Category: On-Demand Green Home Videos

Frank Lloyd Wright home seeks LEED Certification

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Post date July 28, 2010
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A speculative home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that has fallen into disrepair will now be an intersection of historic preservation and green building, as Eifler and Associates embarks on a LEED for Homes rehabilitation in Glencoe, IL.

Rendering upon completion

The Ross House was built as a “spec” house for Frank Lloyd Wright’s attorney, Sherman Booth, who planned to develop an entire community of homes designed by Wright called “The Ravine Bluffs” Development. Landscape Architect Jens Jensen was named as a contributor to the project. The Sherman Booth house was the first to be built, followed by five rental homes, including the Ross House, to provide income for Mr. Booth. To provide unity to the development, Frank Lloyd Wright also designed a bridge and three sculptural markers for the development.

The Ross House was designed as a modest 4 Bedroom, 1 Bath Home roughly 2,000 s.f. in size, with an open porch and a full basement. The home was built using conventional “balloon-frame” construction, consisting of 2×4 exterior wall framing, 2×10 floor joists, clad with stucco and a cedar shingle roof.

Unfortunately, Ross House has been vacant for the last three years, and the radiator piping and interior plumbing pipes were destroyed by freezing 2 years ago. Subsequent alterations and a general lack of maintenance have led to considerable deterioration of this landmark structure. Concerned with the condition of the house, Landmarks Illinois placed the house on its endangered landmarks list in 2009.

Eifler and Associates are taking on this latest rehabilitation project with three broad goals:

Return the exterior of this historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house to its original appearance (removing a front-entry vestibule addition from a later owner)
Restore original interior finishes where possible, but update the house to contemporary standards (modern MEP systems, contemporary kitchen)
Rehabilitate with green building to reduce the energy use, use recycleable and sustainable construction, and achieve LEED for Homes certification.

This gut rehab project is a bit unique for a LEED project as many of the interior and exterior finishes will remain in place. However, due to the home’s balloon framing, the team will be retrofitting insulation into the existing walls to increase the homes insulation and air sealing in accordance with energy efficient standards, yet allowing the interior plaster walls to remain in place.

Additionally, the historic integrity of the windows will be retained, and interior insulating glass storm windows will be installed to create more efficient fenestration.

When finished, the Ross House will also feature a geothermal heat pump for heating and cooling, solar photovoltaic panels on the detached garage, cabinets created with FSC-certified lumber, rainwater harvesting for landscape maintenance, and energy-efficient lighting.

Projects such as the Ross House in Glencoe and the Holbrook Mill project in Aurora are great examples showing us how through LEED for Homes, preserving our architectural heritage and green building can go hand in hand preserving a legacy for future generations.

Tags frank lloyd wright, Glencoe, historic preservation, leed for homes, ross house, Single-Family Projects

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Energy Star Homes to significantly change in 2011

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Post date July 23, 2010
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New Energy Star for Homes Guidelines

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released the Version 3 Guidelines for ENERGY STAR® Qualified New Homes.

The new guidelines are quite a step up from the existing Energy Star guidelines, and specify two compliance paths. The prescriptive path applies only to homes that fall within the size limits of a Benchmark Home. Under the prescriptive path, the builder must meet the requirements of a reference design and mandatory testing requirements. The reference design requires insulation levels that meet or exceed the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) requirements, as well as setting forth standards for HVAC equipment, domestic hot water, thermostats, ductwork, lighting, and appliances.

The Mandatory Requirements for All Qualified Homes require professional third-party rating for thermal enclosure, HVAC, and water management. Many of these measures are currently being done now in LEED for Homes projects, such as the pre-drywall inspection and the Durability evaluation and third-party verification.

In the Energy Star v3 performance path, homes must meet a target score on the Home Energy Rating Service (HERS) rating scale, using RESNET-accredited home rating software as well as meeting the Mandatory Requirements and having all insulation, windows, doors, and skylights meeting IECC 2009. The new 3.0 guidelines go into partial effect for most new homes on 1/1/2011, and full effect on 1/1/2012.

On a related note, LEED for Homes is also planning a revision in 2012, which will likely go out for public comment this fall. Many of the optional performance tests in LEED for Homes, such as outdoor air flow (IEQ 4.3), bedrooms and kitchen / bathroom exhaust (IEQ 5.3) and air supply (IEQ 6.3) testing will be required as part of the Energy Star v3 changes. Keep your eyes open to see how the next version of LEED for Homes will take into account the Energy Star v3 changes.

Tags codes, durability, energy star, iecc, ieq, leed 2012

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New LEED for Homes Pre-approved ID Point

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Post date July 15, 2010
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LEED for Homes project teams that sign up for USGBC’s Building Performance Partnership (BPP) are now eligible to earn an optional point in Innovation and Design (ID) point for Utility Tracking, which will be done via EarthAid.net.

For the residential market, providing performance data for energy and water usage after occupancy is not required as in other versions of LEED rating systems. Instead, this new ID point will be awarded if homeowners voluntarily enroll in the BPP program. Ideally, this will eventually allow USGBC at the aggregate level to collect and analyze data to see how LEED homes actually perform post-occupancy.

Why would homeowner’s care? Well the partner USGBC is using for this event is Earth Aid, which actually gives consumers credit for saving on their energy costs as compared to other homes in their area. The more energy saved, the more points are accumulated that can be used at retailers and local vendors. Best of all, this service is free.

LEED for Homes project homeowners can sign up with Earth Aid here:

*Note – LEED projects must use that full URL as it is unique to LEED for Homes (you’ll see the LEED for Homes logo appear in the upper-left here, and after login, when you as the Rater are verifying this credit).

Here is the official ID language:

Approved ID Request: Utility Tracking
Maximum Points: 1

Intent
To provide advanced monitoring and reconciliation of energy and water use at the whole building and end use levels. To provide for the ongoing accountability of building utility consumption over time.

Requirements

Prerequisites
None.

Credits
The homeowner must enroll in the USGBC Building Performance Partnership (BPP) for all applicable metered utility accounts, prior to submitting for LEED Certification.

Verification and Submittals
Supporting Verification made available by the Project Team:

Present a screen shot of the log-in screen to verify the enrollment of each utility account in USGBC’s Building Performance Partnership.

Verification Team:

Visually verify that the project successfully enrolled each applicable utility (ie, water, gas, electricity) in BPP.

Tags BPP, ID, innovation and design, leed, leed for homes, utility tracking

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July Tour: Completed LEED Platinum Home in Wilmette

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Post date July 12, 2010
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The Gworek Residence is a new home constructed in the historic neighborhood of Wilmette, IL, planning for LEED Platinum certification. The home was designed for a family of four and is meant to optimize energy efficiency, while respecting the scale and character of the neighborhood.

Designed by Holbert and Associates Architects and built by Scott Simpson Builders, the house is oriented towards the south to maximize passive solar gain, and the overall massing is broken down to provide three sources of natural light in each room. This also allows for a vegetative green roof over part of the home.

Material choices in the home were made to optimize resource efficiency and long term durability. These materials include concrete with 30% fly ash content, a FSC-certified cedar rainscreen, metal roofing made with high recycled content, and reclaimed pine flooring. The heating/cooling system is geo-thermal for both radiant flooring and forced air. The primary source for radiant heating and domestic hot water are roof-mounted solar thermal panels. The home also features roof-mounted solar photovoltaic panels for electricity.

The house is completed, and the homeowners have graciously offered to open their doors for a LEED Home tour on Friday, July 30. Reserve yourself spot to see this unique home or learn more at their web site.

Tags foam, geothermal, gworek, LEED Platinum, solar pv, solar thermal, wilmette

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New Resource! 1-page LEED for Homes Snapshot Card

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Post date July 8, 2010
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The graphic designers at USGBC have done it again and created a great, handy resource for anyone looking for a 1-page overview of their LEED for Homes project.

This one-page PDF file breaks down the main credit categories of LEED into color-coded areas, goes through each category credit-by-credit, and shows where each of the 136 points in LEED for Homes falls.

I can see this being an incredibly useful tool when a project team is doing an initial scoring of their project, as a guide during a LEED design charrette, and as a good takeaway for educational events.

Download our LEED for Homes Snapshot Card

Tags LEED charrette, resources, usgbc

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HUD to use LEED ND for Grant Selections

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Post date June 30, 2010
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Reminder: A LEED for Homes development located in a LEED ND project area will receive full points for the “Locations and Linkages (LL)” category (learn more). This also pertains to the new Sustainable Communities regional planning grant NOFA announced June 24.

Federal agency encourages smart growth, location efficiency and green communities

The federal government took a major step toward its mission to advance sustainability practices among buildings and communities when U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that LEED® for Neighborhood Development will be used to score the location efficiency of grant applications. HUD will apply this criteria to grant submissions to the upcoming Sustainable Communities Planning Grants and others, totaling $3.25 billion in available grant funds.

“Using the ‘LEED-ND’ green neighborhood rating system…it’s time that federal dollars stopped encouraging sprawl and started lowering the barriers to the kind of sustainable development our country needs and our communities want,” said Secretary Donovan.

LEED for Neighborhood Development, which launched in April as the benchmark for healthy green communities, integrates green building into community development, helping to reduce sprawl, increase transportation choices, decrease automobile dependence, encourage healthy living and protect threatened species.

“The federal government has been a pioneer in the green building movement – not only seeking high-performance from its own buildings, but through incentives and grants that encourage environmental stewardship,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “HUD has been a powerful voice in encouraging and creating sustainable communities in which residents will have access to alternative transportation, jobs, and an increased quality of life. LEED for Neighborhood Development serves as an important tool to help evaluate and fund these new communities.”

The imperative for sustainable communities is made even more urgent in this economy as housing and transportation are the two biggest expenses for families, constituting for more than 50% of the average American household budget. Green communities, as defined by HUD, are “economically competitive, healthy and opportunity-rich” and provide an important component of community development to local, state and national economies.

Secretary Donovan stated the “housing and economic crisis has reaffirmed the need for federal leadership in this area,” drawing the correlation between foreclosure rates and access to transportation, good schools and economic opportunity.

LEED for Neighborhood Development, which was created in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), acknowledges the link between transit-oriented development and proximity to services, amenities and jobs to human health benefits and economic capital, an important correlation confirmed in numerous studies and advocated for by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Connectivity to neighboring communities and their amenities and services through transit corridors and a well-connected street network, greatly benefits the citizens, businesses and local economy of a new neighborhood development, the surrounding community, and ultimately the region.

“…We live in a changing world where cities, suburbs and the rural areas that surround them share an economic future. Metropolitan regions are the engines of our economy…people are voting with their feet more and more — in search of walkable neighborhoods with transportation options,” said Secretary Donovan.

To read Secretary Donovan’s complete remarks, click here and to learn more about LEED for Neighborhood Development, visit www.usgbc.org/leed/nd.

Adapted from a USGBC Press Release.

Tags affordable housing, hud, leed nd

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Testimonials from LEED Homeowners

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Post date June 28, 2010
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Check out this new video that explains the benefits of living in a LEED-certified home from homeowners that are doing so.

Tags benefits, video

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June Tour: LEED Silver Home in Bloomingdale, IL

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Post date June 11, 2010
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Want to see the first single-family home in Illinois to achieve LEED certification? A special tour has been arranged for this LEED Silver home on Saturday, June 26, and spaces are limited.

The Peluso Residence, 277 Pheasant, Bloomingdale, was designed and built as an efficient and modern green home by Alphonso and Michelle Peluso, co-founders of Vertex Architects, LLC, and owners of the home.

The construction cost was $115 per square foot, which is less than half the average on a new-construction home.

The home uses 20 percent less natural gas than the average home due to in-floor radiant heating from two tankless water heaters. A 1,700-gallon underground storage tank collects rooftop water that can be used for watering the yard. The insulation is both spray cell foam and recycled newspaper.

The 3,200-square-foot home offers 4 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, floor-to-ceiling windows and Energy Star appliances and lighting throughout.

Learn more about the home by viewing its Project Profile.

What: Tour of Peluso Residence ~ The first single-family home in Illinois to be achieve LEED certification

Where: 277 Pheasant, Bloomingdale

When: Saturday, June 26; 10 a.m.

Cost: Free

Tags bloomingdale, LEED Silver

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Building Deconstruction Workshop – Fri June 18

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Post date June 11, 2010
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Many LEED for Homes projects use deconstruction. Come to an affordable ($25.00!) full-day workshop that will examine new business and employment opportunities springing up in Northern Illinois and nationally connected with the growing movement toward deconstruction and reuse of building materials.

Building Community Assets through Deconstruction and Material Reuse
9AM – 3 PM on Friday, June 18th, 2010
University Center of Lake County, Grayslake Campus

The presenters will explain how this “green” technology is influencing the design, construction and remodeling of residential and public housing, schools, hospitals, public facilities and commercial and industrial real estate and share their real-world experience in the field. The session will also engage participants in determining the role local government, non-profits, community institutions and real estate and building professionals can play in creating a positive business climate for deconstruction and building material reuse Lake County. Lunch will be provided.

Who Should Attend?

* Nonprofit economic development, workforce and job training representatives
* Developers, builders, contractors and real estate professionals
* Government officials, mayors, trustees and elected officials
* City planners, planning commissioners, building deparments

For more information contact: Dara Reiff, CLC Sustainability Coordinator at (847) 543-2643 or email: dreiff@clcillinois.edu

Tags deconstruction, grayslake, training, workshop

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Free USGBC Education on Greening Affordable Housing

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Post date June 7, 2010
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Join USGBC for an important, free educational program – bringing you the tools you need to understand the intersection between green building and affordable housing. And then leverage the local incentives supporting sustainable affordable housing.

The Keys to Green Affordable Housing: A Guide for Existing Multi-family Properties is an online training designed to address key issues in the affordable housing sector, including:

Green multi-family retrofit projects,
Sustainable operations and maintenance of affordable housing buildings, and
Financial and incentive aspects of affordable projects.

Each sessions is a 90-minute webinars, and offered at no cost for attendees. REGISTER NOW.

Inquiries in affordable housing certified as LEED for Homes projects are growing, especially with the many incentives and benefits available for those building green including:

Home Depot Foundation – grants for LEED-registered projects help with certification costs.
Enterprise Green Community – design charrette grants and occupant education programs.
LEED for Homes provides third-party verified accountability for funding sources.
State grants like IL Energy Efficient Affordable Housing program
Other incentives for efficiency and renewables outlined at DSIRE

With all of this support, it’s no wonder there is a burgeoning market for green affordable housing. The USGBC webinars are a great start, and if you’re looking to make your next project in the Midwest a sustainable and affordable development, contact for a proposal as a LEED for Homes supporting provider to help you through the process.

Tags affordable housing, incentives, leed for homes, training, usgbc, webinar

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