It’s hard to go for 24 hours these days without hearing something about green—green lifestyles, green products, green buildings. So what does it mean to build a green house? To homeowners, green means a water-conserving, more durable, healthier, and more energy-efficient home. To planet Earth, green buildings mean much more. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), buildings are responsible for:
39 percent of total energy use
12 percent of total water consumption
68 percent of total electricity consumption
38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions
By adopting green building strategies to reduce these numbers, we can maximize both economic and environmental performance. Here are a few of the main elements that should come into play when building a green home. More will follow in the next article.
1—Orientation and Design. What’s one of the simplest, most-often-overlooked ways to reduce the energy usage of the home? Select a lot that allows the most advantageous positioning of the house in relation to the sun. By combining proper home orientation with a design that’s focused on retaining the sun’s heat in winter and blocking it in summer, some experts estimate a potential energy savings of 30 to 40 percent.
2—Sealing the Building Envelope: We’re not talking insulation here. This step refers to a frequently overlooked detail in new-home construction: reducing air leakage into and out of the home. Most insulation does not block air and cannot overcome leakage emanating from every unsealed hole, crack, and seam.
According to the Department of Energy about 1/3 of this air infiltrates through openings in the ceilings, walls, and floors. The duct system is responsible for approximately 15% of the leakage. Other sources include the fireplace – 14%, plumbing penetrations – 13%, doors – 11%, windows – 10%, fans and vents – 4%, and electrical outlets – 2%. As a matter of fact, according to the Air Barrier Association of America, a typical 2,500 sq. ft. frame home has more than ½ mile of cracks and crevices.
To reduce the high cost of air infiltration, cracks and seams need to be caulked and sealed at all building assembly connections. Holes need to be sealed around all penetrations including gaps surrounding plumbing, electrical boxes, exhaust fan housings, recessed lighting, air registers, attic access doors, the chimney flue, the dryer vent, and wiring. Gaps around electrical outlets need to be filled too.
Caulking and sealing of all penetrations and the connections of all building assemblies has several benefits:
The process is not expensive
The payoff is short
It has quite an impact on energy efficiency.
The benefits and short payoff are appreciated by potential homeowners.
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Guest Writer Tracy DeCarlo
Tracy DeCarlo is author of The Difference is in the Details: The Homeowner’s Planning Guide for Building a Functional Home and owner of One Stop Green Home Certification.
Click Here To Purchase The Book
Green building tips by Tracy DeCarlo & Curt Roese, Orlando Green Home and realty specialists.
Green building is so much more than saving energy or reducing a home’s environmental footprint. Homeowners of a certified Green Home can realize many more benefits as described below.
Lower Operating Costs – Your Green Home will have lower energy and water bills as a result of energy and water efficiency measures.
Healthier Home – With improved indoor air quality, less harmful off gases and prevention of water intrusion, which can create mold, your family should be healthier, miss less work and school, which hopefully will result in less medical bills
Reduced Maintenance & Replacement Costs – Increased useful life of products and materials will result in cost savings. A properly planned landscaping package will reduce the amount of time spent working in the yard and allow more time to enjoy the outdoors.
Potential Financial Incentives – As green home building has become more mainstream, there are increasingly more federal tax credit and local government and utility company incentive rebates available, lower cost Green mortgages available and more recently, insurance companies are beginning to offer lower premium options.
Higher Performing & Durable Home – You will benefit immensely from a better built and higher performing home; 3rd party verification of duct leaks and house air leaks will insure that any deficiencies discovered can be addressed and repaired during construction, saving untold amount of wasted energy; certification experts will approve your home for your LEED (Leader in Energy & Environmental Design), NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) or other local approved Green certification programs, resulting in a higher valued home.
Environmental Friendly & Sustainable Measures – Can one family building a Green Home solve global warming or bring a complete halt to diminishing resources? No. Can one family building a Green Home contribute to the solution and be part of a movement that one day may be the new standard? YES! Through the use of sustainable practices, recycled and renewable products, and more energy efficient systems, we can reduce the impact on our environment and precious resources.
Higher Value & Resale Advantages – Your certified Green Home will have a higher value than a comparable standard home and if you decide to sell your home, multiple listing systems used by Realtors to sell homes are now recognizing green certification programs and it is much easier to market the benefits of home to buyers.
More Comfortable Home Environment – Imagine the personal benefits to you and your family by living in a quiet, clean, safe, secure and controlled indoor air quality home – is there anything more important that the health and welfare of your family? Is there really a price tag you can assign to the benefit of building a Green Home to you, your children and your grandchildren?
Safer & More Secure – Your family is better protected with the use of high performance smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, radon testing detectors and security system.
Promotes an EcoGreen Luxury Lifestyle - Now that you have decided to build a high performance and healthy Green Home, your life is changed forever – all for the better! Would you furnish your new home with anything other than safe, healthy, organic and eco-friendly products? Might you consider living a healthier lifestyle? Will you sleep in peace knowing you have provided your family a safe, clean, healthy living environment?
As you can see, there are so many more benefits in owning a Green Home than just “energy efficiency” or being “eco-friendly”.
