Living green involves more than just recycling, avoiding Styrofoam and plastic water bottles and conserving energy. Today not only how we live but where we live can make a tremendous impact on the environment, our communities, and especially our own standard of living. Green residential building has become the new standard in other parts of the country, one that’s just starting to emerge in South Carolina. To hear some local builders and contractors talk, homes should have been built like this all along.
According to estimates from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Department of Energy, 70 percent of a home’s lifetime energy use is determined by the time only three percent of its design budget has been spent. Whether you’re planning to build from the ground up, renovate an existing home or simply make a few low-cost improvements to lower your monthly energy bills, there are more reasons than ever to go green and more local resources to help you get there.
HBA OF GREATER COLUMBIA’S GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL
In 2007, the Home Builders Association (HBA) of Greater Columbia formed a Green Building Council to address questions from consumers and to educate the public and other industry professionals on sustainable residential and commercial construction, certified green products and other green building services. Its overall mission is “to promote environmentally responsible design, construction and operation of homes and communities through education, leadership and networking.” Comprised of more than 60 builders, remodelers and associate members, the Green Building Council of Greater Columbia is currently chaired by HBA member Joseph Gilmore, president of Gilmore Consulting Services, an energy auditing and rating company.
“The Council conducts quarterly case studies for people to see firsthand what really goes into the green building process,” says Gilmore. “When you understand the individual components, you get a greater understanding of the process as a whole. We want to share with individual consumers as well as other building professionals that just meeting the status quo is not good enough. A home should offer more than just shelter from the elements. Certified green homes can provide cleaner, healthier living environments; more recreation time (because you’re spending less time on maintenance and improvements); fewer or no problems with allergies for those who suffer from them; and even an environmentally-friendly landscape. Going green involves a lot of common sense applications like using Energy Star appliances, improving indoor air quality, using low-maintenance exterior materials and choosing native, drought-tolerant plants for your yard.”
Gilmore says three basic elements help determine a home’s projected energy costs — the “basic envelope” or outside seal of the house, appliance use and personal habits. Raters and auditors perform a rigorous process of evaluations to help homeowners and builders conserve as much energy as possible. Houses are tested for air tightness, air quality, energy-efficiency ratings and more. Citing a few recent success stories, Gilmore predicts that consumer demand for green-built homes in South Carolina will continue to grow as word spreads about the long-term energy savings and improved standards of living.
“There are new green homeowners in Northeast Columbia who we’ve talked with on four different occasions for continuous follow-up and tracking. So far, they’ve been totally pleased with their experience,” says Gilmore. “There are the owners of a 2,000-square-foot home in Leesville, who in three years have yet to pay more than $87 for their monthly power bill. There’s the house built in 1890 – before our audit and suggested improvements, its power bill ran more than $800 a month. We were able to reduce that monthly bill to about $300. As a special community project, volunteers from the Council were able to improve the energy efficiency of a local women’s shelter, built in the 1950s, by 40 percent. With more and more stories and savings like these, we know we’re doing the right thing.”
About 20 members of the Green Building Council hold a Certified Green Professional™ designation, or CGP. Administered by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the CGP recognizes builders, remodelers and other industry professionals who incorporate green building principles into homes without driving up the cost of construction. According to Gilmore, the CGP identifies a “highly trained, very dedicated individual. The trust factor goes up measurably when you see that designation.”
“Green building requires that homes are tested and certified in many different areas,” says Gilmore. Generally, individual homes and certain products and materials are certified green, not the builder or those working on the home. Plan-drawers can play a large role in the eventual performance of a house, but a “one-size-fits-all solution” is hard to come by.
“All houses are built differently, of course, but builders and contractors always perform better when they know the end product will be tested. From the time you scratch the ground, each element has to meet a certain criteria. If any area fails to meet the standard, that particular builder or contractor is responsible until it makes the grade. There’s even more reason to do high-quality work the first time. Public awareness and demand for this kind of performance will eventually make it mainstream.”
PROOF POSITIVE: LOCAL PROFESSIONALS LIVING GREEN
Perhaps no better testament to the benefits of sustainable construction are the industry professionals who, after designing, building or remodeling certified green homes for others, have now built green homes for themselves. Mark Bostic of Square One Design Service, Thom Chumney of The Mungo Co., Inc., and David Watkins of Shumaker Homes, Inc., are three such professionals in Columbia. All three are CGPs and members of the Green Building Council, and all three are enthusiastic about sharing what they’ve learned and now experienced firsthand.
“In the past, home construction was price- and payment-driven,” says Bostic, a home designer by trade and former Council chairman. “People were worried more about square footage or a flashier design, and builders were not rewarded for building a better house. Now energy-efficient homes are starting to look more attractive, and people are starting to understand what we’ve been talking about for four or five years. Other states are way ahead of South Carolina. Those up north have been doing it longer, maybe because they can actually feel a leak in the house and we can’t.” Bostic says the decision to build his own green home came from frustration with his power bills.
“My old house had holes in the attic, unsealed heating and air ducts, you name it – just like everyone else in town,” says Bostic. “At the time, going green was all about new homes. Nobody imagined that you could fix the old ones (but you can). I built an awesome house that uses way less than half the power, is healthier and allows my family to live comfortably, the way a house is supposed to. No more wearing sweaters to keep warm in winter or sweating through the summer because we’re trying to save money on utilities. For homeowners, it’s amazing to learn that you don’t have to make lifestyle adjustments like that any longer.” Bostic says educating the public on green building practices is just as important as educating others in the industry.
“Builders need to understand why to do it, and subs need to know how to do it correctly,” says Bostic. “Inspectors and appraisers need to understand the increased value to properly assess, and real estate professionals need to be educated on selling a better product.”
Thom Chumney is a certified master builder (CMB) and division president of Mungo Construction, LLC. He’s been with the company for 14 years and has been involved with the green certification of approximately 120 single-family dwellings to date. For him, the CGP was the catalyst for change.
“What started out as a designation became a serious interest for me,” says Chumney, who was part of the team responsible for the design and construction of Columbia’s Rosewood Hills community, recognized as NAHB’s 2010 Green Project of the Year.
“One of my goals, and a main goal of the Green Building Council, is to increase housing that is more sustainable, durable and less taxing on our current energy grid. There’s nothing wrong with ‘extreme green’ projects, but I’d rather build and be a part of many efficient homes than work on one ‘extreme green’ home.” Chumney moved into his own green home last year, which is being certified by USGBC LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for homes.
“We have approximately 5,600 square feet, and our average utility bills run about $200 a month,” says Chumney. “We used different techniques for energy efficiency, envelope design, air quality and air sealing. The HERS score was 54.” HERS stands for Home Energy Rating System, a rating index established by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET).
Chumney explains that much like the MPG label on a new vehicle, the HERS score provides an estimate of a home’s energy efficiency compared to a code-built house. The typical code-built home has a HERS score of 100. A home with a HERS score of 75 would be 25 percent more efficient than a code-built home. The more efficient a home, the lower the HERS score. The average existing home would have a HERS score of 130 or greater. Mungo is rolling out a new program called “hauSmart,” designed to ensure cutting-edge efficiency, affordability and convenience while employing the most progressive construction techniques.
“A hauSmart home is healthier, more cost-efficient to operate and provides comfort features to make busy lives easier,” says Chumney. Each home will be tested and receive a HERS rating from Home Energy Group, an independent, third-party inspector. “I feel a major challenge is to have the building industry incorporate these techniques into the general practices of day-to-day operations. As these practices are used, there won’t be a ‘movement’ to build green – it will become a standard, benefiting many homeowners instead of just a few.”
David Watkins is vice president of Shumaker Homes Construction, current vice chairman of the Green Building Council, a Certfied Graduate Builder (CGB) and Graduate Master Builder (GMB), “the ultimate symbol of the building professional” according to NAHB. He moved into his certified green home just a few months ago.
“We moved from an older home in Heathwood with monthly energy costs of $500-600 into a super green home in Kings Grant with energy bills of less than $100 a month,” says Watkins. The new home includes features found in many certified green houses: spray foam insulation, renewable hardwood floors, CFL and LED lighting, and an energy-efficient attic and crawlspace. “Green homes are high-performance homes, but it’s not something you can begin after construction starts. For new homes, it starts in the design phase with energy raters, diagnostic professionals, architects and others. There’s a real science to going green.”
“People tend to associate green building with more upfront costs, so there’s still some local resistance to it,” says Watkins. “They don’t realize that there’s a much greater return than on conventional homes. You recoup it all and more on the back end, and there’s a far higher resale value. There are certain tax credits attached at the state and federal levels — 55 percent of my own insulation costs will come back to me. Our biggest obstacle is still education, for consumers as well as everyone who has anything to do with homebuilding. The younger generation gets it, so it’s finally becoming more mainstream. My 13-year-old daughter completely understands the process and its benefits.”
NEW BUILDS OR REMODELS: PRACTICAL GREEN STEPS
Whether starting from scratch or considering a green remodel, Watkins suggests taking a close look at your “thermal envelope.” Like Gilmore referenced earlier, this is the outer shell of the home.
“There should be no outside air leaks. A certified rater or energy auditor can help you find them in an existing home or avoid them completely on a new build,” says Watkins. “Once the shell is 100 percent secure, you can move on from there. CFL lightbulbs, solar panels, rainwater harvesting and other elements can boost the green value of your home. Do your homework and make sure your builder has been there, done that.”
On his green building blog (
greensq1.blogspot.com), Bostic shares his Top 10 Energy Saving Tips: lightbulbs, insulation and a number of easy seals make up an easy to follow checklist. Similar resources can be found at the Green Building Council website (
columbiagreenbuilders.com) or nationally from USGBC or NAHB.
“You don’t have to pay hundreds to the power company every month,” says Bostic. “We pay about eleven cents per kilowatt hour in South Carolina, and that’s less than everyone else in the country. High power bills aren’t necessarily the power company’s fault, and they’re not your family’s fault. Once you understand that things can be fixed and then take the steps to fix them, everything else falls into place. Going green seems complicated to those who don’t know what we know, but it’s really just common sense.”