LEED for Homes

On December 22, 2008, the Southampton home of Mr. and Mrs. David Dubin was destroyed in a fire. Local architect Richard Stott learned of the Dubins' plight and connected the couple to the Hamptons Green Alliance ("HGA"), a group of local professionals dedicated to building a net zero energy home in the community, but who were still searching for a suitable project. Mr. Stott approached the Dubins on behalf of HGA, and preliminary plans for the project are moving forward under the LEED for Homes rating system.

The Dubin House will seek a Platinum rating from USGBC but what's particularly interesting is that the project team plans to compare the new home's performance with data from the old one. Telemark, Inc., the project's general contractor, has devised a way of tracking the carbon impact of building materials and systems and hopes to certify the project as carbon neutral, as well as execute a design that should create a house that is net zero. The project team also includes Lee Architecture and Stott's own firm, Flynn Stott Architects, P.C., which is considering an integrated project delivery ("IPD") structure to construct the house.

We've been following both green affordable housing and LEED for Homes pretty closely here in New York City recently so we're glad to see the two intersecting at tomorrow's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Webb Apartments in Jersey City, New Jersey. The five-story, 59,000-square-foot project was developed by Jersey City-based Genesis Companies and is located 450 Martin Luther King Drive, just a few blocks north of a New Jersey Transit light rail station with service up to the Hoboken terminal. Designed by New York City-based GF55 Partners (executive architects of the LEED Silver hopeful Kalahari condos in Harlem), the Webb Apartments will feature 40 rental units and 9000 square feet of retail space. Green design elements include Energy Star appliances, low-VOC paints and sealants, and various recycled-content structural materials. According to Genesis, the project will be the first affordable housing development in New Jersey to earn a LEED for Homes rating, once formally conferred by USGBC. Rents will run between $523 and $714 per month for one- to three-bedroom apartments; market rents for a three-bedroom in Jersey City are currently around $1250, according to Genesis.

New York House magazine’s first annual Best in Green Building Competition has been ongoing here in 2008 in no small part due to the efforts of gbNYC’s Paul McGinniss, who also served on the panel of judges that whittled the competition’s entries down to 12 back in September. To be eligible, homes had to be single-family and located in one of the magazine’s upstate editorial coverage areas (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, etc. counties) and built between 2000 and 2006. The purpose of the competition? Simply to identify “exemplary” green residential projects and promote sustainable design. The judges used criteria from the USGBC’s LEED for Homes system during their review, but a LEED application was not a prerequisite in order to qualify.