Environmentally Certified Homes

By Lisa Pickert

Previously I talked about how green building programs differ from code built homes (see Blog May 20). Now I’d like to go deeper into their methods and value.
Every green building program requires extensive third-party verification that a home built to their standards (typically higher than existing building code) indeed meets those standards. Most green building programs have their own employees who go on-site to provide actual testing and an independent rating of various aspects of the home’s actual achieved (vs. modeled) energy efficiency. These include testing for things like unplanned air infiltration, HVAC duct leakage and carbon monoxide leakage. For example, Earth Advantage technicians came to our Riverview model home and used a blower door to test to identify that our home had less than 0.6 air changes per hour vs. the required maximum allowed 7 air changes per hour.

Another method of third party verification is through compliance forms that are required to be signed off by suppliers or installers. This ensures that what is specified for the home during the planning stages actually gets delivered during the construction phase. For example, at Miranda, we use a hardwood flooring called Tigerwood. When this wood is delivered to our site, we look for a stamp on the bundle from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The Forest Steward Council has specific criteria that describe how the forests have to be managed to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations

So what does this mean to the buyer of Miranda Homes? It translates to money back in your pocket when you pay smaller utility bills for our homes as opposed to the cost for the same square footage from builders who don't subscribe to these higher standards. Third party verification means you can count on actual health benefits in a Miranda Home because the conditioned air you breathe inside the home will be planned and filtered at all times. See Rob’s blog on May 26.

Best of all, buying a home that is third party certified “green” is proving to provide better resale for our homeowners when they decide to sell. See this recent study in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce entitled, “Green Homes Outselling Rest of Market” for more details. http://www.djc.com/news/en/12015059.html