Green Construction OPTION AND CERTIFICATES

LEED Energy Star, and Passive home

Harbor Development has experience in building green with relationships with accredited  LEED® professionals  Energy Star® services and Passive home consultants.

We have product providers in an effort to “build green” and preserve our communities.

-Green construction and Energy Star® products allows for major savings in utilities and maintenance on your property, which means lower costs for you

-Green construction often involves Energy Star® qualified products such as LED lights, dual flush toilets, low-VOC paints and adhesives, and other durable materials that cut down on waste

-Energy Star® qualified products and green construction features contribute to lowering energy demand and reduced air pollution, as well as improved home quality and homeowner comfort and satisfaction in a green home. Our green construction methods can include effective insulation, high performance windows, efficient heating and cooling equipment, and even lighting fixtures, ventilation fans, and appliances. Ask us how we can build a green construction project for you and make you a certified energy star home for less than 3% of additional cost and much savings on energy bills down the road.

Why build green and how does energy star/LEED certification work?

-Green construction means making efficient use of resources that reduce harmful impact on the environment.

–Green construction utilizes energy efficient technologies that reduce waste and energy, while helping to protect water and other valuable resources

-Green homes also tend to have higher resale values, especially in today’s increasingly “green” market

-Green homes often are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, with LEED being the nationally accepted standard for the design, construction, and operation of green buildings

-LEED® covers new homes and major renovations, as well as other types of construction projects.

-LEED® evaluates factors such as indoor environmental quality, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and sustainability.

-Green homes that are LEED® certified are ranked within four certification categories, from lowest to highest (certified, silver, gold, and platinum)

“Building Green” is second nature to us, and leads to major savings down the road for you.

LEED® and related logo is a trademark owned by the U.S. Green Building Council® and is used with permission.

Passive House meathodolgy

services
Passive House  can be determined as the ultimate green construction.It can be used in commercial and residential project.

The design process can be extremly vigourous”assive House design consulting to owners, architects and builders. We will work as design team members to optimize the building design, provide accurate energy modeling using the requisite Passive House modeling software, and shepherd the project through the Passive House Certification process.

DEEP ENERGY RETROFITS
The great majority of buildings in use in 2050 will be structures that are in existence today. for this reason, we must address the condition of existing housing as an essential part of reducing our society’s environmental impacts.

Using the data from our extremely accurate energy modeling tools, we will demonstrate how specific improvements will minimize your energy use and carbon footprint.  We will then recommend solutions to reduce those impacts from 40%energy use reductions all the way to Passive House retrofit certification.  We will pull together a team of experts and contractors to execute your retrofit in an integrated design process that ensures high performance, cost-effectiveness, occupant health, and building durability.

what is passive house?

Passive House Energy Performance Standards written by Michael Hindle, CPHC

Passive House is an energy performance standard which sets a very ambitious goal of 90% energy use reductions for heating and cooling and 70%-80% over-all below code built structures.  While it is admittedly ambitious, and requires rethinking much of what is customarily done in the US building and design industries, Passive House is very realistic, applicable in all climate zones in the US, and cost effective compared to standard construction when operational costs are factored in. Passive House buildings accomplish this goal with greater comfort levels and superior indoor air quality.

The Passive House standard and the associated building strategies are supported by 19 years of exhaustive building performance monitoring and building science research to ensure against the potentially destructive effects of moisture infiltration and condensation (avoiding health problems associated with poorly done energy retrofits).

The Passive House performance standard is achieved through an emphasis on the performance of the thermal envelope and demand reduction.  Passive House certified buildings are so efficient, they can be heated with the equivalent of a hair dryer. With such a small demand for energy, the building can produce energy on site with renewable energy sources and become net positive and carbon neutral much more easily than those built to even the most ambitious energy standards that are currently popular in the US.

There are thousands of such buildings in Europe and a growing number in the US. Energy consumption reductions of 90% have been accomplished very reliably in schools, office buildings and single and multifamily residences.  For new construction it is relatively easy and very cost effective. Retrofits of existing buildings are often challenging, but similar demand reductions are achievable.
Passive House low-income housing projects have been priced at 10-15% more costly to build than standard construction, but since they have one/tenth the operational cost in terms of heating and cooling, a homeowner can potentially save more on energy expenses than the increase in monthly mortgage payments associated with the efficiency improvements.

Passive House targets are not chosen arbitrarily.   The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has determined that global emissions of greenhouse gases need to be reduced to 80% below 1990 levels to avoid the worst effects of climate change.  This will require an 85% reduction in per capita carbon emissions in the US from current levels.  The Passive House standard is the only standard that can achieve sufficient reductions to meet these targets.