YPAL – Green Team

Sherwin Williams ProGreen 200 paint was used on the interior of the house. It meets LEED performance standards and has the GreenGuard certification for air quality. ProGreen 200 covers and touches up well. Sherwin Williams Resilience was used on the exterior. It is a new coating that provides early moisture resistance making it possible to paint up to two hours before rain.

Interface FLOR is providing carpet tile that utilizes more than 40% recycled content.  In addition to the recycled content there is less waste with the carpet tile product and the ability to replace a damaged square in the future without replacing an entire room.

LG Hausys’ new Eden Plus line of solid surface materials is environmentally very friendly with 41% recycled content. Most solid surfaces achieve only 10 -12%.  The solid surface will provide a seamless, easy to clean countertop.

Louisville Tile is providing ceramic floor tile for the kitchens and bathrooms with more than 50% recycled content. The tile is manufactured very close to Louisville which also continues to the points for the home.   Ceramic tile is easy to clean and has a long life compared to vinyl when properly maintained.

Last week marked a turning point for the build, the walls and roof went up. You would not believe the change that happened in a four day period.

Day 1: Habitat and YPAL volunteers raised all of the exterior and interior the walls on the first floor and installed sheathing on the exterior.

Day 2: MCM (Mountjoy Chilton Medley) and IMI Concrete volunteers installed the floor joists on the second floor and raised most of the walls for the second floor.

Day 3 Summit Energy volunteers raised the remainder of the second floor walls and started putting up the roof trusses.

Day 4 E-on and Frost Brown Todd volunteers raised the roof trusses and put up the roof sheathing.

By the end of  last weekend Wendy’s house was  “blacked in” (felt paper on the roof).

Don’t come out to our site to stand around, you might just get run over!

Feel free to stop by and see the progress for yourself. 

PS: Because Habitat has pre-constructed the walls in panels off site the project will earn 4 LEED Credits.

When YPAL’s Green Team decided to build a LEED certified project there were two major questions that needed to be addressed first: what type of building are we going to build and where are we going to build it?  Seemingly easy questions, however YPAL as an organization has never built anything and we own no property.

The first question was the easy one; Habitat for Humanity has the expertise and infrastructure in place to build homes.  So after a few phone calls we were able to get Rob Locke, Habitat’s Executive Director, “cautiously excited” about partnering with YPAL on a LEED Home. One problem solved.

The second questions was not so easy; where to build the house?  Typically, Habitat pulls property from their inventory for each project, but we of course had to make it more difficult.  We needed a site that was easily accessible to our members, our sponsors, the press, met the requirements for LEED points and most importantly was FREE.  No problem, right?  Luckily, Councilman Tandy’s office directed us down the right path to the Louisville Landbank Authority, a government agency that sells abandoned property throughout the city to responsible developers. http://www.louisvilleky.gov/Housing/Landbank+Authority+Inc.htm Believe it or not, they had a piece of property that was available right across the street from a park!  Second problem solved!

But that was just the beginning, the Greenteam still needed to evaluate the property for LEED Points.  As it turns out before anything is built, the site holds the key to 7 LEED points, including: existing infrastructure, previously developed site, walking distance to community resources, and access to open space.  The site design was also some easy points.  As you can see on the attached draft checklist, we are able to pick up 8 more points because of the size of the lot, using permeable pavers and using non-toxic pest controls.

So what’s in a site?  For YPAL nearly half of our LEED credits (15 + 7 maybe points of required 35) are coming from choosing the right site.

Well, as construction is gearing up with shovels hurling dirt and  hammers swinging, I have the wonderful task of sharpening my pencil.  Lucky me, right?!

If you haven’t been involved with a LEED project before (most haven’t), a major part of the certification is documenting the construction process.  To earn LEED Certification the project has to qualify for a certain number of points and to qualify, you have to prove that your building meets those requirements.  Lucky for me as the LEED Project manager, YPAL members have come out in force to help.

In January, when the green team first came together we divided up the over 100 available points to evaluate.  Each team member has brought their expertise to evaluate the different aspects of the home:  sustainable site design, water efficiency, energy usage, sustainable materials, indoor air quality and sustainable education & awareness. There is a little bit for everyone to work on, even if you are not in the building or design fields.

Once the house is built and all of the credits are documented, they are submitted to our Green Rater and Provider to check and verify before being sent to the USGBC.  Assuming the paper work is correct the USGBC will award a certification level based on the score; Certified is the first level,  at 35 pts, then Silver (50 pts), then Gold (65 pts),  Platinum is the highest (80 pts).   YPAL’s goal is to be sure to reach the Certified level.

As the Green Team members continue to send their evaluations in to me to compile and the LEED points begin to pile up, I’ll keep you posted on what our score is.

But first things first, the house has to get out of the ground.  I hope to see you out at the build later this month!

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED provides standards for the environmentally sustainable design, construction and operation of buildings and neighborhoods. Since its inception in 1998, more than 14,000 projects have acquired LEED certification all across the United States and even worldwide. YPAL’s LEED certified Habitat for Humanity house will be the first of its kind in Louisville and only the second certified house in the state of Kentucky.

So why LEED? It has been proven LEED certified buildings use resources more efficiently when compared to conventional buildings and often provide healthier living environments for its residents. Some benefits compiled by the USGBC range from improving air and water quality to reducing solid waste, benefiting owners, occupiers and society as a whole.

YPAL will be working with LEED accredited architectural firm Joseph & Joseph Architects to turn an existing Habitat for Humanity blueprint into a certifiable LEED house for a Louisville family. An image of the blue print is coming soon!