Little Residence goes Zero Carbon & GreenStar Platinum. You can too.

Brett Little, Program Manager at the GreenHome Institute who operates out of home, decided to ensure GHI was also green as they help others.  Brett took his 2003 1 story walkout basement home in West Michigan to achieve GreenStar Homes Certification Platinum, Pearl Platinum, and receive a DOE Home Energy Score 10 of 10.

Most importantly, Brett wanted to showcase how he used a traditional mortgage refinance to pay for sure this, paving the way for millions to be able to do the same through construction financing, mortgage refinancing, and/or home equity lines of credit.

Brett increased his monthly mortgage by $40 a month but will reduce utilities on average $50 a month to offset the cost and increased home value by 3%.

Added Home Features include

• Heatpump Water Heater  – Rheem Prestige added in 2018
• Ducted Air Source Heatpump for heating and cooling – Mitsubishi
• Sealed exposed ducts with mastic
• Panasonic Intellibalance Cold Climate Energy Recovery Ventilator ERV – Ducted into exiting Ductwork.
• 3.96 kW of South Facing Solar Panels on roof
• Whole Home 5kW Battery
• Level 2 Car Charger with recycled electric line
• Active Radon System
• 2 Energy Star Bath fans up to 110 CFM ducted outside
• Whole-home ducted Humidifier
• Ducted quiet rangehood with 5 settings
• Cosmos Smart Ventilation System
• Multiple air quality sensors that detect VOCs, CO2, and PM2.5 include Awair and Sun Radon
• Condensing Dryer
• Quiet Energy Star Dishwasher
• Energy Star Clothes Washer
• Water sense certified low devices
  • .5 GPM Niagara Aerators
  • 1.8 GPM Sink Faucet
  • 1.25 GPM Niagara Earth Massagers showerhead
  • .8 GPF Niagara Stealth Toilet
  • Dual Flush .9/.5 GPF Niagara Nano Toilet
• Water leak detector and smart meter
• On-demand water softener nonelectrical
• UV Water filter
• 5 Micron water pre-filter
• Undersink on-demand reverse osmosis system nonelectrical
• Sealed off old air intakes and chimney
• MERV 13 ERV Filter and MERV 16 Furnace Filter
• Motion sensors throughout the home with majority LED lighting
• Turn off the switch for outdoor streetlight
• Water heater pipe wrap
• New fire detectors with CO detectors added throughout
• Exterior Door Selants
• Motion sensor nightlights added
• Planted some drought-tolerant adaptive plants
• Added 5 hooglekulture raised beds
• Added 5 fruit trees
• Henhouse and 2 hens
• Floodfactor Report 1 /10 no risk
• Well Draining Sandy Soils

More details, stories, and videos are being added, and operational energy, water, and quality updates are being added, so be sure to check back!