Category Archives: Green Homes Spotlight

Building a Net Zero Energy Home: Key Early Decisions

Posted on July 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

When I decided to rebuild my home at The Evergreen Institute in east-central Missouri, which as many readers know, burned in a fire in January 2011, I had to make some decisions before I could begin work with my architect, James Plagmann of HumaNature Architecture.

The first decision was whether I would retain the existing foundation or start anew. In my case, the choice was made by the fire and the
building department. As it turns out, the south wall of the foundation had been so badly damaged in the fire that it had to go. That was the building department’s recommendation.

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To create a net zero energy home, I knew I had to pour on the insulation. So, I decided to build with insulated concrete forms to achieve an R value of around 30. I also decided to place 5 inches of extruded polystyrene under the slab to achieve an R-value of around 30. At this writing, we’ve already poured the foundation walls.

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Property Spotlight – Home Gets LEED Platnum Rating

Posted on June 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

Nothing green.” In 2008, that was a couple’s caveat to architect Nate Kipnis when they hired him to renovate their Colonial home. “They thought it would look too high-tech or out-of-the box, and didn’t understand environmentally sustainable design,” he says.

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Many don’t. Mention “green” and visions of the modern multimillion dollar dazzlers on magazine pages come to mind, such as the Zero Net Energy Home in Chicago. In 2009, the $2.2 million, 2,675 square foot residence became the nation’s first to attain platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Homes program (the acronym stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). With dual soaring butterfly roofs and glassy walls framed with sleek cedar and cement board cladding, it stands out from the vintage housing stock that surrounds it.

Yet “green” doesn’t have to be synonymous with edgy or super-expensive. A picturesque, 5,500-square-foot Glencoe, Ill., residence designed by Kipnis for Barry and Natalie Slotnick proved the point when it became the second home in the state to be certified LEED platinum last July. “It’s classic in style, proportion and form but modern in its use of systems and materials — and more than twice as large as the Chicago home yet cost 60 percent less to build,” says Kipnis.

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HGTV’s Eco-Home Goes Lean and Green

Posted on June 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

The approach to green is becoming much more holistic, encompassing a lifestyle that embraces existing with less space, living in a home longer and, best-case scenario, locating your home in a green-friendly community.

There are many reasons to go green, whether building a new home or renovating an existing one. You’ll save money when you make your systems function more efficiently, and you’ll have a warm glow of satisfaction at saving the planet one solar-water heater at a time.

A beautifully seductive billboard for the merits of green building, the striking house that cable channel HGTV built sits on a hill in the 1,000-acre Chattahoochee Hills, Ga., community of Serenbe, 30 minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The three-bedroom, 2 ½-bath home will be awarded to one sweepstakes winner in late June and will be open for public tours through June 24. For chances to enter the sweepstakes, go to www.hgtv.com/green-home/index.html.Designed by Atlanta architect Steve Kemp, of Kemp Hall Studio, the HGTV Green Home 2012 is a 21st-century spin on the classic American farmhouse, a combination of nostalgia and forward-thinking green values evident in features such as solar panels to generate electricity.