Green Building and Green Homes Explained

For Homeowners in Western Connecticut and Westchester County, New York

BPC’s Green Homes are Simply Better Homes

 

 

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Green Building is a broad name for a wide range of green building approaches and Green Building Industry Standards. These approaches provide a surprisingly large number of benefits to homeowners and are good for the environment. Green Building is a subset of the field of Building Science.

Green Homes are homes built to one or more Green Building Industry standards that range from the EPA’s Energy Star program at the low end up to and including DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home standards at the high end of energy efficiency and LEED for Homes standards which focus more broadly on all environmental issues and not just energy.

The objective of using “Green Building” for home building and home renovation is to create better homes that provide benefits that conventional homes don’t and can’t.

Green homes:

There are Many Shades of Green Building

Green building can be beneficial to the environment and to homeowners in a number of different ways ranging from a little to a great deal. Some people use the term “deep green” for a home being built that utilizes many green methods and technologies, to a greater extent than most.

Based on YOUR own personal priorities and objectives for building green, you can select the shade of green best for you by determining in what ways and to what extent your new or renovated home will be green. BPC can help you match what you want to achieve with the right green building strategies. Established green building standards already exist to fit most people’s goals and priorities.

BPC Green Homes Deliver Many Benefits

All Homes BPC Green Builders Builds Today Provide these benefits:

LIVE BETTER: BPC homes are healthy, comfortable, quiet, and well designed in every way.

PERFORM BETTER: They use advanced technology, are ultra energy efficient, and deliver high performance.

LAST LONGER: BPC homes are designed, engineered, and built to be durable.

COST LESS TO OWN: Your BPC home will save you money on energy costs as well as on maintenance, repairs and replacement expenses. Being a green home that costs less to live in, your home when sold will be more appealing and command a higher resale price.

ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE: BPC homes help combat climate change, reduce pollution and other environmental damage and are sustainably built.

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DOWNLOAD: Why one BPC client wanted a green home and why you should too

DOWNLOAD: 13 Best Practices for Zero Net Energy Buildings

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“We were surprised and delighted to find in Mike Trolle, of BPC Green Builders, a local builder who not only gave us the kind of house we wanted, but helped us figure out what that was in the first place. His ideas about what a house needs — and doesn’t need — were invaluable. He even helped us find an architect whose ideas were in sync with ours.”
Tom and Stacy, Westport, Connecticut
“We found your expertise in building science to be of great help in planning the project and in the selection of appropriate equipment and materials. BPC’s management of the subcontractors and communication with us always met our expectations. Moreover, BPC was conscientious and ethical in all aspects of the work. We would be pleased to recommend BPC without reservation.”
Christine and Monte, Bethany, Connecticut
“As architects, it has also been a sincere pleasure to work for Mike. He is an extraordinary client who has been able to utilize our skills and experience. The working relationship that we have developed is based upon trust and confidence, and has been tested by the realities and trials of construction.”
Thomas RC Hartman, AIA, Coldham Architects LLC
“BPC is in the forefront of this commitment. Our company has benefited from our professional and personal interaction with Mike and Chris Trolle. From client introduction to final walk through, the drive for total customer satisfaction is clear.”
Dean Demague, High Performance Energy Solutions

Industry Established Green Building Standards

A number of Green Building organizations and the federal government and have established standards for green building. Some focus on energy efficiency and savings; other standards go beyond energy-related to help homeowners achieve a broader set of green goals and benefits.

BPC Homes Meet or Exceed These Green Standards and Objectives

ALL BPC homes are built to meet or exceed one or more of the following Green Building Standards. This means your home will deliver the many benefits these standards are set up to assure. BPC homes are Great Homes that are Green.

*BPC defines a “Net Zero Energy Home” as one with a verified 0 HERS Score. We define a “Positive Energy Home” as one with a negative HERS score.
**No single formal standard exists for a Sustainable home but the principles of Sustainability include using renewable building products, using renewable and non-polluting building materials, using clean, renewable power, etc. are to some or more extent are incorporated into all green home building standards.

BPC Green Homes are also “High Performance” Homes

A “high-performance home” is one built to perform better in many ways than a conventionally built home. All BPC green homes and renovations are high performance homes. Depending on the standards they were built to meet or exceed, they represent different levels of performance.

As Energy Star becomes more and more popular with conventional home builders, in the future it may become the new baseline, unless the standard is adjusted upward. Homes that meet US DOE Zero Energy Ready Home, Passive House, Net Zero and LEED for Homes standards are and will likely remain high performance.

Are All Homes Sold as Being a “Green” Really Green?

Unfortunately, they are not. Builders know that people are looking for energy efficiency and green homes more and more. So some builders, either as window dressing or because they don’t have proper training, add a few “green features” and call their home green. But if they don’t add them properly and the house is not green otherwise, then the home is not really green.

For example:

  • Just using some ENERGY STAR rated systems in a home doesn’t mean it is really green.
  • Using spray foam insulation can help to make a building more air-tight and increase the overall insulation value. However, unless a continuous layer of insulation – not interrupted by the framing – is added, a home will still leak heat through the framing itself, which often makes up 25% of the exterior wall area.
  • Adding photovoltaic panels to a conventionally built home does not mean it is really green.
  • The best Energy Efficient windows, if not properly installed and sealed, will not be of much help overall if air is flowing around them or through walls.

When “Green” is used strictly as a marketing tool it is called “Green Washing.” This is no different than when food companies started proclaiming their foods were “Fat-Free”, and so healthier by inference, but the companies loaded them up with sugar or other chemicals which many believe is even less healthy than foods with fat.