"Green" Really Stands for QUALITY
By Isaac Savage
What is "green" exactly? Does it mean your house looks funny, or is made out of straw, or has big panels on the roof? It could… but, not necessarily.
I propose that "Green" actually stands for QUALITY. A quality home will use resources intelligently, will affect the environment as little as possible, will provide a truly healthy living environment for its occupants, will be a comfortable home, will not waste the homeowner's money on utilities, and will last a very long time, because it is designed and constructed in a way that respects the local climate.
This type of quality is something different than what most people think about. You can't necessarily see these aspects of quality. These things happen during the process of design, the process of construction, or are hidden behind the sheetrock and the siding.
There are five elements in this equation of quality: design, preservation of the site, construction materials/processes, indoor environmental control systems, and finishing materials/products. They are all very important pieces of an overall equation that, as a whole, produces a quality home.
Due to lack of space in this column, I will focus on the three items that have the greatest impact, in my opinion, on the quality of the final product - your home.
The first is Design. It's relatively cheap and easy to change your mind before the building process starts. The further along you are in the construction process, the more expensive and problematic these changes become. Therefore, it makes sense to work with architects, designers, and consultants as early as possible in the process. Planning for day-lighting, passive-solar heat gain, defining the materials of the building envelope (should vary depending on selection of other components), and deciding how you will heat/cool your home, what the ducts are made of, and how they circulate the air are all things that should be considered early on. All of these aspects also affect the others. So, they should ideally be considered together. Starting out on the right foot is priceless.
The second is Materials and Processes. Every material that is used in creating your home has certain physical properties that affect the performance of the overall home. The sum is greater than the parts. How your home handles the moisture in the air, the rain from the sky, and the vapor from the earth are all directly related to what your home is made out of and how all of these pieces interact. If you select the wrong sheathing for the type of exterior cladding you have specified, you could end up with a rotting house. If you select ductwork made of fiberglass, you should know that this choice has impacts that extend beyond installed cost. If price is the main focus of material selection, you could end up with pieces that do not work well together or do not support a healthy house. This is when building failures occur.
The processes used during construction hold a lot of opportunity for creating a quality structure. Important details such as flashing, air-sealing, insulation, and duct-sealing are typically a one-shot item. You have one chance to get it right. After the house is completed, all of these items are buried deep within the layers of the home…and become a very costly thing to alter. These things play very important roles in the long-term quality of the house, as they all relate to health, comfort, efficiency, and durability. Utilizing a process that is designed to monitor these details during construction is a wise thing to do, considering you only get one chance to do it right.
The last item is Indoor Environmental Control Systems. The HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) systems are one of the most expensive elements found within a home. These systems have two costs that should be considered: the upfront costs and the operational costs. How these two relate is also worth thinking about (payback). Most of the time, people immediately think of their HVAC systems when thinking about increasing their home's efficiency. But, you should also consider the following: The more efficient your home's envelope is, the less energy it requires to maintain comfort. By increasing the efficiency of the home itself, the payback of machinery upgrades lengthens, because it simply runs less often, and therefore has less operating time to pay you back for the upgrade.
It may be more cost effective to invest in the envelope rather than the HVAC system. This relationship varies for every house, though. Through advanced energy modeling (pre-construction, preferably), the balance between the envelope and the mechanical equipment can be optimized, ensuring wise use of your construction dollars. It obviously wouldn't make sense to have a heating/cooling system that is double-sized. This would be a blatant waste of money and resources. Yet, it happens every day.
The final aspect of HVAC systems that is often overlooked is design. By giving thought to the design of this expensive system, the overall effectiveness of this system can be increased dramatically. Working with an HVAC contractor that performs "Manual-D" duct design calculations is highly recommended. It is also highly recommended that the architect consider the duct locations during the design process.
You probably never considered these quality-related items as "green." But, they hold a lot of opportunity to address the core elements of "green" - health, efficiency, comfort, durability, and the environment. Your house will look the same, but it certainly won't be the same. It'll have better air quality, be more comfortable, save you money on utilities (and oftentimes upfront costs), and handle the damaging affects of moisture in a far superior manner.
Isaac Savage is founder and President of Home Energy Partners, and can be reached at 828-350-1155 x302.
You are invited to contact us by any of the following means:
Asheville Building & Real Estate
Email:
AshevilleBuilding@gmail.com
Telephone: 828-645-5550
Fax: 347-710-7695
Copyright 2007/2008 Asheville Building and Real Estate
| Join Our Mailing List |
