Michigan Beach Homes on Target for LEED Platinum & on SALE!
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Tag Archive for: LEED Platinum
LEED platinum-certified home in Chicago is a showcase for stylish living
The total cost was $1.6 million. That may seem like a lot of money, but if you look at any other custom-built house this big—it’s 2,675 square feet on a double lot in Chicago—it’s going to cost at least that much. Incidentally, the green materials generally were no more expensive than conventional alternatives.
ELLE DECOR: Why did you decide to build a LEED platinum house?
MICHAEL YANNELL: I wanted to set an example. I had been very frustrated with the construction I was seeing in Chicago. There are so many green options, but nobody was using them. People assume it’s too cold, it’s too cloudy, for solar energy. I wanted to show it could be done here.
ED: So it’s a kind of demonstration house?
MY: I’m not saying every house should be like mine. I’m saying, look at my house, take one detail, and start there.
ED: To accomplish that, you have to be willing to let the world see how you live.
MY: After I moved in I began giving tours constantly—usually an hour long, and limited to ten people, because there were always lots of questions. We started outside the house, and I explained the macro design of the home and then went room by room. I think people have been surprised by how beautiful the house is on the inside. I don’t know what they were expecting.
ED: So, give us the tour.
MY: The house is divided into two wings, so every room has a southern exposure. I think that’s a huge benefit, to not have any room be always dark. I never have to turn a light on during the day. In the winter months, it really has a beneficial psychological effect. The north side, by contrast, has only a few small windows—you’d lose too much heat otherwise.
ED: The solar panels all face south.
MY: Yes. But it doesn’t jump out as a house with solar tacked onto it. One of the things the architects insisted on was having as many of the solar panels hidden from view as possible. That’s one of the reasons the roof has that V shape. All the panels are on the north side of the V, and the south side of the V hides them from sight.
ED: How much did all this cost?
MY: The total cost was $1.6 million. That may seem like a lot of money, but if you look at any other custom-built house this big—it’s 2,675 square feet on a double lot in Chicago—it’s going to cost at least that much. Incidentally, the green materials generally were no more expensive than conventional alternatives. The big items were the heating and cooling systems. But you can take tax credits for 30 percent of those. So basically I won’t owe income tax for the next few years.
ED: How did you choose the finishes?
MY: Every material that went into the house has some environmental story. The exterior is a combination of durable fiber-cement board and Forest Stewardship Council–certified cedar, covered in a cocoa soy-based stain. I love the contrast of dark and light.
ED: And the interior finishes?
MY: In the south wing the floors are a dark brown recycled-porcelain tile, which is very earthy, very soft. In the north wing the floors are made from scrap lumber, which would have ended up in a landfill. It’s walnut, with a clear coat that gives it a warm, natural feel. In the bedrooms, I chose dyed-clay walls. Besides looking good, they absorb sound better than regular painted walls. And clay also absorbs humidity, which is a nice feature in the summer.
ED: Does the furniture have the same kind of environmental credibility?
MY: Much of it is steel, which is recyclable. That’s one of the reasons we bought a lot of furniture from Knoll. The house has a midcentury look, so Knoll was right up our alley. All of the fabrics are Greenguard certified.
ED: What about the art?
MY: We chose the work of a Venezuelan artist, Radames, who works with Plexiglas scraps. I liked the designs, but I don’t like Plexiglas, because it has a high petroleum content. So we asked if he could work with 3form, which is an eco-resin product. He came up with seven or eight pieces for inside and a sculpture for the backyard, so it’s a green art collection as well.
ED: Speaking of art, the house has gallery reveals—those subtle recesses where the walls meet the windows and door frames.
MY: We used reveals throughout the house. I had never even heard the term before. It became known as the “R-word” during the design phase. It added to the cost, but it was really important to the architects. I have to admit, I appreciate how good it looks.
What the Pros Know
Architect Jonathan Boyer, of Chicago’s Farr Assoc., says the house is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes. But, he adds, he knew it would get the point across only if it also looked good.
• Be flexible: Most of the materials were produced locally—a key green principle—but when he needed an attractive cement board, Boyer had to buy a European product.
• Do double duty: The butterfly roof provides shading in summer and optimal placement for the solar panels. The V shape collects rainwater, which is used for irrigation.
• Exploit technology: “Thanks to LEDs, we were able to flood the rooms with light,” says Boyer, “despite using fixtures so compact you hardly see them.”
Click here to see the gallery of the Home
Written by Fred A. Bernstein • Photographed by Tony Soluri • Produced By Susan Victoria
http://www.elledecor.com/home-remodeling/articles/design-solutions-sustainably-chic
Gulyas Residence – LEED Platinum, Bloomington Indiana
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. View the project profile here. Gulyas Residence, LEED Platinum – Bloomington Indiana
Habitat for Humanity commits to LEED and Reduces Homeowner Utilities
Habitat for Humanity Kent County Chapter has been a leader and pioneer in the field when it comes to affordable and sustainable housing. In 2006, they built the nation’s first affordable LEED certified home under the LEED for Homes pilot project. Due the success of the first home, Habitat for Humanity Kent Co made an innovative commitment in 2007 – that future families would live in homes built to minimum LEED Silver Certification. Currently, they have surpassed the Silver level and have progressed to LEED Gold Certified Homes as their new standard house.
View/Download Complete project profile with LEED score and checklist here.
The Lee House was deconstructed and rebuilt after a fire had burned down the original home (see below). Habitat partnered with GRCC Tassell M-TEC students and instructor Duane McIntyre to build this 5-bedroom two story “Gervais” plan. It is “ZeroStep Certified” to be accessible, and also achieved LEED for Homes Gold Certification. Its 52 Home Energy Rating System score makes this one of Habitat Kent County’s most energy efficient home to date.
To date Habitat for Humanity Kent County has achieved great strides with LEED certification. They have built over 300 homes since they started in Kent County and certified 68 of those homes under the LEED rating system. They have registered 83 as of March 31st 2011 (with more to come!).
LEED Gut Rehabs of existing homes: 19
Average HERS score: 62.1
New Construction LEED Homes: 49
Average HERS score: 61.7
Average Square foot of Conditioned floor area: 1,750
This Habitat affiliate has built to the LEED standard in cities such as Sparta, Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Allendale, Cutlerville, Wayland all in Kent County, Michigan.
The latest home was a total gut-rehab project, made possible by the City of Grand Rapids and HUD via the Neighborhood Stabilization Project (NSP). It has achieved the coveted LEED for Homes Gold certification and will offer the hard-working Lee family a very energy efficient home.
A unique post and beam Generations timber frame porch made from reclaimed power poles will grace the front of this home– easily the most challenging rehab project HFHKC has undertaken.
View/Download Complete project profile with LEED score and checklist here.
Due to Habitat for Humanity of Kent Counties commitment to LEED certification, they have been able to attract many more sponsors, donors and volunteers. They have also been able to achieve some great accomplishments.
Deconstruction of homes literally saves tons of usable materials and items from heading to the landfill. These materials are re-sold at the Habitat ReStore for a profit to build other homes.
Thirty young construction students were educated in current green building practices and upon graduation, will bring those skills onto the local construction scene.
Habitat discovered that it costs approximately $8000 more to incorporate green building and zero-step entry into a Habitat home building per house, and that the long-term benefits to the family and the environment easily justify the expense.
It is estimated (based on their earliest LEED Homes) that annual savings costs for electric, water, and heating will be at least $1,000 per home per year. The extra money available every month eases the hard decision “food or heat?” for families who live close to the poverty line.
Over the life of each homebuyer’s 25 year mortgage, the savings equates to $25,000 at minimum – money a family is able to invest into strengthening their future.
The future looks bright for Habitat for Humanity and Green Building. They now have LEED Platinum and Zero Energy / Net Zero homes under-construction. They are partnering with over a dozen organizations to continue revitalization efforts in the Wealthy Heights Neighborhood of Grand Rapids. They may be looking towards LEED ND certification for their neighborhood redevelopment plans.
News videos of LEED Gut Rehab
A recent project in Chicago has garnered national media attention. Here are links to a few of the highlights:
FOX – Chicago
NBC – Chicago
Chicago Magazine posts photos of LEED gut rehab
Chicago Magazine recently profiled a gut rehab home that achieved LEED Platinum certification, and included a photo tour of the Helenowski residence. The home “now energy-neutral or better, meaning it generates enough power to meet its own needs and to sell excess into the power grid.”
Also featured is an affordable green home remodel selling for $150,000.
View details and the photo tour at the Chicago Magazine online blog.
Add a lot of Blown in Cellulose mix it with Geothermal out comes LEED Platinum
The project began with the deconstruction of a 40 year old summer cottage that we enjoyed using for many years. During the deconstruction phase, we were able to salvage most, over 90%, of the wood from the walls and ceiling.
The remainder of the house was recycled through Chef Container, our salvage
and recycling service provider. During the building process we used environmentally friendly materials such as low VOC adhesives, sealants, solvents and paints. In addition, our friendly lumber and supply contractor, Standale Lumber, was able to provide locally harvested materials whenever possible.
Watt Project Profile LEED Platinum Certified South Haven Michigan Green Construction
Great Lakes Superior Wall Basement
Advanced framing construction
Dow Insulated Structural Sheathing
Geothermal Heating System with Energy Recovery Ventilator and
MERV 13 air filtration
Blown cellulose insulation
Energy star rated appliances, fixtures and compact fluorescent lights
The Sustainable House. LEED Platinum
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
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
