Robert McLaughlin’s net-zero model home for Greensburg residents has a 20-year payback.
Green Living
Green: The Color of Money
Several organizations have created certification programs so you can find the serious professionals — and grasp the additional costs.
BY
Tammy Worth
PHOTOGRAPHY
Renderings courtesy of McLaughlin Design Associates

When it comes to home building and remodeling, some homeowners are looking for “green bling” — fashion in the form of bamboo flooring and recycled glass tiles. Others are going green out of a commitment to the environment or because clean indoor air can improve the health of their families. But for many homeowners, the green movement goes beyond which products to choose or the love of endangered polar bears and comes from a force much greater — their pocketbooks. 

“There is the issue of seeing what it is going to cost to heat our homes this year and we are seeing how poorly insulated houses only 10 years old really are,” says Robert McLaughlin, owner of McLaughlin Design Associates.

And while various estimates of the cost of green building versus the return on investment of these homes have been bandied about, most experts in the industry say that it varies greatly depending upon the home’s “shade of green.”

Robert, who went to high school in Greensburg, Kan., the tiny town famous for being obliterated by a tornado last year, has designed a model home for the city’s rebuilding efforts that is virtually a net-zero building, conserving and creating enough energy so that it cancels out usage. This home costs 20 percent more than a typical house would and has an estimated 20-year payback.

But he adds that this is an extreme example and that many highly efficient homes run more in the range of an additional 5 to 15 percent. And many of the changes will be paid back in as little as five years, a time frame “that’s pretty easy to justify,” he adds.

How green you want to go is up to you and your budget, with options much like an à la carte menu, according to Kevin Enyeart, chairman of the Build Green Council for the Kansas City Home Builders Association and vice president and general manager of Lee’s Summit-based Gale Home Builders.

Depending on how the home is built, he typically sees a 2 to 6 percent increase in the cost to build green. In two recent homes he built at New Longview that were certified green by the National Association of Home Builders (see page 66), he estimates savings between $800 and $1,200 annually.

While green homeowners may have dreams of costly solar panels and water capture systems, Grant Manka, Green Certified Professional (GCP) and owner of Manka Design/Build, says inexpensive alternatives like insulating the attic or exterior walls can add up to huge savings.

Where to find help
If helping the environment and saving money are attractive concepts, and you want to build or remodel, where do you start? Professional designations and certifications are helpful to gauge green professionals, but there are a handful, and some of the designations are easier to obtain than others.

“There aren’t a lot of people out there in the home business who are specialists in green building, so look for someone with a track record — you don’t want to be   someone’s first green home because there is a learning curve involved,” Robert says.

One designation that can be obtained by home builders and developers is Energy Star Partner. To gain this title, builders must agree to use the Energy Star name, build homes that meet EPA guidelines and build at least one Energy Star home every year. These homes include features that make them 20 to 30 percent more efficient than traditionally built structures.

If you are looking to remodel, the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) offers a Green Certified Professional (GCP) designation for remodelers who apply green or sustainable practices to their projects. To receive certification, contractors who have at least five years of experience in the remodeling industry submit applications for NARI’s approval, take an exam and complete 16 hours of continuing education in green remodeling practices.

Another designation is the Certified Green Professional (CGP) offered by the National Association of Home Builders. This certifies both remodelers and builders who apply green or sustainable practices to projects. The CGP requires 24 hours of training and additional education every two years. These professionals learn how to become involved in green building and ways to create green homes at a low cost.

Robert, known by many locally as an expert in green building, helped design Bill Gates’ environmentally friendly Seattle home and currently is not green-certified, but he says he is seriously considering getting designated in what some consider the mother of all certifications: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

“For me this isn’t something that’s new, but it is kind of turning into a program to be taken seriously; you have to be a LEED AP (Accredited Professional),” he says.

Most people know LEED to be a rating system for the greenness of commercial buildings, and more than 50,000 people have been certified since 2001 as LEED APs through the U.S. Green Building Council (GBC). These individuals include architects, landscape designers, builders and consultants who have proven, by taking a rigorous exam, that they have a thorough understanding of green building practices and can direct the LEED certification process.

The LEED process emphasizes the following areas: site development, water savings, energy efficiency, material and resource selection, and indoor air quality. In February of this year, the USGBC created a residential rating system called LEED-H that rates homes. There are currently no homes in Kansas and only four in Missouri (none in the Kansas City area) that meet LEED-H requirements.

Greg Garbos, the director of green technology for Metzler Remodeling, says that the green home building industry locally is just catching up with national trends and that homeowners should make sure the builder is building green for sustainability, rather than for marketing reasons.

He recommends talking to organizations such as the GBC and Home Builders Association and preferably with people who have more than one certification or who you can find at events like Earth Day and Earth Fest.



Web Exclusive: Professional Guidelines


Building
Model green home building guidelines were created in 2005 by the NAHB and are voluntary guidelines used by builders to help engage in green building practices.
www.nahb.org

LEED-H
Created by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED for Homes is a voluntary rating system that promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes. www.greenhomeguide.org

Remodeling
Regreen Guidelines
Created this year by the American Society of Interior Designers’ Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council, these are best-practice guidelines and targeted educational resources for sustainable residential improvement projects.
www.greenhomeguide.org

Other helpful links:
www.usgbc.org
www.kchba.com
www.nahb.org
www.nari.org
www.energystar.gov