NAHB Kicks Off Green Building Conference With Homes Tour

Three busloads of curious builders, remodelers, and architects snaked through the Dallas suburbs May 8, stopping six times to walk through each of the projects selected for this year’s NAHB Tour of Green Homes, the first event at the 2009 National Green Building Conference. The tour was sponsored by the Council for Responsible Energy, a natural gas industry alliance formed to promote natural gas as a green alternative fuel. And while some stops were more valuable than others in terms of providing details and information, each one offered attendees the chance to compare notes with the tour’s builders, walk a variety of new and remodeled homes, and check out green features and products.

Here are some highlights from the tour:

Stop 1: T.W. Bailey’s 3,850-square-foot infill project was still being framed when we arrived, so we got a good look at the engineered and SFI-certified lumber products he’s used as well as his efforts to reduce lumber through advanced framing details. The home also has Dows SIS structural insulating sheathing wrapping the exterior, augmenting a tight shell (including sealed attic) that will be insulated with Demilec Agribalance foam. A tall central turret will be equipped with motorized windows to enhance convective air flow for natural ventilation.

Stop 2: Longtime high-performance-home builder Don Ferrier, of Ferrier Custom Homes, invited tour attendees into an interesting Energy Value Housing Award winner he built in 2006, nestled into mature cottonwood and pecan trees. The house is built with SIPs and an ICF-formed thermal mass floor, and is designed and oriented to maximize natural daylighting and passive solar heat gain in the winter, and to reduce heat gain during cooling periods. The house includes a prototype water-tower chiller, a unique sealed, pressurized and conditioned crawl space that acts as a heat sink, and a Galvalume reflective metal roof that reflects most of the heat that hits it. Parked on the permeable-paved driveway was a natural-gas-powered Honda Civic with its home refueling station (called Phill) that connects to an existing natural gas line and will fill the car overnight for a 200-mile range.

Stop 3: Elizabeth Newman of Elizabeth Newman Custom Homes focused on using recycled-content materials in her 5,975-square-foot “Colorado Contemporary” tour home, including hardwood cherry floors, carpeting, cork flooring, and kitchen and bath countertops made from recycled glass and newspaper. Energy-saving features include Energy Star appliances, Navian tankless water heaters, Honeywell 16-SEER air conditioning and air exchangers, Anderson 100 Series windows, and a GE Smart Command System controller. In addition to the air exchangers, indoor air quality was targeted by installing a Dirt Devil central vac system with retractable hoses and using Mythic zero-VOC paints throughout. Newman also installed low-flow Delta faucets and showerheads and a drip irrigation system to conserve water.

Stop 4: Earl Williams of Earl Williams & Associates gave us a passionate presentation and his team provided plenty of specific details as we walked through his remodeling project. Faced with an extremely tight budget and timeline, Williams focused on the most practical energy upgrades and attainable water conservation measures. They overhauled the existing HVAC duct system and zoned the rooms, resulting in a downsizing of the new 16-SEER unit, installed tankless water heaters, replaced existing toilets with new dual-flush and HET products, and installed new low-flow faucets and showerheads. Recycled materials, including DuPont Zodiaq countertops, add to the green features. Energy Star appliances and lighting fixtures were used throughout.

Stop 5:Newport Homebuilders showcased its 5,067-square-foot Biltmore II model in progress that achieved a HERS 71 rating, and features low-E windows, R-38 attic insulation and a radiant barrier roof deck, mechanically controlled fresh air ventilation system, dual-flush toilets and low-flow faucets and showerheads, drip irrigation, and a programmable hot water circulation system. A peek inside the attic though, showed air ducts running in unconditioned space, which is not optimal. The builder is shooting for a Silver level certification under the National Green Building Standard when complete.

Stop 6:GreenCraft Builders’ Collyville Eco House revealed the tour’s strongest design and the most concerted efforts to build a green home, addressing all aspects of product selection and performance. In fact, this home, built as part of DOE’s Building America Program, has achieved Green Built North Texas, NAHB Gold, LEED for Homes Gold, and Energy Star certifications. Construction of the 3,500-square-foot home began with deconstruction of an existing house whose materials were donated to Habitat for Humanity. The design and orientation along the east-west axis of the site take into account passive solar heating as well as sun control for cooling. Builder Chris Miles used 51% fly-ash concrete, advanced framing details, LP TechShield radiant-barrier roof deck, Galvalume radiant-barrier metal roofing, Demilec spray-foamed walls and sealed attic, Tyvek housewrap and flashing systems, James Hardie fiber-cement exterior trim, Pella low-E windows, recycled-content drywall and EnviroGlas countertops, and reclaimed wood flooring. The home also features a 28-EER Water Furnace ground source heat pump system, HEPA air filtration, Rinnai gas tankless water heaters, dual-flush toilets and low-flow fixtures, Energy Star appliances, and a 3-kw solar PV system.