Green Homes: Recommended Websites for Project Profiles and Case Studies

One of the best ways to learn about green homes is to explore examples of real-world projects—by touring green homes or reading about them online. Completed projects can give you ideas for your own home. And we all benefit from hearing about not only the most successful aspects of model projects, but also about the lessons learned the hard way by homeowners or builders who have already “blazed the trail.”

The following websites feature free collections of case studies (or profile articles with in-depth information) on green homes around the country. Some of these sites showcase home renovations and remodels, as well as new homes.

  • High Performance Buildings Database case studies (U.S. Department of Energy / BuildingGreen): Go to “Search Options,” then select “Building Type,” and choose “Single-Family Residential,” or search by location. Most of the case studies in this database are on commercial and institutional buildings.

In addition to the LEED for Homes, Passive House, and GreenPoint Rated certifications that are mentioned above, homes can also be certified under the rigorous Living Building Challenge program. The first home to achieve the Living Building Challenge certification is the Eco-Sense home in Victoria, British Columbia. The International Living Building Institute has posted this comprehensive case study on the Eco-Sense home.

Related Post: A previous post also lists websites that feature case studies on commercial/institutional green buildings.

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February 7, 2011
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LEED Platinum Leaders: Top-Ranking States and Countries

NOTE: This post has been superceded by a newer post with updated data.
Please click here for the more recent (2012) update and analysis of LEED Platinum projects.

 

Platinum is the highest rating in the LEED green building rating system; it’s one level higher than Gold. Building projects that have attained this rigorous level of certification are among the greenest in the world.

I recently added the latest set of Platinum-rated projects (buildings, homes, offices, and stores) to my listing of LEED Platinum Certified Building Projects Worldwide. This unique listing is organized by country and—within the U.S.—by state. Some of the listed projects are linked to online case studies. The listing includes projects of all types, from every LEED rating system: New Construction (and Major Renovations), Existing Buildings/Operations & Maintenance, Commercial Interiors, Core & Shell, Homes, Schools, and Retail. It is primarily compiled from the data provided in the USGBC/GBCI’s directory of LEED certified projects and the USGBC’s most recently posted list of LEED for Homes certified residences.

There are now hundreds of LEED Platinum certified projects. As of my latest review of the data (at the very beginning of 2011), it appears that projects in 47 of the 50 U.S. states (all states except Alabama, North Dakota, and West Virginia) have achieved the LEED Platinum rating to date, along with projects in Washington DC and Puerto Rico.

California has more than 130 LEED Platinum certified projects (at last count), which is more than twice as many as there are in any other state, and it’s also more than twice as many as California had only a year ago.  In terms of the absolute number of LEED Platinum certified projects in each state, California is followed by Oregon (with almost 60 projects), and then Texas, New York, and Massachusetts (each of which has between 30-40 projects). If you take state populations into account, Oregon clearly has the lead (for the greatest number of LEED Platinum certified projects per capita).

Worldwide, Platinum rated projects now exist in 16 countries. Outside of the U.S., there are projects in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. Among these, India has the most, with 20 projects so far.

The range of Platinum project types is very broad. In addition to high-profile projects (such as the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock) and a number of high-end offices and luxury residences, LEED Platinum projects also include several public buildings (such as San Jose City Hall) and a surprising number of affordable housing projects. The following are just a few examples of the many affordable housing projects that have achieved the LEED Platinum rating: 51 single-family, detached homes built by Habitat for Humanity in St. Louis, MO; the General Colin L. Powell Apartments in the South Bronx, NY; Wisdom Way Solar Village homes in Greenfield, MA; Autumn Terrace mixed-use housing development in San Marcos, CA; Vista Dunes in La Quinta, CA; and a variety of affordable homes in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Note: Another green building certification, which is widely considered to be an even higher bar to reach than LEED Platinum, is the Living Building Challenge. To date, three projects have achieved the Living Building Challenge certification: the Tyson Living Learning Center in Eureka, Missouri; the Omega Center for Sustainable Living in Rhinebeck, New York (which also got a LEED Platinum certification); and the Eco-Sense home in Victoria, British Columbia.

Please click here for The Green Spotlight’s more recent update and analysis (from January 2012).

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January 10, 2011
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Green Gift Giving: Ideas and Tips

Before the holidays (and other gift-giving occasions), I sit down and have a brainstorm session to try to come up with thoughtful, meaningful gifts that are well suited to each person on my list. Then, I run those ideas through my budget filter, as well as another set of filters that I consider to be just as important: In an effort to be an environmentally and socially conscious consumer, I strive to choose gifts that meet one or more of the following criteria—many of which also happen to be economical:

  1. Non-Stuff: As Art Buchwald said, “The best things in life aren’t things.” Consider alternatives to material things, such as:
     

    • Activities: Doing something special for/with someone or a group of friends or family (e.g., making a fancy dinner or going out to eat);
    • Giving a gift certificate for a restaurant, a service (e.g. spa/massage), an educational opportunity (such as an online solar training course), or music/movie downloads (e.g., iTunes gift code by email); a ticket to a special event (e.g., a concert); or a voucher for a personal favor (e.g., babysitting or a household repair task); or
    • Making a donation (or getting a membership) to a nonprofit organization on someone’s behalf.


  2. Homemade, handmade, or homegrown stuff: e.g., baked goods, jam, art, crafts. Or, if you have been growing herbs or have saved flower or vegetable seeds from your garden, I think that fresh or dried herbs (like rosemary, thyme, or lavender) and seeds (like cilantro/coriander, which can also be ground for use as a spice)—or flower bulbs or seedlings—can make really nice gifts.


  3. Locally-made or Fair Trade goods: You can help support your local economy/community by buying locally-made goods from small independent businesses in your town, or you could support a sustainable enterprise in a third-world country by purchasing Fair Trade goods. Whatever you do, try to avoid buying cheaply made (low quality, low durability) stuff that was manufactured with toxic materials in an overseas sweatshop; unfortunately, that description applies to a lot of the stuff sold in Big Box chain stores these days.


  4. Products with green attributes or purposes: e.g., a solar charger for cell phones and gadgets; gardening supplies or non-GMO seeds (e.g., Baker Creek Heirlooms or Botanical Interests); organic cotton clothing; organic food; soaps or bath products made with entirely safe and biodegradable ingredients, etc. (Beware of “greenwashing,” of course. Look for third-party assessments/eco-labels that verify manufacturers’ environmental claims.) Find stores in your area that specialize in green products. Or shop online to minimize your driving; many green companies have online stores, e.g.:
     


  5. Re-gifted items or lightly-used finds: When I receive an item for which I don’t have any use, I don’t have qualms about re-gifting it (or donating it) to someone who would enjoy having it more than I would. In fact, I get great satisfaction out of redirecting things to the right recipients. You can also sometimes find a perfect and perfectly lovely gift for someone at a vintage/antique shop, yard sale, flea market, thrift store, or Craigslist. Some “pre-owned” items are treasures just waiting to be found.


  6. Eminently useful things: There are certain things that almost anyone can put to use, such as consumables (favorite specialty foods or spices), cozy socks, a mini-LED light for a keychain, or a good book about a topic of interest to the recipient.


  7. Small stuff: Try to choose items that don’t use a lot of resources, don’t require a lot of packaging/shipping material, and won’t take up much space in someone’s home.  Sometimes the best gifts can fit into a stocking.

And if you still just can’t think of anything good to get for a certain person and you decide to get that person a gift certificate for a store, get one from a store that offers electronic/email gift notices (or else paper certificates) rather than disposable PVC plastic gift cards.

Lastly, minimize your use of store-bought/new wrapping paper. Some people like to use the cartoon section of their newspaper as wrapping paper. I keep a stash of reusable gift bags and ribbons that have come to me over the years. If the contents of a gift don’t need to be covered up, putting a nice ribbon or bow around it (sans wrapping paper) is an elegantly simple way to adorn it.

 

NOTE: See our newer post, Green Gifts (2.0), posted November 2011, for more tips and suggestions.


For additional info on green gifts, products, and consumerism/over-consumption, take a look at these sites:

Please share your own green gift ideas and suggestions in the Comments section below.

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November 20, 2010
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The Green Spotlight’s Daily Links and Highlights

We post briefer and more frequent green blurbs on our Facebook page than we do on this site. Please visit The Green Spotlight’s Facebook Page. You can view the page even you don’t have a Facebook account. But if you do have an account, click on the “Like” button (if you’re not already a “Friend” of the page). Then you can get a daily dose of The Green Spotlight in your Facebook news feed, and you can share your comments and recommendations with a large audience.

Take a look at the Page to get a sense of the wide variety of topics that have been touched on or linked to. Here’s a sampling of past topics:

  • Biomimicry in product design
  • Solar window shutters
  • Ecovative’s alternative to petroleum-based plastics
  • Biofuel made from whiskey-distilling by-products
  • Dog poop converted into electrical energy
  • Landfill gas turned into fuel for garbage trucks
  • Organic farming programs in India, Mexico, Detroit, etc.
  • Gardening tips
  • Non-toxic cleaners and household products
  • Green-certified restaurants
  • Net-zero-energy and “passive” homes around the world
  • The Yes Men satirize Chevron
  • Daryl Hannah
  • Rachel Carson
  • The greening of corporate supply chains
  • Solar panel recycling
  • Electric cars, motorcycles, trucks, scooters, ATVs, and other vehicles (Green Lite Motors, Barefoot Motors, Mission Motors, Brammo, ZAP, Bright Automotive, etc.)
  • World Green Building Council
  • Living Building Challenge
  • Bioneers
  • Farm Aid
  • Teens Turning Green
  • League of Conservation Voters
  • Trees for the Future: Haiti
  • 350.org
  • California Brightspot
  • Green Economy Roadmap
  • TED videos
  • New films: e.g., Big River; Dirt!
  • Interesting facts and stats
  • Quotation of the Month
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November 5, 2010
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Green Curricula and Environmental Learning Activities

Whether you’re a teacher, parent, school administrator, or homeschooler, you might be interested in taking a look at some of these online resources related to green/environmental education. These websites provide ideas for curriculum, lesson plans, and hands-on activities for teachers and students. Many of these resources are related to K-12 education, but some also apply to higher education.

Best Practices in Green Education (U.S. Green Building Council)

Center for Ecoliteracy

Center for Environmental Education

Children & Nature Network

The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education

Earth Day Network: Educators’ Network

Eco-Schools USA (National Wildlife Federation)

EE-Link (from the North American Association of Environmental Education)

Energy Education: Teach and Learn (K-12 energy-related lesson plans and activities, from the U.S. Department of Energy)

Energy Kids (U.S. Environmental Information Administration)

Green Education Foundation (GEF)

National Energy Education Development Project

National Environmental Education Foundation

U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools

U.S. EPA Teaching Center and Environmental Education resources

U.S. Green Schools Foundation: Education/Curriculum

Outdoor education is an important branch of environmental education. The concept of “nature-deficit disorder” is described in the bestselling book Last Child in the Woods.

It’s especially important for urban youth, who may never have spent any time outside of their neighborhoods or cities, to be given opportunities to explore and learn in nature/wilderness settings. At-risk youth can benefit greatly from outdoor learning experiences provided by wilderness programs such as Outward Bound, as well as farm-based programs like those offered by the Center for Land-Based Learning.

For additional resources on green curricula, click here. And if you know of other useful resources related to environmental education, please share your suggestions in the Comments section below.

Related Post: Green Schools Resources and Links (mostly related to greening school buildings/facilities)

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October 4, 2010
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Green Schools: Resources and Links

Green school buildings have multiple benefits and advantages, including:

  • reduced use of energy and water, and reduced materials waste;
  • lower operating costs, i.e., financial savings that can be used to fund other improvements or activities;
  • a healthier and more comfortable learning (and teaching) environment, resulting in better student performance (including higher test scores), improved health of all of the schools’ occupants (and therefore, fewer sick days), as well as more satisfied teachers and staff; and
  • new opportunities for on-site, hands-on environmental learning.

Whether you’re a teacher, parent, student, school administrator, or building professional, you may be interested in learning more about green schools. Here is a listing of many of the key websites, organizations, guidelines, and initiatives related to green schools, with a focus on school buildings/facilities (design of new buildings, retrofitting existing buildings, as well as the daily operations and maintenance of the buildings). Most of these resources are related to K-12 schools, but some of the information also applies to higher education facilities.


Key Organizations and Information Websites

Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)

Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI)

Earth Day Network: Green Your School

Eco-Schools USA (National Wildlife Federation)

EnergySmart Schools (U.S. Department of Energy)

Global Green USA: Green Schools program

Green School Buildings website (U.S. Green Building Council)

Green Schools Alliance

Healthy Schools Network

High Performance Schools (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

LEED for Schools (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Rating System, USGBC)

U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools

U.S. Green Schools Foundation

For information on getting financing for green / energy efficiency projects, check out these sites: the National Education Foundation/ U.S. Department of Education’s Qualified School Construction Bonds, the California Energy Commission’s Energy Efficiency loans, PG&E’s School Resource Program (for schools within the PG&E utility area), and the DSIRE Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency. For additional links related to funding for green projects, see my post on Green Tax Credits, Rebates, and Other Financial Incentives.

Examples of Local and Regional Initiatives


Related Post: Green Curricula and Environmental Learning Activities (i.e., environmental education)

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October 1, 2010
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Switch to High-Efficiency Plumbing Fixtures to Save Water, Energy, and Money

Reducing your water use has multiple benefits. In addition to helping to conserve and protect your community’s vital water supplies, saving water also helps you save money and energy.

According to the U.S. EPA, if all U.S. households installed water-efficient fixtures and appliances, the country would save more than 3 trillion gallons of water and more than $18 billion dollars per year.

Conserving water also conserves energy, because energy is used to treat, deliver, and heat water. If one out of every 100 American homes were retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, that would save about 100 million kWh of electricity per year—avoiding 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions: equivalent to removing nearly 15,000 automobiles from the road for one year. For additional information on the benefits of saving water, see this EPA webpage.

Low-flow fixtures have been on the market for a while. These days, there are also many ultra-low-flow fixtures that conserve even more water without compromising performance. The EPA’s WaterSense program labels ultra-low-flow, highly water-efficient plumbing fixtures that have been independently tested and certified to meet efficiency and performance standards. In addition to being approximately 20% more water-efficient than average products, WaterSense labeled products have been verified to perform “as well or better than their less efficient counterparts.”

To select the most water-efficient plumbing fixtures, you should look for products with certain flow thresholds. The following sections outline the thresholds to be aware of when selecting ultra-low water-use toilets, showerheads, and faucets:

HIGH-EFFICIENCY, WATER-SAVING TOILETS

Toilets are often the source of the most water use (and water wasting) within a home, accounting for nearly 30 percent of an average home’s indoor water consumption. If you have a toilet(s) that uses more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush (gpf)—as do almost all toilets installed before 1994—replace it with one of the following:

  • High-efficiency (or ultra-low-flush) toilet model that uses no more than 1.3 gpf (the current EPA WaterSense standard, as of 2010); or better yet, a…
  • Dual-flush toilet, which has a lower-flush button for liquid waste and a higher-flush button for solid waste; this type of toilet is common in Australia and Europe and is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. (Dual-flush conversion/retrofit kits are also available to convert a regular toilet into a dual-flush.) Or even better, consider installing a…
  • Composting toilet, which uses little to no water for flushing.

In California, new legislation has mandated that all new toilets sold or installed in the state after 2014 must be high-efficiency toilets. At some point, federal standards might also be raised to this standard.

For commercial/office-building bathrooms, install ultra-low-flush (ULF) urinals in lieu of regular urinals.

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August 25, 2010
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Model Sustainable Neighborhoods: LEED ND Developments in the U.S., Canada, and China

Among LEED ND (Neighborhood Development) certified projects that have been built or are currently being built (i.e., construction is already well underway), the following have gotten the highest ratings. All of the developments listed here have achieved either a Gold or Platinum LEED rating.

UNITED STATES

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Maryland

New York

  • SALT (Syracuse Art, Life and Technology) District, Syracuse (Gold, Stage 1): Official Site

North Carolina

Oregon

Tennessee

  • Cummins Station: Gateway to Nashville (Gold, Stage 2): Official Site

Washington DC

CANADA

CHINA

  • Beijing Olympic Village (Gold, Stage 2)
  • Chongqing Tiandi Xincheng Development, Chongqing (Gold, Stage 2)
  • Wuhan Tiandi Mixed-Use Development, Wuhan (Gold, Stage 2)

For more information about LEED ND, as well as info about other certifications and resources related to green neighborhood development, see this earlier post:

Sustainable Neighborhoods and Communities: Certifications, developments, organizations, and websites

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August 5, 2010
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Fuel-Focused Films and Climactic Climate Cinema

In the past couple of years, several documentary films have come out that are focused on the folly of fossil fuels (such as oil, gasoline, and natural gas), and new films have also been made to bring attention to the broader climate crisis. Most of these movies have been critically acclaimed.

Recent fuel films include:


Gasland (2009): about drilling for natural gas by “fracking” (hydraulic fracturing) (Gasland is currently airing on HBO and via HBO On Demand.)


Crude (2009): about the lawsuit on Chevron/Texaco’s contamination of an Amazon community in Ecuador


Fuel (2008): about biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil


A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (2007)

Also, in the years since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, several new films have been made about climate change; these include:


Climate of Change (2010: Coming Soon): This film was created to present inspiring, uplifting stories of regular people around the world who have spearheaded a variety of local initiatives to combat climate change.


The Age of Stupid (2008)


Climate Refugees (2009)


The 11th Hour (2007)

Click on the links to see trailers or to learn more about each film. Check sites such as IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, and Netflix for reviews.


If you’ve seen any of these films, let us know what you thought of them by posting a comment below.

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July 26, 2010
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