Green Building Blog

Listed

Posted by Sloan Ritchie on March 30, 2011

Listing here on InfinitiRED website

New green Seattle home – how do you know it’s green??  Look at at the front door!

Just put it on the MLS today, check it out the pictures.

Madison Valley Home for sale

Posted by Sloan Ritchie on March 29, 2011

We’re about to list this house for sale in Madison Valley.  It was originally built in 1980 but needed a major overhaul, so we did basically everything inside and out.

Home features:

• Upstairs – 3 bedrooms, bath with laundry, loft
• Main – kitchen, powder, living, dining, pass thru bar, rear deck, front yard patio
• Lower – Garage, storage, media room or guest room with full bath, patio
• Approx 1900 SF plus attached garage
• Close to downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill, right in Madison Valley
• Walkscore = 80, Very Walkable

Some of the green features in this home are:

• Dual flush toilets
• Zero VOC paints
• Bamboo hardwoods
• Caeserstone countertops
• Rainscreen siding, cement board panels 50yr warranty
• Energy Star windows and doors, Low-E, argon gas filled
• Energy star appliances
• Cradle to Cradle carpet
• Native drought tolerant landscaping
• Upgraded insulation

PACE

Posted by Sloan Ritchie on March 23, 2011

From Wikipedia: “PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy. In areas with PACE legislation in place municipality governments offer a specific bond to investors and then turn around and loan the money toconsumers and businesses to put towards an energy retrofit. The loans are repaid over the assigned term (typically 15 or 20 years) via an annual assessment on their property tax bill. PACE bonds can be issued by municipal financing districts or finance companies and the proceeds can be used to retrofit both commercial and residential properties. One of the most notable characteristics of PACE programs is that the loan is attached to the property rather than an individual.”

Pretty interesting.  If you knew your utility bill would go down by more than your “assessment” would go up, who would NOT do something like that?  Financed over 20 years, efficiency, insulation, solar hot water and probably even solar panels make economic sense, and would be cash flow positive from day 1.  Not to mention the secondary job creation benefits.

Wonder why PACE programs haven’t taken off in Seattle?  City Light?  PSE?

Debunking Green Building Myths

Posted by Sloan Ritchie on March 22, 2011

Debunking Green Building Myths

Just like everything, green building is bogged down by myths that end up preventing homeowners from enjoying a healthier more energy efficient home.  We’re taking a stab today at dispelling the more common ones.

Green homes are unsightly and unstable

Not true.  Being green, however, doesn’t mean you need to line your roof with solar panels or build your home out of mud and sticks. There is no specific ‘green building style,’ and with today’s technologies and innovations, nearly any architectural style can incorporate green building practices.  Check out our featured projects for a look at a few of our contemporary, modern sustainable homes built using materials like a 50-year roof, forest stewardship council certified lumber and Hardie panels

Building green is more expensive

With every product there are varying price points.  It’s true that some products used in a green home are more expensive, but there are many that are not:

-          Advanced framing in new homes

-          No and low VOC paints & sealants

-          Recycled content drywall

-          Passive solar heat gain

-          RecycleTop countertops (100% recycled content)

Green building is just a trend

Many, many years ago, this could have been debated, but today, this notion needs to be completely thrown out your energy-efficient window. According to the Environmental Leader, the green building market is expected to increase from about $70 billion to $173.5 billion by 2015. With President Obama’s help (check out our last blog post on his ‘Green Buildings Initiative’), the green building industry is expected to continue growing long into the future.

For us, green building is not negotiable.  It’s the future of our home and building landscape.

Send us other myths or questions surrounding green building that you’d like addressed.