Real estate
developer Steve Blanchard’s new 5,000-square-foot
residence in Costa Mesa, Calif., earned the designation as
Orange County’s first house to be LEED Platinum
certified, and contains cabinetry built with Timber
Products’ GreenT™ Hardwood Plywood.
The home’s showstopper is a long, narrow,
1,000-square-foot kitchen with cabinets that reach as high as
10 feet. The homeowner selected birch GreenT hardwood plywood
with a recycled content core for all the cabinetry, including
custom-made units in the bathrooms and the laundry room.
In addition to famous theme parks and ocean breezes, Orange
County, Calif., is home to one of the most sustainable
residences in the country, if not the world.
Local real estate developer Steve Blanchard’s new
5,000-square-foot residence earned the designation in November
as Orange County’s first house to be certified Platinum
by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) for Homes
Program.
The LEED-H 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.
Blanchard’s home accumulated 104 points in the rating,
four more than it needed for Platinum certification.
“This innovative home is a model of how sustainable
residential building should be undertaken,” says Timber
Products Vice President Roger Rutan. “Every detail was
thought out, and we’re thrilled that GreenT hardwood
plywood was selected for the cabinetry and contributed toward
LEED points.”
Blanchard’s Costa Mesa Green Home, as the project is
known, was designed to be a modern interpretation of the
California Craftsman style and serves as a showcase of green
building ideas. The house features six bedrooms, six-and-a-half
bathrooms, an office and a kids’ family room. It was
constructed using the most innovative practices that took
diligent care to save energy, water and natural resources while
building a more durable, healthy home for Blanchard’s own
family.
The home’s showstopper is a long, narrow,
1,000-square-foot kitchen with cabinets that reach as high as
10 feet. Blanchard selected birch GreenT hardwood plywood with
a recycled content core for all the cabinetry, including
custom-made units in the bathrooms and the laundry room.
Bill VaVerka, owner of Verk’s Cabinet Shop in Santa Ana,
wasn’t familiar with sustainable building requirements
when he came upon the opportunity to work on the greenest home
in Orange County. A call to his building products distributor,
Weber Plywood and Lumber Co., changed all that and helped him
land the opportunity of a lifetime.
“Orange County is one of California’s strictest
when it comes to sustainable building codes, so this was a job
that needed a lot of attention to detail,” said Steven
Weisenberg, a LEED Accredited Professional who manages Weber
Plywood’s Environmentally Friendly and Green Materials
Division. “Bill and I talked about what materials to use,
viewed some GreenT samples, and prepared for his presentation.
The homeowner loved the ideas and awarded Verk’s the
job.”
In addition to the cabinetry, Verk’s was brought in
during the final touches to add built-ins to the project.
“This was a challenging job but also an educational
experience for me in green building,” said VaVerka.
“It was easier than I thought to meet the LEED
requirements because the GreenT hardwood plywood satisfied
every need, and did not compromise quality. The materials do
make all the difference when working on a sustainable
project.”
Air quality was a top priority for the homeowner, and he
specified that all flooring, cabinetry, trim, sealants, paints
and adhesives contain little or no volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and no formaldehyde. GreenT, which is made with
certified wood components and meets the California Air
Resources Board (CARB) formaldehyde requirements, helped the
house earn LEED credits for indoor air quality as well as
materials and resources and recycled content.
“What’s unique about this house is that it was
built by the owner to live in, and he wanted the healthiest
environment for his family,” said Weisenberg. “With
a lot of planning and teamwork, we achieved that mission. The
additional cost for using sustainable materials was minimal
compared to the value that was added.”
Now that he has experience in green building and has his custom
work in one of the state’s highest-profile sustainable
homes, VaVerka envisions undertaking similar projects in the
future.
“I will absolutely propose green projects to my
clients,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense and is
a cleaner and healthier environment for the cabinet shop as
well as the clients living and using the products daily.”
The Costa Mesa Green Home was designed in a style called
“modern interpretation of craftsman” by architect
David Gangloff of Ladera Ranch and built by Gonterman
Construction Corporation of Huntington Beach.
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