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The most energy efficient home in Florida. This home, located in Orlando, received the USGBC LEED Silver rating earning 72 points, 4 points shy of the Gold rating.
The home was constructed with Eco Block ICF Walls, Peachtree Insulated Low E Laminated Windows and Doors, Polyurethane Spray Foam insulation, large overhangs, and metal roof. The combination provided the energy efficient envelope. Coupled with a dual compressor heat pump, energy star lighting and solar water heater, provided the owners with a remarkably energy efficient structure.
Environmentally friendly Low VOC products, Low Flow Fixtures, Bamboo, Stained Concrete and Cork Flooring completed the Green interior package.
There are different variations of buildiing green. If you use all available products and techniques, you could easily spend quite a bit more than typical. There are some things you can do that make a huge impact but don't cost very much. The energy star certified homes I have built can be as low as only 2% more on construction costs but save 15-20% on energy costs for the home.
There are different variations of buildiing green. If you use all available products and techniques, you could easily spend quite a bit more than typical. There are some things you can do that make a huge impact but don't cost very much. The energy star certified homes I have built can be as low as only 2% more on construction costs but save 15-20% on energy costs for the home.
agrees. on smaller projects were are usualy within 3-5% of sticks and bricks.
on larger commercial projects were usualy less. now with the increases in steal, sticks and bricks. i would imagine them to basicaly equal out on all jobs. great for me
using ICF's is the future and the cadillac of building. easily exceeds all fortified, energystar, LEED ect.... codes.
alot of builders only tag on the name and really dont know what it means to be green. it is much more than just the products used.
My only "beef" with ICF's is I have not seen a nice looking way to finish off the exposed areas of the exterior face of the wall. Perhaps there are some nice looking examples, I just have only seen these modular pieces of stucco-like board to cover up the exposed areas. It looked very flimsy and there was a visible joint about every 6-8 feet - not very appealing in my opinion.
This is our 3100 sq ft, 1.5 story ICF home (Amvic block - 11in walls). Two years old w/ traditional 3-coat Portland cement stucco. Spray foam insulation in the attic, metal roof (fast heat off-loading at night), xeriscaped yard (for the most part), low-VOC coating on the hardwoods, stained concrete elsewhere, American Clay earth plaster on interior walls (clay-based, no VOCs), variable speed, highly efficient furnace and A/C, Isokern fireplace (for superior heat throw-off into living area), 4ft roof overhangs to block summer sun and let in low winter sun, wood casement low-e, argon gas-filled windows, tankless water heater and energy star appliances.
When others around us were paying $450-550/mo in electricity in August, we payed $190. Our December eletricity bill was $75 and our gas (cooking, heat, dryer, water) was $87. We figure it cost us about 15% more than an equivalent stick house. The metal roof gets us a 25% annual discount in our homeowner's policy, too.
Just finished up (well, sort of: I haven't finished - floor coverings, drywall texture, paint - the master bedroom and master bath upstairs) an almost 2,000 sf passive solar house with radiant flooring, spray-in formaldehyde-free foam insulation in the walls, extra insulation in the ceilings, walls, crawl spaces, and solar hot water.
Very happy with the house, every room has a ton of light, and the radiant floors are wonderful to walk on. We're still "tuning" the radiant floors and I think the DIYer spouse is going to build a new set of controls for it to better move the heat around. Most of the floor is tile, but we put cork click-together panels in the kitchen.
Well folks I don't know about you, but I live in a log cabin home and just recently I did away with my gas furnace and had a geothermal system put in, I use compact fluorescent bulbs wherever I can and all of my windows are double pane thermal windows, all of my outside doors are fiberglass insulated doors with highly efficient storm doors in front of them, the logs are 8 inches thick and the cabin has an unobstructed southern view, the log home is totally electric, when I installed the geothermal system, we got rid of a $170.00 a month Gas Bill, and our electric bill only went up $36 a month and I'm not burning any fossil fuel.
Well folks I don't know about you, but I live in a log cabin home and just recently I did away with my gas furnace and had a geothermal system put in, I use compact fluorescent bulbs wherever I can and all of my windows are double pane thermal windows, all of my outside doors are fiberglass insulated doors with highly efficient storm doors in front of them, the logs are 8 inches thick and the cabin has an unobstructed southern view, the log home is totally electric, when I installed the geothermal system, we got rid of a $170.00 a month Gas Bill, and our electric bill only went up $36 a month and I'm not burning any fossil fuel.
The geothermal idea is a great one if you are able to use it in your area.
The geothermal idea is a great one if you are able to use it in your area.
It doesn't take up a lot of room on your property, as a matter of fact once it has been installed you don't even know it's there, I went with the vertical system, they drilled four wells down 150 feet, basically what they did is they dug a square hole 4 foot deep by 10 foot wide and in each corner they drilled of well 150 foot deep and ran the tubing in each hole, connected altogether in the middle of the 10 foot square hole to a manifold and then ran two lines in a trench that was connected to the square hole into the house and then covered everything up and you can't even see it and it's only about 15 feet from the back of the house.
agrees. on smaller projects were are usualy within 3-5% of sticks and bricks.
on larger commercial projects were usualy less. now with the increases in steal, sticks and bricks. i would imagine them to basicaly equal out on all jobs. great for me
using ICF's is the future and the cadillac of building. easily exceeds all fortified, energystar, LEED ect.... codes.
alot of builders only tag on the name and really dont know what it means to be green. it is much more than just the products used.
I agree with everything you said. I have long said ICFs are the future. I am a Logix distributor and my son is an installer. We are in middle Tennessee. Where are you?
Every time oil goes up a dollar, or we have another storm. Like the ones in Macon Co. here in Tennessee. ICFs look a lot better. And they can be finished in any manner you wish. Brick. stucco, siding, or anything else.
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The most energy efficient home in Florida. This home, located in Orlando, received the USGBC LEED Silver rating earning 72 points, 4 points shy of the Gold rating. 
