The exterior of your home could be built with so many different materials, for example: stucco, stone, wood, brick, aluminum, concrete, steel and fiber cement.  That last one, fiber cement, is a vague and mysterious siding choice also referred to as HardiePlank siding, which has been around since the 1980's.

So, what exactly is HardiePlank siding??  First, HardiePlank siding is a fiber cement, made out of sand, water, cellulose wood fibers and cement.  Its source materials and design provide it with a number of unique qualities that often interest homeowners....

• It resists flame spread, making it safer in the event of a fire.
• It is a very durable material that resists damage from impact.
• It not susceptible to rotting, or termites.
• The color is baked on, so you won't have to paint for 15 years!
  

Many home buyers in the Shenandoah Valley have not heard of HardiePlank siding, but as soon as they come to understand how it outperforms wood and vinyl products, they become very interested!

HardiePlank comes in all sorts of colors and styles, and you'll start to see it on some newly built homes in this area, for example on the Paired Homes at The Glen at Cross Keys, on this EarthCraft home on Cottage Circle, on most of the homes at Preston Lake, and on Urban Exchange.

It's hard to come by a decent sized, relatively new, sub-$300k home in the Peak View Elementary school district.  This is the highest growth area of the County, and most homes being built in this school district are priced above $300k (some are way... above $300k).  So, what's a buyer to do??

The home pictured above fits this bill, and is energy efficient to boot, as an EarthCraft certified home.

What on earth is an EarthCraft home, you might ask?  They are homes that (in varying degrees):

• are more healthy than most homes
  
• are more comfortable than most homes
  
• have lower utility bills than most homes
  
• protect the environment more than most homes

This particular home, achieves these standards by incorporating the following materials, features and design standards:

• Long life, low maintenance Hardie Plank fiber cement board siding
• Very low building envelope leakage (< 0.25 cfm50 / square foot)
• Polyurethane spray foam closed cell insulation (along with traditional fiberglass insulation)
• Low-E windows (U-factor < 0.35)
• Air handler and ducts located within conditioned space
• Very low duct leakage (< 4% of floor area served leakage outside)
• Flourescent or CFL bulbs throughout
• EnergyStar bath fans, light fixtures and ceiling fans
• EnergyStar dishwasher, refrigerator and clothes washer
• Recycled hardwood floors and carpet
• Water sense delta faucets and high efficiency shower heads
  
• TOTO Drake high efficiency toilets
  
• Low VOC paint Aura paint by Benjamin Moore
• Permeable pavers on the sidewalk and back patio
  
• Permeable driveway
• Rain barrel for water run off

There aren't too many EarthCraft homes in this area in this price range.  So if you're looking for a green, energy efficient home in Harrisonburg, be sure to check out The Cottages at Stone Spring.

Also of note, there will be six other homes built in this neighborhood.  If you are interested in building your own EarthCraft home, come take a tour of this existing home, and then we can discuss other house designs, etc.

Yesterday, I accompanied my clients on a framing meeting at the home (pictured above) that is being built for them at Preston Lake.  One of the impressive aspects of Preston Lake construction is that every residence (single family homes as well as rowhouses) will be EarthCraft and EnergyStar certified.

Here's one small example of the difference you'll find in an EarthCraft home...

The average duct leakage on new construction homes is 28% --- that is to say that 28% of the heated or cooled air being pumped into the ductwork never makes it into the living areas of the house.  In contrast, an EarthCraft home MUST have 6% or less duct leakage --- which, as you can imagine, provides for a great deal of energy savings for a homeowner.

Thus far, I have been very impressed with the construction process, materials and quality at Preston Lake.  As the house moves further along, I'll post some additional photos showing some additional innovations found at Preston Lake.

Here are some other communities and houses incorporating green building practices, materials or philosophies:

• Urban Exchange
  
• The Glen at Cross Keys
• The Cottages at Stone Spring
• 1091 James Place (Sunset Heights)
• 1830 Manor Drive (Stone Spring Manor)
  

I recently attended an EarthCraft certification course to learn about the EarthCraft program --- a green building certification program that has been endorsed by our local builders association.

I'm going a step further this week, spending all day Thursday and Friday in Hampton Roads in a training course for the National Association of Realtors' Green Resource Council.  This training will provide me with the knowledge and awareness of green building principles applied in residences, commercial properties, developments, and communities --- it is bound to be a busy few days.

If you have questions about building (or buying, or selling) a green house in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County, I'd be happy to share some of the information that I have learned already and will be learning later this week. 

More to come...

Before I attended an EarthCraft training this week, I had heard of EarthCraft homes, and had been in EarthCraft homes, but I couldn't have given a very good definition of what they are, and what makes such a home different from a traditionally built home.

Here's what I now know about homes that are certified as "EarthCraft Houses"...

1. Higher Quality - an incredible focus is put on building homes as "tight" and as energy efficient as possible.  This is not to say that all non-EarthCraft homes ar of lower quality, but that in general, EarthCraft homes are of higher quality than traditionally built homes.
2. Lower Cost - because these homes are more energy efficient, the homeowner will almost always pay less for electricity and water in an EarthCraft home.
3. Healthier - an EarthCraft home uses fewer building supplies with VOC's and other chemicals and allows fewer outside air contaminants in because the homes are built to be much "tighter" than a traditional home.
   
4. More Comfortable - with such a significant focus on insulation, air flow, and controlled ventilation, an EarthCraft home is often much more comfortable to live in, with fewer drafts and with more consistent temperature and humidity.

Another perspective that was helpful for me as I came to understand EarthCraft homes was to better understand the 300+ criteria for which an EarthCraft builder can receive points.  The criteria fall into the following categories:

• Site Planning
• Energy Efficiency Building Envelope and Systems
• Resource Efficient Design
• Resource Efficient Building Materials
• Waste Management
• Indood Air Quality
• Water Conservation
• Homebuyer Education
• Builder Operations

As you can see, the EarthCraft program encourages well-built, energy-efficent homes --- which is a benefit to the homeowners and the environment!

I spent the day today at an EarthCraft certification course learning about how to build higher quality homes, that are healthier, more comfortable, and have lower utility costs for homeowners.

Click below to watch a brief interview with Aaron Yoder, the president of the Green Building Committee of the Shenandoah Valley Builders Association.



I learned a lot today, which I'll continue to share over the coming weeks in this space --- but if you are considering building or buying a green home, please be in touch --- I'd love to fill you in on what you should be looking for in a builder and a home.

Have you ever heard of a blower door test? 

EnergyStar (and EarthCraft) homes are built to higher energy efficiency standards than your typical new construction home.  EnergyStar homes have to meet standards set by the EPA, and are typically between 15% and 30% more energy efficient than traditionally built new construction homes.

But how do you test the energy efficiency of a home?  A common test is a blower door test, where a calibrated fan blows air out of the house while the pressure of the air flow is monitored.  This test measures how "tight" a home has been built.  A "tighter" home will be more energy efficient, as heated or cooled air will not escape the home as quickly.

The home pictured above, 1270 Cottage Circle, is quite energy efficient (and green) with flash coat insulation, windows with a U-factor under 0.4, a 14-seer HVAC system, EnergyStar appliances, Toto Eco toilets, Lahara efficient faucets and shower heads, a fiber cement board exterior, Low VOC carpets and paints, and recycled hardwood floors.

Today, Benjamin Meredith with Building Knowledge conducted a preliminary blower door test on the home to test its efficiency.  Enjoy the brief interview with Laura Scripture, of Scripture Communities.

What a great story --- "On 5 acres along Interstate 81 about a mile north of Harrisonburg, Zach Fettig, a 24-year-old graduate of James Madison University's College of Integrated Science and Technology, is financing and building a self-sufficient, environmentally friendly house." (Source: Daily News Record)

Zach is a recent graduate, and will house several other students in the house he is building --- providing a hands-on experience for learning about and performing research on sustainable living technologies in everyday life.

Per the Daily News Record, these technologies will include:

• solar panels
• wind turbines
• low-flow toilets and shower heads
  
• an underground waste treatment tank
• a fuel cell to produce electricity
• a geothermal heating and cooling system
• heat-storing floor tiles
• a passive solar design
• a solar-thermal water heating system