High Country Press
2/27/2014
By: Richard Parrish
When Marianne Pantin took an online course from Miami-Dade College to learn how to make her
house in Miami-Dade County, Florida, more energy efficient, little did she know that within two years she would begin a project to build a house in the Blue Ridge Mountains for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U. S. Green Building Council. Reading an article published in the Sunday October 2, 2011, Miami Herald on how to earn tax credit for installing solar energy panels, known as photovoltaic cells, in Florida was ultimately the inspiration for the design and construction of a green house in western North Carolina known as Turkey Run.
With the notion of building a small and very efficient home for her family, she and her husband, Rich
Parrish, reviewed the builders who had LEED experience in Boone. With the capable leadership of Matt Vincent and Gary Smith of Vincent Properties Construction and Quint David at Ioncon, an engineering consulting firm specializing in environmentally responsible work, the design process began 18 months ago. Site preparation began in October 2012 and construction was completed in October 2013.
“We are definitely going for Gold level certification, but realize this is a very high standard in design and construction”, said Rich. “We spent hours meeting with the “Green Plumber” Andy, from Thunder Hill Plumbing & Service to make sure that we were selecting the most efficient faucets, shower heads, and toilets.” According to Marianne who has assembled a catalog of every light fixture, appliance, and material used, they spent nearly every weekend online or in Home Depot or Lowe’s researching the most environmentally friendly materials.“Our goal was to select every material from within a 500 mile radius of Boone, if possible”, Marianne said. From the use of engineered Appalachian hickory flooring harvested from 100% certified Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) sources to recycled glass for a countertop in the master bathroom to recycled paper that had been compressed into a hard granite like material for the kitchen counters, everything had to meet the LEED standards.The main source of the heating and cooling will come from a geothermal system that takes advantage of the available energy that is already in the ground. Ironically the use of solar powered energy that saved Marianne and Rich nearly 50% on their monthly electrical bills in South Florida didn’t make economic year round sense in the mountains with snow fall in the winter.
Marianne and Rich believe that this will be the first LEED certified home in the Blue Ridge Mountain Club, a 6400 acre development site with approximately 700 acres protected by the Blue Ridge Conservancy. They hope other that prospective home owners in South Florida and Western North Carolina will consider this option to create a new standard in environmentally friendly building. For more information on LEED construction go to
http://greenhomeguide.com/program/leed-for-homes
Product Selection – Staying Green and Close to Home – LEEDing the way to a Greener Future
Key to attaining LEED for Homes certification is using products that have achieved recognition for being environmentally sound. Energy Star rating for appliances and lighting fixtures; Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) “Chain-of-custody” certification; rating of plumbing fixtures, such as faucets, showerheads, and toilets, based on water usage are three examples of meeting the requirements of LEED for Homes. Selecting materials that are sourced or manufactured within a 500 mile radius is also an important consideration. Using locally manufactured materials requires less energy to be expended in the moving of the construction components.
The following products were employed in our “Turkey Run”
home at the Blue Ridge Mountain Club.
The links are provided to assist future home builders in the area in the
quest to achieve LEED for Home certification.
Flooring - Appalachian
Hickory Engineered –(Product M17081 Hickory Cashmere Green Haven) – Mullican Flooring 815 Love
Street, Johnson City, Tennessee 37604 SCS Certification Registration Number:
SCS-COC-002109 Scope of Certificate:
Manufacturer of FSC-Pure Hardwood Flooring http://Mullicanflooring.com
Fireplace –
sealed gas with electronic pilot “Classic Series Princeton” - Hussong MFG — 204
Industrial Park Drive / Lakefield, MN 56150 / 800-253-4904 http://kozyheat.com
Plumbing fixtures
Toilet – White
Niagara Stealth Toilet Elongated Bowl & Tank China -.8 GPF High
Efficiency www.niagaraconservation.com
Water Heater –
NPE Navien Premium Condensing Gas Tankless Water Heater - Navien America, Inc., 20 Goodyear, Irvine,
CA 92618
949-420-0420 www.NavienAmerica.com
Bathroom Faucets
– Moen 6600ORB Single Hole Bathroom Sink Faucet, Moen M6102ORB “Kingsley Single
Hole Bathroom Sink Faucet
Showerheads - Moen MT6302EP0RB /M2520 “Brantford” Single
Handle Tub & Moenflo XL Shower Faucet www.moen.com
Manufacturing facilities – New Bern,
North Carolina and Sanford, North Carolina (Located within 500 mile radius)
Appliances
Washer – Kenmore
26-41272 Energy Start 2012 “Most Efficient” www.kenmore.comRefrigerator – KitchenAid – KBFS20EV – Energy Star rated www.kitchenaid.com
Lighting Fixtures and
Fans
Ceiling Fans – Altara 68” and Larson 52”Hampton Bay Energy
Star rated and lighting kit Energy Star rated www.homedepot.com
Exterior lighting – Envirolight Outdoor LED Lantern Energy
star rated available at Costco, Amazon,
ebay, among others
Indoor lighting - Green Electrical Supply, www.greenelectricalsupply.com
and Carolina Rustica (living room scones, www.carolinarustica.com , Home depot
Bennington Collection (Bathroom vanity lights) www.homedepot.com
Countertops
Kitchen – Paperstone – black (100% post-consumer recycled paper compressed
into granite like material) – Product
model – certified to FSC standard
Paperstone Products, Hoquim,
Wahsington www.paperstoneproducts.com
Master bathroom – ECO
by Cosentino is made of 75% recycled content composed of postindustrial or
post-consumer materials manufactured into granite like material. Most of the raw materials used in the
creation of ECO are: Porcelain, Mirror, Glass, Corn Based Resin, Crystallized
Ash, and Stone Scraps. http://www.ecobycosentino.com/usa/
Framing –
Manufactured by Wyerhaeuser Framer Series – Greenville, North Carolina (within
500 miles) www.weyerhaeuser.com
Drywall –
Manufactured by National Gypsum, Mr. Holly, North Carolina (within 500 miles) www.nationalgypsum.com
Interior Paint – ProMar
400 Zero VOC Interior Latex Paint Sherwin Williams www.sherwin-williams.com
Windows – Double
hung, aluminum clad, dual insulated, Super Sunblocker, Low-E, meets 2013 Energy
Star standards, Hurd Windows and Doors,
Hurd, WI, www.hurd.com
Roofing -
Aluminum panels color meets or exceed steep slope Energy Star requirements.
Metal Sales, 188 Quality Drive, Mocksville, NC
27028 www.metalsales.us.com
Manufacturing location Mocksville, North Carolina (within 500 miles)
Culture stone –
front entrance, fireplace, and interior detail, (54% preconsumer recycled
content) Southern Ledgestone – Bucks County,
Boral Stone Products, manufactured in Chester, South Carolina www.boralna.com (within 500 miles)
Geothermal heating
and cooling system
Carrier GT-PX 3 ton geothermal packaged heat pump with EarthPure
environmentally friendly refrigerant and a Carrier 2-zone system, with one zone
serving each level. This heat pump features a variable speed indoor fan motor
with a 2-speed compressor that operates at 67% capacity 80% of the time and
controls humidity in both the summer and winter (winter requires humidifier). www.carrier.com
Windows – Double hung, aluminum clad, dual insulated, Super Sunblocker, Low-E, meets 2013 Energy Star standards,Hurd Windows and Doors, Hurd, WI, www.hurd.com
Roofing -Aluminum panels color meets or exceed steep slope Energy Star requirements. Metal Sales, 188 Quality Drive, Mocksville, NC 27028 www.metalsales.us.comManufacturing location Mocksville, North Carolina (within 500 miles)
Fireplace –sealed gas with electronic pilot “Classic Series Princeton” - Hussong MFG — 204 Industrial Park Drive / Lakefield, MN 56150 / 800-253-4904 http://kozyheat.com
Master bathroom – ECO by Cosentino is made of 75% recycled content composed of postindustrial or post-consumer materials manufactured into granite like material. Most of the raw materials used in the creation of ECO are: Porcelain, Mirror, Glass, Corn Based Resin, Crystallized Ash, and Stone Scraps. http://www.ecobycosentino.com/usa/
Home Depot Bennington Collection (Bathroom vanity lights) www.homedepot.com
Exterior lighting – Envirolight Outdoor LED Lantern Energy star rated available at Costco, Amazon, ebay, among others
Clear views of Powder Horn Mountain.
Sunrise at Turkey Run.
This looks great.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Has anyone read this?
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderfully informative blog. Could you update with more current information regarding the house?
ReplyDeleteThanks
I love the flooring you selected. You are going to have so much fun decorating when all of the hard work is finished.I am so glad you are hiring out to have the floor installed.
ReplyDeleteAppalachian pricing
I was surfing net and fortunately came across this site and found very interesting stuff here. Its really fun to read. I enjoyed a lot. Thanks for sharing this wonderful information.
ReplyDeletedade appliance service