Today while driving over the IOP connector, after a morning walk on Sullivan's - I couldn't resist lowering the passenger window and taking this image as the traffic slowed down. There's something wonderfully expansive about the coastal marshes here that reminds me of fields that stretch for miles in central michigan where I lived during graduate school. Open spaces like this make me want to stop for awhile - and contemplate how far I might actually be able to see if I stood on my toes.
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There was an interesting article in the NYTimes today, The New Trophy Home, Small and Ecological (NYTimes, Felicity Barrows, 22 June 2008), that discussed the increasing interest in building LEED homes across the US. Of course this article caught my eye, since as I type this, three different builders have my architherapist's plans for my 1,600 sq ft home that we plan to take through the LEED certification process - they are scheduled to get quotes to us by the end of June. If I remember correctly, one of the builders has had experience building LEED (at home at the Silver level) and the other two much less so, although they are enthused about gaining experience in the LEED arena. This means that they are enthused about minimizing, separating and recycling construction debris, even weighing it, and having a LEED inspector look over their shoulder from time-to-time at different stages of the building process.
I started this whole process by meeting with two architects - which ended up in my working with Architect No. 2 (aka my architherapist) - who I met for the first time in March 2007. Granted, the past year has been a bit tumultuous and at times overwhelming, but slowly we moved forward: plans were drawn up and obsessed over and then redrawn, we've pondered geothermal, solar hot water, found enough salvaged longleaf pine for a few rooms, talked icynene, invasive species, windows and roofs - we drew up a landscape plan, have had geotechnical and critical line surveys - and input from both a structural engineer and an HVAC guy. We haven't really formerly sat down with our LEED certifier and counted out LEED points that we should qualify for - but we hope to go for Platinum LEED certification. We'd like to do that - but I'm guessing that the builders and their quotes/bids are going to help define what we can and cannot do. I didn't realize how rare a Platinum LEED home still was, until I read the passage from the NYTimes article below:
More than 1,500 commercial buildings and 684 homes have been certified but just 48 homes have received the platinum ranking, among them a four-bedroom home in Freeport, Me., as well as homes in Minneapolis; Callaway, Fla.; Dexter, Mich.; and Paterson, N.J. The checklist for certification can be more daunting than a private-school application, which prompts many to abandon the quest.
There have been moments when I've thought why go through this - why not just go and build a house and anyway, who says that you can't build to LEED standards, but without the extra cost of certification and consultants, and all of the paperwork? I guess that I have just felt all along that LEED makes sense. When you study it up-close, much of what it is about is durability of construction, energy efficiency - and you definitely get more points for building a smaller home (which could get me off on a rant of how large some homes are, begging the obvious question 'WHY????' and perhaps in some small way LEED can encourage a trend to build smaller homes (which does seem to be occurring out there, whether or not LEED is partially responsible for that trend I don't know.)
LEED 2009 is currently holding an open comment period (that seems to end today). From a letter posted online from Rick Fedrizzi (President, CEO & Founding Chair, USGBC):
The USGBC Board of Directors has voted unanimously to open for public comment LEED 2009, a new version of the rating system that delivers against key environmental and human health impacts, and puts in place a transparent framework for weighting credits accordingly, based on the best available science. It is the product of thousands of hours of volunteer time and deep expertise generously given by representatives from every corner of the building industry.
You can read about the commenting process here.
My thoughts? I think that LEED for homes has seemed to emphasize building communities of homes, and is a bit more challenging for the individual homeowner. To the best of my knowledge, a person getting a small neighborhood LEED certified is charged a similar certification fee as I do, for just building one home. There also are not many LEED certified professionals yet in our area - definitely one, maybe two - and I'm guessing with all of the LEED projects popping up in Charleston County right now, that they are pretty overloaded. I've also thought that while housing density is a criteria (so you can gain 'neighborhood' points by living closer to schools, churches, public transportation, etc) - folks that are living outside of the city shouldn't be penalized for wanting to build a LEED certified home - so I can't help but think that their 'site evaluation' could be tiered in someway to encourage those not just building in high density areas to build LEED.
So talk to me in about a month, after the bids are in, after I've sat down for the first 'formal' LEED inspection of the house design - and after I've written that first LEED check. I'm sure that I'll have more to say then.
I don't know if I have ever said this before, but I really appreciate you taking us along for this process. I can't ever see me being able to build my own house, but if I could, I would definitely be interested in the LEED certification, too. Like you said, it just makes sense...
Posted by: Kim | 22 June 2008 at 03:27 PM
I find few things more beautiful than the sight and smell of an expanse of marsh in the full green of summer.
Posted by: Les | 22 June 2008 at 08:32 PM
Kim, hopefully at some point it will just be what will do, and it won't be a big deal at all. We're trying to stay low key (and locally we are) - but the process is definitely cumbersome in places, and it takes some level of commitment and understanding. I keep saying to myself '...this could've been awhole lot easier...'
Les, I totally agree.
Posted by: Pam | 22 June 2008 at 09:51 PM
Pam,
Wrapping up my final week in Mobile . . . hey--I'm almost in your neighborhood!
I assume you're familiar with the Gulf coast; around here there are marshes aplenty . . . though many of those that don't have condos and second homes on them have chemical plants. But you're right about their expansiveness and their resemblance to the prairies.
I think I may have mentioned to you before that Greensburg, Kansas (the town destroyed by a tornado last year) is rebuilding its public buildings according to LEED standards (Greensburg is a county seat), and (I think) there will be some public assistance available for homeowners who want to build greener houses. Also: Wichita's NPR affiliate is in the final stages of acquiring a new transmitter, and the facility it'll be housed in will be LEED-certified: the first in the country. So: baby steps. But the trends, even in Kansas, are beginning to head in that direction.
I second Kim's thanks. As for the LEED process: speaking out of half-ignorance as I usually do, to me it seems awfully cumbersome at times just for the sake of being cumbersome, though I suppose the rationale is that They want "green" to really mean something, something more than just extra insulation in the attic. But I do like the sort of deep thinking it forces homebuilders to do--it's an implicit reminder of a basic tenet of architecture, that a structure doesn't exist independent of its surroundings, but pushes that beyond the aesthetic level.
Posted by: John B. | 23 June 2008 at 06:52 AM
John, nice to hear from you, and I hope that your stay along the 'Guff' has been a good one. I did a postdoc with the EPA in a lab on an island just off Santa Rosa Island, near Pensacola - so, you are, so-to-speak, in my old hood (Which means it is hot and humid and oddly just perfect - and yes, you are seeing lots of marshes too). You did mention the Kansas town doing the whole LEED thing -I think it's good, but hopefully it is also being made affordable for folks. For the most part I am really glad that I am going through the process, but every now and then there is a day when I think 'WTF' because it's a bit nutty. Honestly, I probably couldn't make it through without the help of my architect (aka architherapist) - selecting him for the project was the best 'new house' decision that I've made so far. He's committed and knowledgeable about the process, which has proved invaluable.
Enjoy your last week in Mobile.
Posted by: Pam | 23 June 2008 at 07:56 AM
I didn't catch what neck of the woods you're building in? If you're in the upper Midwest Green Built Homes is a good program to look into. Not sure how far in the US their program extends, though.
Posted by: Anne | 24 June 2008 at 12:46 AM
Anne, I'm in the southeast - coastal South Carolina. so a bit far away. We have a number of builders with some (limited) LEED building experience - and alot of builders eager to get the experience. In fact, builders have been popping up out of nowhere asking questions about this little house! Thanks.
Posted by: Pam | 24 June 2008 at 07:29 AM
Wow. I am so impressed with all of your research. Such work. I need to back track and piece it all together.
Posted by: joan | 27 June 2008 at 10:42 PM
Joan, better yet - wait until the house is demolished, and come over for a gin and tonic. I'll tell you the whole story!
Posted by: Pam | 01 July 2008 at 08:32 AM