What's a LEED Home?

LEED for Homes is a national, voluntary, third party-verified certification system that promotes the design and construction of high performance green homes and encourages the adoption of sustainable practices. A green house uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier and more comfortable for the occupants. Benefits of a LEED home include lower energy bills, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and less exposure to mold, mildew and other indoor contaminants. We're proud to say that our 2008 homes were LEED Platinum certified.

LEED Certification Requirements

Innovation and Design

Green Building strategies and techniques are most effectively implemented as part of an integrated design process, with input from individuals involved in each phase of the project. Part of this process includes the assessment and mitigation of long-term durability risks to the home. Durability failures can be costly but if considered in the up-front design of the home, can usually be solved easily and cost effectively. For maximum efficiency, a LEED Development Team should be established.

LEED Development Team
Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis' LEED Development Team consists of HFHSL Construction Staff, HVAC experts, civil engineers, landscape designers, architects, industry professionals, energy rater/performance testers, LEED APs, and other interested parties such as representatives from utility companies, Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Durability Management Process
Intent: To promote durability and high performance of the building enclosure and its components and systems through appropriate design, material selection and construction practices
HFHSL: The Durability Check List is a checklist used to verify the eight LEED categories Link to Durability Checklist from 2008

Location and Linkages

Intent: Builders are to select home sites that have more sustainable land-use patterns and offer environmental advantages over conventional developments.
HFHSL: Avoided development on environmentally sensitive sites. We are building on a Brownfield site (the term`brownfield site' means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.) The site is in a previously developed urban area, it has existing infrastructure, it is connected to other neighborhoods, and is in close proximity to: public transportation, a grocery store, schools, pharmacy, gas station, churches, and parks.

Sustainable Sites

Intent: Design the site to minimize adverse impacts. Should take into consideration not only aesthetics and functional preferences of the occupants but also long-term management needs, preservation principles, and potential impacts on local and regional ecosystems.
HFHSL:

• Erosion controls: Implemented erosion control measures such as stockpiling and protecting disturbed soil that will be reused. Water Management and Erosion control: We are using silt fences and inlet silt protectors and following our storm water pollution plan by routinely cleaning any debris away from the storm inlets and making sure our protectors our clean also. Built on a site where our lot area is less that 1/7 acre.
• Landscaping: All compacted soil was tilled, soil amendments were added, mulch was used in plant beds, install drought-tolerant, non invasive plants
• Local Heat Island effects: Installed gray concrete.
• Surface water management: Installed vegetated swales for runoff control
• Nontoxic Pest controls: Separated all wood to concrete connections with metal, install landscaping such that all parts of mature plants will be at least 24" from home, used solid concrete foundation walls.
• Compact Development: To conserve land and promote community livability, transportation efficiency and walk ability we built 9 dwellings per acre of buildable land - a moderately dense development.

Water Efficiency

Intent: Reduce water usage
HFHSL: Indoor water use: Installed very high efficiency fixtures and fittings, dual-flush toilets and Energy Star dishwashers.

Energy and Atmosphere

Intent: To make reductions in energy usage and CO₂ emissions that makes communities and homes healthier and more comfortable, durable, energy-efficient, and environmentally responsible places to live.
HFHSL: Optimized Energy Performance: Our homes are Energy Star(ES) 5 Plus rated with a HERS (Home Energy Rating System) Index between 49 and 59 in 2008, passed the ESThermal Bypass Inspection. This rating was attained using an enhanced, grade 1,insulation system, followed a stringent air sealing plan reducing air infiltration and installing: Exception windows, 94.1% AFUE gas furnace, 15 SEER cooling system with a non HCFC refrigerant (R-410a), ES programmable thermostat, tankless water heater, central manifold water distribution system, ES light fixtures and compact fluorescent lights, ES refrigerator and dishwasher.

Materials and Resources

Intent: Reduce construction waste and the use of building materials that may pollute the air and water, destroy natural habitats, and deplete natural resources.

HFHSL:

• Material-Efficient Framing: Walls were panelized in HFHSL's warehouse using a precut framing package, 24" oc studs, headers sized for actual loads, and ladder blocking. Open-web floor trusses were used and all trusses (roof and floor) were delivered to the job site preframed. Detailed framing documents, cut lists and lumber orders were developed.
• Environmentally Preferred Products - use products made from recycled materials and/or are extracted, processed, and manufactured within 500 miles of the build site and/or have low emissions :
• Environmentally Preferred:

1. Finger jointed studs
2. Trex Decking
3. Counters - flakeboard
4. Insulation

• Low emission:

1. 100% hard wood flooring
2. Low VOC sealants and adhesives
3. Insulation

• Locally produced products:

1. Nova Brik
2. Floor trusses
3. Roof trusses
4. Foundation, aggregate and cement
5. Drywall
6. Interior Doors
7. Cabinets
8. Windows
9. Insulation

• Waste Management: waste was reduced to a level below the industry norm. We diverted 57% of our construction site waste from land fills in 2008 by either reusing or recycling. This includes the diversion of cardboard, plastic, AL cans, metal, PVC, shingles, drywall scrap, blueboard, wood, concrete

Continuing the Greening

Construction Build Site Waste Reduction & Recycling

The following Materials are diverted the landfills:

• Cardboard - to recycler
• Wood - reused on site as possible, scrap to recycler, usable to warehouse to be used in the following year's build
• Plastic bottles - to recycler
• Metal - to recycler
• Blueboard - scrap and small pieces were used as additional insulation in the attic between the trusses before the spray insulation was installed
• Drywall - recycled or used as a soil amendment
• Dead Trees - ground up and and used as a mulch berm around the site for storm water management
• Concrete - to recycler

Indoor Environment

Intent: Prevent indoor air pollution, improve indoor air quality and comfort in the home.
HFHSL:

• Completed all the requirements of Energy Star's Indoor Air Package.
• Moisture Control: Foundations, Wall assembly, Roof Assembly, Plumbing
• Radon resistant construction
• Pest Barriers
• HVAC Systems: Equipment, Ducts, Ventilation, Filtration
• Combustion: Heating Appliances, CO Alarms
• Building materials: Preparation and Installation, Materials
• Home commissioning: Final Preparation, Owner Education
• Installed an Energy Recovery Ventilator
• Installed in the bathrooms an automatic timer to operate the ERV on high for a timed interval after the occupant leaves the room
• Third-Party testing was performed on the exhaust air flow rate
• Installed air filters ≥ MERV 13

Awareness and Education

Intent: To promote awareness among homeowners and the public that LEED Homes are built differently and need to be operated and maintained accordingly.
HFHSL:

• Homebuyers awareness: Homebuyers are provided with an operations and maintenance manual, attend a one hour walk through of their home with the Construction Manager and two hours of additional training which includes efficient use of resources, appropriate use of measures and systems, and proper maintenance of measures and systems.
• Public awareness: Participated in a green house tour which included guided tours and informational signs highlighting many of our LEED H features. In addition, we were in a newspaper article about our project and we display LEED for Homes signage at each home under construction.