LEED for Homes

CHDC is proud to be pursuing LEED for Homes certification for Greenth Street. A voluntary rating system, LEED for Homes was created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to promote green building techniques, energy saving strategies, and use of high performance materials, appliances, and mechanical and electrical equipment. The LEED-certification system is based on a point system within specific categories in the build process. These categories include: Innovation & Design, Location & Linkages, Suitable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Awareness & Education.

Based on the amount of points earned, a LEED-certified house will receive a rating of Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. CHDC is in the process of achieving Silver level for Greenth Street.

For more information on the LEED process, please visit the USGBC website.

Rain Garden Installation

When building green, conservation of resources is just as important outside of the house as it is inside the house. For this reason, careful consideration should be taken when selecting landscape material. Native flowers and grasses, for instance, can help conserve water resources because they are adapted to local climate and rain-fall conditions; they also require little to no fertilizer because they have naturally acclimated to the soil types found in the Midwest region. Native plants help filter contaminates from rainwater as it seeps back into the water table, while prairie plants generally have extensive root systems that enable them to survive drought conditions.

When it comes to lawn care, CHDC decided to further reduce strain on additional resources such as petroleum products for lawnmowers by planting a "No Mow" Lawn Mix comprised of five different types of low-grow fescue. Because the grass grows slowly, the lawn should only need to be mowed once a summer, around mid-June, before the grass seedheads begin to open. A more manicured look may be achieved by mowing more often, but far less than regular lawns generally require. Fescue is drought tolerant and, once established, should not require additional watering.

Two rain gardens were installed at the front of 1347 Forest Avenue in order to capture roof rainwater run-off. One of the gardens is 60 square feet and the other is 120 square feet; both are tied into each other as well as to a 55 gallon rain barrel on the west side of the house. The gardens were sunk 36" into the lawn and shored up by timbers, in order to allow for excessive rain events. A mix of soil, top soil, and compost was then layered into each rain garden.

Plant material for the rain gardens are all native prairie species and include:

Red Milkweed (5), New England Aster (3), Crooked Stem Aster (8), White False Indigo (2), Wild Senna (2), Mistflower (3), Prairie Smoke (6), Maple Leaved Alum Root (2), Great Blue Lobelia (3), Bergamot (3), Marsh Phlox (5), Downy Phlox (6), Sweet Black Eyed Susan (2), Cupplant (1), Ohio Goldenrod (3), Ironweed (3), Culver's Root (3), Palm Sedge (14), Fox Sedge (14), and Indiangrass (8).

Both the "No Mow" Lawn Mix and the rain garden plants were purchased through Prairie Nursery based out of Wetfield, WI.

A small 2.5' by 9' 7" rain garden planter was also built onto the west side of the front porch deck. The planter receives rainwater from the overhanging eaves, which were perforated to allow for drainage. The planter was filled with dirt, compost, and red cedar mulch and was planted with Palm Sedge (3), Blue Hair Grass (3), and 'Red Wing' Creeping Phlox (6).

Running the tile from the house downspout to the rain gardens.

Digging out the rain gardens.

Shoring up the rain garden walls

The bottom of the rain garden was lined with garden plastic for weed control
and rocks for drainage.

Connecting the two rain gardens -- overflow valves linking the gardens.The finished 120 SF rain garden

The finished 60 SF rain garden


All plant material was one year old, with developed root stocks.

COSC Interiors Workshop

On January 26th the Center On Sustainable Communities (COSC) hosted a public Interiors Workshop at Greenth Street. The workshop focused on the green products used in the interior of the house such as the bamboo flooring, green plus carpeting, no-VOC paint, and recycled paper countertop.

Below are some pictures from the event:

Jeani Lee from Kitchen, Bath, and Home in Ames (left)
and Emily Karsjens of COSC (right)
discuss green interior options.

Shawn Pippert from CHDC and Jamie Malloy from Wells + Associates
discuss the green products used in building Greenth Street.

Jordan Collins, CHDC Homeownership Program Manager, (left)
and Shawn Pippert, CHDC Construction & Maintenance Director (right)
discuss the Greenth Street project.

COSC's Interiors Workshop.

For more information on COSC's upcoming public workshops and events please check out their website at www.icosc.com.

Green On the Inside

Below are a few pictures showing some of the green products used in 1347 Forest Avenue.

The kitchen cabinetry, including the PaperStone countertop
which is made from 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Paper.

Bamboo flooring was used throughout the first floor,
except in the bedroom and bathroom.
Bamboo is a fast-growing, rapidly-renewable resource.

The kitchen looking North: the recycled counter top, bamboo flooring,
and low-VOC paint and primer are all part
of Greenth Street's approach to a more sustainable, greener home living.

The pendent lights over the kitchen island.
All light fixtures in Greenth Street use Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFL) bulbs,
which are generally more efficient and longer-lasting than regular incandescent bulbs.

The back hallway on the first floor, looking towards the kitchen,
showing the inset for the refrigerator. All furnished kitchen appliances will
be Energy Star.

The first floor bedroom's closet: all bedrooms and
bedroom closets are carpeted with green plus carpeting.

The upstairs stairwell. The carpet is green-plus carpet.

Looking into the master bedroom from the top of the stairs.

Looking downstairs from the upstairs open stairwell.

The master bedroom.

The upstairs bathroom.
The flooring is marmorette with NATURcot from Armstrong.
It is a recycled, fast-growing and low-emitting flooring material.

A close-up of the bedrooms' lighting fixtures using CFL light bulbs.

The second bedroom on the second floor.
The stained-glass pieces were made and donated
to the Greenth Street project by Don Scandrett.

A close-up of one of the stained-glass panels.

SketchUp Model 2

Below are some SketchUp drawings of the second story bedrooms, bathroom, and closet space.

Fig. 1 Second floor layout

Fig. 2 Master bedroom and bathroom.


Fig. 3 Upstairs second bedtoom.

Putting on the Paint

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are organic chemical compounds which can be offgassed into the atmosphere either through evaporation or through oxidization. Often times VOCs are found in common household products such as paints, paint thinners, and industrial cleaning products, as well as carpets and laminated furniture. VOC's can contiminate indoor air quality, potentially causing "sick building syndrome" which can have short- and long-term health effects in both animals and humans. According to the EPA, indoor air quality can be 2 to 5 times more contaminated with organic pollutants than outdoor air quality. VOCs may cause the following health effects: nose, throat, and eye irritation; headaches, nausea, loss of coordination; damage to liver, kidneys, and the central nervouse system. Some VOCs have been found to cause cancer in animals and others are suspected to cause cancer in humans.

To reduce the risk of VOC contamination, CHDC used both no- and low-VOC paints and primers for the interior walls of Greenth Street. To meet EPA standards, low-VOC paints and primers must contain less than 200 g/l. For all but one wall of the house CHDC used Sherwin Williams Harmony no-VOC (0 g/l) paint and primer; the north wall of the kitchen/dinning room was painted with low-VOC (43 g/l) Sherwin Williams Duration Home paint (due to the type of pigment used). Adding tint and pigment to paint and primers can raise the level of VOCs up to 10 g/l, which is still a very low VOC content.

The main wall and trim color in Greenth Street is Extra White; the bedrooms and baths are painted Mindful Grey and the north wall of the kitchen/dinning room is painted Real Red. See pictures below for a color sample.

For more information about VOCs and no- to low-VOC paint and primer, please refer to:

EPA's "An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality".
EarthEasy: Ideas for Environmentally Sustainable Living, Non-toxic Paints.

Fig. 1 North wall of the kitchen/dinning room -- paint color is "Real Red".

Fig 2 Downstairs bathroom looking into hallway --
wall color in bathroom is "Mindful Grey", trim and hallway color is "Extra White".

Fig. 3 Stairwell opening looking upwards to second floor --
wall color is "Extra White".

Drywall

12/22/08 -- The drywall is now up in the house and painting has begun on the walls. Below are some pictures of the drywall process.

Figure 1. First floor bathroom.

For the bathtub and shower surrounds, CHDC used Georgia-Pacific DenoArmor Plus High-Performance Interior Panel; a paperless drywall that has fiberglass mats on the front and the back and which is highly mold-resistant. Paperless drywall is required by LEED for Homes in order to reduce the risk of mold and mildew inn moisture-rich environments such as bathrooms.

Figure 2. Second floor bathroom.

3. Kitchen, looking north.

4. Stairway, looking down towards first floor.

5. Master bedroom on second floor, looking north.