Like many small homebuilders in Maryland, Lancaster is serious about permanently changing his focus to energy-savings and can adapt quickly to growing customer demands. Many larger builders are slower to convert but are taking the first steps to lure buyers to green construction, which is one of the few segments in the housing market that is growing in demand.
From guidelinesto standards
Members of homebuilder associations in Maryland have been following the National Association of Home Builders’ guidelines for green building since 2005, but the national group expects to soon make its guidelines official industry standards.
The standards proposal, which will likely be more stringent and more costly than the guidelines, is now before the American National Standards Institute, a third party that is ensuring the standards are not just self-serving for the builders. When the standards are approved, builders and homeowners together will choose which version they will use.
Like the green building certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council, called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the homebuilding standards program will offer several levels of certification: bronze, silver, gold and emerald.
‘‘We’ve got to standardize this industry [for green building] as fast as possible,” Lancaster said. ‘‘We’re trying to get builders to adopt new techniques.”
Robert Jones, National Association of Home Builders vice president and treasurer, told members at a recent meeting that the soon-to-be-released standards will be voluntary for builders, allowing them to opt to work with customers with the older guidelines.
‘‘One size doesn’t fit all, especially when it comes to homes,” Jones said in an association statement. ‘‘It has long been demonstrated that voluntary programs have higher acceptance and success rates, while mandates stifle it.”
Meanwhile, Jones’ association has been pushing Congress to ramp up its programs for sustainable building practices for affordable homes, while warning of the expense of setting goals too high. Jerry Howard, the group’s CEO, testified Wednesday at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods Act, which would set energy-efficiency goals for federally assisted housing programs.
‘‘It is important to ensure that the incorporation of sustainable building practices for these programs is accomplished,” Howard said. ‘‘Also, it is important to maintain a balance between the goals of affordable housing development and maximizing energy efficiency goals.”
In March, Bethesda investment company The Calvert Group issued a report on sustainable building practices by the 13 largest publicly traded homebuilding companies. It found that most have ample room to improve on green features.
The analysis concludes that ‘‘while every major homebuilder has incorporated some environmental and efficiency programs and products into some of their new homes, none has fully embraced the emerging market of sustainable building design and construction.”
‘Learn every day something new about green building’
Baldwin Homes of Arnold has created a green model that features specific building materials such as sustainable wood, nontoxic cabinets and organic paints. Four eco-friendly Baldwin homes — roughly 3,000 square feet each — in its Park Meadows community in Severna Park are touted as the ‘‘green, energy-efficient model” and are priced in the mid-$400,000s.
Owner Michael Baldwin said the green model home has an average monthly energy bill of $100. Baldwin Homes has been striving for long-lasting products for years and recently introduced a sealing foam insulation to further reduce energy costs.
‘‘We learn every day something new about green building. And the more we learn, the more options we’re going to give to homebuyers,” said Baldwin, who has been regularly attending national homebuilder association classes. ‘‘In the future, you’ll find that green homes building will be the new standard.”
Baldwin Homes also has several homes with green features in active adult communities in Annapolis and luxury models in Edgewater and Davidsonville, which are priced at up to $1.1 million.
‘‘To build a house as a green home, you need to plan a lot more,” Baldwin said. ‘‘Now, we’re all looking to build green.”
Up a short driveway in the Middletown Valley’s agricultural area, Lancaster’s crew constructed a roughly 2,800-square-foot home on a 1.5-acre lot for a young couple ready to spend about 2 percent more on their brick, two-story home in the mid-$600,000s than they would have spent on a more conventionally built house
Lancaster’s new building envelope places the heating and cooling system in the living area hidden by crown molding, not in the attic, where cool air is heated or warm air is cooled. As another standard, Lancaster now requires a minimum of 6-foot-thick exterior walls that hold stabilizing spray foam that seals airflow and electrical work.
Lancaster said he has been telling customers their energy savings will let them recoup the slightly higher construction costs in three or four years. So far, he said, all have been eager to invest the extra money at the front end.
Setting standards
The National Association of Home Builders is creating green building standards. Some examples:
Site the home and other built features to optimize solar resources.
Devise landscape plans to limit water and energy demand.
Control bathroom exhaust fan with a timer.
Provide built-in space for recycling containers.
Provide clear and unshaded roof area for future solar collectors.
Source: National Association ofHome Builders
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