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BANG FOR THE BITE
Applying for certification costs up to $2,250 per new home, but it will make your home-green-home even more attractive to future buyers.
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A 2002 poll found that 68% of Americans believe the government knows more about alien life than it's letting on.
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home › tip library › LEED
Feel like some green-building lingo is alien-speak?
The Bite
Come back down to Earth. You might've seen the acronym LEED around - it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and it's the most widely accepted stamp of approval to certify that a building's green. Plant your non-UFO vehicle down right here for the full translation.The Benefits
- A universal yardstick. LEED provides standards to look for when building or buying an apartment or house, helping us determine what's really green.
- Black-holing pollution. Buildings account for more than 40% of CO2 emissions worldwide. (Yeah, that's more than the 35% that car emissions create.) LEED buildings - which take into account the site, water, energy, resources, and indoor environmental quality - reduce CO2 by 30%-40%.
- Galaxy-sized payoffs. According to a study conducted by the CA Sustainable Building Task Force, green buildings typically cost 2% more initially, but you'll recoup 20% of building costs over 20 years, thanks to lower utility bills.
Personally Speaking
Fewer than 1,000 homes have been LEED-certified so far (and none of us live in any of 'em), but it's definitely something we'll look for when we're in the market for a new place.Wanna Try?
- U.S. Green Building Council - LEED's parent org; learn more about the rating system and how to get your new house certified. Its Green Home Guide helps you make your current home greener.
- Green Building Certification Institute - green building's a growing field; start here if certifying homes sounds like a space-tacular career.
Mar 24,2008
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Bless This Vintage House
In the next year, I plan to do a bunch of improvements to my house to bring it closer and closer to LEED status. Among the best plans:
- Solar Panels
- Soliotubes
- On-Demand Water Heaters
- Radiant Flooring
However, for all that these are marvelous new technologies that will save the world, my house is greening the world in a somewhat different way already.
It's vintage.
Yep, at 100 years old this year, I gotta say that my house is just about the biggest used or recycled thing I've ever bought.
-Heather... off to admire my 100 year old wainscoting.
Biter Comments...
I'm right there with you on the 'vintage' house. This year it's Low-VOC paint (since I've been there for over a year and the walls are all still white!). Next year I plan to replace the crumbling driveway with open cell paving, then go for zoned HVAC after that. It's a challenge but a worthwhile one in the long run.
I am a LEED Accredited Professional for Commercial Interiors too so if I can set a good example in the way I live, hopefully more clients will see the light!
As far as green home remodeling, I'd encourage you to check out the REGREEN Guidelines created through a partnership between the American Society of Interior Designers and the U.S. Green Building Council. It's brand new and organized by 10 popular home remodeling projects, contains a number of case studies and an interactive strategy library. It's targeted at both design/building professionals as well as savvy consumers. You can check it out at www.regreenprogram.org
LEED for Homes is a great system for new homes but not meant for remodeling and likely would not be useful for apartments. Following Thom Banks suggestion above and check out REGREEN. It's just what you've been waiting for.
I happy to report that Ohio is the only state to require it's new school buildings to be LEED certified. (Not that those are houses or apartments, but still! It's great!)
In response to "personally speaking" some of us do live in a LEED certified home! I worked with a builder and my home was just certified last Friday as being the first PLATINUM LEED home in the southeast (FL, GA, AL, MS). It was built on an infill area, site of a former trailer park that had fallen in disrepair. It has PV panels , geothermal, whole house air filtration, all energy star appliances, bamboo floors, HERS rating of 26(!) Hardie board siding for less than $230,000. Some of us can do it!
My home isn't quite vintage (1954), but I am trying to upgrade it in ways that make sense, such as new, energy efficient windows and some type of attic insulation. we have a dilemma, however. We may be the last people to live in our house. The next owners may tear it down. So we have to consider that when deciding what projects to tackle. Sadly, the charm of the 50s ranch house is lost on the masses.
Great tip! I think you have the stats wrong for how many LEED homes have been certified...well, not exactly wrong so much as not exactly correct. Its true that fewer than 1000 homes have been lEED certified, but what would be an even truer statement is that only around 250 homes have been certified. The LEED for Homes certification was just realized in Jan 2008 (prior to that was only pilot) so it is very, very new.
We would like to have a greener house, but some of the changes are way too expensive. For example, I learned that it will cost around $4000-5000 to install a solar water heater system. Considering we don't use too much water in a 2 and sometimes 3 people household, it makes more sense to get on-demand water heaters. Unfortunately, in this case the US is behind the other developed countries. I am almost 47 years old and growing up in my motherland Turkey, we always had on-demand water heaters. It has been quite a few years now that Turkish people have the option of buying almost 110% efficient systems.
Finally the question becomes, why is it this expensive to do greener things in the US, because the labor rate is high and/or the suppliers think they can make more money?
I am in Australia, I have not heard of the LEED certificate?
We are all becoming GREEN in our businesses over here ( AS WELL AS OUR HOMES) Government bodies come into the work place and assist you to do the right thing. I own a corporate transport company ( 50 executive vehicles)We have been using a product in our vehicles (diesel, petrol and gas cars & buses) for the last 6 months and we have been reducing our carbon emissions by up to 70%. We are using an MPG CAP this cap is a combustion chamber treatment, forms a catalytic coating in the chamber. At $1.75 per fill up in a 60 LT tank, it is a bargain. The largest Bakery service here in South Australia has the caplet in all their delivery vans. This is what I call an awesome effort to reduce the street level emissions. Balfours Bakery had the product tested through a Government testing station, the largest in Australia. The results are there in black and white. Everyone should be using this caplet in their car. OH by the way and added bonus this CAP saves up to 20% on fuel costs! This has been great for us, having 50 vehicles.
www.lessfuellesspollution.com
Tests from around the world are available at request email me caz@asolutiontopollution.com
We just completed building our dream green home (you can see it at www.goinggreenatthebeach.com)and have achieved not only LEED Gold status but also: Energy Star; American Lung Association Health House; Environments for Living; Built-Green Five Star; and have met the qualifications for the new National Association of Home Builders green checklist. I can tell you that individual homeowners have many choices when it comes to checklists and it can be overwhelming. Rather than trying to achieve certain certifications (which can be expensive)you can simply learn from the best of them and start small by changing your living habits (use LESS of everything) and making "green" choices when you do home repair or remodeling.
I'm really impressed with your article, I'm looking forward to see your future posts, Thank you.
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Posted by: Mark | March 24, 2008 at 06:53 AM