Party Walls

Written by Anna Speed, SWA Sustainability Consultant

After 61% of those surveyed at Greenbuild 2014 replied that that they were not prepared, or were unsure if they were prepared for the inception of LEED® version 4 (v4), the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that it would allow LEED users to register projects under the LEED version 3 (v3) rating system until October 31, 2016. The original date for LEEDv3 registration to close was June 27, 2015. The USGBC made their decision to extend the deadline based on their understanding that LEED users and members needed additional time to prepare for v4, which is more stringent and requires greater cooperation from manufacturers and suppliers.

As a result of the extended deadline, the USGBC offers projects the ability to pursue LEEDv4 credits while registered under the LEEDv3 rating system. One credit for example is Materials and Resources Pilot Alternative Compliance Path 84 where project teams can pursue the entire LEEDv4 Materials and Resources (MR) Category in place of the MR credits from LEEDv3. This includes Storage and Collection of Recyclables, Construction and Demolition Waste Management Planning, Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction, Building Product Disclosure and Optimization (Environmental Product Declarations, Sourcing of Raw Materials and Material Ingredients), and Construction and Demolition Waste Management. (more…)

Step 1: Understand the LEED for Homes process

The U.S. Green Building Council developed the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Homes™ and Multifamily Midrise™ Rating Systems to assess and validate residential green building practices.

The LEED for Homes and LEED for Homes Midrise certification process is outlined in this video provided by USGBC.

In addition to meeting the rating system requirements, every LEED Homes and Midrise project is inspected and tested during site inspections by credentialed LEED Homes Green Raters. Steven Winter maintains a team of 11 credentialed Green Raters serving 20 states including New York, Connecticut, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. Massachusetts, and more.

How Does LEED Homes Compare to Other LEED Rating Systems? (more…)

Earlier this week, we posted a video about the CT Zero Energy Challenge’s first-place winner, the Benker/Wegner Residence. Today we bring you the story of the third-place winner in this year’s challenge, the Taft School’s Residence. Aside from housing faculty members, the home is serving as a teaching aid for Taft students to study the design details of a high-performance home, and to understand the experience of living in one.

After installation of a 13kW photovoltaic (PV) system, the home achieved a HERS Index of -14! The SWA team is providing certification support for a slew of exciting green building programs including the stringent Passive House US™ Certification, LEED for Homes, Living Building Challenge™, and ENERGY STAR v3.1.

Check out the video featuring the project team members: Architect, Elizabeth DiSalvo from Trillium Architects; Builder, Chris Trolle from BPC Green Builders; and SWA’s Maureen Mahle.

Question? Comment? Submit it below; we would love to hear from you!

We are thrilled to welcome Everyday Green to the SWA team! While working on green building projects in the Mid-Atlantic region over the past decade, I’ve consistently been impressed by their reputation for quality work and expertise. This is going to be a fantastic partnership at a time when the high performance buildings market is really taking off in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania!

Allow us to introduce you to our new staff in the Mid-Atlantic Region:

Andrea Foss– Director of Sustainability Services – Mid Atlantic Region
Andrea will be Director of Sustainability Services—Mid-Atlantic Region. Andrea founded Everyday Green in 2008. She gained her in-depth understanding of green building working at the USGBC supporting the development of the LEED for Homes, Commercial Interiors, Core and Shell and Existing Buildings rating systems.

Scott Pusey – Senior Sustainability Consultant
Scott is trained and certified in advanced building science and building diagnostic testing. He is an expert troubleshooting energy efficiency problems and has extensive construction and site management experience.

Elliot Seibert – Senior Building Systems Engineer
Elliot is a mechanical engineer specializing in building science and energy efficiency. With ACCA training on mechanical systems design and performance, he specializes in assisting project teams with equipment selection and design.

Michael Feldman – Sustainability Consultant
Michael is a civil engineer specializing in building science and performance. With a broad background in traditional and green building concepts, Michael specializes in on-site verification of energy efficient building practices.

Corrie Weikle— Sustainability Consultant
Corrie is a sap for all things green and sustainable. She has a passion for guiding behavior change toward sustainable practices and has worked in both the non-profit and for profit industry developing resource conservation management (RCM) and environmental education programs.

Christopher Kramer– Sustainability Consultant
Chris is a HERS Rater and specializes in diagnostic testing and site inspections for new homes. Chris is also preparing to take his EIT certification exam.

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We’ve talked about this conference already this month, but we couldn’t leave out one of the coolest parts that one of our own SWArriors, Maureen Mahle, got to participate in – a modular green home assembled on the showroom floor at the 2014 Greenbuild Conference and Expo. SWA is a partner of the Greenbuild LivingHome which was created in collaboration with Hanley Wood, LivingHomes, Make it Right, and the International Cradle To Cradle Products Innovation Institute. This show home, which Greenbuild attendees got to tour, achieves an array of lofty goals that enable it to be supremely sustainable both for the environment and its owners.

Greenbuild LivingHome, led by California-based designer of green modular home, is the result of a unique integrated design process, utilizing designers, vendors, and building science know-how from all over the country. Today, vendors are using the home as an opportunity to showcase the latest and greatest in residential green building products, including Cradle to Cradle certified products and Forest Stewardship Council certified woods.

One of the stand-out LEED® features of the home is the commitment to durable, resilient construction. Other site features include:

• Permeable paving to maintain an almost permeable lot for managing stormwater.
• Framing was treated for pest resistance.
• Termite barriers installed at base plates, and a non-toxic termite bait system surrounding the home.
• Closed cell foam, used to insulate the elevated floor.
• Continuous drainage plane directs bulk water down and away.

So where is the home now?
On its site in the Lower 9^th Ward in NOLA, owned by the Make it Right Foundation, contributing to the city’s growing stock of green affordable housing. Make it Right is working to complete the home for occupancy in the next few weeks!

Here are some pictures of the construction of the modular home –

A virtual tour and more information can be found here: http://livinghome.greenbuildexpo.com/

Read more about the 2014 Greenbuild LivingHomes in our WinterGreen Newsletter.