The first challenge of green building is often defining it, since “sustainable” can mean different things to different people. In Atlanta, going green can mean adding a solar roof to an existing home. Or it can encompass a residence like the Reynoldstown home built by Concourse E sustainable design firm and Dencity Design that incorporates high-efficiency HVAC, a green roof, soy-based spray foam insulation, Energy Star appliances and utility credits for unused solar power. » Continued on the next page
Increasingly in the metro area, extreme green top-to-bottom design is the rule. Ansley Park homeowners Matt and Jennifer Liotta’s LEED-Silver certified home is an example of the cutting-edge in Atlanta eco-building. Designed by Dencity co-owner Bryan Russell, the Liotta home includes among its many green features a system for collecting rainwater for landscaping, a hybrid car dock in the garage and the use of recycled materials from the demolished home that previously occupied the building site.
The one thing preventing more Atlantans from fully embracing sustainable building, say local builders, is the fact that the price tag may exceed traditional building costs.
“Part of our problem is we only look at the first price as the primary driver,” said Houser Walker architect Greg Walker, who incorporates green practices into his residential building projects. “But if you are building something which is more durable, more long-lasting, more energy efficient, your ongoing costs are going to be much less, and you do have to factor that in.”
Some builders say the perception that sustainable construction costs more can be just that, a perception. Russell said the cost of building locally certified EarthCraft homes is only 2 percent to 3 percent more than conventional home building costs. Building a nationally certified LEED-Silver home is 10 percent to 12 percent more expensive than building an EarthCraft home. Dencity has built sustainable homes for as little as $200,000 and as much as $3 million.
Adding to the incentives to build green are other economic advantages, said Atlanta Fine Homes Eco Broker Carson Matthews. In 2009 and 2010, Matthews said certified green homes typically sold for 3.4 percent closer to list price than standard new construction. And green homes spend 21.2 percent less time on the market than non-green homes. In 2008, Matthews said, green features such as solar power or EarthCraft certification were incorporated into Atlanta’s local FMLS search engine, which helps buyers search for green homes.
Robert Soens of Decatur’s Pinnacle Custom Builders builds both LEED and EarthCraft homes, as well as green renovations in existing homes in the Atlanta area. He is finishing up a Roswell residence built using non-toxic, low-VOC (volatile organic compound) materials because of the homeowner’s severe allergies. The one-story home also was built according to aging in place universal design principles, to adapt to the homeowners’ needs as they age.
“They want to be in that space until they die,” said Soens, whose square foot building rates are $130-$250.
The movement toward green housing nationwide is twofold. On the one hand, it applies to the materials and systems used in construction and renovation, such as recycled materials, low-VOC paints, higher efficiency HVAC and geothermal heating systems. Concourse E’s Jeff Demetriou, whose green design/build rates are $150-$225 a square foot, notes that he often sees scientists and people in the medical profession gravitating toward green homes because of their concerns over the toxicity of environmentally hazardous materials.
But eco-building also involves sweeping lifestyle changes, including the move to smaller homes on denser home sites, and the New Urbanism trend for the development of multi-use communities such as Vickery in South Forsyth County, a certified EarthCraft neighborhood.
“We are seeing buyers who realize the benefits of a mixed-use, mixed-income, pedestrian friendly/walkable neighborhood like Vickery,” said Pam Sessions, president of Hedgewood Realty, which designs, builds and sells sustainable properties ranging from the high-$100,000s to $1 million.
“This may represent the greatest change in buying patterns we have seen,” Sessions said. “Buyers are having our team design and build homes that meet their particular needs rather than with an eye to future re-sale, as has been of greater importance in days past.”
