Summary of “Green” Home Features
Overview: 234 State Street is an existing residential property within walking distance of downtown Northampton that has been completely renovated into a high performing contemporary “green” home. This “gut rehab” renovation removed all walls and rebuilt the home piece by piece to meet specified energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and other environmental quality goals established by the United States Green Building Council (USBGC) LEED for Homes program (Note: LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
A LEED for Homes Green Rater from the Center for EcoTechnology (CET) verified that 234 State Street meets the requirements of the LEED for Homes program, and USGBC awarded the home LEED Gold Certification. There are currently only 6 LEED for Homes “gut rehabs” in Massachusetts. Of these, a LEED for Homes Platinum project was completed in Cambridge by Harvard University, one LEED for Homes Gold project was completed in Waban, two LEED for Homes Silver gut rehab projects have been completed in Cambridge and Cohasset, and two LEED for Homes Certified gut rehab projects were completed in Marblehead and Newton. LEED for Homes Gold Certification makes 234 State Street one of a small group of high performing green retrofit homes throughout the state.
In addition to LEED for Homes Certification, 234 State Street has been certified under the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star for Homes program. The property also received a Letter of Compliance under the Massachusetts Lead Abatement Program. In addition to requirements of these certification programs, many other design decisions were made to further reduce environmental impact.
Why build a "green" home? Green homes are thoughtfully located, designed and constructed to minimize environmental impacts and to promote good health for their occupants. Residential buildings account for 22% of all energy consumed in the U.S., 7% of all water use, and 21% of carbon dioxide emissions (USDOE). Green homes help reduce energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Green homes also improve indoor air quality for their occupants and use materials that were manufactured or sourced in ways that reduce environmental impacts. In addition to environmental benefits, energy and water efficiency investments translate to lower utility bills for the home’s occupants.
Energy Efficiency: 234 State Street received a final HERS (Home Energy Rating System) rating of 57 – This means that the home is 43% more energy efficient than a standard new home of comparable size (and it is even more energy efficient than typical older homes, including older homes that have been insulated with cellulose). The home features Energy Star rated Pella windows, closed cell spray foam insulation in the walls and vaulted ceilings (which both insulates AND seals the home), and 91% efficient HVAC equipment for its combined heating and hot water system.
A baseboard hot water heating system was selected to eliminate air duct sealing inefficiencies commonly associated with forced hot air systems. The HVAC system also has 4 distinct heating zones and programmable thermostats, allowing the homeowner to set different temperatures in different parts of the house and at different times depending upon their particular use of the space. The water heater has a special control that allows the system to reduce energy use by accounting for warmer outdoor temperatures. The home achieves additional energy efficiency through R-4 insulation installed around all domestic hot water piping - This measure reduces the amount of heat lost while transporting hot water throughout the house.
The home’s advanced lighting package includes 100% CFL and LED lights. Special dimmers were installed to accommodate CFLs and LED bulbs. All Energy Star appliances were selected, including the dishwasher, refrigerator, range vent, bathroom exhaust fans, and clothes washer.
There are a few other features that also increase the energy efficiency of the home. The new open layout helps carry natural light throughout the home, reducing the need to use artificial lighting during the day. The home is also passively cooled (i.e. does not have an air conditioning system). To help keep the home cool in summer, Energy Star Certified roof shingles were installed. Energy Star shingles meet the solar reflectance and reliability specifications of the federal Energy Star program. These shingles, which reflect more light than typical shingles, keep the roof surface cooler, which in turn helps keep the home cool in the summer (less heat is transmitted into the home from the roof).
There are also some energy efficiency benefits that result from the south-facing orientation of the home. In winter, southern exposure brings more sunlight and heat into the home, reducing the work done by the heating system. Special glazes were selected to give the south facing windows a higher “solar heat gain coefficient”, allowing more solar energy in and translating to additional passive solar heating benefits in winter. In summer, depending on the new homeowner’s desires, there is also potential to enhance passive cooling of the home through placement of trees in a way that reduces the amount of sunlight that enters the home.
South Facing Orientation - Potential for Renewable Energy and On-Site Food Production: The southern orientation of the home and the near-optimal slope of the roof give the property great potential for a solar hot water heating system (added to the installed HVAC system), as well as a solar photovoltaic (PV) system that produces electricity (also a retrofit to the home). In addition, the southern orientation of the lot makes it a great location for gardening and on-site food production. The driveway area was reconfigured to make the usable part of the yard larger, so there is plenty of prime sunny area for gardening to the side as well as the front of the home. There is potential for gutters that collect roof runoff to terminate at rain barrels or cisterns that store this captured rainwater for irrigation. Rain barrels can even be tied to efficient drip irrigation systems!
Water Efficiency: 234 State Street has 100% water efficient fixtures and toilets. The faucets and shower fixtures all have 1.5 gallon per minute flow rates, achieving points for “very high efficiency fixtures” in the LEED for Homes rating system. The dual flush toilets have high and low flush buttons that use 1.6 and 1.0 gallons per flush, respectively, qualifying as “high efficiency fixtures” in the LEED for Homes system. Also, the kitchen faucet has two flow options: a higher flow option at 2.0 gallons per minute, and a lower flow option at 1.5 gallons per minute.
Finally, although the project included minimal landscaping (the existing mature landscape was preserved), the areas with disturbed soil were tilled or raked as necessary and are being reseeded with a mix of drought tolerant slow-growing fescue grasses that require very little mowing. Of course, no invasive plants were introduced into the landscape.
Materials and Resources: Green homes minimize use of new materials and use as many life friendly products as possible. These products may be less toxic than conventional materials, manufactured locally or regionally (reducing environmental impacts associated with long-distance shipping), or made of recycled materials. Some green materials are certified based on reduced environmental impacts associated with their production: For example, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification ensures that wood products are produced using sustainable and ecologically responsible forestry practices. In addition, green construction minimizes construction waste and diverts as many waste products as possible for recycling.
Because this was a “gut rehab” (versus new construction) project, 92% of 234 State Street’s framing materials are reused from the original structure (Note: This figure does not account for new framing materials that were required to save and reuse the structure; if these required structural repair measures are counted, 82% of the home’s framing materials are reused from the original structure). The home’s exterior wall, floor, and roof framing were kept intact. The existing interior walls were removed and framing for new interior walls was installed to create the home’s new layout. New wall framing materials were minimized through 24” o.c. wall stud spacing. In addition, the open layout of the home minimized framing and drywall materials needed for new walls. All new framing studs are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified for sustainable forest management and harvesting.
The 234 State Street redevelopment used a significant number of salvaged materials from both on and off site. The existing wood floors in the master bedroom, master bath and downstairs front bedroom were sanded and refinished. Most of the remainder of the home’s flooring was manufactured from salvaged barnwood (red and white oak). Some of this recycled barnwood flooring was locally sourced (within 500 miles of the site) in Pennsylvania, while some was regionally sourced in the Midwest (Kentucky). The recycled barnwood floors – as well as the reclaimed wood stair treads, reclaimed shoe bench seat, and several pieces of reclaimed lumber used to finish wrapping the master bedroom collar ties - were manufactured locally at a facility in Springfield. The remainder of the home’s flooring (red oak) – installed in the downstairs bathroom and back bedroom – was produced regionally by a mill cooperative in Anderson, Georgia and manufactured at a facility in Toano, Virginia. The pine selected to wrap the collar ties in the kitchen and dining room was harvested in Amherst and milled in Hadley - Souza Builders actually reclaimed this tree from one of its other project sites!
Materials were also carefully selected for the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets are manufactured by Showplace, an employee owned company that certifies its cabinets under the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturer’s Association Environmental Stewardship Program. This means that their products meet specified air quality, product and process resource management (including sustainable forestry), environmental stewardship, and community relations standards. Showplace has made a company environmental policy that makes a strong, company-wide commitment to environmental responsibility. Its modern production facilities are energy efficient and incorporate every opportunity for recycling and air quality protection. The company works with its partners to promote the protection of forest resources. The red oak kitchen cabinets for 234 State Street were grown in the U.S. (Pacific Northwest), manufactured regionally in the Midwest (South Dakota), and meet the stringent formaldehyde emissions limits set by the California Air Regulatory Board (CARB) Air Toxics Control Measure (ATCM).
The RecycleTop Kitchen Countertops were also selected in part for their environmental features. These soapstone-like countertops are made of 50% post-consumer recycled paper and are bound together by a 50% plant-based resin formula made with corn and cashew nut oil. This resin formula is VOC, formaldehyde, and benzene free. With a 65% overall fiber content and 35% resin content, RecycleTop is comprised of over 80% recycled and renewable materials. In addition, RecycleTop is durable: It can withstand up to 360 degrees temperature, is highly scratch resistant, and has a repairable surface that cannot be permanently stained. A leftover remnant from the kitchen countertops was also used to create the shower shelf in the downstairs bathroom.
The green materials features of the home continue, so please be patient! No tropical woods were used in this project (poor forestry practices continue to significantly degrade tropical rain forests, resulting in climate change impacts as well as irreversible harm to global biological diversity). All new wood used in this project was grown and manufactured in the U.S. and Canada. The cedar decking, which is from Canada, is certified under the strict standards of the Canadian Standards Association's Sustainable Forest Management Standard (CSA), and all new framing studs are FSC Certified.
This project also made efforts to minimize construction (and deconstruction) waste. As part of the LEED Certification process, the amount of waste diverted from ultimate disposal (i.e. at the landfill) must be calculated. A 12% diversion rate was achieved during the deconstruction/demolition phase of the project, and an 8% diversion rate was achieved in the construction phase. The construction phase of the project generated 2.2 lbs of waste per square foot, earning 234 State Street a point for construction waste reduction. Before construction began, an on-site waste management system was set up to separate landfill-bound waste from recycling areas for clean wood, metal, plastics and cardboard and paper. This construction waste management system was periodically cleaned up and reorganized. Of course, all yard waste went to composting facilities (as required by state law) – except for the wood from the tree that fell during the freak October snowstorm: That wood was cut into logs and taken by a nearby resident who heats his home with a wood stove. (Because all yard waste resulted from the October storm damage and not construction activities, yard waste was not included in the project’s diversion rate calculations.)
During demolition, many reusable materials were salvaged and given away on Craigslist, or donated to EcoBuilding Bargains, a salvaged building materials store in Springfield. Materials salvaged for reuse included interior and exterior doors, lumber, electrical face plates, an oil furnace, a water heater, a ceiling fan, lights, windows, a utility cabinet and sink, direct vent gas heaters, and more. In addition, we salvaged a few special items for reuse on-site, including the clawfoot tub (refinished and moved to the master bath), intact bricks (used for foundation repairs), foundation stones (used to create the planter next to the driveway), and a stack of original slate roof tiles in the basement (used to create the kitchen stovetop backsplash). Also, wood boards salvaged from the attic above the kitchen ceiling (removed when the ceiling was vaulted) were used to wrap the collar ties in the master bedroom.
The salvaged materials list continues! This project also salvaged, de-leaded, repaired and reused the home’s original porch columns, and both of the home’s bathrooms have repurposed furniture created by local artisans. In the master bath, Vessel Top Vanities refinished an old chest of drawers into a lovely vanity with a ceramic sink. A matching mirror and shelf were constructed using remnants from the recycled barnwood flooring. For the downstairs bath, Sticks and Bricks (on Market Street in Northampton) built a linen cabinet out of an old book shelf, cabinet doors, and reclaimed tin metal roofing. Wow! Using a mirror we found at the Holyoke Flea Market, they created a matching mirror, wrapping it in the same tin roofing metal and adding a small shelf.
Just a few more little materials notes. HardiePlank fiber cement siding was selected for the new addition instead of today’s standard siding material, vinyl, which is not considered to be an environmentally friendly product due to the significant amount of dioxins released to the environment during production, use and disposal. Finally, this project made efforts to minimize indoor air pollutants: Use of stains was minimized (and the natural colors and grains of different woods was celebrated), and low VOC polyurethane, primer and interior paint were used.
Indoor Air Quality: Green homes include adequate ventilation and features that improve indoor air quality. The 234 State Street home has 100% hard surface flooring – eliminating carpets significantly reduces exposure to dust pollution. There is also a bench with shoe storage by the front door. The shoe bench promotes leaving shoes at the door, which reduces dust tracking throughout the home and associated exposure to particulates and other air pollutants. Debris carried into the house from shoes not only contain dirt, they also often contain lead, asbestos, pesticides and other hazardous materials. In addition to these measures, there are no unvented combustion appliances, carbon monoxide monitors are installed, there is no fireplace or wood stove (reduces exposure to smoke), and the space and water heating equipment is designed and installed with closed combustion and power-vented exhaust. The bathroom and kitchen vents are Energy Star labeled, and the low sone downstairs bathroom fan is set on a timer to operate for 18 hours each day, meeting the LEED for Homes ventilation requirements.
In the average home, a significant source of indoor air pollutants is the garage. At 234 State St, there is no garage. The home was not originally built with a garage and the original parking area was reduced are repaved. Finally, prior to home occupancy, the home was “flushed” (all windows open, fans running) for 48 hours to ensure a complete exchange of indoor air (removing any air pollutants remaining from new materials and construction).
Durability Measures: One aspect of home design that is often overlooked is the assessment and mitigation of long-term durability risks to the home. Durability failures are a significant cost and cause of stress for homeowners, but many easy and low-cost strategies are often overlooked. Durability planning and management is a prerequisite of participation in the LEED for Homes program. At 234 State Street, water and moisture management measures taken included: installing new basement windows, re-pointing and re-building the brick foundation in identified areas, installing gutters on the front porch roof, installing a sump pump system, using nonpaper-faced backer board in tub and shower areas, installing water resistant flooring in target locations (kitchen, bathrooms, laundry area, within 3 feet of exterior doors), providing a single-throw supply valve for the clothes washer, installing a drain and drain pan for the condensing clothes dryer, selecting adequate bathroom and kitchen exhaust systems, fixing roof leaks between additions and adding roof vents to code, repairing and replacing rotting siding, removing molded fiberglass insulation from the basement walls, disconnecting heating system venting to the chimney (which was removed), and venting all exhaust systems directly to the outdoors.
Water Quality: When land is in its undeveloped state, rainwater tends to filter into the ground near where it falls. But when land is developed, a much larger amount of the rainwater does not filter into the ground, but instead runs over the ground (pavement, etc.) and picks up all sorts of pollutants (dirt, pollutants from cars, and so on). This polluted runoff then travels to our local water bodies – in this case, the ultimate destination is the Connecticut River.
Therefore, to improve water quality, a significant development strategy is to reduce the amount of paved areas and increase the amount of green space. At 234 State Street, a large portion of the property (67%) is green space. As part of the redevelopment, the driveway area was reconfigured to make the usable part of the yard larger, and the new driveway area was kept to the minimum necessary to comfortably accommodate two vehicles.
Meanwhile, construction activities can result in considerable water pollution as well due to soil erosion after it rains. When this happens, the soil that is lost from the site is carried by the runoff to nearby water bodies. To minimize these environmental impacts, this project incorporated erosion control measures (silt socks, stockpiling and covering removed soil, etc.), as well as “No Disturbance Zones”, which reduce the area of the site that is compacted or disturbed by construction activities.
After the driveway was complete, the adjacent compacted soil was tilled (this increases the amount of water the ground can absorb, which reduces runoff). After construction was complete, areas of exposed soil were seeded with drought tolerant grasses. Grasses with deep root systems help keep soil healthy and able to absorb and infiltrate more water (again, reducing runoff).
Location: 234 State Street earned a number of points under the LEED for Homes program due to its location. Why? Because a home located in an area that is already developed, within walking or biking distance of various community services and amenities (making it possible to drive less), and outside of critical natural resource areas, is pretty darn “green” to begin with. The home site was previously developed and is NOT located within the FEMA 100-Year Floodplain area, on any land identified as habitat for species on threatened or endangered lists, within 100 feet of any water or wetlands, or on any land that contains contain prime soils or soils of state significance.
As far as location goes, this site is within walking distance of a considerable number of destinations. It is just a 7 minute walk (less than ½ mile) to downtown Northampton. Walking from the site to downtown along State Street, you quickly encounter Hungry Ghost Bread, Serios Market and the State Street Fruit Store. The site is also just a few minutes away from Stop & Shop supermarket and pharmacy, Foster Ferrar True Value Hardware, and other King Street services. The site is within walking distance of a plethora of restaurants, stores, coffee shops, banks, automobile services, professional and medical services, places of worship, etc. In addition, there are bus stops on King Street and downtown that are easily reached from the site by foot or bicycle.
Speaking of bicycles, the site is less than 800 feet (just over 1/8th mile) from the Northampton Bike Path. The bike path connects west to Florence, Look Park and Leeds from this location, and on the way, also less than ½ mile away, is the Barrett Street Marsh, a well-used conservation area that is 24.7 acres in size. Going in the other direction, the bike path connects east to Connecticut Greenway State Park, Hadley, Amherst and Belchertown – And in yet another direction, it connects to Downtown Northampton, Veteran’s Field (the skate park) and Easthampton.
Closer to home, there is a 1.5 acre neighborhood park with a playground just steps from the property. And the site is also not far from the Smith College Campus, which has walking trails along Paradise Pond and the Mill River.
Lead Compliance: Homes built before 1978 (the year that lead paint was banned by federal law) typically contain lead paint. Unlike the vast majority of other pre-1970 homes on the real estate market, 234 State Street is in full compliance with Massachusetts lead law. Full deleading means the covering or removal of all lead paint, plaster, or other contaminated materials that could poison a child under the age of six. In addition, there is no lead on any surface on the interior of the home. A description of lead measures, the home’s lead report, and other pertinent information will be provided to homeowner in the operations and maintenance manual.
Small Home on a Small Lot, Heat Island Effects, Etc.: This section includes miscellaneous environmental features of 234 State Street that were not previously discussed. First, 234 State Street is a small home on a small lot. This, in combination with the home’s “smart growth” location, provides some of the greatest environmental benefits of the home. This is because compact development patterns help conserve land and promote community livability, transportation efficiency, and walkability. Smaller homes also mean less space to heat, translating to energy use and greenhouse gas reductions. Speaking of greenhouse gas reductions, the home is passively cooled, so in addition to associated energy use reductions, no refrigerants were used for an air conditioning system (refrigerants are potent greenhouse gases and therefore have disproportionate effects on global warming trends).
The “urban heat island effect” describes the tendency of developed areas to be warmer than less developed areas as a result of having more dark-colored pavement and roof surfaces that retain heat from the sun. Heat islands affect communities by decreasing comfort (it’s hotter!), impacting water quality, and increasing summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and heat-related illness. The landscaping and roof of a green home can be designed to reduce urban heat island effects: At 234 State Street, a large proportion (67%) of the site is green space (versus paved and roof surfaces), and in addition, more reflective Energy Star roof shingles were selected for the home’s roof replacement. In the future, landscaping that is designed to shade the driveway can further reduce the site’s heat island effects.
Finally, the LEED for Homes program has a category called “Awareness and Education.” Black Sheep Development will provide the new homeowner with a manual that describes the green features of the home, provides operations and maintenance information, discusses considerations for future changes to the home, includes a “green living” section with additional resources, and more! Black Sheep Development will also provide the homeowner with a 1-hour walk through of the home prior to occupancy.
Additional References
LEED for Homes Program
Energy Star for Homes Program
MA Lead Abatement Program
Ecobuilding Bargains (Springfield)
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