Tag: MR2.2

Helenowski LEED Platinum Gut Rehab showcases urban zero energy

Post author By admin
Post date September 21, 2010
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Chicago’s Yannell residence has gained a lot of notoriety as the first “net-zero” home in the city – capable of producing as much energy as it consumes. Yet another home on Chicago’s far northwest side, the Helenowski Residence, has joined the prestigious ranks of ultra-green LEED Platinum homes. In fact, it’s one of the highest overall point totals ever achieved for a LEED-certified home.

Net-Zero LEED Platinum Home – Zukas Photography

This incredibly energy-efficient home was actually a gut-rehab of a 1950’s brick split-level home, with a major addition, resulting in 3,300 total square feet. The owner has done an incredible amount of work focusing on the Materials and Resources as well as Energy and Atmosphere areas of the home. Some of the sample strategies include:

All drywall was recycled-content (for a $1 per sheet premium)
Salvaged douglas fir from 1800’s fire-damaged building for ceiling
Reuse or salvage for all new interior framing members
Diversion of +90% construction debris
Reclaimed copper for roofing and gutters

The home also has some exemplary energy characteristics that helped achieve a remarkable HERS score of 13, meaning the home uses 87% less energy than a new home built to code.

The remarkable energy performance was achieved by using soy-based spray foam insulation and a meticulous attention to air sealing in the project. The technical data is quite impressive. The blower door testing gave a result of 604 CFM at 50 Pascals. With an estimated volume of 37,725 cubic feet of volume in the house, the air changes per hour at 50 Pa was 1.02, and the air changes per hour at natural pressure is .07. In other words, the home is very tight.

Other strategies contributing to the home’s energy performance include:

Triple-paned Pella windows with FSC-certified lumber.
Geothermal ground source heat pump for HVAC.
Solar photovoltaic panels and a vertical-axis wind turbine to generate electricity.
Motorized blinds control solar heat gain on west-facing (front) windows.
Extremely efficient cold-cathode lighting, up to six times more efficient than LEDs.
Roof is partially reflective white and part vegetative green roof.

The is truly a remarkable addition to the Chicago area’s growing green building inventory and offers many lessons for other builders in the area. Detailed strategies with photos are available at the project’s web site, www.leedhomeliving.com, as well as by downloading the 1-page PDF Helenowski Project Profile that has assembled.

Download the 1-page PDF Helenowski Project Profile

Tags air leakage, blower door, chicago, energy and atmosphere, green roof, gut rehab, HERS, LEED Platinum, MR2.2, solar pv, wind

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Double-Up Points in MR 2.2 with Reclaimed Materials

Post author By admin
Post date August 19, 2010
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The Materials and Resources (MR) credit 2.2 is one of the more challenging areas of LEED for Homes to get a handle on. First of all, the unique aspect in LEED for Homes is that credit is awarded on a building component – by – building component basis. This is significantly different from other versions of LEED. For instance, a project can earn credit just for flooring.

Additionally, there are many options for how a certain building component actually earns credit. Here is an abbreviated adaptation from the Rating System on how MR 2.2 reads:

MR 2.2 Environmentally Preferable Products. Use building component materials that meet one or more of the criteria below. A single component that meets each criterion… can earn points for each.

Low emissions (0.5 points per component) learn more AND/OR
Local production (0.5 points per component) within 500 miles AND/OR
Environmentally preferable products (EPP) (0.5 points per component). Depending on the component, and possible ways of earning EPP credit might include
- Recycled content more than 25%
- FSC-certified lumber (note this is credit, FSC is not a prerequisite)
- Reclaimed material

A missed opportunity for many LEED for Homes projects is that last point, using reclaimed materials. These are products that often come from a deconstruction project on another home. For example, some LEED for Homes projects use reclaimed lumber for interior framing, or reclaimed wood flooring.

The bonus is that most reclaimed material is almost always found within 500 miles – so the project team can earn (2) half-points (or 1 full point) because the material meets points (a) and (c) above. This is a great quick way to double-up points in MR2.2.

Project teams have several sourcing options for reclaimed materials, including local Habitat for Humanity ReStores, as well as the Rebuilding Exchange. Often, these materials are cheaper than if bought new, so using reclaimed materials is a benefit to the LEED scorecard and a benefit to the project budget.

For a nice handout to share with project teams explaining, please download this Materials Reuse in LEED for Homes flyer, created by the ReBuilding Exchange and USGBC Illinois.

Tags habitat, locally produced, MR2.2, rating system, rebuilding exchange, reclaimed

Financial resources for low income GHI Education Manager GHI Youtube Channel Subscribe list GreenStar Homes Certification Net zero energy conference On-Demand Green Home Videos

Deconstruction as Alternative to Demolition

Post author By admin
Post date March 31, 2010
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The LEED for Homes rating system rewards projects that are developed on sites that have been previously developed, and many project teams take advantage of good existing neighborhoods with access to transportation and services rather than building on raw land. Sometimes, a site is chosen where the existing structure is so damaged or functionally obsolete that it is necessary to start over.

In the past, these homes would be torn down in a matter of days, with tons of debris being sent to landfills. An increasingly common alternative to demolition is “De-Construction”. Unlike most houses that are demolished, a deconstructed house is carefully taken apart piece by piece to preserve the useful building materials and virtually eliminate waste.

On a LEED for Homes project in Oak Park, IL a certified deconstruction auditor came out and provided a value estimation for the salvaged components of the home. For this particular site, the value was over $130,000 which the homeowners were able to use as a tax credit that can be carried over for up to five years. This ends up being more valuable than the cost for the deconstruction services itself. View photos of this deconstruction project.

One impact any project team must be aware of is the effect on construction scheduling. Deconstruction is a labor and time intensive process, and can take much longer than traditional demolition. If weather is not cooperating, it can take up to two months rather than two weeks. But if deconstruction is properly planned for, the environmental and economic benefits can be more rewarding. LEED for Homes values materials from deconstruction which are eligible under Materials and Resources credit 2.2 for both reclaimed and local production credit. For teams pursuing deconstruction, the process of deconstruction of existing homes by providing Innovation and Design credit.

ID credit: The below is taken from the LEED Interpretations database for inquiry number 5289:

Projects may earn ID credit for diverting demolition waste, on the following conditions: (1) the amount of demolition waste is roughly equal to the amount of material in a complete home; (2) at least 50% must be diverted for 1/2 ID point, and at least 70% must be diverted for 1 ID point; (3) no credit may be awarded for land-clearing waste; (4) the Green Rater must verify waste hauling documents and diversion calculation, similar to MR 3; (5) only the diversion strategies approved for MR 3 may be used; (6) the calculation can be based on weight or volume, but a consistent approach must be used throughout the calculation; and (7) the demolition diversion rate must be calculated based on project specific information; using the diversion rate for a disposal facility cannot be used (i.e. MR 03-25 does not apply)

Tags deconstruction, ID, ID 3, interpretations, MR2.2

Financial resources for low income GHI Education Manager GHI Youtube Channel Subscribe list GreenStar Homes Certification Net zero energy conference On-Demand Green Home Videos

LEED for Homes Myth #1: FSC lumber

Post author By admin
Post date October 23, 2009
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Sometimes, a LEED for Homes project team comes to the table with the expectation that they are required to use FSC-certified lumber in their LEED for Homes projects. Perhaps this comes from confusion with other LEED rating systems used for commercial construction, which does have a prerequisite for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) lumber.

However, in residential construction under LEED-H, this is not the case. There are certainly points available to reward and the use of FSC lumber as an under the Materials and Resources credit MR 2.2 Environmentally Preferred Products (EPP) , but using FSC lumber is not explicitly required.

Note: The only caveat is that any tropical wood used in a LEED for Homes residence must be FSC-certified. So, if you’re planning on Brazilian cherry flooring in a LEED home, then it must be sustainably harvested. However the 2×4 lumber used in the interior wall framing does not have to meet this requirement. This prerequisite is explained in MR 2.1 FSC Certified Tropical Wood.

LEED recognizes that the residential building market doesn’t have the capacity to support FSC lumber as a requirement, so it rewards its use, rather than requiring it. Unless of course the lumber may come from a tropical source. One common, real-world example of this is with luan underlayments. If a project team simply specfies when ordering products such as luan by name, simply state on the purchase order that the Certificate of Custody must be furnished. Since all lumber is required to show the country of origin anyway, this isn’t a difficult requirement.

Actually, project teams choosing to use sustainable lumber on a LEED for Homes project in Chicago have a variety of options open to them. Under LEED for Homes, lumber using any combination of reclaimed, sustainably harvested, or locally produced can earn credit as an environmentally preferred product.

Here are some local resources worth investigating:

Hines Lumber carries all kinds of FSC lumber.
Green Depot also carries FSC lumber on special order.
FSC-certified lumber is even starting to appear in local “big box” retailers.

For studs and interior wall framing, also consider getting reclaimed and locally harvested 2x4s and other lumber from:

ReBuilding Exchange
CM Depot

For wood trim, also consider getting reclaimed wood from the sources above, and reclaimed wood that has been re-milled from:

Horigan Urban Forest Products mills and kiln dries reclaimed hard wood for interior trim, floors, and exposed beams.

And for other resused building materials, there are ten (10)Habitat ReStores in the state of Illinois:

Habitat for Humanity ReStores in IL

We hope this has helped demystify LEED for Homes for you. Any questions? Call the premiere LEED for Homes service provider in Illinois toll free at 888-LEED-AP-H (888-533-3274).

Tags Common Myths, materials and resources, MR2.1, MR2.2

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