Going green a growing trend among homeowners in the U.S.
Aug 4, 2008
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jeChMBpQDowhtOAvM5dbLSUPoxaA
CHICAGO — The bathroom tiles are recycled wine bottles. The hardwood floors
are sustainable bamboo. And the sprawling garden gets sprinkled with
rainwater collected in 11-hundred-litre barrels.
From its recycled plastic deck to its solar-panelled roof, everything in
and about the 232 square metre home on exhibit just outside of the Museum of
Science and Industry has been designed to show the public how easy it can be
to incorporate environmental sustainability into their own abodes.
"We tried to look for ideas in every choice that we make in our homes ...
hoping that everyone who goes through it will be inspired to make some
change on some level," said Michelle Kaufmann, the Oakland, California-based
architect who designed the SmartHome. "Some people will walk away and want
to do an entire new home or some people will think when they go for their
towels next and go for organic linens."
In fact, green housing is growing even while the overall housing market is
suffering, said Nate Kredich, the council's vice president for residential
market development.
This year, green building is expected to represent six per cent of the U.S.
residential construction industry, according to a survey conducted by
McGraw-Hill Construction Research & Analytics for the U.S. Green Building
Council. That's up from just two per cent in 2005.
"It is happening. But the industry needs to do a better job of getting
information into people's hands when they're looking for it," Kredich said.
The goal of the Chicago exhibit, which runs through January, is to show
visitors that saving energy and conserving resources are within reach of
everyone - whether it's an entire house or a single feature, museum
officials said.
The modular home, which Kaufmann said uses less than half the energy and a
third of the water of traditional homes, includes a kitchen with a
countertop composter and a sink made from concrete and fly ash - a byproduct
of burning coal. Water from the bathroom sink is diverted to the toilet,
where it is used for flushing. A bicycle in the children's bedroom must be
pedalled for 30 minutes to charge a battery to power video games.
Visitors receive a resource guide that tells about the function of each
feature, how they're assembled and where they can be purchased. The bicycle
system, for example, was homemade from parts bought on an electronics website.
Jasmine Davis, 23, who visited the home with her mother said the exhibit
gave her tips for her own apartment. "I like not making a negative impact on
the Earth," Davis said.
"It's got so much to be said for it because it uses nature and natural
materials," said Robert Richards, 70, who visited with friends. "It's open.
You bring the outside in and you can even bring the inside out. It's a house
built for humans. It's plausible in real life."
David Johnston, who owns an international green building consulting firm in
Boulder, Colorado, said the exhibit is a great way to educate the public
about green possibilities, but he hopes that the home's ultramodern
architecture doesn't leave visitors with "the impression that green building
has to be modern, weird, solar, ugly."
"One of the things that's fundamental to green building is that it can look
like anything. It can be a regular Craftsman house or a Cape Cod house in
New England or an adobe house in Santa Fe. You don't have to change what the
home looks like to make it green."
Anne Rashford, the museum's SmartHome project manager, said nobody expects
that people will try to recreate the exhibit home.
"But we hope people will make informed decisions when they're building, when
they're renovating," Rashford said.
While it can be tough for homeowners to figure out where they're going to
get the most green payback for their money, Kaufmann and Johnston agree
overall energy usage and building materials will attract homeowners to a
green house.
Johnston suggests rolling the costs of energy-saving features into the
mortgage by choosing quality insulation and solar panels during the building
phase. Kaufmann says homeowners could spend $1,000 on an energy-metering
system that provides a dashboard for power usage.
"Once I can see in real time how my behaviour translates to my usage, I can
make changes," she said. "These homes will actually cost less."
Johnston, who has written a book on green building, said being energy
efficient beyond existing building codes, conserving resources, recycling
and improving indoor air quality truly make homes green.
"If you're very clever, if you're a do-it-yourself kind of person, you can
do one room at a time and achieve your ultimate goal," he said.
Kaufmann said homeowners are ready.
"It's no longer a question if people want to go green or not. They do,"
Kaufmann said. "People are wanting an alternative."
On the Net:
* Museum of Science and Industry: http://www.msichicago.org/
* U.S. Green Building Council: http://www.usgbc.org/
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