I would like to build a green home LEED certified. My first home I would like it to at lest 2,000 sq. ft. I would love to build in the SW Florida area.

Read the rules for this forum ... NO ADVERTISING unless you buy it. RichM

LEED is a process and paying for it and the rights to say LEED certified. Why do you want to do it? It has no pay back for the owner over building a Passive house, net zero, carbon neutral, green built home through a smart holistic process. Either learn how to do it or work with someone that already does it. If you want to do a LEED building it is easy to hire a consultant. You can find them online. If you want to build a self heated, self cooled, self dehumidified, self electrified, low cost home there are lots of paths to explore.

You need to decide what it is that you want to do. Are you a DIYer or are you going to be contracted out etc. You have to decide how long you are going to be in the home. Are you after the lowest embodied energy in materials used? Are you looking for the lowest possible cost? Are you trying to save the earth, are you willing to pay for it? Are you willing to provide lots of DIY labor. What is the construction schedule? How are you going to finance. What are their requirements? Do you have the lot? The site makes a big difference in the design. Solar exposure, shading, winds, storm exposure, flood area, flora on site, and other considerations.

Brian

You can build a green home without paying LEED to tell you how green it is.

Exactly my point. The premise was build a 1st time home, green and LEED . My point is if you design it and build it right and are going to live in it there is no cost benefit to the home owner. Only a higher price tag for the home certification and process. If the builder does not understand that building only to code is building the lowest standard home that is legal to build and not a good idea from a life cycle cost basis then forcing LEED has a possible benefit. But, it is a better idea to find a builder that has a clue already. Several states are already going away from LEED do to increased cost of the program and process.

Yep and here is some good reading that gives some insight to how LEED works http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/mis-leed-ing

I would Like to build a green home LEED certified!

I agree, no benefit other than bragging rights, cost several thousand dollars.

If you're building a spec house it can be a marketing thing.

Look into a HERS rating for example in GA a good rating gets you $3,000 cash back

Everything we do is under a cost benefit life cycle costs analyses.
LEED cost schedule, money, compliance, and freedom. Everything is through the prism of a bunch of consultants that are all paid. If you already build to passive house and green efficient standards and study and keep up on current methods you are only adding costs and a certification. The net of LEED is higher cost to the consumer at close to no benefit.

I have been one of those experts and participated in the design Surratt process. It was fun and had a reasonable outcome for planning a whole development where the local officials wanted it as part of the approval process. It was part of the local greasing of the city officials to get the project approved. They wanted the bragging wrights. Several of the experts in the process could have done it all with similar results at a lower cost if the city had not been pushing it.

It is hard to see the value for an individual house. $1 or $2 per sf extra costs and longer schedule for a similar outcome.

Brian

I'm doing an EnergyStar rated home because it did not cost me any money and I get free testing from it, and for resale. I wouldn't have done it if it cost me money.

Energy Star is a typical government program. It is designed to make you feel like you did something by getting you to make slightly better decision which you should already be doing and spending government money and resources to promote how great they are. It is better than making the worst decisions but only a little bit.

Passive House is a standard that makes you make all good choices. It is based in part on life cycle costs and reducing energy consumption by 80 to 90% using simple design strategies. Any house that leaks more than 1 ACH 50 is a liability long term. You can not easily control the internal environment if it is not contained. code standards usually require a 7 ACH 50 rating because of special interest groups not wanting high standards It is a matter of attention to details and doing things correctly to achieve a tight house. It has very little to do with costs.

Ask your contractor to provide an ACH 50 under 1 and to certify it with a blower door test. If he thinks that is not a great idea find another contractor.

Brian

Here in NH the utilities cover the cost so Energy Star rating is free; you get a free analysis and free Blower Door tests, you get a HERS rating and you also get a healthy check if you build a good, tight house. No reason not to sign up. But Brian's right - use PH techniques to get it right, and go for at least 1ACH50; it's not that difficult.

When a blower test is done do the people help find any leaks to they can be fixed on the spot if possible.?

Blower door pre drywall so you can fix issues. After C of O to certify workmanship of home. What they will do depends on who you have do the work. The whole point is to fix any problems. Caulking, foaming, sealing is cheap, easy and fast to do if the basic house is built right to start.

Brian

do the people help find any leaks?
A typical Energy Star blower door test is to find out how leaky the house is, and by that time the easy to fix leaks are mostly covered up. Our ES inspector does not stick around to find leaks, which is why we do our own after framing, or hire someone to do it. Well worth the cost. Your best bet, if your contractor doesn't have one, is to find an independent energy auditor, explain what you want & ask him to plan on an hour to help you find leaks. Likely won't cost you that much for them to do this.

Yeah the EnergyStar standards are not that high, but puts everything into place for free testing. The certification won't hurt resale either, if it ever comes to that. My builder's homes are typically .6-.8 ACH50.

At what point (in ACH) is it required to install a ERV?

Homes should be below 1 ACH50 to be relatively efficient. .3 or below should be the goal. A controlled environment is the only way to have an efficient house. Non controlled ventilated buildings are unhealthy. An ERV or HRV is efficient at controlling air flow while retaining air conditioning hot, cold, dust, dust mites, pollen, VOC removal, moisture, smells etc. Air exchange has to be ducted and planned to work correctly. Inlets, returns, monitoring and maintenance have to occur. If your house does not fit into this category of home it is adversely affecting your health.

Homes should have 3 controlled air exchanges per day if occupied at a minimum if not monitored. If RH, organics, CO are monitored then exchange rates should be to maintain healthy levels.

If your question is at what air tightness level your house will be so unhealthy that it will mold, mildew and rot because it is not properly ventilated, that is more complicated to answer and depends on many things such as local climate, occupancy, habits, temperature ranges, RH levels etc.

Brian