Indiana Gets Its First Certified NAHB Green Home

David Killion from Gentry Estates Construction in Bloomington, Ind. has built the first NAHB Green-certified home in his state.

The company was the first in the area to jump on board the green home building movement a few years ago with homes certified by Energy Star and Environments for Living. As Gentry Construction started putting both of those green programs in its advertising, other builders quickly became interested.

Gentry became a green builder to reduce the energy consumption and global impact of its homes, Killion says; and the NAHB National Green Building Programwas selected to rate those homes because it includes criteria, verification and a third-party evaluation to back up the green claim.

When people visited Gentry’s green entry in Bloomington’s Parade of Homes and didn’t find the solar panels they expected, they said, “Well, this doesn’t look green to me,” according to Killion. Specifications in the NAHB Green evaluation show otherwise.

Following the NAHB Green rating system was easy because Gentry Construction was already using green elements in its homes, Killion says. Scoring its standard houses to see how they rated, the builder found several features in common with NAHB’s green program and identified new areas for improvement.

“It wasn’t so far out of our way to do new practices and procedures,” he said.

The most difficult part of the certification, Killion says, was getting the process started, seeing how it worked, putting the documentation together and getting it to the verifier, who was helpful in showing how to get the ball rolling.

Gentry’s NAHB Green home scored 311 points, enough to qualify for certification at the Silver level. Getting more traction on the green designation with customers will take time, he says, because features that make the home special aren’t always readily apparent and need to be explained. But he is confident that the marketability potential is there and that green homes will draw more interest among buyers than those that are traditionally built.

Among the features distinguishing Gentry’s green home building efforts:

• Lot Design, Preparation and Development. A majority of the lots in the development are sloped. “We try and stay off those as much as we can, it only makes sense to stay off the slopes,” he says.
  
  Conservancy areas have been established to keep parts of the development in its natural state to maintain wildlife habitat and help prevent erosion. There are also requirements for birdhouses. The house scored 10 points in this category.
• Resource Efficiency. Killion used advanced framing techniques for the 24-inch roof framing and used materials requiring no additional onsite finishing, an approach he had already been using for his green homes.
  
  Gentry Construction has a portfolio of plans it can modify according to clients’ needs. The particular plan for the Silver-level home included covered entries and overhangs. The perimeter drain, drip edge and gutter and downspout system were all installed to divert surface water from the sides of the house. “If you are building a quality product, I don’t see why you wouldn’t,” Killion says.
  
  Pre-finished hardwood, windows and recycled-content building materials were also used.
  
  The house scored 77 points in this category.
• Energy Efficiency. Reducing energy consumption is the major focus of the three programs Gentry Construction has been using. “If you build a project and have high energy consumption, you aren’t minimizing global impact,” Killion says.
  
  All of the appliances installed in the home were Energy Star-rated, and the house scored 117 points in this category.
• Water Efficiency. Water conservation is one of the sections of NAHB Green that Gentry needed to focus more attention on, Killion says. The company installed low-flow shower heads and water faucets, and the house received 26 points in this category.
• Indoor Environmental Quality/Global Impact. Measures were taken to ensure tightly sealed joints, including the common doors and the door between the garage and living area. The kitchen vent directs exhaust outdoors and a direct-vent fireplace was installed.
  
  The HVAC outlets were masked during the construction and MERV 9 filters were installed. Heavy plastic covering was used under slab and to protect the moisture-sensitive materials from water damage. The company and subcontractors adhered to a detailed schedule for on-time delivery of materials, minimizing weather damage.
  
  Low-VOC paints were used. The house scored 64 points in this category.
• Operation, Maintenance and Home Owner Education. The company provides a home owner manual (it used to just conduct a walk-through and product demonstration), and a recycling center is located in the garage. The house scored 17 points in this category.