Green Design

“Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.”

—Jonas Salk

Green Design is an expression that means ecological considerations have been included in the design of your home or addition. Ecology is defined as the branch of biology that deals with the relation of living things to their environment and to each other, which is the central issue of Green Design and Green Building.

Green, first and foremost, means high performance. We care about the impact that the building materials used in your home have on the environment during their manufacture, delivery, installation; and how these materials affect your comfort and health. Being mindful of the lifecycle impacts of a home can provide great environmental, economic and social benefits to the homeowner, community and the world. So, look beyond payback.

Energy efficient homes can help reduce your annual energy costs up to 30 percent or more and you can count on greater comfort year round. In addition, many utility companies will take 5 percent or more off your total monthly electric bill and you can save thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your home. You can have an independent third party test and certify that your home meets a green building guideline program. Setting our standards to an energy efficient building makes it a win/win situation for the homeowner and the environment.

  • High efficiency HVAC, with high seasonal energy efficiency and sealed air distribution systems, ensures greater durability, comfort and long term affordability, (make sure the duct system is sealed with mastic not just taped). Since 20 percent of the energy in an average home is lost through leaks in ductwork, the proper sealing cuts that loss to zero. You don’t want leaky ductwork anymore than you want leaky plumbing. You stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer and save money. Usually mechanical systems can be downsized in a green home, saving money up front. Your builder should have the HVAC Contractor do a Manual J analysis (or an equivalent or better) before sizing your system.
  • The energy efficient method of rough framing supports the use of more insulation and insulating in places that are often impossible to do in homes that don’t incorporate this type of framing. Adding rigid insulation can stop that uncomfortable airflow in attic knee walls in the bonus room over the garage, which is a major source of energy inefficiency. We supply all the information needed in notes and pictorial details for the builder to easily understand this concept.
  • Sealing all exterior holes with caulk can stop leaky, uncomfortable drafts. Sometimes it takes detective work by the builder to find all the tiny holes that steal energy from your home. To locate the leaks, Home Energy Audits can be done on new and existing homes. Most of the conditioned air travels up through holes leading into your attic and right out into the atmosphere where plumbing stacks and other equipment pierce the through the ceiling into the attic. Air can intrude or escape around outlets, switch boxes and plumbing fixtures on exterior walls. Foaming around these can do the trick.
  • Using Energy Star appliances maximizes energy and dollar savings in your home.
  • Use fluorescent bulbs in the three lighting fixtures that stay on the most. These bulbs do not produce heat in the summer like incandescent bulbs, and last much longer. LED bulbs are great energy savers but are pricey for residential use right now.
  • In some cases, mortgage companies have special financing opportunities. They know that your home costs are not just principal, interest, taxes and insurance but also monthly utility bills. With an energy efficient home, your utility bills will be lower and you may qualify for a larger mortgage.

Next Section: Passive Solar > >
Testing for Energy Efficiency

Testing for Energy Efficiency

Passive Solar

Examples of Green Design include passive solar which is a sustainable energy source and is easy to incorporate in new homes and additions. Designing for passive solar energy collection involves positioning the longest wall of the home to face within 15 degrees, plus or minus, of true south to receive the most winter solar heat gain and reduce summer cooling costs. Taking advantage of the sun’s energy can be as easy as having many windows on the south wall, and making the other rooms of your home sun tempered. This can have quite an impact on your heating and cooling costs. The sun is higher in the sky in summer, so the south wall exterior should have a large overhang (18" to 2') to keep the rooms cool in summer. You can go further with passive solar design by sizing the south facing windows to produce the optimum solar gain and build in a thermal mass (like a 4" concrete floor) to collect the sun’s heat and this mass will release this heat into the house over time. This, of course, can give additional heating and cooling savings to the homeowner, help save the environment, and decrease our need for foreign oil.

Active solar power is derived from photovoltaic collectors that convert the sun’s renewable energy into electric energy to use in your home. At this time, most of this technology is not cost effective. However, active solar hot water is very cost effective and can give you all the hot water you could ever use, paying for itself in energy savings and tax credits. Your traditional hot water heater can’t do this. Solar hot water reduces the need for coal-generated energy, which causes so many environmental problems.

You can read more about energy efficient housing on the web at www.energystar.gov.

The North Carolina Solar Center: www.ncsc.ncsu.edu

North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association: www.ncsustainableenergy.org

And for solar solutions and products: www.southernenergymanagement.com