| It’s
easy being “Green”
Kermit
the Frog had it wrong.
Or he hadn’t yet met up with Eco-$mart, a unique
Sarasota-based company proving throughout Southwest Florida
that it is easy to be green.
An
increasing number of homebuyers today are aware of limited
natural resources and are becoming more socially responsible;
they are looking for the building or home that is both
environmentally friendly and economically sound.
Keith
and Brigid Predmore, together with Eco-$mart and John
F. Soave, Inc., are building the first home in Naples
to be certified as a Florida Green Building Coalition
“green home”, as well as a Florida Solar Energy Center
“solar home.” Additionally,
the home will participate in the FPL Build Smart program
as a “platinum” home and get the EPA “Energy Star” rating.
This
4,000 square foot home, designed by Fort Myers green architect
Robert Andrys, has all of the features required for these
ratings including:
·
An Insulated Concrete panel building structure
(high thermal mass)
·
Spray foam under roof insulation (95% heat
reduction)
·
Solar and tankless hot water heating (70-90%
less power to heat)
·
High efficiency (18 SEER equivalent) evaporatively
cooled air conditioning with heat pipe air handlers
·
Solar pool heating (no electrical or gas
heating)
·
Bamboo flooring (a sustainable building
product)
·
Recycled plastic carpeting
·
Low solar heat gain windows
·
High efficiency interior florescent lighting
·
Tubular
sky lighting
·
Reduced landscape lighting
·
Drought tolerant plantings
·
Natural landscaping
Putting
these features into their two-story Wilshire Lakes home
may increase the cost up to 15 percent, but a nationally
known mortgage company specializing in green home mortgages
factors this into their loan.
Their data shows that a high-performance home will
have far lower energy bills, thus allowing the owner to
pay more towards the mortgage.
Building
this home is the culmination of Predmore’s lifelong belief
that the current dependence on non-renewable energy sources
is foolish and unnecessary especially in Florida where
the abundance of sunshine makes solar energy easily applied.
In a typical south Florida home about 70 percent
of the electrical power is used for air conditioning and
heating hot water. Through new technologies those two
power hogs can be reduced by more than 70 percent by using
passive solar hot water heating and a high efficient evaporatively
cooled air conditioner with a passive heat pipe air handler.
Higher
energy savings are attained by combining these two systems
with the AllWall system, applying spray foam insulation
on the underside of the roof and using high efficient
fluorescent lighting and daylighting.
It is estimated that the monthly savings in home
operating costs will pay for these systems in about three
years.
“The
really neat thing about being green”, says Predmore, “is
that the savings continue long after the systems are paid
for. The suns
power is free”!
Keith
Predmore is a private construction management consultant,
and represents Eco-$mart, a Sarasota based company specializing
in sustainable and environmentally responsible building
products and systems.
He is also a member of the building committee for
Florida Gulf Coast University’s “Green Building Learning
Center” to be built on campus later this year.
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