Filed under: green certification
Cutting back on the water we use is good for the environment, for salmon and other wildlife, and it can lower your water bill too. Therefore, it is a good idea to reduce water use at your home. A good place to start would be to review the water consumption of your bathroom fixtures and fittings.
1) Toilets
According to “Built Green”’s publication, toilet flushing is the largest single use of water in a household, using up to 40% of residential water. Older toilets can be using 3 to 5 gallons per flush (gpf). Federal law mandates all new toilets use no more than 1.6 gpf.
Nowadays, there are many options that can achieve even higher standards; in fact, it is not difficult to find affordable toilets that can achieve 1.28 gpf. Check out the Water-Sense approved list for models.
Another option is a dual flush toilet – i.e., toilet that has two flushing choices, 1.6 gpf and 0.9 gpf, the user can choose the flush depending on the type of waste. Dual flush toilets are now becoming increasing popular and are available from many major manufacturers, including Toto and Kohler.
A limited number of manufacturers now have “very high-efficiency” toilets with average flow rate achieving <= 1.1 gpf (including Kohler, American Standard, Mansfield), though personally I found that models are still limited (especially if you are looking for comtemporary style like us) and you do have to pay a premium to get these models.
2) Lavatory Faucets
Another water consumption in your bathroom is obviously your faucets. Federal law requires that faucets have flow rates no greater than 2.5 gallons per minute (gfm). There are now many faucet options out on the market that can achieve 2.0 or even 1.5 gpm. If a faucet is labelled as EPA “Water Sense”, the maximum flow rate is 1.5 gpm. For existing faucets, you can also install Water Sense approved aerators to achieve these new lowered flow rates.
3) Showerheads
As for your showerheads, it is a good idea to look for showerheads with an average flow rate of <= 2.0 gpm (per stall). There are now many options on the market at affordable prices. Newer “very high-efficiency” showerheads can even achieve <= 1.75 gpm.
Believe it or not, ToTo now even carries a RAINSHOWER head (10″ x 10″ square) that can achieve a maximum flow rate of <= 1.75 gpm, giving you both a comfortable, luxurious bath experience and still achieving incredible water savings.
Both “LEED for Homes” and “Built Green” certifications encourage water conservation indoors and outdoors and there are points given for high-efficiency and “very” high-efficiency fixtures and fittings.
For more tips and information on water conservation, to calculate your current water consumption with online calculator, or to find out rebates in your area, please visit “Saving Water Partnership” and “United States Environmental Protection Agency Water Sense” websites.
January 14, 2010
Landfill space is rapidly diminishing and incineration produces pollutants; therefore, part of being green is to reduce waste as much as possible. I’m sure you have heard of the phrase “reduce, reuse and recycle” in your daily life, and managing construction waste is no different — You want to reduce as much waste as possible (e.g., by ordering just enough materials based on your construction needs), reuse as much as possible and recycle as much of the waste/materials as possible.
Both “LEED for Homes” and “Built Green” certification programs require builders to achieve a certain level of waste reduction/diversion (e.g., recycling, reuse).
For “Built Green”, the pre-requisite for 4 star certification is to recycle at least 50% of your waste, and you can get additional points for achieving higher waste reduction/diversion percentage. “LEED for Homes” requires builders to investigate local options for diversion and to document the diversion rate for the project. Additional points can be given based on higher actual diversion rate.
We are fortunate that there are many local options for recycling and diversion in the King County/Seattle area. Many of these local facilities are able to achieve diversion rate higher than 88%, thereby giving you maximum points to both “LEED for Homes” and “Built Green” certifications.
If you live in the King County/Seattle area and are looking for a waste management company for your house re-modeling/construction project, a good place to start your research would be the King County Solid Waste Division (click here). This website consists of names/contact info of many local waste management companies and their published monthly diversion rates. There are more waste management companies than are listed on the website but this is an excellent place to start your research.
January 2, 2010
After clearing, grading and site preparation, our foundation is finally poured today!
We are using 30% fly ash concrete mix which is considered to be more environmentally friendly. Why? It is because fly ash is a residue from coal combustion; by using fly ash in our cement mix, we are actually converting waste into useful material. In fact, research has shown that by adding a controlled amount of fly ash, the strength of the concrete mix can be improved.
That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Well, the flip side of that is that with the higher content of fly ash, the concrete does take longer to cure (which means taking longer for your construction project to complete), so it is still not a very common practice for most constructions to be using such a high content of fly ash yet.
“LEED for Homes” green certification program recognizes the sustainability aspects of adding 30% fly ash to concrete foundation mix – you can earn points towards the certification.
October 9, 2009
The King County/Seattle Built Green is providing incentives/funding for projects to help offset the cost of certifying and designing innovative green projects throughout Seattle and King County.
Projects can be new constructions or remodeling of single-family, townhomes and/or multifamily residences. Eligible projects may receive $2,500 to $20,000. This year’s application deadline is Friday September 18, 2009.
This year’s focus is on water conservation and the impact our development has on the health of watersheds throughout the Puget Sound. If your project identifies low impact development strategies and/or innovative ways to reduce residential consumption of water for both interior and exterior uses, then Built Green wants to hear from you.
For more information or to submit your project for this incentive, please click here. Don’t forget to apply before September 18 deadline!
August 12, 2009
I have attended a “Built Green” orientation session in August 2009.
“Built Green” is an environmentally-friendly, non-profit, residential building green certification program by the Master Builders Association (MBA) of King and Snohomish Counties. It is a program developed in partnership with King County, Snohomish County, and other agencies in Washington State. This is a regional green certification program and it is very well recognized in Washington State.
The green program focuses on the below categories:
1) Site and Water
2) Energy Efficiency
3) Health and Indoor Air Quality
4) Materials Efficiency
These are categories similar to those listed in the “LEED for Homes” program.
The program consists of 3, 4 and 5 stars. The higher the level, the more stringent are the green requirements. Currently, 3-star level can be achieved by self-certification whereas 4-star or 5-star levels require a Built Green third party verifier to perform independent evaluations.
According to the Built Green Program Executive Director Aaron Adelstein, Built Green is now reviewing their program and it is likely that 3-star level will also require third party verification in Year 2010. More details to be advised in the future.
Green concept home is working towards “Built Green” 4-star or 5-star certification. For more information about “Built Green”, please click here.
August 11, 2009
We will be going for LEED certification for this project.
“LEED” stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” and is an internationally recognized green building certification system. In order to be certified under LEED, the building has to be designed and built using strategies to improve energy savings, water efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions and improve environmental quality. For more information, check out the website of “US Green Building Council” (USGBC).
Through our research, we learned that our house is the FIRST single-family residence registered for the LEED certification in the city of Bellevue! Very exciting!!
There are 4 levels of certification under LEED: (1) Certified, (2) Silver, (3) Gold and (4) Platinum. Platinum is the highest level any building can achieve (i.e., the most sustainable building with the least impact on the environment). We are aiming for Platinum for our house.
Our LEED provider and rater will be O’Brien & Company – they are the only USGBC certified LEED provider and rater in the state of Washington.
The certification process involves lots of planning, meetings, documentations and inspections, it will be a very rigorous process. We look forward to this exciting challenge!
July 9, 2009
