Home Building Articles
What Makes a Home Green
June 19, 2009
What measures determine if a home is green? Does using recycled materials make a
home green? How about locating the home on reclaimed land? Or, what if the homeowners
have energy bills significantly lower than those for a similar-sized conventional
home?
According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it takes more than using a
few sustainable practices to build a high-performance green home. LEED (Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building) is a cutting edge system used
for designing, constructing, and certifying green buildings, and it is the nationally
accepted benchmark for high performance green building.
The 8 categories and the total possible points for each are as follows:
- Innovation and Design Process. 9 possible points are given for using special design
methods, unique regional credits, measures not currently addressed in the Rating
System, and exemplary performance levels.
- Location and Linkages. 10 possible points are given for placing homes in socially
and environmentally responsible ways in relation to the larger community.
- Sustainable Sites. 21 possible points are given for using the entire property so
as to minimize the project's impact on the site.
- Water Efficiency. 15 possible points are given for indoor and outdoor water conservation
practices built in to the home.
- Energy and Atmosphere. 38 possible points are given for improving energy efficiency,
particularly in the building envelope and heating and cooling design.
- Materials and Resources. 14 possible points are given for selecting environmentally
preferable materials, efficiently using materials, and minimizing waste during construction.
- Indoor Environmental Quality. 20 possible points are given for improving indoor
air quality by reducing possible air pollution.
- Awareness and Education. 3 possible points are given for educating the homeowner,
tenant, and building manager (for larger multifamily buildings) about the operations
and maintenance of their home's green features.
**These excerpts have been taken from an article posted on HGTVpro.com.