LEED® For Homes
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System was developed by the U.S Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. This third-party certification process has become a nationally recognized benchmark for the development and construction of high-performance, integrated whole-building designs, for many homeowners and builders.
Cottage Home has built several LEED® homes, most are listed below. Our Monroe Beach House, completed in September 2009, recently received LEED Gold Certification. The Pier Cottage in South Haven is also LEED Silver Certified. The Green Cottage, in our Suequehanna community, is designated LEED Platinum, the highest level a home can obtain through LEED certification. Also, our home in Waukazoo Woods was LEED Silver certified in 2008, making it the first LEED certified home in Ottawa County, Michigan.
A green home is awarded for integrating a sustainable design so a home uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier and more comfortable for its homeowners. There are many benefits of a LEED® home, including lower energy and water bills, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and less exposure to indoor toxins. Having a LEED Certified home means peace of mind for the homeowner.
Click on the links below to view our LEED® Certified homes we've built to date.
The Monroe Beach House
The Beach House on Monroe Boulevard
The Green Cottage at Suequehanna
The Pier Cove Cottage
The LakeBridge Beach House
The Waukazoo Woods Residence
The Monroe Beach House: LEED GOLD
An outstanding LEED certified home that offers all the fun and beauty of being on Lake Michigan, yet all the conveniences of being within walking distance to downtown South Haven - who could ask for more? As Cottage Home's latest model of sustainability and efficiency, this modern beach home serves as a great showcase of LEED building techniques and features.
Constructing the house on a previously developed site and building it in conjunction with the home next door allowed us to be extremely resourceful and thoughtful in material and labor planning. Inside is a high efficiency boiler system for radiant heat and domestic hot water. All of the hot water piping is insulated and high efficiency toilets and faucets were installed. Electrically speaking, CFL and LED light fixtures were used, as well as bath fan timers and occupancy sensors for lights.
Because it was built as a Cottage Home model, we furnished the home with products manufactured by companies who endorse and encourage green practices in the production and use of materials, many of whom use organic fabric. We also had some fun with the specifications and included recycled glass shower tiles and a pebble stone shower floor, as well as a non-catalytic, clean burning and efficient Scan wood stove on the four season lake porch.
One of the homes included in Cottage Home's most recent Blue Green Gala, where over $21,000 was raised for South Haven's Michigan Maritime Museum, this idyllic beach house has helped to raise awareness, as well as the bar, for environmentally conscious building in our community.
The Beach House on Monroe Boulevard: LEED Silver
Built in conjunction with the Monroe Beach House, this home was also constructed on a previously developed Lake Michigan site in the city of South Haven.
As the owners of the house formerly on the site, our clients wanted to be sure to take great care in preserving the land and causing minimal disruption to it. For this reason, many mature plants were saved and many were even moved from the previous house to be implemented in the new home's landscape plan. Much care was also taken to manage erosion and bulk water run-off, and from there a rain water harvesting system was implemented for irrigation needs. Also, as the home was constructed alongside the Monroe Beach House, we were able to control and ensure a great degree of site harmony between the two homes.
We feel that green building and LEED certification is always important, but perhaps even more so on the lakeshore, where homes must prove durable and sustainable as they are exposed to the harsh Lake Michigan elements over the years. The recycled content exterior siding, cultured stone and decking chosen for this home will certainly stand the test of time. The special Icynene® insulation and 2x6 exterior wall system further ensure that this home will be comfortable, even in the most wintery conditions.
Inside, many measures were taken to control indoor air quality, and highly efficient heating and cooling, electrical and plumbing systems were employed. Durable, locally harvested white oak floors were installed throughout much of the home, and in those places it was not, post-use recyclable carpet was selected.
This home, in its familiar setting, is sure to be a family treasure for many years to come.
The Green Cottage at Suequehanna: LEED Platinum
Located in the quaint area of Glenn, Michigan this home is situated on a previously developed site nestled between Lake Michigan and the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy's 365 acre Wau-Ke-Na nature preserve. This beautiful, natural setting insisted upon a high performance home, thus every effort was made to construct the most efficient, sustainable and environmentally conscious house possible, which, in the end, earned it the highest designation possible for LEED certification.
To begin, much care was taken to preserve the site and ensure long lasting beauty. Thus, water collection, curtain drain and bluff stabilization measures were employed to ensure site durability. A rain water harvesting system was implemented for irrigation and rain gardens were put in place to manage bulk water run-off. A drought tolerant landscape plan was then formulated to include no invasive species.
Another major component of the LEED Platinum certification of this home relates to energy usage, as it makes use of a special geothermal vertical well closed loop heating system. Predesigned heating and cooling load calculations were used to design a zoned, insulated and sealed ductwork system. Also, the domestic water supply is preheated with the geothermal system and an insulated, circulating loop is used for the hot water line, further reducing energy usage.
Of course, many other green features were applied inside this home, including: Icynene® insulation, highly efficient faucets, toilets, lighting fixtures, windows and appliances, zero VOC, low odor, silica free GreenSure™ designated paints, timer-run bath fans, an exterior vented central vacuum system, and an energy recovery ventilator to control fresh air exchange in the house. To have some fun, a recycled brick fireplace surround (bricks found on Craig's List) was used, along with a recycled barn wood laundry room door and wall (from our painter's old barn), and recycled glass tiles in the shower.
The result is the perfect blend of a natural setting and environmentally conscious home - one that will withstand the harsh Lake Michigan elements and stands as a shining example of how LEED is not only practical, but fun as well.
The Pier Cove Cottage: LEED Silver
Following the long, winding, narrow drive back through the large parcel situated between Lake Michigan and a nature conservancy, one would certainly understand the owners' desire to design and build a sustainable and environmentally conscious home at the end of the road.
In its beautiful, natural setting, it is only appropriate that the Pier Cove Cottage puts cutting edge LEED building techniques into practice. For starters, a very small portion of the large parcel was used as the building site, while the rest of the parcel was left in its natural state. Then, any trees that did have to be cleared from the site were ground and reused as wood chips along the drive.
Also in regards to the site, a unique green landscaping plan was designed for this home from the beginning stages. This plan included the limitation of turf grass with native, no mow grasses and wildflower mixes. It also called for indigenous landscape plants and a highly efficient irrigation system.
To take the high performance and sustainable features inside, one key component of this home is the horizontal loop geothermal system, which was installed for the heating and cooling of the home. It is a split, zoned system, with the geothermal creating radiant heat for the floors, as well as forced air (with very fine air filtration) for supplemental heating ventilation and cooling. The hot water for the house is also heated with the geothermal system.
A few of the additional LEED features in the house included the use of high performance insulation, numerous air sealing techniques, efficient and water-saving pluming fixtures, energy saving electrical fixtures, durable white oak floors, as well as an indoor moisture management plan and advanced ventilation, using ducted energy recovery ventilators as bath fans.
LEED certification is as much about design and preparation as it is the implementation of various systems and building specifications, so efficient material planning and usage on the job site was key, as well as the construction waste recycling system that was employed during construction. This resourceful planning lead to cost savings for the homeowners and a sustainable and efficient home that fits in perfectly with its natural setting.
The LakeBridge Beach House: LEED Certified
The LakeBridge Beach House is absolute proof that sustainable building does not have to be a compromise. This outstanding Lake Michigan home was designed and built according to the owners' desire to host and entertain many guests at once. Therefore, it needed, above all, to be durable and efficient.
To meet these needs, a zoned high efficiency forced air heating system was employed to most effectively condition air in areas of the home being used. There are three separate zones in the upper level, two on the main level and a couple more in the lower level. This ensures that the rooms in use are being conditioned, and those that aren't can be turned off to save energy and promote efficiency. Also, sealed walls and high performance foam insulation were used to keep the air in. At the same time, advanced ventilation energy recovery ventilator systems were installed in lieu of bath fans, allowing the collection of stale air and pushing it outside, rather than bath fans simply exhausting conditioned air.
Also importantly, an advanced hot water distribution system was implemented with three tankless hot water heaters. Lots of guests means lots of hot water usage, and these three units are staged to fire only when demand requires, matching the demand exactly, and using nothing when vacant. Along the same lines, highly efficient plumbing and electrical fixtures were also installed to accommodate all of the use.
As a beach house with many visitors, the home definitely needed to be durable as well. For this reason, nearly all of the floors in the home are locally harvested quarter sawn white oak with a Greenguard® certified commercial grade finish; in other areas you'll find either tile or natural slate. So, guests don't have to worry about sand affecting the beauty of the floors as they run in from the beach, and at the same time the homeowners can feel good about the indoor air quality. Overall, it is a win-win and a great beach house that is sure to offer fun times and great memories for many years to come.
The Waukazoo Woods Residence: LEED Silver
Constructed for an environmentally conscious family moving from Switzerland to the United States, the Waukazoo Woods residence took high performance building in our area to a whole new level. Accustomed to old European buildings that were built to last, these homeowners expected nothing less in their new Michigan home.
They began with selecting a previously developed Lake Macatawa site in beautiful, natural Waukazoo Woods. From there, a plan was developed to implement a closed lake loop geothermal heating and cooling system. This included geothermal hot water and a full radiant heat system and zoning to control and condition the air only in those areas of the home in use at any given time. This was an important feature as the homeowners looked forward to hosting many guests at once.
Also important was the durability factor, so slate and tile were selected to cover the entire first floor. A six inch concrete basement floor was also installed, as well as 2x6 exterior high performance walls.
The homeowners were also interested in sustainable and environmentally conscious building simply because they felt it was the right thing to do. So, highly efficient faucets, toilets and appliances were utilized, in addition to a central vacuum system, special lighting including many CFL fixtures and bulbs, automatic exterior lights on an astronomical clock which adjusts for the length of daylight, and an energy recovery ventilator to control fresh air exchange in the house.
The end result is a welcoming home that has little impact on the environment and that will withstand the test of time; one that should set a new standard for residential building mentality this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
