From the category archives:

LEED

Green & Energy Certifications for Homes – LEED is not the Only Way

April 10, 2008

Over the course of the past few months I have been researching a number of green building and energy efficient processes and certifications. I am coming to realize that the best home in terms of sustainability and energy efficiency is most likely a result of a combination of a few different guidelines or certification methods. [...]

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Innovation & Design Process (ID) – LEED for Homes Review

April 7, 2008

The first category in the LEED for Homes Checklist is the Innovation & Design Process. There are three sections in this category as follows: Integrated Project Planning (1 prerequisite / 4 points max) Durability Management Process (2 prerequisites / 3 points max) Innovation or Regional Design (4 points max) We’ll go through each section in [...]

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HERS Index Rating Initial Evaluation Results

April 7, 2008

We received the initial HERS Index scores from the Energy Star evaluations that MaGrann performed on our initial specs about two weeks ago. I have been crazy busy lately and forgot to post on this at the time. If you recall from our LEED Design Charrette, we need to hit a HERS Index of 50 [...]

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LEED for Homes – Home Size Adjustment Calculations

April 2, 2008

The Home Size Adjustment in the LEED for Homes rating system is intended to compensate for the overall effect that excessively large homes have on the environment. The size of a home effects two main aspects associated with the environment: The amount of resources and raw material used to build a home and all of [...]

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LEED for Homes Checklist

March 31, 2008

The LEED for Homes Checklist is simply an excel spreadsheet that lists all items in each of the eight categories where you can obtain points. For each category there may be a few items that are prerequisites or mandatory measures. For all other items there is usually a range of points that can be obtained [...]

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LEED for Homes Basic Process and Fees

March 21, 2008

LEED for Homes Basic Process The LEED for Homes system follows five basic steps: Contact a LEED for Homes Provider and join the program. Identify a project team. Build the home to the stated goals. Certify the project as a LEED home. Market and sell the LEED home. In our 100k project we chose Magrann [...]

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LEED for Homes Rating System – 100K Intro

March 19, 2008

This is the first of many posts on the LEED for Homes Rating System as it pertains to our 100K House Case Study. LEED for Homes Overview LEED stands for Leadership in Environmental and Energy-Efficient Design. It is a rating system for sustainable buildings developed by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). There are [...]

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A LEED Review on the 100K House Project

March 17, 2008

Since we had our LEED design charrette and preliminary LEED rating filled out I have been thinking more about the entire LEED process and the certification system in general. As the whole green building topic has reemerged lately and grown in popularity, the government’s LEED rating system has become a hotly debated topic. Some avid [...]

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Results of the LEED Design Charrette

March 6, 2008

So I just returned from today’s LEED Design Charrette and everything went very well. The bottom line is that we found out that reaching Platinum is possible with our design, but we have a few issues to clarify and iron out. Rob from MaGrann was extremely knowledgeable and taught us all a lot about the [...]

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LEED Design Charrette Today

March 6, 2008

Today is a big day for the project as we are having our LEED Design Charrette. The very first category in the LEED for Homes rating system is “Integrated Project Planning.” We are required to conduct a preliminary rating with our LEED Provider in order to target the level we want to reach (Certified, Silver, [...]

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