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Philosophy of Green Building
The movement of Green Building and Construction is finally starting to get its priorities in order.
The focus of media attention to this point has been on materials first, then water and lastely, energy.
The growing consensus of experts believe that Green Building should focus on three main points in this order:
1. Energy Conservancy
2. Water Conservancy
3. Materials Conservancy
Money wasted on energy bills is responsible for the majority our environmental damage.
Homes and buildings are responsible for 40-60% of our nation's pollution.
Monthly, energy-use accounts for nearly all of this enormous, environmental foot-print.
Every dollar wasted on dirty energy represents other Hidden Costs inflicted upon someone and something else.
The wisest thing we can do is dramatically reduce our energy costs.
Existing homes and remodels should include as much energy conservation as possible. However, the most affordable path to dramatically reduced monthly, energy-usage is through new construction.
50% - 100% less energy consumption is possible and affordable compared to existing or remodeled homes.
With green builders and certified homes sprouting up all over Asheville, energy-use seems to be properly addressed in these "green built" homes. Unfortunately, most Asheville green builders are doing little to reduce energy-use.
Green builders in the Asheville area typically offer new homes that are 15% more efficient than is required by code (the bare minimum required by Energy Star). This represents a tiny reduction in energy bills and resulting environmental footprints.
Affordability is not the issue. Lack of knowledge and the unwillingness to try something different are what seem to be the barriers to building energy-neutral dwellings in our country.
High performance building envelopes are the missing element in dramatically reducing energy costs. The new materials and methods that make this possible are just as affordable as conventional ones. A great building envelope matched with the right design, details, and connections offers the most affordable and effective opportunity to reduce energy costs by 50-100%. These homes will be more comfortable, more resistant to mold and have the healthiest indoor air quality.
When one builds or rebuilds, they are largely responsible for that building's lifetime of energy bills, resulting environmental costs and the health effects of that dwelling' s indoor air on the future inhabitants.
Monthly, energy use is not the only source of a home's environmental impact, but most experts agree that it is the largest source, and it currently offers the most room for improvement by far.
This website can help one discover the most important things to consider on the path of affordable, energy independence and healthy indoor air.
Certifications and Ratings 
LEED for Homes 
Certifications and ratings are great because third parties verify that builders are not cheating when they label a building or home as green. There are several good choices in the Asheville area, so we attempt to simplify them here, with an energy-use bias.
Energy Star/HERS rating (the HERS Index is extremely important)
This certification/rating combination is presently the most popular and important. Other certifications make Energy Star a requirement and then add to, or alter, the picture from there. The HERS rating is powerful in its true predictions of home energy costs and resulting environmental costs.
The HERS rating is an accurate representation of how close a home will be to creating as much energy as it uses. The scale is 0 to 100 with a code-built house being 100 and the net-zero-energy home being a zero. Modeling software combined with diagnostic results from the completed home make this possible.
After purchase price, the HERS rating is the single most important number in a home. It assigns a number to a home's monthly, energy-use which is the biggest source of most people's environmental foot-print and energy costs.
The HERS number is one of the most effective certifications possible.
DO NOT be content with the Energy Star label. Energy Star and other certifications have a HERS rating/score. This number along with the blower door test results are the most revealing numbers of a home's energy costs and resulting level of harm on our environment.
Most green builders score around 85 which is actually kind of pathetic. This represents a 15% reduction in energy use and is barely noticable in energy costs and environmental footprints. A rating of 50 can be just as affordable to achieve and would put us in line with a german, code-built home. In other words, most of the Energy Star homes built in Asheville, would'nt even pass code in Germany because they would waste too much energy.
Certifications use Energy Star as a starting point and then use other criteria to build a more holistic picture of a green building. This is a great thing, but we take issue with how they tend to strip importance and relevance away from our nation's most important challenge of energy-use.
For example, take two otherwise identical homes. One home has a HERS rating of 70. The other house wastes more energy with a rating of 80, but because it used more recycled materials and has a rain barrel, it gets a higher level of certification. This is fundamentally wrong because the home with the score of 70 will have a much lower environmental foot print. This example would be the exception, but is designed to highlight the importance of the HERS rating and the greatest weakness in most other certifications.
Dramatically reducing the use of dirty energy is the greenest thing one can do.
NC HealthyBuilt Home
It is quite affordable to upgrade to an HBH certification. It is a simplified points system that goes beyond Energy Star to include seven different criteria: site, water, building envelope, comfort systems, indoor air quality, materials, and lighting/appliances/renewables. This program successfully educates builders and buyers in all areas of the green building movement. This is the most popular and recognized certification in Asheville and Western North Carolina.
LEED for homes
Like NC Healthy Built Homes, Energy Star and third-party inspections are required. LEED is considerably more expensive than other options. This is mainly due to its complex points system. It takes someone who is educated in its many variables, options, and formulas to certify a home. If one is trying to keep things simple and affordable there are better choices available. The main advantage to LEED is its national recognition.
Passive House
www.passivehouse.us/passiveHouse/PHIUSHome.html
If there is a certification capable of making a true impact in the World, it is the passive house standard. Although it is not easy to achieve Passive House certification, the requirements and guidelines are very straightforward. This is the most affordable, simple, and effective certification ever devised.
Certifications that use point systems involve thousands of moving variables, some of which have little effect on a home's environmental foot-print. Because Passive House focuses on the main source of a home's environmental foot-print, its homes are the greenest by far.
By doing away with "optional points" and designing to a "target energy budget", Passive House standard homes use 90% less energy. This means 90% less energy costs and a 90% lower environmental foot-print. These reductions are affordable because they do not require extra mechanical equipment. The main challenge is assembling a team familiar with the materials, methods and connections to achieve Passive House certification.
It should be noted that Passive House was created in a different climate than Asheville's. Germany has a heating dominated climate with fewer days of sunshine in the winter. We have a climate where cooling with de-humidification is almost as important as heating. We need different mechanical equipment to accomplish this. We do not need as much insulation as Northern climates and we can rely on passive solar heating more.
Passive House is working on adjusting thier system to accomodate different climates. The HERS rating, at this point, is adjusted for our climate and can be used in a "target energy budget" manner by designing a home to score a certain HERS Index rating.
The impressive thing about Passive House Standard is the ability to bring a homes energy use so low (HERS equivalent of 10 or less) without the use of Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Panels. This is possible due to a strict approach in creating the building envelope. An incredibly, efficient envelope is much more affordable than an average sized PV solar system and it has a much bigger impact on the occupants comfort and health.
"I aint changin my lifestyle"
Unfortunately, lifestyle has to enter into the conversation at some point. In the world of Passive House and Net-Zero-Homes, lifestyle can be a major influence on performance. Thanks to technology, people who dont want to alter thier lifestyle can offset thier environmental impact if they can afford it.
For most of us, re-developing our habits is an easy way to dramatically reduce our energy consumption while sacrificing our indulgent american lifestyle very little.
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