COSTA MESA, CA –
Construction is complete on what many believe will be the greenest home
in Orange County, California when certified ‘Platinum’ by the US Green
Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED®) for Homes Program. The program rates residential
projects on a point scale for different aspects of environmental design
resulting in the certification levels of Certified, Silver, Gold and
Platinum. Larger homes, because they use more natural resources to
build, have to reach a higher point level to be certified. According to
the USGBC website, no Orange County projects have rated higher than
Silver thus far. LA County’s only Platinum rated residence was dubbed
by Business Week Magazine as “The Greenest House on the Planet.”
[Business Week, September 11, 2006] The “Costa Mesa Green Home,” designed in a style called “modern interpretation of craftsman,” was designed by Architect, David Gangloff of Ladera Ranch and is being built by Gonterman Construction Corporation of Huntington Beach.
Steven
Blanchard, who is a real estate developer, is looking forward to his
family home becoming a showcase of green building ideas to influence
possible future projects. He is planning on hopefully having the home
available for tours of green architecture and possibly a field trip
opportunity for a few local schools. “We have had nothing but encouragement from the City of Costa Mesa who started their Green Building Program
in September 2008. I give credit to Steve for going through the extra
hoops needed to certify the house. It requires a lot more engineering,
oversight and third-party testing. Building a green home is easy,
certification is not,” says Architect David Gangloff. Davis Energy Group
in Northern California, who is ultimately responsible for all USGBC
LEED® for Homes certifications in California, has contracted with
Southern California companies Ecostructures and Energy Code Compliance to inspect the construction and compile a stack of certification documents.
Steven
and Karen Blanchard of Costa Mesa hope to move their growing family
into the 5,000 square foot house with six bedrooms in Spring 2009. “Although
we have outgrown our current house, we love our neighborhood because
it’s friendly and central to everything … it’s worth re-investing in.”
says Steven Blanchard. Instead of moving to the edge of developed
suburbia, the Blanchard’s purchased a larger lot around the corner from
their current home with a circa 1950’s house on it. The existing house
on Gisler Avenue was in poor condition and didn’t meet the needs of a
21st Century large family. Although sacrificed for the new residence,
the most is being made of the old structure. First, Habitat for Humanity stripped the house of doors, windows and cabinets. Then the Costa Mesa Fire Department
was invited to perform valuable training exercises inside the remaining
shell. The existing garage and a large portion of the house’s wood
framing will be incorporated into the new house. Finally, as part of a
project waste management plan, the remaining materials from the 1950’s
Ranch house will be sent to a construction material recycling center
that will divert over 70 percent of the demolition waste from landfills
into the raw materials for new building products.
But
what makes this residence so green? It’s a combination of a smart
location along with diligent care to save energy, water and natural
resources while building a more durable, healthy home to live in.
SMART LOCATION
The
story begins with the site, an infill lot in a previously developed
urban neighborhood, close to schools, shopping, park space and public
transportation. The region’s remaining farm and ranch lands were spared
the invasion of another house with all of the infrastructure it
requires.
SAVING ENERGY
The “Costa Mesa Green Home”
is designed to be extremely energy efficient with enough generation of
power by photovoltaic panels to hopefully bring the electricity bill
down to $0. Light fixtures (many LED), ceiling fans, exhaust fans and
appliances will be Energy Star®
certified. Tankless water heaters, located close to the faucets they
serve, will deliver hot water through insulated pipes. To reduce
demands on the heating and air conditioning system, the building’s
envelope will be tightly sealed against air infiltration, be insulated
beyond recommended R-values, and contain high performance windows and
doors with double-pane, low-E glass. Clerestory windows and a whole
house fan are remotely operable to ventilate hot air from the house.
Large roof overhangs, porches and canopies will shade the house and a
light colored steel roof with a radiant barrier will deflect the sun’s
energy before it enters the attic. The high-efficiency heating and air
conditioning system was accurately designed by a professional engineer
using load calculation software to exceed the standard efficiency
requirements of California’s Title-24 Energy Code by 40 percent. The
design prescribes strict installation standards for reducing air losses
from ducts and allows only non-ozone depleting refrigerants to be used.
SAVING WATER
Indoor
water use will be reduced by high efficiency (low flow) fixtures such
as water-efficient clothes washers, dual-flush toilets that use 1.28
gallons per flush, shower heads that use less than 2.5 gallons per
minute and faucets (some with foot pedals) that use less than 2.2
gallons per minute. A greywater storage tank filters water from sinks
and showers and directs it to the toilets.
SAVING NATURAL RESOURCES
In
green construction, preference is to given environmentally preferred
building materials. Products extracted, processed and manufactured
locally require less energy to transport, easing air pollution and
global warming escalation. Products with low VOC (Volatile Organic
Compounds) and high levels of recycled content have been specified for
the “Costa Mesa Green Home.” Wood framing, if not re-used from the existing house or engineered from laminated wood strands, will be certified by the
Forest Stewardship Council
to be from sustainably managed, non-tropical forests. Saving natural
resources used in the manufacture and transportation of building
products also includes building a durable home that requires less
replacement of materials in the future due to damage from water, wind,
sunlight, pests, natural disasters and everyday wear and tear. LEED®
for Homes requires the Architect to create a checklist of durability
measures to be completed by the Contractor and inspected by a third
party official. The Architect’s drawings also must include more
detailing of waterproofing, insulation and ventilation around the house
envelope.
SAVING HEALTH
Air
quality measures improve the overall quality of the indoor environment.
Flooring, cabinetry, trim, sealants, paints and adhesives have been
specified with little or no VOC’s and no formaldehyde. The heating and
air conditioning system was designed to act as an air filtering, whole
building ventilation system working in tandem with exhaust fans on
timers in every bathroom, the kitchen and laundry room. Gas fireplaces
with doors and clothes dryers are vented directly outdoors. Radon gas
has been given a path to escape from beneath the home.
SMART LANDSCAPE
The
landscape will consist of drought-tolerant plants in mulched beds with
no invasive species or water hungry turf grass allowed. A mostly drip,
high efficiency irrigation system, with separate zones and a smart
controller is expected to reduce the overall irrigation demand by 60
percent. To reduce local heat island effect, trees and plantings will
shade over 50 percent of walkways, patios and sidewalks which will be
made of light colored, reflective materials. Site paving will be mostly
permeable, allowing rain water to percolate into the ground, recharging
the water table and taking pressure off of storm drains and streams.
Erosion control measures made during and after construction will
protect topsoil erosion and silt runoff into storm drains and streams.
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