First LEED Platinum Home in Virginia

This modern, award-winning abode is the first LEED Platinum home in Virginia. Located at 5803 16th Street North in Arlington, the home was built by Metro Green and designed by Kaplan Thompson Architects (the firm that also designed the popular net-zero energy Bright Built Barn). Although it's a little bigger than the ones we tend to mention -- 3,825 square feet with a tight footprint -- I think the home is worth mentioning for a number of reasons. First, annual heating and cooling costs are $180 and $125 respectively! In addition, 5803 has the following green elements:

• A Liveroof green roof;
• 1 kW array of photovoltaics;
• Geothermal wells and heat pump;
• Efficient SIPs walls and roof;
• Efficient spray foam insulation;
• High efficiency appliances;
• Energy recovery ventilation system;
• Low-VOC finishes and paints;
• 540 gallons of rainwater cisterns;
• Custom nanogel curtain wall glazing;
• Double-glazed, argon-filled windows; and
• Pervious paving and drought-tolerant landscaping.

5803 was designed to be efficient from the beginning. It received a HERS score of 51, Energy Star rating of 5+ Stars, and Energy Star certification for exceptional indoor air quality. Moreover, the site design features zero site runoff for a one-inch rain event. And in case you're in the market for a green home, check these links.

[+] Metro Green LEED Platinum home
[$] 5803 16th St North is for sale for $1.175k at Redfin.

Photo credits and copyright: Parker Daniell.

Oregon Shift House Seeks Passive House

Last week, Willamette Week Online published an article called "Futurehaus," which we linked to in our Saturday Week in Review. The article describes an Oregon Passive House project in the works by Root Design Build. The house is referred to as the Shift House, which, awkwardly enough, is not to be confused with the other Shift Home that we covered recently. But that's not to take anything away from it. With construction set to begin next month, upon completion in September, it'll be one of only a few certified Passive Houses in the United States.

Of course, the media has been giving attention to Passive Houses, and the broader public is becoming more and more aware of the standard. Passive Houses require three main things: an airtight envelope, little to no heating and cooling energy, and minimal overall energy use. You can read about the more technical standards on the Passive House website.

Root Design Build's Shift House maintains a somewhat traditional design, and the necessary energy efficiency goals will be sought by eliminating thermal bridges and using super insulation, roof overhangs, triple-pane windows, south-facing windows, concrete floors for thermal mass, and waste heat, etc. And with the tight envelope, the home requires a heat recovery ventilator to keep the air fresh.

Shift House will be just over 1,700 square feet, and Root Design Build has $300,000 budgeted for construction. Although the home will have solar panels, not counting energy from the panels, the estimated yearly heating cost should be under $200, if all goes as planned. Very interesting. We'll keep you posted as the Shift House moves forward ...

As a side note ... it seems popular to couch LEED criticism in praise for Passive House. Most certainly, LEED could be more rigorous in terms of energy performance, although it should be remembered that the goal of the program is market transformation. But as has been said by others, LEED and Passive House don't necessarily need to be mutually exclusive. Moreover, while Passive House zeros in on energy efficiency and tightness, LEED has a broader focus on other important environmental aspects, such as site issues, construction activity, materials and waste, water efficiency, and environmental air quality, etc. The goals and programs are slightly different. In any event, you know we'll be the first to tell you if we see a LEED Platinum Passive House.

Modern Green Affordable Shift Home

Inspired by the likes of Dwell and the 100k House, Deezine.ca and Shift Development came together with an idea. They thought it would be interesting to have a modern, green, and affordable home designed by an entire community online. Ideas are posted online and the community can make suggestions for changes. Their idea became the Shift Home. You can see how the design has changed in the past few months, but to be clear, this home is not just a thought experiment. Shift Development breaks ground in late-May, or thereabouts.

The Shift Home will be located in Riversdale in Saskatchewan, roughly three blocks from the redevelopment of River Landing. If all goes as planned, the home will be the first LEED Canada for Homes Certified home in Saskatchewan.

The goal is to be affordable to a household income of less than $40k a year.

In addition, the philosophy for green design is to conserve first and use green technology after everything else has been done. Standard green features include a super-insulated envelope, rainwater catchment, heat recovery, triple-glazed windows, a recycling center, dual-flush toilets, and low-flow fixtures. Green upgrades include a green roof, solar thermal, and LED lighting, etc.

The final design for the envelope will be released tomorrow, but help is still needed. The Shift Home needs community insight as to interior and product selections. So get involved ...