Green Homes Don’t Have to Cost Arm & Leg, Can Even Save

Speakers addressing Sunday’s Village Preservation and Improvement Society Spring Meeting sent a clear message: green construction of residential homes is possible without extraordinary expense if correctly planned.

The meeting’s main speaker, green building consultant Patty Shields, stressed these points in discussing the “LEED Platinum” home her family recently constructed in Arlington.  Shields, wife of Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields, noted that careful planning has resulted in a house that is “tight as a jar” with an annual heating bill of only $180 and an annual air conditioning bill of only $125.  To allow proper ventilation, Shields said, a special air transfer system is used to bring in fresh air without losing heat in the winter or coolness in the summer.

LEED, short for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a rating system used by the U.S. Green Building Council, and Platinum is the top level in the rating system.  The Shields home is believed to be the first residential structure to obtain Platinum status in the Washington DC area. Details of the construction include Styrofoam insulation in the walls, a water runoff retention system, solar panels providing 20% of the home’s energy needs, the use of products grown or made close to the DC area, and the recycling of construction wastes.

Shields considers proper insulation to be the most important aspect of energy efficiency, saying that most homes lose air right through the walls.

Having finished construction of her home, Shields is now planning to sell the house so that she and her family can move to Falls Church.

Doug Fraser, who runs the Falls Church Green Home Program, also discussed the City’s efforts to spur more green residential construction.  Fraser highlighted homes on Grove Avenue and Tuckahoe Street now under construction under the auspices of the Green Home Program.

Earlier in the meeting, VPIS honored Ed Strait with the “Spirit of Falls Church Award.”  Strait is a long time VPIS member who has served in many other volunteer capacities throughout the City of Falls Church.

Coming soon:  Photos of “The Falls Church Erdhaus” (Earth House)