May 18, 2010
LAKE OSWEGO, OR – Renaissance Homes announced today that their NW Natural Street of Dreams home will be built under the national Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System which is underway in Cresap Summit. This marks the company’s second LEED project after building Washington’s third LEED home by the same Construction Manager, Dennis McCrea.
The 4,145-square-foot, five bedroom, four bath structure is being built by Renaissance Homes, a long time leader in “green” building practices in the Portland/Vancouver area, to test the economic and energy-saving practicality of a number of green building techniques, according to Randy Sebastian, President.
“The Home Builders Association is very excited for the first NW Natural Street of Dreams to feature all sustainably built homes. Renaissance Homes is leading the way with their ambitious LEED certification, which will be the first ever NW Natural Street of Dreams home to achieve the certification, “says Eric Stride, Home Builders Association of Metro Portland Show Manager.
“In order to get real world experience with these systems, we chose to do this in a home which is typical of those we build, not a special demonstration project” Sebastian said. The SW Portland residence is an ambitious effort by Renaissance to test the economic viability of a number of new and improved systems. There are several levels of LEED housing, depending on the systems used, and Renaissance is aiming for a Silver level designation.
All Renaissance homes comply with Earth Advantage standards. Among the features currently in use are: all framing lumber comes from local mills and most is kiln dried to ensure a lack of warping which happens with lumber that is not kiln dried. All windows are .32 R value or better, an even higher value than the .35 R-value window rating pre code. Rubber seals on installed on all exterior wall penetrations which is a requirement of the Rain Screen system which used on all its homes. Developed in rainy Vancouver, Canada, Rain Screen is an exterior wall system that eliminates the threat of mold by a unique siding system which allows a channel of air circulation between the siding and the house wrap. This circulates air throughout the exterior of the house so it can “breathe” better. Any moisture which gets behind the siding runs down rather than seeping behind the house wrap or house sheathing and causing rot or mold.
Open web floor joists are being used to allow all the HVAC ductwork to run through the conditioned space of the home. This reduces the size of the furnace and air conditioning required by reducing the initial cost to the buyer as well as savings on energy usage for the life of the home. The furnace selected is a 95% efficient gas furnace with variable speed, so it can operate on low speed saving even more energy when the heating and cooling needs are not great. Tankless water heaters are included, heating water only as needed in the home.
The home features warm air registers and air returns in each bedroom encourage a more efficient airflow throughout the home because bedroom doors often are closed.
A manifold system creates efficient distribution of hot water with a single pipe running to the center of the house and manifolds going to each appliance location from there. “This uses fewer pipes, thus wasting less energy and water. It gives you the hot water piped directly to where you want it, rather than having it circulating all around the outer walls of the house,” Sebastian said.
As with all Renaissance homes, this Street of Dreams home has compact florescent lighting throughout and highly efficient spray insulation in all walls, a requirement to get higher LEED or Earth Advantage ratings.
“This will be an exceptionally tight home. It is an ambitious project for us, but I think we’ll be able to improve our Living Green program by measuring the results. We’re seeking the best of all worlds, systems that are cost effective from both home owner and builder perspectives,” said Sebastian.
The LEED Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance.
LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Renaissance Homes is one of the area’s best known builders with neighborhoods underway in Lake Oswego, Southwest Portland, Beaverton, Wilsonville, West Linn, Canby, Salem, Vancouver and Camas.
Renaissance Homes
16771 Boones Ferry Road
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035
Voice: 503-636-5600
Fax: 503-635-8400
Emergency Service: 503-496-0711 or 866-567-6225
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