Whittington & Associates, LLC

HealthSource Magazine
While Commercial Properties Go Green, Cost & Economy Slow Residential Acceptance

By R.P. Whittington

Our homes use about 21 percent of the energy we consume as a nation each year, contributing about 17 percent to our national emission of greenhouse gases.

While there's considerable debate whether changing our consumption of fossil fuels like gas and coal will impact climate change, one thing is certain: green building can help us reduce energy use and lower our monthly energy bills.

"I've always been interested in the technical aspects of using energy saving products when it makes sense," said John Long, who founded his custom design and construction company J.A. Long, Inc. 35 years ago in Clay County. Long recently became a Registered Certifying Agent for the Florida Green Home Standard Designation Standard – a certification earned from The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC).

The certification means the builder is using FGBC's Green Home Standard, a voluntary program, and knows the criteria necessary to construct a home that meets the guidelines to be considered a truly "green home." As a certifying agent, Long also can guide designers, builders or homebuyers through the process of qualifying and documenting green homes.

While Long admits that he and other builders are using the FGBC certification to differentiate themselves from their competition, his personal interest in the topic was the overriding reason he pursued the new designation.

"I was introduced to the concept when the initial push in green construction practices started about 15 years ago," he said. "Certainly, homes are more efficient today than they were 30 years ago, but there's still a considerable opportunity for greater home energy efficiency."

Statistics show that a home owner can save between 20 to 30 percent on household energy bills through improvements made during construction – such as sealing air and duct leaks, adding insulation, and even installing a solar water heater. As for remodeling or "retrofitting" to make an existing home more energy efficient, Long says he first looks to increase wall and attic insulation, window shading or the introduction of energy-saving, low-emittance "e-glass," and making sure doors and window seals are tight.

In residential construction, Long says he's focused on green building elements that will bring the homeowner a return on the investment within three to five years – not 10 to 20.

"I don't think you'll ever get green building to really take off in the residential market unless you can get that ROI to come back to the owner more quickly," he said. "People typically move every five to 10 years, so most buyers need that financial incentive to go with green building elements, and all of them come at a price."

Consumer reluctance to go green was recently confirmed by Mintel, a Chicago-based market research company that tracks buyer trends and attitudes. While Mintel's latest data shows that hard-core environmentalists remain committed to paying the price of green (36 percent of consumers surveyed say they almost always or regularly buy green goods), that number shows no growth over the last year, compared to the prior year when the same number tripled. With the economy stalled, the cost of going green has become an impediment. Fifty-four percent of respondents say they would buy more green products if they were cheaper.

"People's priorities have changed because of economic hardship," Mintel said in its analysis. "A substantial number of shoppers are now struggling just to provide the basics for their families, so green living is no longer top of mind for many Americans."

Despite this fact, the government has clearly made it a top priority. From President Barack Obama to federal, state and local legislators, all are pressing and passing laws aimed at helping taxpayers and businesses go green. In Jacksonville, the city will soon become one of only two cities in Florida to offer and fast track financial incentives for builders that construct facilities which are certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

Ellen Reed, the Vice President of the North Florida Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, notes that Jacksonville has already hired a "sustainability officer" to shepherd green projects through the process, assist in training other staffers and keep the City abreast of technologies and trends in green building.

"In Florida, as in the rest of the country, we're seeing more green building movement in commercial construction," Reed said. "With the slow down the economy, many commercial property owners are now sitting and waiting on the market to rebound, so they're more apt to make their buildings more efficient so they'll be in a better position to sell later on."

She says they are seeing more green building in all types of schools (K – 12 and colleges) and government buildings. That's probably due to government action. Last June, the governor signed a law that all newly constructed or renovated buildings paid for with state funds must be built to LEED standards.

Reed, who's also the director of business development for Breaking Ground Contracting in Jacksonville, says their company has build seven LEED-certified projects and has 15 LEED-registered projects on the books. Currently, the company is working on an $800,000 addition at Discovery Montessori School in Jacksonville Beach, where they are pursuing LEED Silver certification.

"You receive different certifications depending on how many green building elements you have," said Paul Hoffman, a vice president with Auld-White Constructors. "There's a point system involved. Buildings can be simply Certified, or Silver, Gold and Platinum – which is the highest designation."

A few years ago, Hoffman said Auld-White wanted to get involved in green building, but suffered the "Catch 22" that most builders face.

"You can't get a green project until you build one," he said.

The company had already completed design for an addition at Bishop Snyder High School when they decided to pitch the school, and its students, on a redesign aimed at making the new building "green." In addition to improving energy efficiency, buildings are also constructed to offer healthier living conditions. Hoffman says this includes the use of non-toxic low- or zero VOC paints. (Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOC, is a key ingredient in standard oil-based paints. Long term exposure can lead from minor eye and skin irritation to major kidney and liver disease in extreme cases of prolonged exposure.) They also modified the heating and air conditioning system so ducts were adapted to avoid mold growth (in addition to being more energy efficient), and added air filtration systems and thermostat controls.

"With LEED, you typically incorporate all the green elements when you begin, so it becomes more expensive when you retrofit a project," Hoffman said. "But we wanted to get one under our belt, so we went to the school administration and then we presented the plans to the students. The students actually signed a petition to make the addition green."

While it cost an additional $48,000, which Auld-White paid for out of pocket, to add LEED elements to the nearly $1.8 million project, the school became the second in the nation to become certified under the new "LEED for Schools" rating system. Also, to achieve the LEED innovation credit, the high school added sustainable building to its school curriculum.

The company's second green project was completed last year on Community First Credit Union of Florida's new branch office at Beach and Hodges boulevards.

Marketing Director Kim Deppe says that as a "community-based" non-profit business, the credit union has a history of supporting sustainability projects such as offering loans for solar water systems and loan discounts for members purchasing hybrid vehicles.

TTV Architects Inc. designed the environmentally-friendly structure, that features restroom accessories which save thousands of gallons of water and a landscape design that minimizes watering requirements.

"Most of the construction materials we used contained a portion of recycled content and were purchased from vendors located within 500 miles to reduce environmental impact of transporting materials," Deppe adds.

But the major energy cost savings have come from the sun, and without solar power. While they used the same floor plan as that used for the credit union's Baymeadows location in 2006, Auld-White worked with TTV in developing a more energy-efficient design.

"By changing the orientation of the building to take advantage of natural sunlight, using skylights, the building is very bright," said TTV Architects President Tri Vu. "Also, the artificial lights are on sensors so that they ebb and flow with the need to keep a constant light level in the building."

As a result of all these efforts, power usage at the new branch is 35 percent less than the Baymeadows Branch. Last summer, the "green branch" used about 12,000 kilowatt hours less during June, July and August.

While there are savings in energy costs, some builders like Long worry that it may not be enough to coax most builders, and home buyers, to go green. That sentiment is echoed by Daniel Davis, the executive director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association. He says his members are cautious about adding green building components that could drive up the prices of homes and buildings.

"Right now, we need to do everything we can to help the industry get back on its feet," Davis said recently. "I think that all the industry members want to protect the environment, and we will do everything we can to balance that."

To help entice builders, the Jacksonville City Council is considering allowing developers and builders to be refunded some of the costs of attaining LEED certification – with refunds ranging from $500 to $2,000 based on the level of LEED certification attained.

But regardless of incentives and costs, some homeowners will still bite the bullet and build green for purely altruistic reasons.

Ponte Vedra resident Gail Greenblatt, a former school teacher and self-described "environmental advocate," was involved in the nature conservancy in her college days – decades before it was known as the "green movement." She had already placed a cistern in her backyard to catch rain water, switched from incandescent to fluorescent lights, and applied special film to her windows facing south and west to thwart the sun's heating rays of summer, when she decided to go solar.

Three years ago, with electricity prices skyrocketing, she had a solar water heater and an entire solar electric (called a photo voltaic) system installed at her home – one of the first fully solar-powered homes in Ponte Vedra – while taking advantage of federal and state tax credits to off-set the $15,000 cost of the photo-voltaic system and $5,000 solar hot water system.

"Since I'm retired and older, I doubt I'll ever recoup that investment," she said. "That's why I think it's terrific that homebuilders are now gravitating to installing solar systems and other green products when they build a home. It's easier to absorb when the cost is included in the mortgage."

Media Contact: Ron Whittington (904-563-0402)