Lean and green at the 2012 HGTV eco-home

Designed by Atlanta architect Steve Kemp of Kemp Hall Studio, the HGTV Green Home 2012 is a 21st-century spin on the classic American farmhouse, a combination of nostalgia and forward-thinking green values evident in features such as solar panels to generate electricity.

The HGTV Green Home illustrates a new approach toward green. While in the past, green building might have meant using low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint and Energy Star appliances, the approach to green is becoming much more holistic, encompassing a lifestyle that embraces existing with less space, living in a home longer and, best-case scenario, locating your home in a green-friendly community.

Tiffany Barcik is an architect with Atlanta’s Moon Bros. Architects, which has built a total of three homes at Serenbe. All Serenbe homes are by design “green” because they have to adhere to EarthCraft principles and take advantages of the community’s commitment to sustainability.

“It’s not just individual houses trying to be green, it’s a whole community,” Barcik said.

With the economy deeply affecting the way people think of home buying, there have been philosophical shifts that will have a profound impact on the green movement.

One of the key green features of the HGTV home is its size. “Building smaller is the best green thing to do,” Kemp said.

“I would say that the one thing we pushed in this home was challenging how much space we really need,” Kemp said. “Having a maximum-efficiency geothermal system and you’re still heating and cooling 5,000-6,000 square feet? If you can live the same way in 3,000 or 2,000 square feet, then you have gone way beyond anything you can do with any particular system.”

What contractors, designers and architects recommend most often is that homeowners spend a little money up front in building or renovating a home, for greater cost savings and quality of life down the road.

“Everyone needs to start thinking about value,” said Georgia Muncaster, an architectural designer at Kemp Hall.

Some of the green features that define the HGTV Green Home:

Though the HGTV home is, in contemporary terms, modest at just 2,300 square feet, the home totals 4,000 square feet when outdoor living space from two porches and a central courtyard is factored in. That allows future residents to cool the house naturally and use outdoor space as additional “rooms” in the home.

Some of the materials used inside the HGTV Green Home include rugs by Shaw Floors made from recycled soda bottles. Decking, railing and outdoor furniture from Trex are made from 90 percent recycled material including reclaimed wood from woodworking, used pallets, sawdust and plastic grocery bags.

“The days of flipping homes are over. You’re going to be in this for a long time,” Kemp said. The home was conceived as a “forever” home that could easily transition from a starter home to a child-friendly family home and then an aging-in-place home. With so many people now staying put in one home and adapting it as they age, homebuilders are having to plan flexible, multipurpose rooms and adaptable homes that offer features such as a master-on-main.

The home’s eastern orientation means the architect has used fewer windows on that and the western side of the home to diminish heat gains. In addition, an Anderson window coating to reduce UV light on east-facing windows also inhibits heat gains. Another feature meant to keep the house cool is a cupola in the stairwell leading to the second floor that allows for rapid cross-ventilation. A chimney effect occurs when the cupola windows are opened so that hot air moves rapidly out of the house.

As we move toward smaller, multifunctional spaces, the importance of things such as built-ins, modular pieces and furniture that functions very well in a small space becomes more critical. “An interior designer is absolutely critical to make sure you’re making the best use of your space,” Kemp said.

Pay as much attention to what you put outside as you do to what you place inside. Ed Castro of Ed Castro Landscape in Roswell did the landscape design for the HGTV home and put much of his emphasis on evergreens that do well despite droughts. “We don’t feel it all has to be organic,” said Castro, who instead focused on plants that would require minimal care and look beautiful year-round.

Green building tips

Tiffany Barcik, an architect at Moon Bros. Architects who is a LEED-accredited professional and EarthCraft-trained, offered these green building tips.