Every so often at the AIA-San Francisco Small Firms group, we debate amongst ourselves whether getting our residential projects LEED certified is worth the effort. For most of us, with one-off custom residential new homes or remodels, the answer is no – too cumbersome and expensive. If someone is just looking for “green certification” for a California home project, the GreenPoint Rated system from BuildItGreen is a lot more flexible and user-friendly. However, there are a few architects who’ve really made a big push towards LEED certification on some of their homes. So, what are they getting out of it? How do you decide whether to go for GreenPoints or LEED, and what needs to happen with LEED for the process to go smoothly?

(Home shown above is designed by Sparano + Moody Architecture, and has earned LEED Silver certification. But LEED homes don’t all have to be in the wilderness, either.)

The Questionnaire

I took a straw poll amongst our design colleagues, one of our GreenPoint Rater affiliates, and also reached out to a few people that we don’t know – architects, builders, and developers – who’ve completed LEED-certified private homes in California. The questions were, more or less:

• Was it worth the effort?
• What did YOU get out of it?
• Did it add value to the property?
• How much did the rating process itself cost?
• What other additional costs were incurred?
• What can architects, builders, and homeowners do to make the LEED process go more smoothly?

We also discussed the relative merits of LEED vs GreenPoint Rated for private homes in California, including when to go for one vs. the other.

The Respondents

Numerous people took the time to share their opinions freely. In no particular order:

• Rob Lehman of Green Score Solutions. Rob has multiple credentials as a GreenPoint Rater, a HERS rater, and LEED AP, and he’s listed on our Green Compliance Plus affiliates page.

• Rich Williams of ArtHaus, LLC, a residential development company near San Diego. ArtHaus specializes in building sustainable high-end modern homes, and their goal is for all their projects to obtain LEED certification.

• Jonathan Feldman of Feldman Architecture. We’ve known Jonathan for years through the Small Firms Committee – he’s completed or is working on six LEED Platinum and two LEED Gold custom residences. He is a strong proponent of the LEED system.

• Dan Johnson of Arkin Tilt, a well-down Berkeley firm that is in the vanguard of sustainable residential design.

• Eco-Struction, a green builder in Ben Lomond, CA near Santa Cruz.

• Ann V. Edminster, home energy/green building consultant and author of the book “Energy Free” which we reviewed a few months back. She didn’t actually comment for this article, but she’s consulted extensively on LEED projects large and small, including helping design teams set priorities, analyze financial impacts, conduct contractor briefings, and prepare LEED compliance documentation. If you’re looking for a feasibility analysis to help decide whether or not to go for LEED, she might be a good place to start.

LEED and the Building Industry

It’s not just architects who care about it. Builders, developers, homeowners, and home energy consultants all have their own perspectives. Half of the private residences listed as LEED Platinum in California seemed to be credited to developers, builders, or design/build firms rather than architects. However, the majority of the LEED Platinum certified projects were large-scale enterprises like the California Academy of Sciences, multifamily housing, or public buildings – not private residences.

Developers Can Have Ideals, Too

Developers and production builders in general have a public image that seems to view them all as solely focused on making a quick buck. If there weren’t mandatory inspections and statewide energy codes like Title 24, the argument goes, they’d cut every corner, slap the homes together as fast as they can, and get the heck out before the homes started falling over. And if there weren’t environmental protections in place, these same profits-before-people villains would pave over every national park and fill them up with cheap condominiums.

Well, it seems that there’s more variety among people calling themselves “developers” than the stereotypes would suggest. I was surprised to see that around half of the LEED Platinum Homes in California were credited to either developers or design/build firms (developers who turn out a few homes at a time). And not all developers focus on tract homes, either.

One of our own projects from Mark English Architects, the Pepper Drive residence, is a GreenPoint Rated spec home built by a developer that earned a score of 113. Photo: Norma Lopez Molina

Project Scale is a Determinant

“LEED was developed more for production builders than for one-off projects. For one-off projects, GreenPoint Rating is more user-friendly and adaptable,” says Rich Williams of ArtHaus. “However, LEED certification confers a certain amount of prestige, and it’s got more brand awareness than, say GreenPoint Rating. A LEED Platinum certification means it’s the best you can get,” he continued. “A GreenPoint score of 220 is a great score, but people don’t really know what that means yet.”

This new home from residential developer ArtHaus is LEED Platinum certified. Their goal is to have every home they do be LEED certified. Photo: Ramona d'Viola - Ilumus Photography

It’s not just scale, but scope that’s important. LEED for Homes has some prerequisites that may involve a total gut rehab – opening and inspecting every wall and ceiling cavity. So you’d better already have planned on doing a thorough job on any remodel – including a thorough review of any existing HVAC and water heating systems. At least with a home that’s new from the ground up, there are no legacy components to worry about.

Sufficient scope also implies that there is sufficient budget: not only for the measures, but for the certification fees and the extra paperwork. I wasn’t able to get anyone to commit to a dollar amount for the owner’s construction budget as some sort of threshold to determine if LEED would be worthwhile on a particular project. But, the owner and architect should be prepared for upgrades to products, materials, components, systems, and installation procedures where needed to meet requirements – including baselines for energy efficiency. It’s not always something you can tack on later, either – you can insulate now, but even if the insulation is inspected during construction while the walls are open, if it’s not inspected by a LEED certified “Green Rater” – then you may not be able to claim the credit.

Why Did You Choose LEED?

Jonathan Feldman is one residential architect who’s worked on several LEED certified homes, including the award-winning Caterpillar House, a Carmel residence. Based on my conversation with him, the benefits he sees in LEED are:

• A structured and rigorous process
• Verified materials and products
• Tested and calibrated performance
• Process that is raising public awareness

“On our first LEED project, the client came to us very committed to sustainability. She felt that it was reckless the way the building industry largely ignores the devastating impact that it has on our environment,” said Jonathan Feldman of Feldman Architecture. “We were forced to take a wider and more thorough look at different areas of sustainable design, and LEED forced us to follow through with our early project commitments, and also to keep our clients, vendors, and builders committed. We received considerable goodwill from building departments, homeowners associations, and from the press because our project was the first LEED Platinum project in the area. The owners got a house where all the materials, products, and environmental strategies were more carefully considered, specified, installed, calibrated, and tested.”

The Caterpillar House by Feldman Architecture is LEED Platinum certified. Photo: Joe Fletcher

Quality control is an emphasis shared by both GreenPoints and LEED – in fact, any green building standard has to consider both construction quality and overall durability. What’s the point in building something that’s going to be torn down in a few years? Better to build it right the first time, and make it something worth keeping around.

Feldman warned that there was a steep learning curve on his first LEED project, but feels that it’s worth it – if it leads to a much-needed sea change in the building industry. “The more architects and builders go through the process, the easier it becomes. I also think that the more architects and builders share what they learn with each other, the easier it will be for all of us. There are those who don’t want to share what they’ve learned with those whom they view as their competition. I find this amazing. If we are truly concerned with making a dent in curbing the devastating effects of the building industry, then we really should be doing everything we can to help every building project move towards greater sustainability.”

Rich Williams from ArtHaus does it out of personal conviction. “LEED for Homes is a goal that I set for myself. I build stuff that I would want to live in. And with a spec home, LEED certification is a recognition of a benchmark. The biggest take-away from my experience building LEED and GreenPoint Rated homes is that we aren’t really ‘building green’, we are really building to a much higher standard of quality. Consumers will know, because of third-party verification, that the home that they will be living in should be more durable, should require less maintenance, should cost them a lot less to operate, should be more comfortable for them to live in, and (the most important one) should be WAY healthier to live in than other homes that are not being built to these standards. As the Mastercard commercials say, that last one is ‘priceless’. You folks understand how to build a better home, but a lot of folks out there don’t, so having these rating systems in place to provide guidance for doing so is extremely valuable, in my estimation.”

The value of having a structured process with some rigor to it was emphasized by several respondents, as a benefit to both GreenPoints and LEED. LEED might be considered as the stricter of the two, because unlike GPR, the bar to initial certification is a lot higher. Even an “average” home can get a GreenPoint score of 75 without too much effort, but to be LEED certified the home must meet a much larger list of mandatory measures.

Incentives

Rob Lehman reminded me that GreenPoint Rated homes are eligible for additional incentives under California rebate programs such as the New Solar Homes Partnership and California Advanced Homes. If the home is a total gut rehab with all new systems, it may qualify for these programs as “new construction”. So if the client is already thinking about going solar, the rebates can be substantial – and they’re bigger if the home is GreenPoint Rated.

So does that mean that NSHP and CAH ignore LEED certified homes? Not at all. California Advanced Homes rewards it, at least.

• In CAH, there’s a 10% bonus for “Green Home Certification” by a “recognized green building program” and there’s a 15% bonus if the home is 10% smaller than the LEED for Homes size threshold. Yep, LEED has something called Home Size Adjuster which penalizes larger homes.

• NSHP doesn’t appear to reference any green building certifications, although it does mandate energy efficiency. Why? My guess: NSHP is solely about solar power, and reducing home energy use has a direct impact on the PV system size, whereas using low-VOC materials has no impact on the solar array. Both programs use Title 24 as a yardstick – you have to beat Title 24 by 15% or more.

How Much Does LEED for Homes Cost to Do?

How much does it cost? GreenPoint Rating fees seem to be lower than those LEED certification, although I don’t have hard data to do a good fee comparison. Here are a few price points:

• Word of mouth on the street is that it costs $15,000 to get a private residential project LEED certified.

• Rich Williams quoted a fee of $5,000 for getting a 3,000 SF home LEED certified – that’s what it’s costing him – he didn’t include construction costs, though.

• Jonathan Feldman was a bit more specific: estimated rating cost of $5,000 – $10,000 in fees, required advisors, and testers, and another $8,000 – $12,000 for construction practices, materials, research, and design time. “Less in the cases where the clients manage the process themselves,” he added.

Cost analysis can be tricky, because some of it might be things you were planning to do anyway. And with something like LEED, which references other building standards such as Energy Star and (in California) Title 24 energy compliance, assigning weighted costs to requirements can be difficult. Some costs could be incurred during the energy analysis, which is required by both GreenPoints and LEED. In California, projects must exceed Title 24 energy efficiency standards by 15% or more. And, sometimes to get this, a particular project might need upgraded windows, more insulation, higher efficiency systems, or other measures. If you weren’t planning to do these things before, then yes – they’re additional. If you’re just going for the label, that might not be a good reason by itself to go for LEED – or any green certification beyond what local building authorities may require.

“Don’t do it just for the label,” warns Jonathan Feldman. “It’s asinine to jump through that many hoops just for a label. Do the measures because you were going to do them anyway.”

Commercial projects can cost a lot more. Rob Lehman mentioned a LEED certified multifamily project in San Jose with 90 units that cost $90,000 for the LEED certification! “There aren’t that many LEED Green Raters available and they’re expensive,” he noted. I don’t know how this broke out – I’m guessing it likely included the rating, the documentation, and the additional construction costs all rolled into one. And, for a large project like that, having the entire building LEED certified could boost sales and/or rental rates, “especially in certain areas,” he noted.

Does It Add Value to the Property?

Does LEED certification add value to the home? Depending on how you define “value”, here are a few possible definitions:

• A premium that homebuyers are willing to pay, as demonstrated by home sale data
• What realtors and listing services believe are the features that people care about
• What lenders are willing to finance when doing their value assessments of a sale property
• Something that brings the homeowner long-lasting satisfaction, comfort, and enjoyment

The problem is, we don’t really know how much value green building adds to single-family residences, because home listings don’t track green certifications of any kind. So, if a home sells for more, or sells faster, how do we even know whether “green” had anything to do with it? And how can we compare the value of a GreenPoint Rated home vs. a LEED certified one vs. an unrated home that nonetheless has the same green features as a rated one? Thus, data is anecdotal at best.

It seems that the general public is a lot more savvy about Blue Book car values than they are about their own homes. To the extent that they think about it at all, they’re likely to go for spot fixes based on a one-size-fits-all rumor like “I hear that radiant barriers are cool” instead of taking a wholistic approach. A minority of homeowners are DIY energy nerds, who cheerfully experiment on their own homes and report the results, successful or not, for the sake of knowledge sharing alone.

“The MLS real estate listing service does not yet include third-party verifications for any green building programs, so it’s hard to tell exactly how much more the same home would sell for – or how quickly,” said Rich. Rich cited a Portland study claiming an 18% premium, although he personally thinks that 10% is a more reasonable assumption to make. “People want a green home, but they don’t want to pay more for it,” he added. Sometimes green homes sell more quickly, which can be a big advantage to those looking to recoup their investment.

The value of the LEED brand was discussed. A GreenPoint Rated home can have a score anywhere from around 50 to 300 points – but GreenPoint Rating is only within the State of California. LEED has better nationwide brand recognition, and its three designations – Silver, Gold, and Platinum – are simpler to understand, even if the process to achieve them isn’t.

I’d also hazard a guess that homeowners who’ve actually been through the process or who have chosen to invest in the purchase of a LEED certified or GreenPoint Rated home are likely to be happier and more satisfied with their homes than people who are just looking for something affordable. “Most people hate their homes,” was the astonishing opinion of one HVAC engineer whom I met at a Title 24 class last fall. “If they spend any money on improvements, they want it to be something they can see, like a granite countertop.” Both LEED and GreenPoints are intended to create a home that is more comfortable to live in – less drafty, less noisy, and with better indoor air quality – and I’d guess that many people assume that a high level of comfort and control is out of reach, so they just learn to live with whatever they’ve already got.

Don’t Forget: Factor In Energy Savings

Lower operating costs should be factored in to the value equation as well, particularly energy savings. Both LEED and GreenPoints mandate energy-efficient homes – and they both give points beyond the minimum of 15% over “standard” (Title 24 in the case of California). The exact amount of savings will vary by project, and of course if you invest in renewable energy as well as energy retrofitting, the savings will increase. Don’t forget to factor in sudden utility price increases, not that those ever happen… right, Gray Davis?

It could be argued that one can build energy-efficient homes without getting them LEED certified or GreenPoint Rated. However, having a committed process to enforce a level of structure and rigor throughout the project can help guide decision-making and keep the team focused on the right goals. This is one point Ann Edminster makes in her book “Energy Free” – think about why you’re doing it and what your general strategy will be upfront, and then use it as a road map later on.

The other argument – namely that LEED certified buildings aren’t really more energy-efficient – seems to be based on outmoded assumptions. After reviewing the LEED for Homes criteria that include, among other things, requirements for demonstrated overall energy-efficiency (using the HERS index or, in California, beating the Title 24 energy code by 15%), and Energy Star rating, I don’t think it’s possible to go through all that and NOT have a more efficient building. There’s a whole other set of arguments on the counter-effect of efficient buildings actually encouraging more usage – but that topic will have to wait for another day.

Isn’t LEED for Homes Too Cumbersome?

The main critique of LEED for Homes, especially compared to GreenPoint Rating, is that LEED is cumbersome and inflexible. Why would anyone bother when they could just get the project GreenPoint Rated instead? That’s the California voluntary green building standard from BuildItGreen and it’s being adopted by many jurisdictions as a local requirement anyway.

I put this question out to one of our Green Compliance Plus affiliates, Rob Lehman. Rob said “I’d take GreenPoint Rated over LEED for Homes any day” and mentioned the following items:

• GreenPoint Rating is more practical, user-friendly, and affordable. There are a few mandatory measures and the rest are items you pick a la carte. So it can be less stringent but that’s up to you, how many measures you want to include in the project. Because the barrier to entry is lower, it’s actually more of an incentive to get owners to agree to go through the process. Most California jurisdictions that require GreenPoint Rating have reasonable score requirements, at least for now.

• GreenPoint certification is faster and everything goes through the GreenPoint Rater. The LEED application has to go through review in the D.C. headquarters of US Green Building Council and that alone can take up to a year. The USGBC doesn’t respond to questions that quickly, either.

• LEED is very strict and the process is bureaucratic and inflexible. You have to first get your “scenario” approved (by the D.C. central office) and then if you change anything later on, you have to get those changes formally approved as well. Rich Williams added another piece here. “LEED updates can be hard to figure out. Some of them apply retroactively to past projects, some only to projects done in certain years. But what do you expect from an organization that’s based in Washington, D.C.?”

• The LEED mandatory measures are costly. One example that Rob Lehman cited: LEED requires Energy Star certification, which has an extremely stringent quality of insulation inspection – a lot stricter even than the HERS QII credit. It involves a lot of extra sheet rock, building of chases, and even more site visits than a HERS QII inspection.

Rich Williams actually disagreed about LEED being too cumbersome. “Achieving a basic level of LEED is not that difficult,” he said. “It’s like riding a bike – really hard the first time, but then it quickly becomes second nature.” He sees the main challenge as one of training the production builders to be aware of the standard and to follow it. Still, he says it doesn’t make sense for all projects.

One Sustainable Architect’s Viewpoint

One of the other respondents who had an unusual and dissenting viewpoint was Dan Johnson of Arkin Tilt Architects in Berkeley. They’re just finishing a LEED Platinum house in Palo Alto. Although most of their projects are not certified in any rating system, they are nonetheless quite advanced: off grid, energy independent, passive solar design, renewable energy systems, water collection, extensive attention to sustainable material selection, minimal site impact.

“We prefer to build green without doing paperwork required by a rating system.  Since our future work is based on high performing buildings and client referrals, we already have an incentive to stay at the front of green design without cheating just to make claims. To reduce our clients’ costs, I’d prefer not to spend their money on administrative overhead.  Our name is our green brand.

“I would agree that LEED-H costs the owner lots of money in administrative time, proportionally more for smaller houses. The hours spent on paperwork and calculations do not add any real physical value to the home. The owner could instead spend these thousands of dollars on energy upgrades to the home to get better ecological value for the dollar.

Dan echoed a sentiment that we’ve heard from a few other people, namely, that voluntary certifications don’t do that much to save the planet because the bulk of construction projects will build to code but not beyond. In order to make a real impact of any magnitude, it’s the building codes that have to catch up, and the role of innovation is to prove the concepts, but that’s all it can really do.

“GPR and LEED can validate the work of innovators and help them market their products, but this hasn’t improved the quality of the bulk of new construction [which is mandated by code]. In the absence of high government standards for construction, the LEED award is useful from a consumer’s perspective because it verifies quality claims. However, since LEED-H is no longer very far ahead of the code [in California at least], even the marketing value is not there anymore.

“Now that we have CALGreen, the code minimum has caught up to LEED. It seems that fully of half of the credits in LEED-H are code-minimums now that CALGreen is in effect. So the argument against the usefulness of LEED-H certification has more weight this year. Do owners want to spend money on LEED-H documentation showing that their house meets building code? The cities already provide this service through the plan check and inspection process.

“I would like to see more green compliance handled through the normal code compliance pathway administered by the government, to reduce layers of oversight. It would make sense for LEED-H and GPR to go away, now that the code has caught up, or to raise their standards, to remain relevant as a high bar for innovators. In this regard, PassivHaus and the Living Building Challenge have taken the lead as the high bar for innovators to distinguish themselves. LEED has been so successful in California that LEED is now partially redundant with the building code.

“When a city requires GPR or LEED-H certification as the worst allowable construction, can the architect really take credit for “Leadership…” anymore? In lieu of these award systems, I would like to see HERS launched as a statewide mandatory energy labeling system; new homes are scored on the HERS index during plan check and existing homes are scored at time of sale.

Well, that blew my hair back a little. Both USGBC and BuildItGreen because have been extremely successful because they set a high bar. In California, that bar gets raised up every three years, and very likely these voluntary green standards will continue to improve as well. Sustainability is a moving target, one that every person on Earth will have to wrestle with at some point – on a global, national, local, and personal level – whether we want to or not.

Do’s and Don’ts for LEED for Homes

OK, I’ve recovered sufficiently from the boldness of Dan’s words to abstract a few guidelines for residential architects who may be considering whether to get a California home project “green” certified, either through LEED or through GreenPoint Rating. These notes would still be relevant for other certification programs as well.

• DO review local jurisdictional requirements before doing anything else. Some places require GreenPoint rating based on the sized of the house; others may adopt CALGreen tiers beyond the minimum. Or, they may offer expedited plan checking for certain programs.

• DO ensure that the owner is fully committed to the ideals of sustainability, and not just the label. Why are they doing it?

• DO plan for the chosen certification early, including an ongoing assessment of the impact that the certification may have on project budget and scope of work.

• DON’T forget to factor in any incentive programs that may be available.

• DON’T forget to list the intangible, non-monetary benefits of any sustainable measures. A correctly designed, high-efficiency heating system might cost more, but you’ll be more comfortable. Maybe a lot more comfortable. Ditto using low-VOC materials.

• DO Spend a few hours with a good green building consultant. Spend some time reviewing the required and optional measures in both sets of standards, and make sure that the mandatory measures are feasible and affordable for your project before committing to the whole process. At this point, the owners may feel that they have to choose between scope of work and certification – “If I get LEED certification I won’t be able to afford to do as much as I’d wanted” – so consider carefully how your clients’ money will be spent.

• DO read the manual. Both GreenPoints and LEED for Homes have handbooks describing their requirements in detail. The entire project team should know what the requirements are, and how they will be verified.

• DO try to build up some in-house knowledge of various green building codes and standards: CALGreen, GreenPoints, and LEED. If your’e inclined more towards LEED, get a LEED AP designer on staff if you can. Same goes for BuildItGreen – try to have someone who’s a Certified Green Building Professional, and who knows the GPR system well.

• DO partner with a good green builder – someone who’s worked on LEED or GreenPoint Rated homes before, and who can handle the paperwork.

• DON’T do it just for the label. Jonathan Feldman was emphatic on this point. “Don’t do things just for the points. Do things that you were going to do anyway. You’ll have a better product in the end, better quality control and better durability.”

• DO embrace an integrated design approach. Mitchel Slade, President of Eco-Struction, had some good advice for the entire team, including owner, architect, and builder: “Be malleable. LEED for Homes certification should be one continuous process, not a set of individualized tasks.”

This home in Atherton, CA, built by Eco-Struction, earned LEED Platinum certification.

Epilogue

There’s a lot of room for differing opinion, and no doubt some readers will find some statements above to be objectionable. There simply isn’t room to do full justice to every fact and argument in one blog posting. We encourage you to comment on this article and share your own experiences. All comments are moderated, so please use a valid email address, keep your comments directly relevant to the article, and please be sure that your message is respectfully worded. ;-0

About a year ago, we published an article about an exceptional Title 24 project – an astonishing 50% over compliance – and now we present an interview with the homeowner who commissioned the design. The single-family home, designed by Klopf Architecture, is currently under construction by Matarozzi Pelsinger Builders (As an aside, we’ve done design interviews with both Klopf and Mat-Pel on our sister blog, The Architect’s Take.)

Many residential architects would like to design homes as energy-efficient as this one, but without client buy-in, it’s usually not possible to go beyond a certain point. Over and over, we have heard that client commitment to sustainable principles is THE key to building green! So, here we have a green homeowner and design client who’s willing to discuss – anonymously – why he’s doing as much as he is, and why it’s worth doing.

What is your background, education, current profession?

My educational background is in human and computer languages, among other things, plus an MBA in global business practices.  I have run companies in two countries, and am currently advising startups on product and marketing strategy. I also do volunteer work for environmental nonprofits.

My wife’s educational background is in art plus an MBA.  Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums, and she is currently an art educator.  She also does volunteer work for local schools and community events.

How did you become interested in sustainable design?

I have had a lifelong interest in cleaning up the environment and reducing dependence on foreign oil, and was first moved to take action on both at a very young age: in 1973! My wife also has a strong interest in doing the right thing in these areas, and we were both deeply impressed by just how bad an environmental situation can get based on what we saw while working in China.

What did you do in 1973? I remember at that time we turned our heat way down.

In 1973 I found out that a proposed nuclear power plant was going to endanger the fish in our main river with its cooling exhaust.  I joined my middle school “Ecology Club” where I learned even more about nukes, and volunteered to set up petition tables to gather signatures outside of supermarkets.   Also that was the year of the first OPEC oil embargo. With another group I walked the long gas lines handing out pamphlets promoting alternative energy independence.  Learned about all of this stuff by myself; my parents didn’t quite know what was going on.  Of course, those were the days when parents just turned kids loose on the streets while they did their own thing.

This green design client worked on his own initiative as a middle schooler to protect local fish from the cooling exhaust of a proposed nuclear power plant.

Have you experimented with any sustainable projects or home improvements in the past? How did those turn out?

We previously renovated an Eichler home, raising the energy efficiency and overall comfort of the house as best we could, but there is a limit to what you can do without a complete tear-down.  In the process we also developed a deep appreciation for mid-century modern design and 21st century home building techniques.

Have you compared notes with friends or others with similar interests? I think having a knowledge sharing group is important to keeping the flame alive, and if you’re a real hard-core do-it-yourselfer then technical notes might be essential to completing a new project. Of course a lot of that is online now.

Lots of information sharing going on.  A couple friends are renovating on tight budgets and acting as their own general contractors, but are very interested in as much energy savings and solar tech as they can pack in there.  Another guy we know is actually a professional in a technical area of green building, and for their new home he has an architect and contractor putting up a shining example of what’s possible in both architectural and energy design.  Also many neighbors are following our project with great interest, including an electric power researcher who lives right across the street, and our example may influence plans for at least small aspects of many future projects.

I have participated in our local city’s green building ordinance focus group, I’ve had good discussions with green building advocates on the city planning commission and staff, and I’ve even tried to help educate one or two commissioners and other local leaders who don’t seem to have all the facts.  City staff have followed our progress with great interest, and even PG&E has been very supportive.

The green design client is also having the new home be GreenPoint Rated, and used the GreenPoint Checklist as a guide to adding more sustainable features during the design stage.

Apparently, after quite a bit of internal discussion about our project, PG&E decided to get out ahead of the looming challenge of upgrading the grid for electric vehicles (EVs). Instead of waiting until we purchased EVs and chargers that don’t even exist yet – which would have required all sorts of rewiring and reengineering inside and outside our house – they gathered all the information we and the EV companies could provide, and decided to future-proof our entire block by upgrading the transformer, wiring and power poles. They used our project as a benchmark for internal research and planning, and I believe our project may have contributed to PG&E’s most recent guidelines on electric vehicle interconnections for your home.

What made you decide to hire an architect and go for a custom designed home instead of just buying something already built?

We will get more value out of our custom designed home than most people.  The house will seldom be empty, so the return on investment for every energy saving measure is very clear, and the beautiful design will make it a pleasure to live there too!  We will both live and work in the house, we have young children and frequent guests, and we don’t plan to move again.  Our architects have helped us design a home that fits our lifestyle and our long-term plans, and having control of all materials in a complete new custom project allows for better health and energy results.

The same firm that designed the high-performing green home discussed in this article, Klopf Architecture, also has experience with Eichler remodels. Shown here are two of Klopf's other Eichler remodeling projects. The renderings for the green home have a similar airy, open feel.

The whole ROI discussion is a big deal, especially how it’s calculated. The bottom-liners might say that adding green features doesn’t necessarily add to the resale value of the home (as if that’s the only reason to do anything), and they don’t seem to consider long-term savings in energy bills. Without making this discussion too dry to read, I wonder if you could expand a bit more on how you figured your financial return, over what length of time, in a way that makes it seem comparable to other investments people might make over their lives.

It’s an accepted rule of thumb that a new solar PV system adds roughly $20 in value to your home for every $1 saved off your utility bill.  In our case that pencils out to about 20% more than the full cost of the system, *before* rebates and tax credits.  After those are subtracted it’s over 50%!  I know rebates and credits plug some people in, so to speak, but you can’t have it both ways: either kill all the many tax breaks, subsidies and other support for the oil and gas industry too, in which case the price of gasoline would average $10 a gallon, or give the alternative energy and electric vehicle industries a little support so we can transition the economy more gently while pursuing long-term national interests. In fact, government support for these new industries is dwarfed by what the multinational fossil fuel corporations have negotiated for themselves, it’s absolutely obscene.

Which would you rather have: an oil-dependent economy, or the ability to breathe freely?

As for energy savings from other aspects of the house, since we exceed Title 24  by 50% to 60% the return is very clear and faster than you may expect. The new house is three times the size of the old one but requires almost the same amount electricity, and will use no natural gas unless I connect it to an outdoor bar-b-que.  Yes, all this efficiency costs more, and I’ve had several people I don’t know walk up to me in front of the half-finished house and just out-and-out ask “how much per square foot?”  They don’t get the answer they expect.  I point over to a new stucco show-off McMansion around the corner and say “I guarantee you I’m spending more per square foot than that one.  But I’ll be earning it all back on my utility bill, and then some.”  And if another Enron-type power crisis or OPEC embargo comes around again, the ROI will arrive even faster. They all seemed to go away thinking hard about their priorities after that.

Many people don’t seem to value the energy upgrades that actually give them the best bang for the buck, with or without the public statement of a PV system.  (Speaking of which, we tried to hide our panels as much as possible.) Our system would not be paying for itself in about eight years if it weren’t for our commitment from the beginning of the project to a high GreenPoint rating, but in the end that makes our system a better value.

There are slew of sustainability approaches, yardsticks, and standards: GreenPoints, LEED, zero carbon, embedded energy, biodynamic agriculture, slow food, etc. More coming out all the time. What’s your personal philosophy on sustainability? What do you feel is most important and why?

GreenPoints, LEED, Title 24 etc. are important as objective third-party “yardsticks” because all of this is new and changing almost daily.  Everyone in the business is still learning, and hiring a “Certified Green Builder” is just the beginning.  There are good business reasons for these standards.

My personal philosophy on all this is based on a businesslike approach too, beginning with the realization that using language like “sustainability” simply puts many people off. To really serve as an example and make a difference in this world, a successful approach to green building must appeal to more people at all level of needs and aspirations, starting with the most fundamental personal and economic issues. Otherwise it’s just a few of us making these changes, and overall the world is still going down the tubes.

The fact that we’re getting a good financial return on investment in this project is the best way to start neighborhood and national conversations on long-term energy, environmental, economic, security and foreign policy goals.

What is most satisfying about your new home (still under construction)? Not just green, but the “home” part of it too. How’s this home helping you realize your personal dreams?

Well, at the most basic level, it will be a drastic and satisfying change to live in a home that stays warm when you heat it, stays cool when you cool it, and saves money doing both.  But intellectually the most satisfying thing for me is the idea that this house, totally independent from fossil fuels and prewired for electric vehicles, will contribute to national security, peace in the Middle East, and a cleaner healthier world for our children. Emotionally, there will be great satisfaction in a custom home designed to support deep integration of work and family life, exactly the way we live it.  And, it will just be a darn nice place to live.

Of all the green building guides for homeowners out there, here is one that should be on everyone’s shelf – owners, architects, builders alike. It’s called “Energy Free: Homes for a Small Planet” by Ann V. Edminster, a Bay Area local. Everything I’ve been struggling so hard to explain to our Title 24 clients, even in a limited way, is presented in this book with clarity and accuracy, in a very readable and lively prose style. It’s backed by both the latest research and by personal experience and observation.

The Problem with Mantras

“They want it to be ‘green’…” Neither the client nor the architect had any comprehension or appreciation of “green” other than as a gimmick. The client was an Al Gore fan who had read “An Inconvenient Truth” and suddenly decided mid-design that the new house being designed for him and his girlfriend needed a “zero carbon footprint”. There had previously been vague feel-good conversations about “eco” and “green” but nothing tangible, no specific goals, performance measures, or standards to follow. Unfortunately, neither the client nor the architect understood how much work “zero carbon” actually entailed, and the client hadn’t selected this particular architect for his expertise in green building. He had originally envisioned a luxury home by a “design-oriented” (i.e. Modernist) architect.

"Green zombies" chant the green mantra endlessly, but never stop to think about how to get there.

I can’t tell the whole story here, but it seems that the client was shocked to hear that there might be re-design fees involved, plus a fair amount of additional research. (He and his girlfriend split up in the middle of the project, too – the project was subsequently abandoned.) Perhaps he felt that anyone calling himself an architect should already have the answers. That’s a bit like saying the architect should already have the house designed the moment you set foot in their office.

First, Take A Good Look in the Mirror

But choosing green can be daunting – as if shelling out several hundred thousand dollars or a few million for a custom-built home isn’t daunting enough. If you’re seriously trying to be green, there are so many competing standards and methodologies out there, it can seem overwhelming. And to be honest, there is no shortcut to thinking hard and seriously about it as an owner. You’re not just learning about technology, you’re taking an inventory of yourself, your habits, the real implications of those habits, and what you could do without. It’s also being very honest about what you can’t live without and sticking to your guns about it – even if that need might seem “selfish” rather than “green”. You can’t just engage with an architect, wave your hand like Captain Piccard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and say “Make it so.”

The hardest work of green design is asking yourself what's really important, and then following through

What we need is a simple guide on HOW to think about building green, meaning how do you go about deciding what your priorities are and then executing them to completion? How do you even define what’s green, or green enough? What kind of science is behind each of the green definitions, anyway? It’s an exercise in complex problem solving – and self-analysis.

Start With Home Energy Consumption

Measuring greenness according to energy consumption is fairly straightforward, and while that can’t capture everything related to embedded energy, building life cycle, etc., it is the sort of bottom line that anyone who can balance a checkbook can understand. And finally, we have a book that talks turkey about how do we get from being energy-dependent to a point where we’re more in control.

“Energy Free” manages to provide clear guidelines without being too dogmatic about any one thing. Edminster’s focus is on energy efficiency as a means to reducing our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels. Along the way, she exposes a lot of myths and misconceptions about what it really means to produce your own energy instead of relying on “the grid”. Although this approach is sometimes called Net Zero, she prefers to call it energy-free, because you’re freer, more liberated (to a point which YOU determine).  It’s both a manifesto and a guidebook for creating and enjoying a net-zero-energy home.

Determining That Net Zero Point

The first debunking is to explore what NZE means. For example, producing as much electricity as you consume onsite doesn’t take into account transmission losses from the power plant to your house. Also, you have to use different conversion ratios depending on the type of fuel you use (electric, gas, propane). In the case of electric power, the type of fuel used at the power generation plant can affect how “green” or “wasteful” that electricity really is. This forces the owner to confront his or her own principles at the get-go. How far are YOU willing to go and what will you get out of it?

Then there are practical questions about Net Zero. Will it actually save me money? Can I use the same builder? What are the real-world pitfalls and how do I avoid them? How do I manage the project? Who needs to be on the team, and when? Edminster does a superlative job of capturing the key drivers and human factors that can make your NZE project a success.

No One-Size-Fits-All Solution

Our culture of instant gratification and ever-shrinking attention spans does not lend itself to complex, thoughtful, tailored solutions. But, after clearly defining your principles, goals, and budget, the next thing you need to do is realize that every solution is local and is dependent on context. What works in San Diego may not make sense in San Francisco. And, concerns that are important for surviving a Massachusetts winter might not matter in San Jose.

A radiant barrier won't help as much in Tahoe as it will in Death Valley. Different climates call for different measures.

Edminster’s approach is to treat it like a team science project, and to keep everyone focused on the performance goals. It’s one thing to say that passive solar designs are nifty, but it’s better to start with some specific goal (and location), and then identify all the different ways one could achieve that goal. KNOW what your goals are, and be prepared to read the fine print – like which measures actually make sense for your climate zone. But don’t forget your personal goals, or you won’t be happy with the end result. A happy home takes more than just low-flow showerheads, and everyone on the team should appreciate this fundamental notion.

Your Team

This is something that other Green Builders have said, but it’s worth repeating, since we say it to our Title 24 clients as well. If you want a high-performing home, think farther ahead to make the best design decisions possible, and get your experts all talking to one another during the early design stages. And don’t use a compartmentalized series of handoffs, which unfortunately is the standard way of doing business in the homebuilding and home remodeling industry. Make sure your team members can work well together (that includes you) and that everyone starts on the same page. This is referred to as “integrated design”.

Green building requires a long-range planning approach, rather than a moment-to-moment response.

The skill sets are also different. A typical, non-integrated team might have an owner, a builder, and an architect. Other consultants might be brought in as needed but they have limited influence over design elements not in their immediate purview. They probably don’t have any visibility, either.

A compartmentalized, "handoff" approach might look like this Gantt chart.

In addition to the owner and builder, an integrated team might have a mechanical engineer, an energy modeler, possibly a structural engineer, and a renewable-energy vendor. All of these individuals need to be part of the initial design process, so that they can understand the wholistic impact of each proposed design element – and the reasons behind that impact.The team must have a clear common understanding of the goals of the project, in order to determine whether a particular impact is acceptable or not.

Start by Scoping Down Energy Needs

It makes sense once you hear it. Minimize the home’s energy budget before sizing any renewable energy systems. You do this by a multi-pronged approach that includes building, appliances, and occupants. The building should be efficient and not oversized; appliances should be not just Energy Star rated, but top of the chart; and occupants should be educated on things like how much energy a plasma TV REALLY uses.

Downsizing on floor space might be a hard pill for some people to swallow, but it’s really only going back to what homes were like in the 1950s, when the average was 292 SF per person. Now, it’s more like 961 SF – a threefold increase. Do we really need that floorspace? Or could some of it be outdoor space, or transitional space that doesn’t need conditioning?

This rather cramped attic is actually from Lawrence Welk's childhood home. A far cry from McMansions!

This Time, You Should Sweat the Little Stuff

Next come the appliances, lights, and electronics. What can you scope down or trade for a more efficient model? What can you eliminate? What energy management systems are there to monitor usage and to shut off appliances when not in use? What about water heating? Do you need that spa, or would a compact steam shower do almost as well?

Almost every item in the house offers opportunities for reduction, from faucets to lighting fixtures. For energy nerds, the lengthy discussions of just how much extra energy is used by the heating element inside your dishwasher will be glorious. But actually, everything discussed is in response to frequently raised questions about things like whether a measure really saves resources or not.

The section on building efficiency goes on for pages about different types of insulation, but even better were the detail sections showing sheathing, insulation, and airtightness. Everything from mold prevention to stack ventilation to solar heat gain. Without playing favorites, there’s a huge section on heating and cooling systems and how to get the most out of each type. There are even piping diagrams for hot water delivery.

But the best thing? An energy-modeling chart showing how the influence of different building parameters changes by building type and climate zone. For example, window area and solar heat gain was more important on the “urban” single family home in Palm Desert, but of lesser importance on a low-rise detached home in San Francisco. Surprisingly, building orientation did not have as much of an effect as one might think, except for the urban home in Palm Springs.

Living Patterns and Appliance Use

One thing I liked about the chapter on integrated design was the emphasis on behavioral factors and living patterns. For example, an owner who is away from the house much of the time might have different preferences than someone who is there all the time. Some owners may be willing to change their behavior or their tolerances as well. For example, foregoing heavy air conditioning in favor of the old Mediterranean tradition of afternoon siestas, or wearing a sweater on chilly mornings.

Putting on one sweater on a cool day might be better than immediately turning up the heat. But, if you have to wear a parka and frosbite protection indoors, the house is probably too cold.

As with HVAC systems, the discussion on appliances and their use is exhaustive. Everything from induction cooktops to dishwashers (including when to hand wash and when not to), gardens, gadgets, and monitoring systems. The only thing missing was the obligatory rant on the mercury toxicity of CFLs. (I personally feel OK about them – I can see better and they cost so much less to operate than my favorites, the halogens.)

Quality Construction

Even the fanciest windows won’t save as much energy if the builder does a poor job of installing them. The same applies to everything else: walls, systems, plumbing, ductwork. Each part of the whole should be optimized and well-crafted. Unfortunately craftsmanship is not a given for all builders, although they’d like you to think so.

Post Construction Verification

Much of the information presented in this book came from the author’s direct experiences. Just because an energy model predicted a home that uses 25% less energy, does that mean that the actual owners will use less energy once they’re living there? What if it’s too hot, or too cold, because of some factor or complex interrelation of factors unique to the site? What do you do then? Usually, with good planning, remedial measures will be minor, and can be anticipated, to be used only if needed.

Please note that we have no commercial interest in promoting Ann Edminster's book "Energy Free" - we truly think it's a great guide to planning your home energy strategy.

When we’re advising our Title 24 clients on their residential projects, the first concern is whether the project will meet the State of California’s requirements for efficient energy consumption – and, if it doesn’t, what measures are needed to bring the project into compliance. A home’s Title 24 compliance “score” is expressed according to the percentage by which the home exceeds the baseline efficiency standards set forth by the California Energy Commission, and these standards are tightened every 3 years.

For the most part, people are relieved just to get their home to zero. For many projects, this is challenging enough. But sometimes, additional measures could boost a home’s compliance score higher, and are much easier to take while construction is already occurring. For example, in a remodel where walls are opened, why not insulate those walls? Well… obviously it’s an additional cost that budget-conscious owners may not want to absorb at the time. But, aren’t they potentially leaving money on the table, too? What value is there in achieving a positive compliance margin?

Since Title 24 is based on a home’s projected energy performance, achieving a higher than required compliance score offers several potential benefits:

1. Lower energy bills
2. Credit in other rating systems like Greenpoints, and
3. Eligibility for incentive programs like the New Solar Homes Partnership.

Calculating energy savings is straightforward matter of comparison before and after. Rebates are also known in advance; for NSHP, the rebate is based on system size and whether the home beats Title 24 by 15% or 35%.

Does Green Matter?

However, establishing a dollar value premium for having a Greenpoint rated home is a little harder. Is there a demonstrable relationship between a home’s real estate property value and its Greenpoint score? Is the Greenpoint rating itself worth anything, even if a home achieves only a modest Greenpoint score?

The question is, does a Greenpoint rated home sell for any more than the same home un-rated?

Well, Seattle green-certified homes achieved a 14% premium, according to a 2009 study by Hamilton Investments which I don’t have but which is referenced in BuildItGreen’s own literature. More on this in a moment.

A good time to establish a home’s actual value is when it is sold. Banks may extend loans based on a home’s supposed equity, but as we know, equity can vanish overnight. A good cash sale, on the other hand, establishes that at least one buyer agreed that the home was worth the price paid.

Don't count your chickens until they've hatched - and don't assume your equity is real until you actually sell your home.

Another important factor for sellers is how long the home sits on the market. A $500K home that sells within a week is a lot better than one that only sells after 9 months; even if it sells for the original asking price, there could be additional financing costs to cover those 9 months if the seller has to put down money on a new home before the old one is sold. That’s assuming they can even get a loan.

Do the Creds Matter?

I began to wonder how much green features actually counted with homebuyers, and whether formal certifications made any difference. Even homeowners who aren’t passionate about environmental issues might be passionate about their equity, especially nowadays. So… does a green certification have an impact on a home’s market value, and what evidence is there to support this?

Despite the Seattle premium referenced above, our Bay Area realtor sources indicate that it’s still not a priority for most homebuyers. “There is a market for the green home, but it is a small percentage.  There would be some added value, but not all that much since you wouldn’t want to limit yourself to only that small pool of buyers,” remarks Rob Rogers of Zephyr Real Estate in San Francisco.

Surveys in Seattle

I asked the BuildItGreen folks, since they invented the Greenpoints system. Amy Dryden of BuildItGreen replied, “There is discussion to have GreenPoint Rated and other green building systems on the MLS. ” (The MLS or Multiple Listing Service is the national clearinghouse for up-to-date real estate listings.)

She continued: “We can reference the Seattle and Atlanta areas, where green building ratings have been integrated onto the MLS there. The results are as follows:

• Homes with a Green rating sold 24%- 50% faster in Seattle and Atlanta
• Sale price for Green rated homes were 4.8%- 24% higher than for non-rated homes (Seattle)
• Resale value was 5-16% greater, compared to a 2% depreciation for non-green (Seattle)”

As of this writing, I don’t have the study that she was referencing. I’ll update this post when I can obtain that information.

So yes, apparently green homes can sell more quickly, for a higher price, and they don’t lose their value as quickly in a downturn. Amy sent me a study by McGraw Hill  which is partly a survey of what people say they would do, and partly a survey of what they are doing, particularly in terms of using green remodeling products. From their summary pages, it says that on average, homebuyers are paying a premium of $19,300 more for a green home, and 70% are more inclined to buy a green home in a down economy.

Furthermore, owners of green homes reported far higher levels of satisfaction with their homes. “Satisfaction” is an intangible quality that is not quantifiable, but then again, it’s a whole lot better than hating your home.

That’s Great for Seattle, But What About Here?

Now, does this translate into a guarantee for Bay Area homeowners that they’ll actually get more for their home eventually if they start greening it now? Umm, I’m not really sure. The McGraw Hill study was a huge survey that covered a lot of topic areas, all based on self-reported responses rather than actual real estate market activity; the sample sizes for the detailed respondents were only in the hundreds, although the initial pool was far larger.

It might be a case where individual measures are easier to quantify than some umbrella “green” designation. In a recent interview with Green Compliance Plus, solar contractor Fernando Valenzuela had talked about solar grid parity and the connection between operating costs and property value as follows: each dollar saved on annual home operating costs adds $20 to the property value. So if you tighten your home enough to save $600 a year, that theoretically should add $12,000 to the value.

Today’s “Beyond Compliance” Will Be Tomorrow’s Baseline

Back to our Title 24 clients. Another piece of reasoning to consider when going “beyond compliance” is simply this. You don’t know what you’ll be doing down the road. Maybe you’ll want to remodel again, and that remodel will have to pass a new and stricter Title 24 code. If the Title 24 has to be applied to the entire home, than all those additional measures, that had seemed superfluous at the time, might turn out to be a good thing in the second go-round.

Maybe you’ll only discover incentive programs after the fact and wish you’d taken their requirements into account sooner.

Or, maybe you’ll be putting that home on the market and discovering at some future time that a Greenpoint rated home is worth a lot more than it was when you did the work. All those efficiency measures you put in earlier could help the rating, as well as generally adding to the home’s market appeal.

Take Destiny Into Your Own Hands and Love Your Home

A lot of green market appeal is based on consumer awareness, and that of course is not entirely predictable. The McGraw Hill study indicates that homeowners are becoming more knowledgeable about green building, which would suggest that it is a priority for some. If owners of green homes continue to report higher levels of satisfaction with their homes than non-green owners, that should also eventually percolate as neighbors and friends trade information in the course of daily life.

A happy home is more than just a dollar investment.

With all the focus on sustainable building, and increased local and national incentive programs, the question is why everyone isn’t on the bandwagon already. Why aren’t homeowners rushing to improve their homes to cut their fuel bills? Well…  for one thing, a lot of people don’t like their homes and don’t feel particularly connected to them, and if they spend any money at all it’ll be for something they can see and enjoy right away, like a granite countertop. Possibly, being better-informed fosters a sense of empowerment in homeowners which in turn contributes to their feeling more satisfied with their homes.