LEED residential

Government Involvement in Green Initiatives A Big Trend

jchait — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:42:28 -0400

A "2008 U.S. Construction Overview" released by management consultant FMI shows that construction industry is taking green building very seriously.

Results of the report, posted in Commercial Building Products note the following big points:

Three main trends are happening; a high level of government involvement in green initiatives, residential demand for greener structures, and a better selection of green materials. All are good trends, but one in particular is a trend you should stay on top of.

Government participation in, and support for green building practices has the ability to make or break the amount of green building going on. In 2007 over 100 new bills related to green building were released at the state level. More bills are on the way, and many states are promoting sustainable policy for any new government building being constructed. There's also been a much heavier release of green tax credits in recent years - all of this promotes green building and makes it more accessible.

However, right now green is the new black of building. What's important is to keep government agencies involved, even as the green rush cools. As a consumer, you can help the green building movement to stay fresh by voting for greener candidates and by pushing ideas and questions at leaders in your state.

Resources:

The Green Party

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)

Built Green

Green Your Vote 2008

Support that can help you go green with your mortgage

What Is Sustainable Building?

jchait — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:53:49 -0500

Among architects and building enthusiasts there’s been some controversy over what sustainable building means. Do we need LEED? Why? Shouldn’t everyone just build green as a rule? And so on.

Personally I agree with the theory that earth friendly building, or sustainable building should be the rule, but I also know that it’s not.
People make a big scene when something pops up as sustainable – which, in a way is cool, but in many other ways a bummer. If green happened all the time it wouldn’t be such a phenomenon to folks when it happens.

If you’re considering building a sustainable home or trying to find one to live in, there are some basics behind the term, “Sustainable.” In order for a home to be sustainable a house minimizes energy consumption, provides a clean, or non-toxic environment, and ideas for conserve water are used.

An ideal sustainable house takes up just the amount of space it needs. For example, for a family with two adults and two children, living in a six bedroom house is excess – not sustainable living. Some people have managed to take small living to the extreme. You don’t have to live in super tiny spaces, but consider if you really need a three car garage, and two guest rooms.

Recycled and reclaimed materials are often used in the building process, although there are also some sustainable materials that are eco friendly even built new, like up and comer bamboo, which is abundant.
No house can be perfectly green. There are always energy expansions and waste, both with materials and human labor. Still, working under sustainable principals will increase the odds that your home will harm the earth less than a traditionally built home.

The New LEED for Homes - LEED Benefits

jchait — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:36:30 -0500

You've likely heard that the U.S. Green Building Council recently released the revised residential LEED rating goals and system. In the past, LEED was mainly being utilized for commercial buildings. Not anymore.

There are some major benefits to the introduction of residential LEED. While the system is far from perfect, LEED residential is going to help ensure that more of our homes meet safety standards that will create a more positive impact on the earth.

If you’re new to LEED, here’s a quick rundown of the LEED goals for homes. Basically, LEED measures a house with the following eight criteria. If a home is LEED certified, that’s a quick way to be sure that the home is meeting the basics of eco-friendly building.

Location: The home shouldn’t take away from a community. This is all about home placement. For example, chopping down nice old growth trees, to build your home, is an example of what NOT to do, in order to meet this goal.

Innovation and design: This is more architect or builder based than home based. How innovative are the designs? Were cool new green ideas used to make the home more earth-friendly?

Sustainable land use: How the land the home is situated on is used. Example – when I built a house, we removed some of the Cedar trees for space, but we re-planted them on the land. We also built small to minimize our footprint on the land.

Materials: Are green materials used for building when possible? Currently, if there’s a traditional building material available, there’s a greener version as well. The point is to use that greener version. Some are leery because of initial cost, but in the long run greener materials will pay off.

Education: Some green building tactics depend on the home owner being able to utilize that tactic. For example, a rain water system won’t help if you don’t know how to use it. This criteria was designed to check out how well informed the home owner is by the end of the building process (before move-in).

Also covered are some bare basics: water efficiency, energy use (such as indoor cooling and heating), and interior air quality. Obviously residential LEED isway more involved, however, above is a good intro to what you should be considering if you’re building or buying a home.

To learn more you can download the entire LEED for Homes Rating System – all 114 pages of it. (opens in pdf) Long, but a great read.