LEEDS Platinum Certification For Home Designed and Built by Flagstaff Company

I had the privilege of attending the Arizona Chapter meeting of the U.S. Green Building Council last evening. The location was just west of Flagstaff along a beautiful drive that opened into a gorgeous mountain meadow. Set back in the trees on an old homestead is a pilot green home under construction.

The home is being built by Carl Ramsey, Architect and owner of Flagstaff-based Architectural and Environmental Associates, Inc. Here are just a few of the green features of this fabulous home:

•   The home will be self-sustaining with wind and solar power. Indeed, the property will sell electricity generated on site that is metered and sold to back to the electric company, Arizona Public Service.
•   The home’s structure includes a thermal wall and window placement based on sophisticated computer modeling to retain the desired temperature level within.
•  Design and materials have been chosen to improve indoor air quality
•   All appliances and lighting fixtures are EnergyStar rated and exterior lighting conforms to dark sky criteria.
• The roof, gutters and framing materials are made from recycled materials,
• The property includes 35,000 gallons of storage tanks, intended for rainwater collection – the primary, if not only, source of water on site.  The old homestead buildings are preserved and water from their roofs as well as from the roof of the new home are the sources of water collection.
•  Construction debris will be minimal. Wood and concrete scrap are piling up, as with any construction site, but instead of being hauled to a landfill, they will be ground on site for use as mulch and drive and walkway material.

That last item is extremely important. If homes continue to be built at the current rate in this country, according to Carl’s calculations, we’ll have the equivalent of two Mt. Humphreys (the largest of the San Francisco Peaks, just outside Flagstaff) in landfills from the construction debris generated. Why not reuse that material? And, where possible, reuse it on site to avoid using energy to haul it elsewhere.

I posted about the Platinum Certification of this home earlier this week. To learn more about the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED,^® visit the USGBC website page, What is LEED^®?  An advocacy group for green building is forming in Flagstaff under the auspices of USGBC’s Arizona Chapter.