Here is a list of some of the features of our home that qualify for LEED credits. This is not an exhaustive list, just some of the more interesting features:
- Universal Design – every room in the home is usable by persons with limited mobility
- Limit conventional turf – we will have no conventional turf at all, just gardens surrounding the house
- Reduce irrigation demand – all our permanent plantings will have far less water demand than typical landscaping in this region
- Water reuse – our rainwater harvesting system collects water from more than 50% of our roof, to be used for watering the gardens and flushing toilets
- Indoor water use – all our toilets, lavatories and showers have very high efficiency fixtures that use much less water than conventional fixtures
- Optimize energy performance – our home is designed to generate more energy than it consumes, using a combination of superinsulation, energy efficient appliances, active and passive solar heat collection, and solar electric generation
- Construction waste reduction – our construction will generate about 1/10th as much waste per square foot as a typical home construction
- Combustion venting – our wood stoves are EPA certified for low emissions, and have an outside combustion air supply to avoid drawing warm air from the house
- Outdoor air ventilation – we use a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) to provide continuous ventilation, and to recover about 70% of the heat from the outgoing stale air
- Local exhaust – our bathrooms are equipped with humidity sensors, which will increase the airflow through the HRV whenever excess humidity is present
- Air filtering – the ventilation air intake is equipped with a high efficiency air filter (rated MERV 13) to reduce particulates in the incoming fresh air
- Indoor contaminant control – we have a shoe removal and storage space near the front door, and a central vacuum system that exhausts to the outside
In addition, here are some of the environmentally preferable products in our home that earn LEED credits:
- Floor – polished concrete generates far less emissions and traps far less dirt than carpet
- Walls & ceilings – our drywall was made less than 200 miles away from 96% recycled material
- Paints – All walls and ceilings use low-VOC paint
- Countertops – we’re making our own countertops using recycled glass
- Insulation – our cellulose wall insulation is about 85% recycled paper