When it comes to building a home, it's actually quite easy to be green. Just ask Daniel Kiefer, who has spent the past few years researching building environmentally friendly homes in the Battle Creek area. Kiefer, who owns Battle Creek-based Summit Investment Group, said his decision to "go green" has had remarkable results. "It takes a lot of research and you learn as you go," Kiefer said, as he showed off a large deck made of recycled pop and water bottles in a new home. "But this experience has taught me that it is really not that hard to make a difference."
As the green building movement - which pairs sustainable land development with low-impact and recycled building materials - starts to pick up speed, a smart move as a builder, Kiefer said, is to hop on board. Experts say there is an untapped market of Earth-conscious customers who want to do more than just eat organic foods. They want their homes to be green, too. "You're beginning to see critical mass, beginning to see it not just be a niche," says Calli Schmidt, director of environmental communications for the National Association of Home Builders, a group of more than 800 state and local home building organizations. "It's pretty much the future of building."
Growing awareness among builders and home buyers of environmentally friendly building materials and methods are fueling the focus on eco-friendly single-family homes, advocates say. "When you think about the idea that 40 percent of our carbon emissions in the U.S. comes from buildings, and about half of that is residential, we've got to address all our building types," says Jason Hartke of the U.S. Green Building Council, based in Washington, D.C.
The value of green building construction starts is expected to exceed $12 billion in 2007, according to a national study by McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics. Since launching its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED, building rating system in 2000, the council has registered almost 8,000 projects and certified nearly 1,000 buildings.
Developers Russ Valvo and Meg LaRou have devoted years to researching and developing Deep Lake, a large sustainable development complex in Pennfield Township in Calhoun County south of Lansing. The project is a mix of 138 residential homes and a wellness resort campus (to be built a year following home construction) and sits on 300 acres between Pine Lake Road and Clear Lake Road. "We already have 15 homes reserved and we haven't even begun construction," Valvo said. "The market is there, and it's unbelievably strong."
The homes, which will range from $200,000 to $500,000 and up, will be designed using green building principles, and the clustered development will preserve 80 percent open space for outdoor recreation, Valvo said. They are designed to complement the landscape with alternative storm water and sanitary systems and permeable paving to reduce water run-off. Although Valvo and LaRou own a green home - complete with counter tops made from old beer bottles and oyster shells - they said the concept is so new in south-central Michigan that there are few local green homes or builders.
Kiefer said he's become "a bit addicted" to finding ways to make his homes as low-impact as possible: think recycled wood trims and counter tops, or hardwood floors made from scrap pieces. But how does it look? Walking through a home in Kiefer's The Ridge at Cedar Creek development on Stone Jug Road, most people would have no clue that they've entered a "green zone," Kiefer said. Touring a recently completed spec home, it's impossible to tell the carpet is all recycled, or the wood floor is made from scraps.
But go into the basement, Kiefer said, and that's where the cool stuff is. "The first thing most pe
Source: lsj.com