Sausalito architect Kathy Shaffer wasn’t surprised when she was contacted recently about a proposed “green” houseboat and a “green” vacation retreat in Napa. This wasn’t about the color green, but the environmentally friendly, energy- and water-efficient green building that is rapidly making its way into mainstream construction.
“For the vacation home, I kept the design small, used passive solar design, sustainable materials, wiring for future solar panels and had the house pre-plumbed to use gray water on the landscaping,” says Shaffer of the 50-acre retreat. Graywater is water that’s been used in the home, except for toilet water. “People interested in green building should have a good architect who is knowledgeable about green design, materials and construction, and a contractor who knows what materials are available and how to install them correctly.”
What does green mean?
The idea of green building emerged in the 1970s during the energy crisis as people became more concerned with resource efficiency. Specialized homebuilders experimented with such things as straw bale construction, increased insulation and solar power. Today, the term “green building” covers many
In 1995, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) developed LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, to establish a common definition of green building. LEED is a voluntary rating system to determine to what extent buildings are green. It rates five areas: water use; land use, transportation and site issues; energy use, air quality and atmosphere issues; materials and resource use; and indoor air and indoor environmental quality.
After third-party validation, the building is considered certified to one of four levels based on a point system of the type of construction (such as commercial interiors or homes, new construction or existing buildings). For example, “Materials & Resources” is worth 14 points and considers the goals of using materials with less environmental impact, reducing and managing waste and reducing the amount of materials needed. Based on the scores, a building can receive LEED “Certified” for 21 to 26 points, “Silver” for 27 to 31 points, “Gold” for 32 to 41 points and “Platinum” for 42 to 57 points. In 2005, 171 commercial buildings were certified nationwide, and there were an additional 1,800 applications for certification.
The National Association of Home Builders says the advantages of green building are lower operating costs, a reduction in maintenance, an increase in home value because of documented lower utility bills and improved indoor environmental quality. Not to mention a reduced impact on natural resources.
Building green
Bob Massaro has worked in construction since 1981 and built his first partially green home in 1986. For the past six years, he has concentrated his Napa company, MCM Healthy Buildings USA, on green construction. His business is one of the first in Northern California to apply green building practices to multifamily complexes. “People are very interested in living in green homes,” says Massaro, who majored in biology at Loyola University and received a master’s degree in public health from UCLA. “Our first green multifamily complex, Valley Oak Villas Phase I, which is 32 units in eight buildings in Napa, sold out in four weeks.”
The two- and three-story, steel-framed units sold from $325,000 to $495,000. “Green buildings do not have to cost more than conventional ones,” says Massaro. “To be most cost-effective, you should plan for green from the beginning of the project and make sure that the designer, engineer and builder have the mindset, knowledge and experience to create a green building. Also, many manufacturers are making green products, and they often charge more although they don’t cost more to produce. You have to put extra effort to dig deeper for affordable green products, which can result in savings.”
What sorts of products go into an MCM home? “For better indoor air quality, we install materials that don’t emit toxic gases. For example, we use cabinets made of wheat board rather than wood and only formaldehyde-free glue,” says Massaro. “The paint is ‘zero VOC,’ which means it has no volatile organic components that give off a new paint smell. Instead of vinyl, which off-gases (a process in which emissions are released) floors are either stained concrete, bamboo planks, cork, linoleum made from cork and linseed oil, or a laminate. And we check the Materials Safety Data Sheet supplied by each manufacturer on all products to make sure they are healthy.”
The homes have many sources of natural light, ground source heat pumps, water-cooled air conditioners and xeri-scaped gardens (landscaping with slow-growing, drought-tolerant plants to conserve water and reduce yard trimmings). “Ground source heat pumps were not included at Valley Oak Villas. However, they are insulated with Demilac, a new green product that’s an expanding foam insulation that fills the wall and truss cavities, resulting in much better insulation and much lower air infiltration. It also helps reduce sound transmission,” Massaro notes.
When Massaro started building green, there were few sources for green products. “Now, every major paint company has zero VOC paint. There used to be two green cabinetmakers; now there are six or seven. In the late ’80s, green construction was the fringe. I don’t think anyone saw me as a kook, but it is safe to say that people practicing sustainable building techniques feel much more accepted now than they did in the ’80s and early ’90s.”
Technology has improved, too. “On-demand tankless water heaters draw less energy and gas than conventional heaters. They take about half the energy to run, and the payback period is typically three and a half years. Another new product is a porous concrete that lets water seep through it and go back into the water table, which is the underground surface beneath which soil or rock are saturated with water, instead of the drains.”
Massaro stresses that he builds “healthy” buildings and not all green products are necessarily healthy. “For example, recycled carpet and padding could be considered green, but may not be healthy. There was a cardboard insulation that was green because it was recycled, but since it was organic, it was treated with a fungicide and insecticide, both of which are unhealthy.”
He uses steel framing. “In general, steel is the most recycled product in the world, going from a car to a steel stud to a barbeque,” Massaro says. Steel construction produces much less waste at a job site than conventional wood construction. Heavily insulated walls keep sound to a minimum. Massaro says it also results in a better product with straighter walls, does not promote the growth of mold and costs less to insure. Because they use steel and concrete fiber construction, the buildings are extremely fire-resistant and fire insurance rates are lower.
MCM’s next project is Solterra, set to break ground in Napa this spring. “This is a zero energy project of single-family townhomes,” explains Massaro of the homes that will produce most or all of the energy they use. “One unique feature of the project is that each unit will be powered by photovoltaic (PV) panels (which convert visible light into direct current).
“More people are asking about PV panels,” says Massaro. “Governor Schwarzenegger’s ‘Million Solar Roofs’ proposal would provide grant money, via rebates, for the installation of certain solar products. That, plus the higher costs of electricity, is driving more and more people to look at solar.”
Here comes the sun
Bill Stewart, CEO of Novato’s SolarCraft Services, started in the solar industry in 1978. “At that time, most of the solar energy used was solar thermal, which is solar water heating for a house or swimming pool,” says Stewart. “In the absence of incentives, such as rebates and tax credits, the relatively small niche market of swimming pool heating actually became the mainstay of the solar industry because it’s so cost-effective.” In a solar thermal system, the water being heated runs through solar panels into a pool or storage tank.
Interest grew in solar electric during the 2001 energy crisis. Today, most solar electric systems are grid-connected. “You’re always connected to PG&E. During the day, you’re typically generating more electricity than you’re using, earning credit for usage during non-solar periods,” says Stewart. “The grid-connected system does not have battery storage, has no moving parts, requires virtually no maintenance and will last for more than 30 years.”
SolarCraft has averaged approximately 275 to 300 residential and commercial solar installations per year. How much would an average homeowner expect to pay for a solar electric installation? “A three-kilowatt system would generally cost $27,000. Out of that, the contractor would receive a rebate from the state which would reduce the amount by $9,000, and the homeowner can take an additional tax credit of $2,000 or $3,000, making the outlay about $15,000.”
While that may sound like a lot, Stewart explains that the homeowner is buying more than 30 years’ worth of electricity for the cost of eight or nine years of power at today’s rates. “If you assume the rate will go up 8 percent a year, then the payback period can drop as low as five or six years.” In 2005, PG&E sought a 10.8 percent rate increase.
“Solar electric can be a very good investment, particularly in new construction. The upfront cost of a solar electric system obviously will raise the cost of the property, but the additional amount of the mortgage or loan to service the cost of the solar is less than the savings realized on the utility bill,” says Stewart. “The owner is cash positive from day one and protected against any rate increases. Also, by state law, the value of solar energy equipment is exempt from property tax assessment, so value is added to the property without increasing property taxes.”
When people first look into purchasing a solar electric system, many don’t understand that they will still be connected to PG&E. “You have to explain that they don’t have to change their lifestyle, that they will still have lights at night. They aren’t off the grid or in a stand-alone situation,” Stewart says. “Most people are in favor of using more solar and other renewable energy. Solar energy is not going to solve all of our energy problems, but it has its place in the overall energy picture, particularly in California.”
Commercial properties are realizing the benefits of solar, too. “Woodlands Market in Kentfield recently switched to solar electric power,” says Stewart. “It has 746 roof-mounted solar modules, which deliver 100 kilowatts of energy, and is California’s largest solar-powered grocery store.”
In Woodlands Market’s case, enough electricity is generated daily to power 35 average homes. It also spares the air more than 145 tons of harmful greenhouse gases annually. Over the next 30 years, the air pollution averted will be equivalent to taking 683 vehicles off our roads. The system will pay for itself in six to seven years and will accrue more than $1.5 million in cost savings over the course of its 40-year life.
It can be easy being green
Many municipalities are embracing green building. In Napa, the new 49,000-square-foot Napa County Sheriff’s Facility is green. “The building’s architect, Larry Wolfe of WLC Architects Inc., proposed getting green-certified,” says Capt. Gene Lyerla, the lead liaison for the department on the $14 million project. “He said he would design the building green, and we could take out (the green elements) if necessary. The County Board of Supervisors listened to the proposal, and even though it added $1 million to the cost, they took the lead. We’re going for a gold LEED rating, which is very hard to do on a building that’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
The building features glazed windows, abundant natural light, motion-activated lighting, manual vending machines and exercise equipment, along with R62 value insulation. (Insulation is rated in terms of thermal resistance, called R-value, which indicates the resistance to heat flow; the higher the R-value, the greater the insulating effectiveness. A typical home’s attic insulation would be R38.) The wallpaper is made from recycled telephone books, and the rubber-textured floors are from recycled tires. The facility has a 100-kilowatt system of solar cells that accounts for approximately 25 to 40 percent of the building’s energy in the summer.
Rohnert Park is also becoming green. “The city of Rohnert Park has been proactive in green building,” says Peter Bruck, deputy chief building official for the city of Rohnert Park. “City staff has been working with developers on the inclusion of green building features for infill projects as well as proposed development for the new specific plan areas.”
An upcoming project involves an older office building that the city is renovating for City Hall. “It will be remodeled following the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program,” says Bruck, who is U.S. Green Building accredited and certified through Sonoma State University’s Green Building Certificate program. “The building will meet a gold LEED rating.”
Codding Enterprises is responsible for more green construction. “They’re developing the former Agilent site in Rohnert Park as a mixed-use project, which will be as green as possible. They’re setting their goals for LEED platinum.
“Rohnert Park is way ahead in water conservation and has an extensive recycled water distribution system. Recycled water is used throughout the city for parks and athletic fields as well as for landscaped areas at State Farm Insurance Company and the former Agilent site. The city recently installed water meters and offers free water use audits for businesses.
“In an effort to reduce the amount of construction debris that goes into the landfill, the city has hired C2Alternatives (a recycling consulting firm) to provide assistance to contractors for developing ways to reuse and recycle construction debris. There’s no charge to the contractor for this service.”
Bruck is proud of the work the city is doing. “Rohnert Park is ‘stealthily’ becoming the greenest community in Sonoma County through a thoughtful, not rushed, process.”
Getting your green card
Sonoma State University is in its third year of offering a full Green Building Professional Certification program. “The program was so successful initially that we went from a 24-hour to an 84-hour program,” says Armando Navarro, assistant director for the Environmental Technology Center at SSU, which is a model of Green Building construction. More than 100 students participated in 2005.
Navarro, who has 20 years’ experience in the renewable energy field, thinks the time is right for green. “People have known about building green for years, especially the energy saving aspect of it, and now it makes even more economic and environmental sense,” he says. “More local governments are working on green building principles and are viewing projects through a green filter.
“We’re fortunate in this area in that we have resources such as Build it Green, which has a hotline for questions. PG&E offers energy classes, and Sonoma County Waste Management has a booklet you can download,” says Navarro. “The Daily Acts website offers sustainability tours featuring different green building techniques.”
Have you had your greens today?
Green building techniques have been around for many years. Dennis Fagent is senior principal with ZFA Structural Engineers in Santa Rosa and has been involved with straw bale and approximately 30 rammed earth residential and commercial projects.
Rammed earth involves taking soil, optimally from the site, mixing it with cement, adding water to achieve proper moisture and compacting it between wood forms. “This type is labor-intensive as only six inches can be placed in one lift at a time,” explains Fagent. “Another popular method, called Pisé, is mixing the material and spraying it pneumatically against a plywood form. Rammed earth has been used for centuries; buildings constructed that way have stood for hundreds of years in the Middle East.
“Both rammed earth and straw bale techniques use materials locally that would have gone to waste,” says Fagent. “The builder is not trucking it from somewhere else or using energy to create it.”
Architect and owner of Petaluma’s Common Sense Design, Pete Gang, has several years of experience with straw bale construction. “I started teaching hands-on straw bale classes at Real Goods Institute for Solar Living in Hopland in 1998,” says Gang. He is also a core faculty member of the Green Building Professional Certificate program at SSU.
Straw bale is not made of hay but rather rice straw, an agricultural waste product. Most of the straw used in Northern California is rice straw or the dead stalks that are left over after the rice is harvested. Most straw bale construction is not load bearing. Bales are infilled with a structural frame of wood posts.
“People are often drawn to straw bale construction for purely visceral, or subjective, reasons,” Gang notes. “The objective reasons for using straw bale construction include a reduction in wood use, use of a rapidly renewable agricultural waste product, great thermal performance, use of a relatively low-tech building system, thick walls and great acoustic performance.”
The biggest disadvantage to this type of construction, says Gang, is the thickness of the exterior walls, especially on urban and suburban lots, because it takes up more of the site.
“In addition to doing conventional wood frame construction as energy- and resource-efficiently as possible, green builders are interested in alternative building systems and materials,” Gang says. “One such alternative building system is structural insulated panels (SIPs). For SIPs, I use the analogy of an ice cream sandwich with the foam insulation in the middle between oriented strand board (OSB) cookies. (OSB is an engineered structural panel product made by layering strands or flakes of wood in specific orientations.) Whether or not SIPs is a green material depends on a long list of criteria, including whether the SIP’s panels are fabricated locally, the percentage of recycled material used, whether the foam was blown with CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) or HCFCs (Hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which are less dangerous than the CFCs but still degrade the ozone layer), how long the SIP panels last and how much energy they will save over their lifetime compared to conventional wood-frame construction.”
Why is there so much interest today in building green? “I think the rapid growth in green building comes from having better information about the environmental limitations of our world. The general public is better informed today than 15 or 20 years ago. The (environmental) education starts in elementary school,” says Gang.
Supreme green
Bruce Hammond, president and CEO of Hammond Fine Homes in Cotati and founding member of the 100-member Redwood Empire Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, says green building is here to stay.
“I became interested in green construction because, as a backpacker, fly fisherman and gardener, I respect and want to preserve the natural world,” says Hammond. “It is absolutely critical to use the best green design and construction practices, which first reduce, then reuse and recycle materials.”
Hammond believes education is the key. “The biggest challenge is getting widespread public understanding of green building, including involving design and construction professionals. People interested in building green are concerned with the collective impact we have in the world, environmentally, socially and politically.
“Also interested are people who have chemical sensitivity, who have asthma, suffer from allergies or those with young children who want a healthier indoor environment without the possibility of chemicals being released inside their homes,” Hammond says.
He doesn’t believe California is the leader in green building that it could be. “For the past three years, Colorado has had 20 percent of all its building green. In Portland and Seattle, the entire new municipal infrastructure uses advanced civil engineering to be green. We are catching on rapidly, though. Sonoma County and its municipalities have only just begun to address their ability to impact all business types by taking a strong stand for green building. Cotati, Sebastopol and Santa Rosa lead the way by having adopted measures to employ and encourage the use of the regional ‘Green Points Checklist’ green building measures. The city of Novato has adopted a Green Building ordinance, and Marin County has a green building coordinator and program. The county of Napa has a large-scale regional sustainability vision, but no ordinances or programs in place at this time.
“It has been demonstrated that green building is an economically wise, powerful and compelling best practice that’s no longer fringe but mainstream. In 10 years, green building will be the way all quality-oriented projects will be designed and constructed. In 10 years, builders will be anachronous if not building green. They will be behind the curve,” Hammond says.
Looks like green is the color of the future.
Green Building Information Resources
• Sonoma State University Green Building Professional Certificate Program,
www.sonoma.edu/exed.
• LEED and the U.S. Green Builders Council, www.usgbc.org.
For the Redwood Empire Chapter, www.usgbc-rec.org.
• Build it Green, www.build-green.org.
• The National Association of Home Builders, www.nahb.org.
• Sonoma County Waste Management, www.recyclenow.org.
• Daily Acts tour information, www.daily-acts.org.
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