What is a “Green” Home?

Carmen Isais — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:08:54 +0000

According to the Santa Monica OSE (Office of Sustainability and the Environment), a “green” building places a high priority on health, environmental and resource conservation performance over its life-cycle. These new priorities expand and complement the classical building design concerns: economy, utility, durability, and delight. Green design emphasizes a number of new environ-mental, resource and occupant health concerns:

Reduce human exposure to noxious materials.
Conserve non-renewable energy and scarce materials.
Minimize life-cycle ecological impact of energy and materials used.
Use renewable energy and materials that are sustainably harvested.
Protect and restore local air, water, soils, flora and fauna.
Support pedestrians, bicycles, mass transit and other alternatives to fossil-fueled vehicles.

Most green buildings are high-quality buildings; they last longer, cost less to operate and maintain, and provide greater occupant satisfaction than standard developments. Sophisticated buyers and lessors prefer them, and are often willing to pay a premium for their advantages.

What surprises many people unfamiliar with this design movement is that good green buildings often cost little or no more to build than conventional designs. Commitment to better performance, close teamwork throughout the design process, openness to new approaches, and information on how these are best applied are more important than a large construction budget.

Sustainable Home Examples

While these homes are not located in Davis, California, they do serve as inspiration.

Carmen Isais

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Green Remodeling

Heather Barnes — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:36:49 +0000

Green remodeling can save you money on utilities, increase the resale value, and provide a healthy, environmentally conscious home. The following quotes are from an article in the September 2008 issue of California Real Estate. Mike Hall, president and CEO of Berkeley-based solar company Borrego Solar was quoted as saying,

“For every 1,000 watts of power in a home that’s coming from PV (photovoltaic panels), it can add $20,000 to the resale value of your home.”

Chris Bartle of Green Key Real Estate was quoted,

“If you’re comparing [green building] to a super-cheap Home Depot remodel, then yeah, it’s more expensive,” he explains. But if you’re comparing it to a high-end remodel with granite counter tops and things like that, then a lot of times it’s actually cheaper.”

The opening of “Green” building supply companies is evidence of the increasing popularity of Green remodeling. Davis has it’s own eco-friendly home improvement store called Casa Verde. There are also recycling options for building materials. Sacramento’s Habitat for Humanity has a building supply store called the ReStore offering surplus building supplies donated to the store and sold at discount prices. Another web-site resource is www.thereusepeople.org. They are a non-profit organization that provides environmentally responsible demolition services and sells reusable building materials.

If you would like more information on green building and learn about the “GreenPointed Rated” system, check out www.builditgreen.org