leaders such as McGuyer Homebuilders, Inc (production homes) in Dallas, Tex., Fore Property (multifamily) and dozens of Habitat for Humanity affiliates (affordable) are just a few of the organizations committing to LEED certification across the country.

Supporting the growth of the LEED for Homes program is the robust and dedicated network of LEED for Homes Providers; a community of nearly 400 LEED AP Homes credential holders, helping meet the need for knowledgeable green home building professionals; and a growing number of LEED for Homes Green Raters. Additionally, the USGBC recently launched its LEED for Homes Scoring Tool for builders to self-evaluate their home construction projects to see how close they are to LEED certification. This simple web-based application makes the program even more accessible to builders and homeowners.

Work with to help make your next LEED project a success.

LEED Professional Credentials Gain ANSI Accreditation

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LEED Green Associate, LEED AP O&M and LEED AP Homes, among other GBCI-administered credentials achieve recognition from the American National Standards Institute.

“This accreditation from ANSI validates the integrity of our processes under a global standard. That provides a mark of differentiation for our credential holders, and the respect of the market that employs them” said Beth Holst, Vice President for Credentialing at GBCI.

Read the full article here.

What this will do in the marketplace is assure employers that their AP staff are uniquely qualified and trained individuals who are setting the bar for green building by meeting the rigorous demands set by this organization. This will add demand for these credentials amongst employers and add value to those employees looking for a competitive edge in a growing green market.

Especially in a residential green market with an alphabet soup of credentials available under every rating system, having ANSI recognize LEED AP Homes as the “most qualified, educated and influential green building professionals in the marketplace” will not only increase the demand for these LEED AP individuals, but will subsequently increase the demand for their LEED certified homes.

To find other green professionals in your area visit the Green Home Guide, or to learn more about how to become a LEED AP Homes visit our Tools page.

News videos of LEED Gut Rehab

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A recent project in Chicago has garnered national media attention.  Here are links to a few of the highlights:
FOX – Chicago

 

NBC – Chicago

Are you an area professional wanting to earn LEED project experience?

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Habitat is pleased to announce its partnership with HabitatPro, a program designed for professionals who are interested in accumulating the now required LEED project experience in order to sit for the LEED AP exams. HabitatPro PX facilitates a rare opportunity to learn LEED by actually doing LEED! Participants will gain “personal involvement”  with the LEED project by having the opportunity to be a part of all apsects of the Habitat LEED project including design, construction, documentation and educational development. Participants can expect to receive:

  • a personalized letter of attestation from BOULD
  • personal hands-on involvement on a LEED registered project
  • weekly participation opportunities
  • tracked roles and hours via BOULD’s comprehensive database
  • partnership with Habitat for Humanity in revitalizing your community

The upcoming project Design Charrette is Monday, March 14. For tuition, participation and registration, please visit GoHabitatPro.com.
(Note, if you can’t make this meeting there are still many opportunities)

LEED for Homes - Online Scoring Tool - www.leedforhomes.org

LEED Home Scoring Tool Released

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USGBC has created an online tool that will allow anyone to “kick the tires” on taking a single- or multi-family building through LEED for Homes certification. The Online Scoring Tool (OST) is available at no cost through www.leedforhomes.org and provides a great way to evaluate the LEED rating system.

The user-friendly Online Scoring Tool (OST) allows free access to anyone that creates a web site account. Once logged in, people can score multiple rojects using the online scoring tool.

Two Scoring Paths
Projects can choose to take one of two paths with the LEED Homes scoring tool. One path called the Quick Score, allows a builder to answer a green home version of 20 questions about a sample project. Its perfect for a builder that has had a HERS Rating performed on a previous home and is wondering how that home would have scored in LEED. Once the questions are answered, the scoring tool gives an estimate on the potential LEED certification level.

A more advanced path allows the user to go through the LEED for Homes rating system in detail for a specific project, with credit-by-credit analysis. Each credit can be selected as Yes, No, or Maybe.  Best of all, the online tool does an impressive job of digesting the extensive LEED for Homes Reference Guide into salient tool-tip help that can be brought up in a popup window. This explanation will help people decide whether or not they want to pursue a specific LEED credit or not.

The LEED for Homes Online Scoring Tool (OST) is available at no cost through www.leedforhomes.org

 

Post Occupancy Study & Extra ID Credit Opportunity

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is conducting a post occupancy utility study of all our current/future LEED for Homes projects in conjunction with USGBC’s new pre-approved Building Performance Partnership ID credit.  This study will help measure the effectiveness of LEED™ for Homes, work as an educational tool and help promote the LEED™ standard and all parties involved in certified projects.  We encourage project team leaders to inform residents of this opportunity.

Project teams signing up can earn one Innovation and Design point for enrolling.

Background Information USGBC’s Building Performance Partnership (BPP): engages commercial and residential LEED building owners and managers in an effort to optimize the performance of buildings through data collection, analysis and action. This partnership among USGBC and the thousands of LEED project owners will result in the population of a comprehensive green building performance database, enable standardization of reporting metrics and analytics, and establish new performance benchmarks. USGBC’s BPP participants are eligible for annual performance reports, report cards and real-time data interfaces to aid in their building performance goals. Together, USGBC and BPP participants will transform the way the world views building operations.

Please sign up here below

To earn ID Credit please go to the USGBC’s Website and fill in your project information and check off: 38: PF – Advanced Utility Tracking

Then sign up here. http://www.earthaid.net/bpp

Note: you will need to have an active online account with you utility companies, if you don’t, please sign up (this also a good time to make sure to select the paperless option with your utilities!)

Let us know once you have signed up!

The Sustainable House. LEED Platinum

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The Sustainable House is one of the worlds’ highest ranked and highest rated home for: LEED for Homes®, Energy Star® and Minnesota GreenStar® programs. It is incorporates a Permaculture designed landscape, utilizes a Xeriscape criteria for landscaping, it utilizes the criteria for Century Design Shelters, American Lung Association healthy home criteria, Universal Living criteria and Smart House criteria. This 1948 remodel in Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA was created by 7 teams of 248 individuals in 2007 and 2008.

View & Download Project Profile PDF

 

The House Basics

In order to achieve LEED Platinum status, Live Green Live Smart/The Sustainable House™ must meet a rigorous set of guidelines that require exceptional attention and innovation on the part of the builders and designers.

Sustainable Energy Systems

The most conspicuous innovations are in the ways the House actively uses (or doesn’t use) energy. Because this is a demonstration project, the House incorporates many redundant energy supplies – it is important for us to show how not just one, but many, systems work and how they work side-by-side.

  • Solar panels provide both electricity for the home and energy to heat water.
  • The Honda/Climate Energy Freewatt™ “combined heat and power” (CHP) system provides, via a generator and furnace run on natural gas, co-generating electricity and forced-air heat.
  • Underneath the House’s front walkway are four 135-foot-deep geothermal wells, which circulate a non-toxic solution through pipes to capture the stable temperatures beneath the surface. The energy of the Earth’s heat is transferred to a WaterFurnace™, which can heat the home in the winter and provide air conditioning in the summer.

Environmentally-Conscious Applications

The green building materials and techniques as applied to the House are less conspicuous than alternative energy sources, but no less important to our Platinum remodel.

  • Efficient insulation and an air transfer system ensure that none of the heat or cold generated goes to waste, and that the air inside the home stays clean and breathable.
  • Solatubes provide natural sunlight all day long, even in the basement, reducing electricity needs.
  • Every lightbulb in the house is an energy-efficient compact fluorescent or LED.
  • Low-voltage radiant in-floor heating is an efficient way to reduce furnace needs.
  • Greywater is collected from the showers for reuse in the double-flush toilets.
  • Windows are triple-glazed and argon-filled to reduce heat transfer.
  • Appliances are EnergyStar rated, and an induction stove is used for cooking.
  • All electrical energy purchased from the grid is the product of windfarming – no coal-fueled energy will be used in the House.

Conservation and Pollution Control

Remodeling an existing home instead of building a new one allows us to keep our construction footprint to a minimum. Remodeling when more usable living space is needed also preserves untouched land, reducing the land and resources needed for specific construction.

  • To rebuild the home we have reused as many of the original components as possible – including the 2×6 studs reused to extend the eaves out from the house to save energy needed for cooling, and to protect sidewalls and windows from Minnesota’s weather extremes.
  • Anything that cannot be reused is recycled – such as the House’s old stucco – and anything that cannot be recycled is handled by responsible disposal to reduce pollution of air, soil, and water.
  • Studs for the new additions (foyer and garage) are 2×4 instead of the standard 2×6. They are also spaced farther apart – 24 inches on center – providing about a 30% savings in new lumber used.
  • Most new wood is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified to come from sustainable forests.
  • Furniture, cabinetry, and countertops are made with recycled or sustainably-harvested materials, and are free of harmful chemicals.
  • Paints and varnishes are free of harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and formaldehyde.
  • The highly efficient insulation is no-VOC, and an energy heel enclosed in an interior soffit minimizes cold and hot air import by protecting the jointure of walls and roofline.
  • Foundation concrete is made with 40% fly ash – recycled sooty waste from coal plants – which is less expensive and more durable than a standard Portland cement mixture.
  • Potable water from municipal supply is further filtered with a purification system.
  • Water-saving devices include automatic on-off faucets, the batteries of which are recharged by water flow through the supply valves, and double-flush toilets that flush once for liquids and twice for solid waste.

Land Management

In meeting conservation and efficiency requirements, what goes on outside the House is equally as important as what goes on inside the House.

  • Rain gardens planted with native plants collect rainwater and allow percolation back into the ground instead of runoff into storm drains. Cisterns collect additional rainwater from the roof and gutters of the House – a two-inch rainfall provides a month of plant and lawn watering.
  • Native plants requiring less water are established, with an emphasis on those especially suited for the local climate and the House’s particular site.
  • Reduction of turf grass area means a reduction in lawn maintenance needs.
  • Behind the house a permaculture microclimate and intensive garden allow the homeowners to grow and enjoy their own fruits and vegetables.
  • Hardscapes are paved with permeable materials to reduce run-off into storm sewers and waterways.

More Details and project journal can be found here

http://livegreenlivesmart.org/shelter/sustainable_house/default.aspx

Kenilworth Bungalow – LEED Platinum

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A new home along the Kenilworth Lagoon – reminiscent of a modest Arts and Crafts bungalow – is scaled to fit the specific needs of the homeowner and tailored to match the scale and character of the neighborhood. Designed by Domain Architecture & Design®, Minneapolis, MN, the interior of this single-family, detached bungalow feels large and spacious, despite it small footprint. This LEED for Homes registered project also benefited from a whole-structure, whole-site, integrated design approach utilizing emerging, as well as proven, sustainable technologies and construction systems. Sustainable design strategies were integrated in ways that harmonize cutting-edge technologies with a traditional aesthetic.In September, the Project’s strengths were acknowledged through its selection to the prestigious ’09 AIA-MN Homes By Architects Tour. A distinguishing feature of the home is its construction from structural insulated panels (SIPs). These panels, which were custom built off-site, sandwich insulation between a structural skin of two sheets of OSB

(oriented strand board) structural skin. This eliminates on-site waste common with typical wood framing, increases construction efficiency, and creates a high performance building that is stronger, quieter and considerably more energy efficient than homes of traditional construction. The use of SIPs, as well as high-efficiency windows, appliances, fixtures, and heating and air conditioning systems, will drastically reduce energy use and energy bills. In fact, with a HERS Index of 49, this home is projected to be 51% more energy efficient than its built-to-code-standard analogue would be. Moreover, the indoor air quality of the home should far exceed that of a conventional home, thanks to the use of low-VOC paints, formaldehyde-free cabinetry, and integrated moisture control measures that will limit mold and mildew build-up. The landscape design retains and infiltrates 100% of an ‘average’ rainfall onsite, allowing the owner to defray costs via municipal stormwater abatement credits and minimizing use of the site’s high efficiency irrigation system. This is the result of utilizing only no-mow turf; non-invasive, drought-tolerant,native flora; numerous infiltration devices; and pervious-concrete ‘trapping’ strategies in the driveway.For every square foot of impervious concrete hardscape found within the site, there is a square foot of
pervious (permeable) concrete offsetting it. Domain is committed to green building, with designers that are LEED accredited, and completed projects that have been recognized for excellence in sustainable design – such as the renovation of the Pillsbury Library in Northeast Minneapolis (LEED-NC v2.2 Gold). For more information on building a new home or renovating your existing home in a way that reduces energy use, limits waste, and provides
a healthy indoor environment, please go to the Domain website at www.domainarch.com

Project Particulars
Total Property Area: (in Square Feet) 5570
Gross Home Square Footage: (in Square Feet) 3633
Total Home Footprint: (in Square Feet) 1337
Surface parking spaces: 0
Structure Parking Spaces: 2
Undisturbed Site Area: 0
Site Context/Setting: Urban
Site Conditions: Previously Developed
Green features and highlights:
 Fly Ash (recycled from coal power plants) used to strengthen the foundation concrete.
 SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) used for the exterior envelope (walls and roof).
 Interior walls constructed with finger-jointed studs; and floor trusses are open-web type.
 Cabinetry & moldings constructed from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and urea-formalde
hyde free wood products.
 Project’s waste management plan facilitated a 67% landfill diversion rate for construction
waste removals.
 Appliances, ceiling fans, and bathroom fans are Energy Star rated.
 Lighting circuits are dimmable, and 80% of the lamps are Energy Star CFL’s.
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN®
domain

 The plumbing system utilizes a central-manifold plumbing system to conserve water and to equalize pressure throughout system.  Plumbing fixtures (lavatories, showerheads, and toilets) are all high efficiency fixtures.  A heat recovery system provides continuous ventilation of fresh exterior air into the home.  Individual forced-air registers are pneumatically controlled from the furnace room to balance airflow throughout the home.  The fireplace and energy efficient furnace are direct-vented, and the energy savingr water heater is power-vented.  Landscaping includes three rain gardens, drought resistant flora, and no-mow turf.  The driveway’s outer concrete bands slope inward, directing water to the permeable center section, with a crushed rock field below. Water then percolates into the lower rain garden.  The irrigation system includes a zone controller, drip irrigation, and a rain delay controller.

Exterior General Information:
Roof Shingles: Barkwood by GAF-ELK
Front Door: TruStile
Front Door Hardware: Baldwin
Garage Doors: 9700 Series by Wayne Dalton
Exterior Material: James Hardie Lap Siding
Mechanical System: Paul Stafford Electric
Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs): Extreme Panel Technologies
Interior General Information:
Floors: Hickory by Schaefer Hardwood Floors
Cabinets/Millwork: Timber Creek Cabinets
Paint Colors: BEN by Benjamin Moore
Fireplace: Sweet Dreams by Lopi
Fireplace Surround: Meredith Tile
Interior Door Hardware: Baldwin
Tile – Fireplace Surround and Kitchen Backsplash: Meredith Tile
Tile – Entry Hall, Mud Room, and Bathrooms: Baoding Slate, Copper Rust slate, Jinshan Bone, Jinshan
Caramel Baoding Crème Yuma, and Banning Listello by Tile Shop
Bathroom Fixtures: Kohler
Toilets: Karsten by Sterling Kitchen
Range: Kenmore
Hood: Vent-A-Hood, Stainless Steel
Microwave: Kenmore
Dishwasher: Bosch Integra 500 series
Ref/Freezer: Kenmore
Kitchen Sink: Blancowave Plus by Blanco
Countertops: Maple Butcherblock by John Boos
Laundry Washer/Dryer: Epic by Maytag
Countertop and backsplash: LG, Confetti Quartz

Design Team: Domain Architecture & Design®, Inc., Minneapolis, MN
LEED Consultant / Project Team Leader: Mike Everson, LEED AP BD+C
Landscape Architect: Brubaker Landscape Designs
General Contractor: Reuter Walton Construction

Report Shows Increased Value of LEED Homes

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In a newly-released report, the Green Home Institute () analyzed data from LEED-certified homes in the Midwest found that the homes averaged 40% less energy use and utility costs annually when compared to conventional homes.

LEED for Homes - Utility Savings and Value Report

LEED for Homes Case Study Report

From January through June 2010, the Green Home Institute () collected Read more