Since our last installment of Going Green, Jason, his wife Michelle, and I have spent a number of hours investigating every section of the NAHB Green Building Program and had many conversations on what more we can do to still keep the Emerald level within reach.  It has never been a question that the home Jason is building is “green”.  Jason has taken eco-friendly home building seriously from the beginning and has every intention to follow through, but the tireless pace at which he is building the home leaves little time to document everything the NAHB requires for certification. The green certification process can be daunting for a builder going through it for the first time, especially one that is very hands on during the construction process as Jason is.  Jason now has Michelle to thank for taking on the stressful task of digging up hard to find documentation.  I’ll stress from experience the importance of having a support team that can help the builder research and find the documentation that may need to be pulled from manufacturers and sub-contractors, and this is a service we offer when working as the Green Verifier on a project.

The biggest and most difficult part of getting a home certified is digging up all of the documentation that is required to achieve points in certain sections of the NAHB Green Building Program.  Some manufacturers do not have documentation, or the documentation may not be up to date, and some just can’t be bothered to send it on or direct you to where you may find it.  It can be an exasperating process, but with a lot of patience and persistence you can generally get what you are looking for, and it helps to have experience with the process and knowing what avenues to pursue and what will most likely be dead-ends.

Through all of our research, investigation, persistence, not to mention Michelle’s diligence in finding documentation and Jason’s willingness as the builder to go the extra mile, we have put the Emerald level back within reach.  This was, and will still be, no easy task to achieve an Emerald certification, but if all involved stay on pace, it is within reach once again.  One example of how added points can be achieved is that Jason has had to be very aware of his material selections and getting the required documentation for those materials.  Whether it be the recycled content a product may have, the certification a product may have, or a Life Cycle Assessment done on the product; these documents will all be necessary if you are hoping to receive these points.

Construction is rolling along at a fast pace and the Final Inspection will be upon us soon.  The Emerald level is within sight, but as I’ve said a number of times on this blog, it won’t be easy, and rightfully so.  We will keep you posted on how things wrap up as we close in on the Final Inspection.

At this point, I would like to make everyone aware that when the house is completed, SWA Architects and JAW Builders will be hosting an Open House for all who are interested in seeing the finished product and all that I have been writing about over the past months.  There has been no dates set for such an event, but I will be sure to keep you posted right here on our blog, and in our e-newsletters.   If you have not subscribed to our e-Newsletter, please do so here at http://www.swa-architects.com/news/HomeTour/HomeTour.html

Read Going Green Part V

Read Going Green Part IV

Read Going Green Part III

Read Going Green Part II

Read Going Green Part I

The social and economic climate of the day can, and typically has, had a broad affect on home design throughout time.  Our current times are no different; in fact, home design may be more driven by these factors than we have seen in over fifty years.  The current economic downturn coupled with peoples’ desire to be more environmentally conscience, has brought about change in our perception of what a home should be.  Efficiency is the key word of today, and now more than ever, it is an integral part of designing and building a home.   Maximizing the efficiency of resources during construction can cut down home building costs, while quality construction and air-sealing a home can cut down the energy costs over its lifetime.

Here at SWA Architects, we have begun developing a housing design strategy that is built on the motto of efficiency.  We have started preliminary designs of homes that are designed to fit narrower suburban and urban lots and range in size from 1,800 to 2,500 square feet.  Each design consists of a two story home that has three bedrooms, two and one-half baths and includes a master suite.  The designs are set up to be easily modified or combined with other optional plans, including plans for an attached or detached two-car garage depending on lot size and configuration.

There are a number of ways we are maximizing efficiency in our home designs.  The plans are laid out on a 4 foot module so as to maximize the efficiency of standard building materials.  By stacking the two stories of the home, the building footprint is minimized, while maximizing the total square feet of living space.   The homes are also sized to allow clear spans across the width of the house.  What this means for the future homeowner is that they can make adjustments to the interior layout of the home before construction or years down the road with ease knowing that there are no structural members that may conflict with plans.  With this in mind a homeowner can adjust a design to fit their lifestyle and needs.  An added bonus is that each home can be built with a full basement that is devoid of columns, allowing for a variety of future uses.

Efficiency is not limited to size and layout of the home.  It is crucial that the mechanical systems of a home are designed to function at a high efficiency.  This efficiency is accomplished in several ways with-in this design.  The ductwork is designed to remain out of the attic, keeping it all with-in the conditioned space, and heating and cooling systems are appropriately designed for the size of the home.  The use of floor trusses allows for straight runs from the front to back of the home with all ductwork runs fitting within the floor construction.

Insulating the home properly will also add to its mechanical efficiency, and this starts with the foundation.  When standard poured concrete foundations are used, a 2” thick rigid foam board will be applied to the entire perimeter, but we also have an alternate that uses a foundation constructed of Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF’s).  ICF foundation walls consist of interlocking foam blocks that are dry stacked to create the formwork for the poured concrete foundation.  Once the foundation is poured, the foam formwork remains in place giving the wall an R-value of up to 24, which is nearly 2 and half times greater than a wall with 2” of rigid insulation.

For the exterior walls above grade, the cavities will be filled with spray foam insulation that provides a better air infiltration barrier than batt or cellulose insulation.  Dow SIS board sheathing will be used on the exterior giving the home a continuous insulation barrier around the entire house.

Efficiency is also the motto when selecting fixtures with-in the home, be they plumbing or electrical fixtures.  Selection of low flow plumbing fixtures conserves water while cutting down on cost.  Light fixtures that are energy star rated and use of LED and compact fluorescent bulbs will cut down on electrical usage over the life of the home.

It is our belief that an efficient home can lead to efficiency in life.

Those of us at SWA Architects are not only attempting to assist our clients fulfill their wishes as to how their home will look, work and feel, but to be sure that the home is also environmentally sound and energy efficient throughout its life cycle.  If you are interested in learning more about these design and construction strategies please contact us to schedule a no cost consultation.

The ultimate goal for this home was to reach the Emerald level, the highest level achievable, of the NAHB Green Building Standard.  We have reached the point in the process where we can now realistically estimate where the finished product will fall and it appears the Emerald will be just out of reach due to a couple of different factors.

Something we have learned as we have been going through this process with Jason Werr, and other clients, is that there are two kinds of factors that will determine what level you will achieve.  There are those factors that are within a builder’s control, such as material selections and recycling of construction waste, and factors that are beyond a builder’s control, such as the orientation of your site to the street and the climate zone your site falls in. A builder can choose a site based on these factors, but realistically will never find the perfect site that allows for all points in the NAHB’s program to be attainable.

In the case of the Wheaton Green Home, it is the uncontrollable factors which are making the Emerald level a near impossible feat.  To give some examples of how the program works, and how there are factors beyond a builder’s control once a site is selected, there is a section of the program that refers to building on lots with “steep slopes”.  This section contains a number of sub-categories, but points are only attainable if the lot you are building on has slopes with a minimum 25% grade.  On many suburban infill lots, slopes of that grade or higher are rare, even on lots where walk-out basements are possible.

The Emerald level can still be achieved regardless of the uncontrollable factors, but it leaves little room for a builder or homeowner to make the choices they need to in order to build a home in budget.  If a builder needs to make a choice between two equal quality hardwood flooring, one that contains recycled content and one that does not, budget becomes the deciding factor.  If money were no object, which we all know is further from reality than ever these days, a builder could make all of the necessary choices that would help toward achieving the Emerald level, but in these tough economic times, builder’s are required to be more conscious than ever of budget.

While the Emerald level may be just out of reach, JAW Builders and SWA Architects are proud of the fact that the home we have collaborated on is still on great pace to achieve the Gold level of the NAHB Green Building Standard.  Just over 1,000 homes have been certified under the NAHB Green Building Program, so it is proud achievement to know that this home will join the elite group.

JAW Builders is continuing on with construction, hoping to have the house ready for its Final Inspection by the end of summer.  I’ll still be keeping you up to date on the progress of the home and its certification as it moves toward completion.  Next post will be on selection of mechanical systems and plumbing fixtures.

SWA Architects has worked with builders and clients to design homes that have achieved Green certification from the NAHB Green Building Program.  Bill Styczynski and Gregg Stahr of SWA have also verified the construction of several homes as accredited verifiers for the NAHB Green Building Program.  If you have a project that you wish to make “Green”, please contact our office to take advantage of our services and expertise in efficient, high performance home design and construction.

Read Going Green Part IV

Read Going Green Part III

Read Going Green Part II

Read Going Green Part I

Next to Come:  Going for Green Part VI:  Energy and Water Efficiency

As challenging as the construction industry has been over the last couple of years I have seen the market expanding of the last few months. In fact I just completed the design of a 5,500 square foot home that will be built for a nice young couple and their two children.

The house will set on a peninsula shape lot on a lovely private lake in Plainfield, Illinois. The three car garage is tucked into the side of the stone and brick exterior.  The finished home will be surrounded by an in ground pool, large decks, patios, plush landscaping as well as the finely manicured lake front.

The interior of the home has been arranged on three levels, with the foyer, principle rooms, master and guest suite comprising the main level. The upper level will contain two bedrooms sharing a large “Jack & Jill” bath and an over sized play loft that overlooks both the two story entry hall and the great room. The lower level which is open to both the rear and side yards consists of a large, open entertainment and game room with a stand behind bar that seats seven guests. In addition this level will have another guest suite and unfinished space for the mechanical systems and storage. All three levels of the home plus the garage will be serviced by a conveniently located elevator.

Back on the main level the south facing two story foyer is a large anteroom containing to custom stairway to the upper level. This anteroom is open to the large dining area, great room and to a secondary anteroom which leads to the master suite. The island kitchen is entirely open to the great room and has access to the main laundry thru a large walk thru pantry.

Thanks to the peninsula shape of the lot, all of the rooms share views to the surrounding lake.

I have  included a sketch of the elevation of this home and hope to share both construction and finished photos of this home over the next several months.

Visit our website for additional custom home ideas.

As construction continues on the Green Home in Wheaton, the process of green certification moves into the next phase.  To this point, I have not talked much about the process a builder must go through with the National Association of Home Builders Green Building Program in order to get a home certified “green”.

When a builder decides to go for certification, there are a number of steps that he/she must take to reach that goal.  As I have mentioned in prior posts, a builder really should make this decision before any design of the home is put down on paper.  Starting the process like this allows the builder to team with their architect to reach a common goal, while also allowing “green” elements to be integral parts of the home, not just added on after thoughts to an existing design.  This also allows the builder and architect to work together to incorporate as many of the National Green Building Standards (NGBS) requirements as they see fit to reach the level of certification they are striving for. In this case SWA Architects and JAW Builders have set our goal of reaching the highest level of the NGBS, Emerald.

Once the design process is completed, it is the job of the builder to fill out his/her design report using the online Scoring Tool on the NAHB’s website.  The online Scoring Tool leads the builder, step by step, through the NGBS’s six chapters allowing them to check off each section for which they believe they will fulfill the requirements and earn points.  The points will then be added up per chapter and overall, giving the builder a final tally as to what level of certification they expect to reach.

This is now the point where the Verifier comes into play.  The NAHB has a list of accredited Verifiers on their website, from which builders can contact to do the inspections on their homes.  The builder contracts directly with the Verifier to perform the inspections, and the Verifier will then ultimately provide the NAHB Resource Center with their inspection results.

The Verifier can provide any number of services to assist the builder in reaching the certification level they are hoping for.  At this time, both Bill Styczynski and I are accredited Verifiers for the NAHB Green Building Program.  As Verifiers, we offer extra assistance to builders such as initial consultations, help with the scoring tool, and help acquiring the necessary documentation to receive points.  It is up to the builder what additional assistance, if any, they would like, but we often recommend it for builders who are going through the process for the first time.

Once the builder finishes the Scoring Tool, and has selected a Verifier, he/she then gives the Verifier their Design Report which is the summation of the Scoring Tool they filled out.  The next step is to schedule the first inspection of the home under construction.  This happens when the home has been fully insulated, but before drywall begins going up.  During this inspection the Verifier will walk through the home and ensure that the builder has and is taking all the required steps to receive points in all of the categories which were claimed in the Design Report.

The Green Home in Wheaton is currently in the framing phase of construction.  Currently JAW Builders is carefully taking all the steps to ensure that construction impact on the site is kept minimal, while also working hard to make sure that all building materials are used to maximize efficiency, and sorting waste materials for recycling thus minimizing waste being transferred to the landfill.

As the Verifier on the project, I will be setting up a time with JAW Builders to inspect the home once insulation has been installed.  In the next post I will go through what steps JAW Builders has taken thus far during construction to fulfill requirements of the NGBS, and talk more about the Resource Efficiency chapter of the program.

Read Going Green Part III

Read Going Green Part II

Read Going Green Part I

Next to come:  Going for Green Part V:  Maximizing Resource Efficiency