Affordable Home in Columbus Awarded LEED Platinum Certification
This Columbus home, at 258 N. 21st St., is the first LEED Platinum-certified residential dwelling in Ohio with a two-kilowatt solar electric system.
The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded its top certification for green building to a Columbus residence built by a joint effort of non-profit, government, corporate and educational entities. The house, in the North of Broad Neighborhood near downtown, is the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-certified residence in Ohio.
The home features an innovative two-kilowatt Solar Electric (or Photovoltaic) System that creates renewable, non-polluting electricity for the home. When the system produces more energy than the home can use, the energy is sold back to the energy company. The home also features a Solar Thermal System that will save the homeowners 70 percent on the cost of their domestic water needs by harnessing renewable, non-polluting energy from the sun to heat their water.
Many local, recycled materials were used to build and decorate the home. Local materials require less energy to transport, and bolster the local economy. Recycled material prevents useful items from entering the landfill, while simultaneously avoiding the usage of more resources and energy for material production and transportation.
The home was built with innovative waste reducing techniques, which resulted in less wood and related materials being used and transported. A sustainable landscape was created that includes a backyard rain garden to absorb water runoff from the home’s roof. Because the water does not reach the city’s storm drains, erosion, pollution and flooding are reduced. Also, the yard is decorated with native, drought-resistant plants, alleviating the need for irrigation. Due to the proximity to downtown amenities, neighborhood residents are able to drive less, utilize public transportation, and ride their bikes to the city.
The North of Broad (NoBo) community in the historic King Lincoln District features the first residential “green street” in Ohio. It is made out of recycled asphalt and 968 recycled tires. NoBo’s alley system is part of a pilot program to test the effect of residents using individual garbage containers for their homes. Because each home has ownership of their trash, there is less littering, overflow and dumping. For more information on the North of Broad Community, visit www.northofbroad.com.
LEED for Homes is a national third-party certification system for energy efficient, healthy, green homes. LEED-certified homes complete a technically rigorous process that includes a home energy (HERS) rating and onsite inspections to verify that the home is built to be energy and water efficient, environmentally sound and a healthier place to live. Green homes have substantially lower utility bills and may qualify for advantageous financing, lower insurance rates and government incentives.
“The U.S. Green Building Council is proud to help celebrate the product of this collaborative effort and their commitment to greener living,” said Michelle Moore, Senior Vice President of Policy & Market Development, U.S. Green Building Council. “Their leadership is at the national forefront of quality; and their example can help us all to live better by reducing our environmental footprint, cutting our utility bills, and coming home to a healthier place to live.”
“This project demonstrates that by engaging in real twenty-first century problems, students will learn the twenty-first century skills and knowledge necessary to solve our nation’s most pressing issues concerning energy, the environment and education,” said Roger Beck, Home B.A.S.E. class teacher and contractor of the home.
The home was built in cooperation with Roger Beck, a Technology Education teacher, and the students of the college preparatory Home B.A.S.E. class (Building Academic Skills and Experiences), The Home B.A.S.E. Foundation, Columbus Housing Partnership, American Electric Power, the City of Columbus, NeighborWorks ® America, Limited Brands Foundation, The Home Depot, Betsy Pettit, FAIA, The Building Science Corporation Inc., Contract Lumber, Josh Lloyd, Associate AIA, LEED AP at Phillip Markwood Architects and Sullivan Bruck Architects.
For more information, contact the Columbus Housing Partnership at 614-221-8889 or visit www.chpcolumbus.org.