One of two neighboring homes designed this year in collaboration with Jason Walters of Stylecraft homes, and Gary Steps of Butterfly Energy Works, we accomplished getting the very first NAHB-ANSI certified home in St. Louis !
Among the Green features of this home are :
- 2×6 walls with thorough caulk/seal package
- R11 blanket along all basement walls
- Rigid foam under basement slab along walk-out wall…extending 6 feet in
- Icynene first floor and second floor band-boards
- Dual speed, damper controlled high efficiency heating/cooling system
- Hardie fiber cement siding
- Energy Star appliances
- Energy Star light fixtures
- Low flow plumbing fixtures and toilets
- Low VOC sealants and paint
As stated by Gary Steps : “There are two major values of the ANSI standard. First, programs like LEED are good, but they are self certifying. The NAHB went to the American National Standards Institute to produce an independent standard. Then they put up a rigorous program for independent verification of each individual building.
Second, and most important, is that the ANSI National Green Building Standard is directly based on the International Energy Conservation Code, which is rapidly being accepted by American governments. AS just one example, St Louis County last week adopted the new 2009 IECC Standard. Every area of the county will either use the new code as the base for local building codes now or will be moving from individual codes to the IECC over the next few years.”