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A Primer on High Performance Building
(or Green Building 101)
Our Approach | High Design
- What is High Performance Building?
- What is the difference between “Green” and “High Performance”
- Top 10 Benefits of a High Performance Home
- Does a Green Home Cost More?
- Being Part of a Movement
- The Sage-developed Spreadsheet for use in Green Certification
- The Sage Home Comparative Checklist
- Green Mortgages
- The Big Picture - Why is Building Green So Important?
- Green Technologies & Terminology Glossary
- Seeing is Believing – Thermal Imaging [PDF]
- What Kind of Energy Efficiency Analysis Can Sage Provide?
- Green Building Certification Systems & Their Importance
- Can you Green Certify a Renovated Home?
- How Do I Know What Green Building Materials I Should Use?
- Green Building Presentation
- I Still Have Questions
What is High Performance Building?
High Performance Building involves using various methods and products to build a better home. A home that does this to the full extent will be taking nearly every aspect of the building process and improving upon conventional practices. The end result is a home that “performs” better in all ways.
What is the difference between “Green” and “High Performance”
Homes that are built to a higher standard have been referred to as “green”, “smart”, “advanced”, “energy efficient”, and others – we prefer the term “high performance” since it better encapsulates all the benefits that the owner derives. The home performs highly in all the ways that you would want it to; it maximizes benefits to the homeowner, family and friends, the community, and the environment.
In the context of the building industry, “green” started out as a term linked directly to an environmental cause. But now it has become a more vague term used to describe the trend towards better building practices in general. For many, the benefits to the environment are a sort of bonus, but not the primary motivation for building green. And in that case, the term can be a little misleading.
Nevertheless, the term “green” has more meaning to more people, and so it will likely continue to be the preferred term. For our part, we use the words “green” and “high performance somewhat interchangeably.
Top 10 Benefits of a High Performance Home
1. Savings on Utility Bills
A well sealed & insulated exterior building
envelope and a highly efficient heating
& cooling system & hot water system
yields substantial savings every month on
utilities; savings that increases with time,
as energy/fuel costs continue to rise.
2. Healthier Air
Superior ventilation, air purification,
controlled humidity, and less use of
materials with off-gassing chemicals yields
better air quality, less allergies/asthma,
and better overall health for you and your
family.
3. Less Maintenance
Use of materials that need less
maintenance means less time spent
worrying about making repairs and saves
money in the long run.
4. Comfort
A tight building envelope and a top-notch
heating and cooling system yields more
even temperatures and no draft. Fully
zoned (more than 2 zones) HVAC means
no rooms that are too hot or too cold.
5. Eco-Friendly
Less energy use & use of eco-friendly
building practices and products mean
you are doing your part to protect the
environment. Our children stand to inherit
an earth with serious climate related
issues, if we don’t get serious about
energy use and carbon emissions.
6. Sustainable
Better quality building practices yields a
more sustainable building — your home
will last longer — and, indirectly, a more
sustainable community.
7. More Enjoyable to Own
Quality construction of the building
envelope means less bugs, less noise
from outside, and less maintenance work
needed.
8. Safe
More substantial structure means
less weather related concerns; better
waterproofing of the basement and
exterior walls means less likelihood of
structural failure down the road.
9. Solid Investment
As more and more people demand a
better, greener home, existing green
homes will increase in value at a faster
pace than other existing homes and are
likely to sell more quickly.
10. Financing Options
More and more lenders, recognizing the
better value of a green home and the
savings on utilities, have begun to offer
a green mortgage product. Sage can
provide you with information on these
loans and the special terms they offer.
The above characteristics are achieved through the use of a whole host of building methods and special materials. Below is a very brief introduction to these practices and products and to high performance, or green, building more generally.
Does a Green Home Cost More?
This is the question everyone has – does going green cost more? The answer is Yes and No.
If by “cost more” you mean, are green homes expensive, the answer is they don’t have to be. Green homes are being built in all price ranges.
If by “cost more” you mean does it cost the builder more to add green features to a house, the answer is yes. The upfront cost for building green can range from a typical 2-5% to upwards of 10% for homes with high dollar green upgrades. But normally, the higher upfront cost is offset by the monthly savings on utility bills. In fact, most homes result in a net positive monthly cash flow. That is, when you calculate the portion of your mortgage payment that is going towards your green upgrades and compare that to the savings on your monthly utility bills, you are saving money from day one.
What about the longer term analysis – will your green house be worth more when you sell it? Will you recoup the cost of the green upgrades? Most upgrades are fully recouped within 2-5 years (longer for the more expensive items, such as solar panels), and this doesn’t take into account appreciation. But consider that if your home increases in value more quickly than it would have without the green upgrades, then you have, in effect, recouped your costs, and then some. You not only are netting money on a monthly basis, but also at the point of sale.
And there is good reason to think that green upgrades will help your home appreciate more quickly. There is a major cultural shift underway in our country (and globally) towards a desire for a greener way of life. So it will come as no surprise as the demand for green homes outpaces the demand for regular homes – as more people want green, green homes will increase in value more quickly than regular homes. It is just a matter of time before green building is mainstream (see section below for more on this). But even now, demand for green is outpacing supply. No builder can guarantee how fast a home they build will increase in value, but we think you will agree that, given the apparent cultural trends, a green home is the better bet from an investment point of view.
Choosing to go green is much like choosing to upgrade your kitchen cabinets, counters and appliances. You do it because you will enjoy your house more while you are in it, but also because you know that nicer kitchens are in high demand. Your home is a better investment if it has the characteristics that people want.
Another useful comparison would be buying the car with the best resale value – it is usually a car that is more reliable, better quality, better design inside and out, and so on. So whether or not you buy one of Sage’s affordable compact sedans, or our luxury sports car, you can be assured that each is a solid investment and an investment which you will be able to enjoy each day.
This last part shouldn’t be lost - the best part about choosing a green home, apart from it being a good investment, is that you get to enjoy the investment. A high performance home is a home that is just more enjoyable to own, for all the reasons listed at the beginning of this webpage.
Not everyone will choose the better quality option, when presented with a less expensive alternative. And, therefore, our homes may not be for everyone. But we think that most people, when fully educated about the differences, will choose a high performance home over the low performance one.
Especially when, for most, the price will not be noticeably different. Sage makes an effort to build homes that are within the same range of prices of regular homes in the same market. In other words, it may cost us more to build a high performance home, but the pricetag is going to be roughly the same as other nicer homes in the same area.
In fact, what tends to run push our costs higher has much more to do with the High Design aspect of what we do than with the high performance. It’s just not that expensive to go green, as compared to making a home look very nice, inside and out.
Being Part of a Movement
The high performance (or green if you prefer) approach to building is not new. In fact, as no doubt many people are already aware, there is a growing tide making its way to the Midwest from the West Coast, (and to a lesser extent from the South, North and East), where green is more mainstream.
But unlike some of the trends to make its way to the Midwest, green building is not merely a passing fad; rather, it is a long term trend that is here to stay. There are 3 reasons why this is the case – the green cultural shift, the reality of global warming, and the forward flow of technology.
1.Green building is a part of a broader cultural shift towards things that are more sustainable, greener, and higher quality. People want hybrid cars, natural foods, alternative fuels, higher quality retail goods, luxury features in cars and homes, healthier work/school environments, new urban designed communities, conscious capitalism, and so on. A green home shares many of the same qualities as these things, and it will continue to become more widespread as more people become aware of it and realize that it fits into the new way of thinking.
2.Global warming will continue to be a constant reminder of the bigger picture on green building. As the Katrina’s become more prevalent, the rationality of building green becomes increasingly hard to ignore. See below for more on this.
3.Homebuilding technology is experiencing a period of rapid growth, comparable to the internet industry in the early 90’s. Builders are starting to change their way of thinking when it comes to building. The old unspoken mantra “build it quicker and cheaper” is being replaced by a new one; “build it better and with the latest innovations”. After you introduce a better way of building to enough people, it will be impossible to go back to the old way of doing things. Recall, for instance, how many of the basic car features we enjoy today were once upgrade options? This is the way of technology, and homebuilding is now in the grips of homebuilding technology.
It is our hope that the approach we are using to building homes will be adopted by other builders in the St. Louis area sooner than later, even though it will mean that we will lose our “niche”. We mean it when we say that we believe that everyone deserves a better home. It is inevitable that other builders will eventually “get it” as more and more homebuyers begin to demand better homes. Someday, we will look at McMansions the way we look at cassette tapes, as an outmoded form.
One of the most prominent housing market research firms, McGraw Hill completed a recently released market research paper that analyzes the future of green building. Here are some of its conclusions:
There are sure to be growing pains as the building industry adapts to so many changes all at once. But it will be worth the struggle. Sage Homebuilders plans to stay on the front edge of the coming green wave, offering the most experience and latest innovations in green building.
The Sage-developed Spreadsheet for use in Green Certification
We saw a need for a full-featured spreadsheet for use in the application and evaluation process of certification under the HBA Green Building Program. In order to help aid the adoption of green building practices, we decided to make this spreadsheet available for all to use. The spreadsheet is a tool for the builder to plan out which items he will target for completion and how that will affect the number of points he receives toward certification at the different levels.
If you would like to get a better sense of the details of what goes into building a certified green home, this spreadsheet will be very helpful. You will also start to get a sense for how extensive and comprehensive the process is.
Download Excel Spreadsheet for GBI Certification [Excel]
NAHB Guidelines Site
The Sage Home Comparative Checklist
If you are shopping homes, consider using our checklist of high performance features to compare other homes to ours. You will learn quickly that the green features we incorporate are far from typical.
View the Checklist [PDF]
Green Mortgages
Having recognized the better value of an energy efficient home, some lenders have begun to offer special terms for buyers of qualifying homes. We provide our homebuyers with information on local and national lenders with green mortgage program. We will help you to understand how they work, and to compare them to see what fits your needs best. Lenders have different programs, but most offer lending of a higher loan amount (due to lower utility expenses, resulting in you have more money to put towards your mortgage payment each month), and/or an interest rate reduction or cash incentive. All of our homes will meet the energy efficiency requirements that are the basis for determining what homes qualify for these special mortgage programs.
What Kind of Energy Efficiency Analysis Can Sage Provide?
Sage works with the best Home Energy Raters and energy modelers in the business. Together, we provide in depth analysis of options (cost vs benefits) in advance of building the home, so the homeowner can make informed decisions. See this sample data analysis (which we help the homeowner to understand). During and after construction, additional testing is done to help optimize the performance of the home and to measure what is achieved in the end. Performance testing includes a blower door test (building envelope leakage test), duct leakage test, thermal camera scan, and a visual inspection. See the sample of the final testing results from one of our projects.
Green Building Certification Systems & Their Importance
As green building goes mainstream, it is at risk of being diluted by those who seek to “green-wash” their product, or make it appear greener than it really is. How can you tell “green-washing” from authentic green building? The answer - through certification by a recognized local or national green building program.
There are 3 major national residential green building certification programs, and many local ones. The 3 national are:
- Energy Star for Homes
- LEED-H
- NAHB Model Green Building Program
Energy Star is a program administered by the Federal Department of Energy (DOE) via a network of certified Home Energy Raters (HERS). This program only verifies the energy efficiency of the home, whereas the other 2 programs have energy as one of multiple areas of focus. Because it is not a comprehensive system, some do not consider Energy Star a green certification system at all. The system for rating the energy efficiency of a house that Energy Star utilizes (HERS) is also one of the basis for determining the compliance with energy efficiency requirements on 2 other national systems. Energy Star has the advantage of being the most well known of the 3 national certification systems, and thus is likely to remain an important system of verification.LEED–H
LEED–H is an acronym for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design – for Homes. It is the national green building certification program which is known as the most rigorous of the national programs. The LEED-H guidelines are a product of the USGBC (United States Green Building Council), and were modeled after the popular commercial green building guidelines (now a major force in commercial construction). Although LEED-H is a more costly than the other two programs, it is gaining a reputation as the “gold standard”. This system uses a system of points, whereby a builder earns a level of certification (Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum) based on a total score across 7 categories. NAHB Model Green Building Program
There are many local green building programs around the country, some of which have been around since the early nineties. Most are sponsored by the local HBA (Home Builders Association), sometimes in partnership with other nonprofit and governmental groups. Most have a fairly limited scope, and often they are self-verified (not second or third party verified). A new breed of local certification was introduced in 2005 – it is a program which takes the HBA / community group partnership model, and couples it with nationally targeted guidelines developed by the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). These guidelines raise the bar on green requirements, and they are designed to be third party verified. Just as with LEED-H, the builder earns points towards achieving a level (in this case Bronze, Silver, or Gold).
In the St. Louis area, our local HBA (of which Sage is a member), has adopted the NAHB guidelines as part of their Green Building Program, and third party verification is handled by Laclede Gas.
In February 2008, the NAHB will be releasing a nationwide Green Building program – the NAHB Model Green Building Program, which will make it easier for homes everywhere to be certified. These guidelines are also being adopted as an ANSI standard, which will help legitimize their status as a consensus based standard with well-defined criterion.
There are a handful of other Green Building programs – Building America, the Living Building Challenge, and others – but for now, Energy Star, LEED-H and the NAHB programs are the most widely accepted options.
What Sage Recommends
Sage Homebuilder has experience certifying under all three programs, and will utilize a mix of them, depending on what is called for, or what a custom build client prefers. But, as a green-only builder, every home Sage builds is certified. We believe third party verification and a rigorous certification process are essential to honest green building.
Certification also helps ensure that, as green building becomes a sought after feature, your home will have an objective basis by which to lay claim, on resale, to its green status. In the St. Louis area it is now possible to search for a green home through the Realtor Multiple Listing Service (MLS). There are green certification check boxes for LEED, NAHB, and Energy Star.
So certification is important not only as assurance for the homeowner that the home truly is built green (and not “green-washed”); it is also important from an investment point of view.
Can you Green Certify a Renovated Home?
Existing homes can be certified under any of the programs above, so long as the minimum requirements are met. However, most homes will not easily qualify for the 2 comprehensive programs (LEED and NAHB), except in cases of very substantial renovation or additions. Energy Star can be more easily attained for a remodel.
But for those projects which are not able to be certified, it is still recommended that as many of the green building practices be used as possible. A new program has been created that helps make this more easy to accomplish – the ReGreen Program from USGBC.
REGREEN
USGBC and the Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation partnered to create the first nationwide green residential remodeling guidelines for existing homes. The guidelines, comprised of best practices using a “whole-house” approach, will be supplemented by learning programs and print and electronic resources for building professionals and homeowners as part of the REGREEN program. A draft of the guidelines is available at http://www.regreenprogram.org
Sage renovation projects utilize ReGreen and NAHB guidelines as a guide. Determining the right mix of green features in any particular renovation project is a cooperative effort between the builder and homeowner.
How Do I Know What Green Building Materials I Should Use?
When it comes to green building materials, it can be very difficult to separate the good from the not so good. In fact, if you really want to know how a green a particular product is you would have to take into account
- how it is made,
- what it takes to ship it to the end user,
- if it is made of easily replaced resources,
- if its production results in the creation of green house gases,
- if it is recyclable,
- if it can be disposed of easily at the end of its useful life,
- how sustainable (long lasting) is it
- is it safe for humans to be around,
There is no such thing as a perfect green product – all products have an environmental cost. But so how can we best know how to make a decision about what are the greenER and greenEST products? A whole host of certification systems have been created to help provide a more objective basis for determining. Most of these are not aimed at the consumer, but rather at materials specification teams from builders, architects, and green building consultants. Here is a just a few of these systems:
- SCS, Greenguard, GreenSeal, EcoLogo, C2C, SMART
- Energy Star, WaterSense
- Pharos, GreenSpec, GreenFormat,
- FSC, SFI, AFTS, CSA
- CRI Green Label Plus, CA Section 01350, Floor Score Indoor Advantage
- Green2Green.org, EcoScoreCard.com, RateItGreen.com, GreenHomeGuide.com
Green Building Presentation
As part of its mission to increase awareness of green building and its benefits, Sage makes presentations to groups on “Green Building 101”. You can preview the presentation below. If you are interested in having Sage present to a group you are involved in, please contact Us.
Green Building Presentation [PDF]
I Still Have Questions
If you have specific questions, please think of us as a resource, and contact Us. You might also check out our Green Building Links List – there is an endless amount of info on Green Building online.
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