Ecomental

From Fine HomeBuilding - Energy Smart Homes

Even among buyers inclined toward green construction, the biggest hurdle green builders face is that most homebuyers don’t have the knowledge to evaluate competing claims of greenness.  And in the building industry, a lot of people are claiming to be green.  For the consumer, it can be a real challenge to pick legitimate green products and services from those that have been “greenwashed.”  This is where LEED comes in.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC; www.usgbc.org) to encourage the consatruction of energy- and resource-efficient buildings that are healthy to live in. In the LEED for Homes (LEED-H) program, participating houses are awarded points based on materials, construction methods, and energy efficiency.  The USGBC awards a LEED rating of certified, silver, gold, or platinum based on the number of points a house accumulates in the 136-point system.  The point total for each grade listed below is for an average-size house.  The point threshold in each rating category is lowered for smaller-than-average houses and raised for larger-than-average houses.

• Certified, 45 Points
• Silver, 60 Points
• Gold, 75 Points
• Platinum, 90 Points

The strength of the LEED-H program is that the rating is done by a third party.  All of the material selection and construction techniques are documented, and the home’s energy performance is tested.  A homebuyer doesn’t have to take the real-estate agent’s or the builder’s word that ccertain construction methods were used.

LEED-H has its critics, but devising a system that provides a comprehensive evaluation of the home-building process from design phase through homeowner posession - one that uses a consistent, meaningful grading scale regardless of locale-is an ambitious undertaking.

LEED-H now grades on a 136 point scale.  Points are offered in eight categories for adopting specific building practices and for using certain materials or products.  All homes in the program must adopt 18 mandatory measures.  In addition, 16 points must be achieved to meet minimum requirements in four of the categories.  Architects or builders are free to choose how they want to acquire additional points depending on variables such as site, climate, house design, and budget.  Below is a breakdown of the LEED categories, the number of points available in each category, and the goals of each category.

Innovation & Design: 11 Points

Integrate knowledge of all the trades in the design process, plan to make the most durable house possible, and orient the house for solar design.

Location & Linkages: 10 Points

Choose a socially and environmentally responsible site.

Sustainable Sites: 22 Points

Minimize the impact of constructin and the house on the site.

Water Efficiency: 15 Points

Conserve water indoors and outdoors.

Energy & Atmosphere: 38 Points

Build a well-insulated and tight building envelope with efficient heating and cooling systems.

Materials & Resources: 16 Points

Reduce material waste during construction, and use green products.

Indoor Environmental Quality: 21 Points

Use appliances, installation methods, and ventilation measures to improve indoor air-quality.

Awareness & Education: 3 Points

Compile a homeowner’s manual covering the operation and maintenance of the house.

Related articles

• Never Mind the Earth, Green Your Home for Your Health
• Green building “LEED 2009″ will take effect next year
• LEED certified buildings on the rise! (greenmonk.net)
• Universities’ ivory towers going green (thestar.com)

Housing Energy conservation, Environmental Design, Green building, LEED

Click the “Version” numbers above to see how different electronics firms have been fairing since 2006 with their move to green.

The Greenpeace organization is helping us all make more informed decisions regarding our electronics purchases - allowing us to make conscious decisions to purchase from ‘greener’ electronics manufacturers, theoretically supporting that firm’s green initiatives. Read more…

Household, Industry Climate change, Electronic waste, Greenpeace, Microsoft, Recycling

By Paul Crossley

There tend to be two distinct sides to the Cloth Diapers versus Disposable Diapers debate: either you’re ‘for’ cloth and against disposable or the opposite.  You may also have the reasons lined up in your mind with regard to precisely why you’re in one camp or the other.

Common reasons to be ‘pro’ cloth include such notions as, reducing landfill, the bacteria and viruses created from human excrement in landfills, trees and plastics used to create disposables and so on.  The ‘pro’ disposable segment will speak to pesticide use in growing cotton (though organic cloth diapers are now available), pollution through harvesting and transporting cotton (though producing and transporting disposables also causes pollution) and to human waste in the local water supply through laundering (though this water waste goes to the same place as the water waste in your toilet: the sewage system.

This article will look at the pros and cons of the ecological debate and introduce an additional element over and above the well-being of the Earth: our own health. Read more…

Household Children, Earth, Environment, Waste Management, Water

Reprinted from BusinessWeek, March 2007

The organizers of the Academy Awards declare all their celebrity presenters to be “carbon-neutral.” Vail Resorts Inc. in Colorado boasts that its chairlifts and lodges are “100% powered by wind.” Seattle’s municipal utility claims that its net contribution to global warming is zero.

A growing number of organizations, corporations, cities, and individuals are seeking to protect the climate—or at least claim bragging rights for protecting the climate. Rather than take the arduous step of significantly cutting their own emissions of carbon dioxide, many in the ranks of the environmentally concerned are paying to have someone else curtail air pollution or develop “renewable” energy sources. Carbon offsets, as the most common variety of these deals is known, have become one of the most widely promoted products marketed to cheque-book environmentalists. Read more…

Industry Carbon, Climate change, Environment, Environmentalism, Offsets, REC, United States, Waste Management

By Paul Crossley

The debate in a nutshell: which has a greater impact on the environment vis-a-vis carbon capturing/sequestration: Young trees or old growth?

Here’s the thing: By now we all know that trees serve to absorb carbon from the atmosphere, but which is better? Read more…

Nature Carbon, Climate change, Environment, Environmentalism, Forestry, Global warming, Greenhouse gas, Trees

By Paul Crossley

I give you exhibit ‘A’ :

This attractive, economical car is a 2009 Ford.  This sporty new design seats five, offers a GPS navigation system, and will give you an incredible 65 miles per gallon (about 3.7L/100km).

A diesel powerplant provides the stunning fuel economy, but therein lies the rub:  Due to the little car’s use of diesel, it will not be made available to North American users.  “We know it’s an awesome vehicle,” says Ford America President Mark Fields. “But there are business reasons why we can’t sell it in the U.S.”  The ‘business reason’ is used here as code-language for saying, “because it runs on diesel.”

Diesel fuel is regarded as a relatively old technology while North Americans flock to the various hybrid technologies, forsaking all others.

This Fiesta has been tweaked to minimize fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. In this case the car is equipped with a 1.6L diesel and the usual mix of closing off openings in the front to reduce the drag. A pair of small air deflectors on the trailing edge of the wheel wells helps to control airflow coming off the back of the car. Revised engine calibrations, a taller final drive ratio and low rolling resistance tires yield a combined mileage rating of 65.3 mpg (US) on the EU test cycle. Carbon dioxide emissions are measured at 98 g/km.

This and similar stances are a prime example of North American auto manufacturers’ ecomentality. There is a rumour that the Fiesta ECOnetic, or a variant of it, may be available in North America sometime in 2010…only time will tell.

Related articles

• Ford Lifts Hemp Curtain On Fiesta ECOnetic [2009 Ford Fiesta ECOnetic]
• Ford Fiesta Econetic review: Paying to save the planet (telegraph.co.uk)

Automotive Automobile, Diesel, Fuel efficiency