LEED for Homes Checklist courtesy CaGBC
The checklist will help you understand the requirements for each LEED category, and help you decide on your targeted level of certification. It will not only be used for the evaluation of your project, but you can use it for tracking your progress. The checklist will allow you to:
Yes, any homeowner or builder is allowed to submit the application and manage the build without being a LEED AP (Accredited Professional), or even having a LEED AP on your design team. You could receive a point towards certification by having an AP on your design team, but it isn't mandatory.
What you need to do first is contact a LEED provider in your region, it is with them that you will make your submission and they will perform a preliminary rating to see if how your design would score. This step allows you to see where your design falls on the point scale, and to see if changes are necessary to help you meet your own targeted goal.
Below are some pages that may be of value depending on how familiar you already are with the rating system. We built the first LEED v4 Platinum house in Canada a few years ago (linked below); in there you can find your way to the video guide we created following its construction, that may be of value to you as well. Best of luck!
We don’t have a listing of builders to offer unfortunately, but we can offer some advice on how to search and make a final selection. You could try an internet search with your local region (the closest town or city) alongside words like ‘Passive House’ or ‘LEED’. Those are green building certification programs, so even if you don’t want to pursue one, finding a builder that has built a Passive House or a LEED certified home would be knowledgeable in the area of green home building. Also search ‘green builder’ with your local region, there are no guarantees doing that as anyone can make such a claim, but its at least as starting place.
I just did a search for ‘Pennsylvania green builder’ and came up with the following website that may be of value - https://www.pabuilders.org/GreenBuildingFAQs
If you find a potential candidate and they can’t take on your project themselves, ask them for recommendations, local performance builders have often heard of each other. Aside from that, you can make some calls to local builders and see what types of homes they construct, ask them a few basic questions to weed them out –
Their answers will tell you right away, in that they will either answer the question with confidence or they may dodge it a bit.
You can also do some research here on our pages about home performance, ventilation, durability, etc, so you are armed with a bit of info when you make calls. I would say that you are best off with a builder that respects your goals for performance, durability, air quality etc, rather than trying to talk you down from them.
If you end up getting conflicting information from different builders about what you ‘should do’ or what you ‘shouldn’t do’, or different wall systems, drop us another question here if you like and we may be able to help sort out the good from the bad.
And if you want to chat about design and best practices we can do a quick phone consultation to help you make a final decision if you like. Feel free to drop us an email at info@ecohome.net.
Our recommendations to everyone building a home is for the same, aim for energy efficiency, durability, safe indoor air quality and responsible material choices etc. All that would apply still in our minds when a house will be left to sit unattended for a winter, so look through our green building guide for high performance construction techniques, and on top of that, we would suggest you take extra time on resilient home design. Since you won’t be there a lot of the time, try to foresee any issues your home may face and add design features to deal with them passively.
Here is a short list of measures you might want to consider that will help protect your home while you are away for long periods, and we have included as many relevant links as we can think of:
Choose a suitable lot to build a home with consideration put towards soil quality, water tables, emergency service access, and close enough to a community so you could have someone on call that can attend to your home regularly.
Super-insulated homes such as passive house, and designing a home for passive solar heat collection will keep your energy costs at a minimum and also help it stay warm in the event of power failures.
When you suggest a basement, my first thought would be to avoid that and stay above grade. Building a basement is typically a more expensive way to build, and even if you take measures to protect it against flooding, you will still be at risk. A slab on grade house on high ground will safeguard your home against extreme weather events in a changing climate.
If you do choose to go with a basement, please see our guide to durable and healthy basement construction, and take extra durability measures such as installing a sump pump, possibly a second one depending on water tables, and even a battery backup.
Choose durable roofing materials to protect against high winds, such as a professionally installed and well-fastened metal roof, or a living green roof. Asphalt shingles are the least durable and are susceptible to damage from wind and hail.
Smart homes and home monitoring with devices– control the systems of your home remotely, and monitor for intruders, temperature swings, and get smart phone notices for leaks from basements and or appliances.
We make no secret of the fact that we prefer slab on grade homes over basements, and particularly in your situation. Aside from what we mention above, it’s great to have a retirement home on a single level so you can avoid the need to negotiate stairs if you have mobility issues in the future. That said, we also have information on downsizing and home design for seniors, that you may want to consider now for when your travelling days end.
For additional inspiration, we have a few demo homes we have built that meet much of the criteria described above; the LEED V4 Platinum Edelweiss House, our LEED Platinum Kenogami House, and our newest demo house in Wakefield QC has a feature that may be of interest, we installed a solar air heated floor. That way a large portion of your heating demand could be provided by a small solar panel running a fan, to help keep your home warm during extended power failures. You might also want to read up on Passive House certification - as having an official certification for your new home has been shown to increase it's value in the future.
Finally, to address the issue of cost – yes, you will put more money into a durable and efficient home, but they pay for themselves in the long run. As you plan to stay in this for the long term, we truly believe that the added investment for a greener home will pay off. The best way to keep costs down is to keep the size down and the design simple, so take time to consider how big a home you really need.
And given that you aren’t starting to build right way, keep an eye out for more information on our site in the near future about high performance and affordable prefab kit homes.
We hope that helps, good luck John!
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