Seeing Green: Eco-Friendly Construction Grows in Sacramento Region

Appear in: The Sacramento Bee - Saturday, April 17, 2004

Whether you call it sustainable, alternative or environmentally friendly, green building is beginning to move into the mainstream. Home-building methods that address energy efficiency, renewable resources, non-toxic materials and other environmental concerns are beginning to make economic sense to more builders and buyers today.
Rich Dooley, environmental analyst with the National Association of Home Builders Research Center , said there was a dramatic 70 percent increase in the numbers of homes built according to green building guidelines in 2002.

"That to me is very telling that there is an increased interest amongst consumers as well as builders for green building," Dooley said.

Because green home building is still in its infancy and has not been clearly defined, Dooley said, "NAHBRC is currently in the process of developing a national set of guidelines that can be customized and tailored by any organization throughout the U.S. that is interested in establishing a local program."

In California, Premier Homes is one of the first home builders to be designated a Green Builder by the California Building Industry Association. Its newest development, Premier Gardens, is now offering the first zero-energy homes in Sacramento.

"We have been interested in renewable energy for some time as a home builder," said John Ralston, vice president of sales and marketing for Premier Homes.

Although the 95-home development is advertised as zero energy, Ralston explains that "the label was created by a U.S. Department of Energy program that requires specific steps be taken to achieve a 60 percent energy reduction."

Through a partnership with ConSol, the Sacramento Utility District and Astro Power (now G.E.), the homes are planned to offer as standard features energy-efficient appliances, on-demand tankless water heaters, extra insulation, fluorescent lighting and spectrally selective glass.

"A rooftop solar system is integrated into the roof tile, so that it's not noticeable," said Ralston, and "Sacramento Tree Foundation will provide each home with a properly placed tree that will shade the house, but not block the solar system."

Mike Keesee, SMUD's project manager for the Premier Gardens project, says SMUD's role has been to offer special incentives to the builder for installing the solar electric system, energy efficiency upgrades such as the air conditioning and compact florescent lighting. The homes also meet the requirements which qualify them to be called an ENERGY STAR home, said Keesee, "and that one to me is a really important one because it provides a third-party inspection of the installation of the systems to insure that everything is done correctly."

SMUD is really interested in the opportunities this project presents it for analyzing energy efficiency.

"What's really unique, and I think it's unique in the United States, from our point of view, the community is actually two communities divided between two builders," Keesee said. "One builder is doing the zero energy homes and the other isn't. So we're going to analyze that and see what types of real savings we can get from the project. We think this will establish a new benchmark for an energy efficient home. The Department of Energy's long-term goal is to try and move the market in that direction over the next 10 to 15 years, and Premier has really stepped up to the plate."

Premier Gardens is offering four single-story floor plans and one two-story plan. The homes will have up to five bedrooms and three baths, with two, three or four-car garages, and full front yard landscaping. Premier Homes, off Bradshaw and Goethe roads, will hold its grand opening the first weekend in May.

Although not yet embraced as a method of mass producing homes, a growing trend within the green building movement is the use of straw bale construction, popular for its energy efficiency and aesthetic appeal.

Rick Green, owner of Benchmark Development, has been a straw bale builder for 11 years. He built the first straw bale project in Sacramento, the ABC School on Jackson Road, and his company now focuses exclusively on straw bale construction. Green has seen a tremendous increase of interest in straw bale construction over the last few years. In 2002, his company used 15,000 bales. In 2003, they used 30,000, and 2004 promises to far surpass last year.

From his rice farm in Willows, Green supplies the majority of the straw bales used by builders in the Sacramento region. Because 95 percent of the straw used for building comes from rice, this has provided an excellent solution to the problem of disposal of the straw after the rice is harvested, says Green. He stresses, however, that the market is still not large enough to dispose of all the straw produced on the half million acres of rice raised in California.

Green said the advantages of a straw bale home include walls that provide three times the insulation of a traditionally built home, excellent sound absorption and more flexible design features. He says many people find the soft, flowing lines to be aesthetically pleasing, creating a nice living atmosphere.

"I have yet to hear from anyone who has built a straw bale home that they were later sorry about their decision," he said. Although straw bale houses cost 10 to 15 percent more to construct, "the house will pay for itself in energy savings," said Green. To his knowledge, only individual builders have been using straw bale construction in the region, but he says one of his goals for this year is to interest housing developers in this method of construction.

John Swearingen, owner of Skillful Means Construction, is another builder who specializes in straw bale construction. "There has been a big upsurge in using green products, but from our point of view they need to be integrated into a coherent whole where all the different pieces work together to conserve resources and energy," he said.

Swearingen emphasizes that his philosophy is to pay extra attention to the design phase of any home building project. "You can have a home that uses all green products, but is still an energy pig," he said. "It's also important to purchase local materials that don't have to be shipped a long way. This conserves energy and keeps resources and money within the local community."

Part of Swearingen's interest is in building homes that don't use toxic materials. "If you build a healthy house that doesn't give people cancer, respiratory problems or other ailments, you have reduced the load on community services," he said.

Straw bale construction also offers potential for building other architectural features. Swearingen's company was recently commissioned by the city of Davis to build an artistic straw bale outdoor bench at the downtown Amtrak station in Davis. The serpentine bench, reminiscent of the work of Spanish architect Gaudi, features a flowing design covered with colorful mosaic tiles.

One of Swearingen's straw bale home projects was built for Holly Leeds and Josh Lichterman in Grass Valley. Their 2,900-square-foot, two-story home contains three bedrooms and three bathrooms. When asked how she likes her straw bale house, Leeds said "I absolutely adore it. It's a wonderful house. I had no idea that the house was going to feel so incredibly sheltering. I feel that the house just wraps itself around me."

"It's like stepping into a Birkenstock," said Lichterman.

Building their home did present some challenges, because they were the first in Nevada County to attempt obtaining permits for a straw bale house. Their initial plans were returned to them by the county with 26 pages of criticism. "We wound up being the proving ground for others who wanted to build straw bale houses in Nevada County," said Lichterman. "One of the things that happened with this house is that it got over-engineered," said Leeds. "So the environmentally friendly house turned out to not be so environmentally friendly because it has so much lumber."

Jerome and Mary Beauchamp moved into their straw bale home in Auburn last May. Jerome says they decided on straw bale because Mary loved the architectural characteristics and the green building methodology.

The Beauchamp home also contains many other green building elements. The tile floor is recycled from the Money Store where Jerome used to work.

"The CEO didn't like the color of the tile," said Jerome, so the Beauchamps were happy to utilize it in their new home. The upstairs floor is made of California hardwood recycled from the landfill. The kitchen countertops are from recycled paper made into a product called Richlite. The ceiling insulation is made from recycled blue jeans and cellulose. The sinks were bought from Urban Ore, a recycled products store in Berkeley, and all the lumber used in the house is locally harvested California Black Walnut.

"The house is superb," said Jerome, "With no air conditioner, there is none of the noise or discomfort created by temperature swings of an air conditioning system." To keep the house cool in the hottest part of the summer, they use a whole house fan and open the windows. "The coolness of the floor tiles and the ceiling insulation helps keep the house cool," he said.

Nehemiah and Elizabeth Stone, met with a different set of challenges when they built the first straw bale home in Placer County. As an energy consultant, formerly with the California Energy Commission, Nehemiah was prepared for many of the challenges he would face with building the house. He says he didn't have any difficulties with getting the building permits, but had to go to seven lenders before finding a banker who would make them a construction loan. "They just didn't have any comparables," Stone said.

The California Straw Bale Association provides information and referral to a network of people involved with straw building, including architects, builders, lenders, and other straw bale home owners. Its web site is www.strawbuilding.org.