March 2003
“Green” Home Building in Chicago
Top Grades for Energy Efficiency...
But That's About It
by Nancy Wagner
Being an environmentally responsible homebuyer used to mean looking for solar panels on the roof of a house. Those panels are still important, but now they are just one of the many features on so-called "green homes." That is, homes that promote the efficient use of natural resources, minimize the negative environmental impacts of building, and protect the health, and perhaps even wealth, of their occupants.
Palatine-based Bigelow Homes, for example, is so confident of the energy efficiency of its homes that it offers a three-year guarantee to homebuyers that their annual heating bills will not exceed $400 a year. If the bill goes over, Bigelow says it will pay the excess. So far, the company has not had to fulfill that promise.
Perry Bigelow began building custom homes 25 years ago on sites in Lake County that other developers did not want. What conventional developers viewed as undesirable terrain, Bigelow saw as an opportunity to "build in nature." He placed homes on heavily wooded lots with such care to preserve trees that, he says, "it looked like the houses were set down with a helicopter. Nothing was touched. Nobody believed we could do it — even our own people."
Bigelow’s interest in energy conscious design stepped up in the early‘80s when the energy crisis created a demand for energy efficient homes. Production systems improved at the same time, making them easier and more affordable to build. Bigelow started by improving the insulation of the shell and installing solarthermal panels to provide heat and hot water. From there he continued to innovate, designing heating systems, framing and ways to install insulation that save energy. Even the foundations were designed to be insulation barriers.
Home Energy Magazine praises Bigelow homes for being "tight" or sealed so that air can’t escape or seep in. This is both good and bad according to Bigelow, who will be the first to tell you that energy efficiency is only a start to building a green home. As he says, "It’s easy to build a tight house, but it is not very healthy."
To allow his clients to breathe easier he installs giant attic fans that flush fresh air into every room along with filtration systems to remove particles. Bigelow is also careful about controlling gas emissions (outgassing) from building materials and uses, for example, roof and wall sheeting made without formaldehyde.
It’s a Small Bandwagon
A handfull of homebuilders in the Chicago area have joined the energy efficiency bandwagon. Prairie Crossing, an award-winning development in Grayslake, Illinois, was the first in the region to take part in the Department of Energy’s "Building America Initiative." The program requires new homes to use at least 30 percent less energy for heating, cooling, and water heating than conventional homes of the same size. Town and Country Homes was the second to participate in the initiative and Cambridge Homes is following suit.
These homes are fine if you are looking for a new house in the suburbs (Bigelow’s homes are available in Aurora, Oswego, and Romeoville, Illinois). Those who want an existing green home closer to Chicago will have to look harder. It means finding a house already renovated by environmentally conscious owners or hiring an architect to custom-design one.
If you want to make green upgrades to an existing home consider the classic Chicago bungalow. The City’s Green Bungalow initiative provides owners of historic bungalows — all 80,000 of them — with financial and architectural assistance to transform the houses into environmentally friendly, energy efficient homes. Owners can even get $1,000 toward the purchase of an energy efficient appliance after $5,000 has been spent in rehab costs.
To demonstrate the best environmental practices, the City renovated four bungalows in the 6400 block of South Fairfield (the Green Bungalow Model Block) with new windows, roofs, solar panels, and energy-efficient appliances. One house used recycled rubber tire flooring while another features a geothermal heating and cooling system that reaches 150 feet below ground to tap the constant temperature of the earth to cool the home.
Green Building Role Models
Unfortunately, the Chicago area lags behind other regions of the country in green living options. According to David Richmond, President of Environmental Community Consultants Inc., and incoming president of the Energy and Environmental Building Association, "the large production builders in the Chicagoland market have not addressed green building" to the extent that builders in other regions have.
He points to Artistic Homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a model. Building about 800 energy efficient homes a year, Richmond says that Artistic Homes "single-handedly revolutionized the market in Albuquerque by educating the consumer about the benefits of energy efficient homes. They have forced the competition to adopt energy efficient techniques in order to stay competitive."
Some builders have moved beyond "energy packages" to show their environmental commitment. Florida-based WCI, for example, offers energy efficient homes located in vast natural settings. The developer has aside 35 percent of its land as protected coastal and wetland conservation areas and reserves more land for endangered species. WCI raises the environmental bar fairly high by seeking approval of its development plans from Audubon International. Audubon reviews site plans for their impact on wildlife habitat, water quality, and water conservation.
Bigelow, Artistic Homes, and WCI are building state of the art energy efficient and healthy homes. Yet some say the building industry can do better. In their book Cradle To Cradle, architect William McDonough and designer Michael Braungart claim that too many of the materials used to build and fill typical homes end up in landfills: the cradle to grave model. On top of this, they contain and exude chemicals that are potentially harmful to our health, "additives that you didn’t ask for and didn’t know were included."
The ideal green home, they say, would be energy-efficient, built to last (and not end up in a landfill), use local materials, take full advantage of natural surroundings and have products designed to "be actively positive" for one’s health.
Illinois residents will have an easier time finding green homes if the state legislature passes a proposed energy conservation building code. Similar codes — already in place in 39 states — require new homes to meet energy efficiency standards for the climate zone in which they are located.
The code would also create competition for builders like Perry Bigelow who opposes the measure. He argues that existing state and local building codes are sufficient and just need to be enforced. And legislators listen to him. Proponents of the new code, such as the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center, disagree and will continue to push for it in Springfield. Bigelow is so passionate about environmental building that his homes will pass the code standards with flying colors. Others need to be motivated by a visit from the building inspector.
Nancy Wagner is a Chicago-based freelance writer, and a policy advocate at the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago, IL.
If You’re Interested in Green Building:
Builders:
Bigelow Homes, 847-705-6400
Cambridge Homes, 847-362-9100
Chicago Green Bungalow initiative,
312-744-7606 or 744-5701
w6.ci.chi.il.us./Environment/html/GreenBungalows.html
Historic Chicago Bungalow Association, 312-642-9900
Prairie Crossing, 847-548-5400
Town and Country Homes, 630-953-2222
Products:
Energy-efficient products: www.EnergyStar.gov. Lists all Energy Star products and links to stores that carry them
Solar heating: Solar Service, 847-677-0950
Solar electricity: Spire Solar Chicago,
773-638-8700
Check out the "Big & Green"
If you’re planning on being in Washington, D.C., sometime before mid-June, you may want to drop in on the "Big & Green" exhibit currently showing at the National Building Museum.
This major show examines sustainable architecture in the 21st century by highlighting the efficient use of natural resources while minimizing the environmental impacts of conventional building. The show profiles about 50 contemporary green projects worldwide that are examples of large-scale buildings such as skyscrapers, factories, convention centers, and shopping malls.
Douglas Durst, the exhibition’s chair and a sustainable building developer himself believes that this approach to building is one that could revolutionize the way our buildings and cities are designed and constructed, "This movement emerges from an increasing respect for our environment, combined with a continuing demand for new construction to meet the needs of urban and regional growth. And it recognizes — now more than ever — that energy must be used wisely and conserved."
The exhibition is organized into five main sections — energy, light and air, greenery, water and waste, construction and urbanism (how cities are planned). Visitors to the Big & Green will be able to grasp the sustainability concepts through a variety of models, structural mock-ups, interactive components as well as illustrations, photographs, and drawings.
Big & Green will be on display through June 22, 2003. — NW
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