First LEED Platinum House
9 06 2009This new home in Arlington is apparently the first in the Nation to receive a LEED Platinum designation from the US Green Building Council, which is a big deal not only because it shows how residential units can also strive for LEED certification, but also that it can be affordable and stylish.
The building is designed by Kaplan Thompson Architects, and was built by Metro Green Homes. The home emphasizes modern eco- friendly design and includes such “green features” as structural insulated panel construction (SIPs), geothermal HVAC, grid-tied solar, low-e argon windows and high efficiency appliances. The house features a green roof, more than 500 gallons of rainwater cisterns, and pervious surfaces including a rainwater infiltration trench underneath the driveway.
It’s a very cool looking house but did they really have to be so literal and make it green in color?
Construction photo and the original sketch after the jump…
[Photos: Parker Daniell]
[Rendering: Kaplan Thompson Architects]
We need more of this happening everywhere.
In being the first, Living homes got a leed platinum residential rating as early as 06.
I find it upsetting that while the first LEED platinum house is in Arlington, the architects are in Portland, Maine. It is not like there is a dearth of green conscious designers in this area.
I applaud the eco bonfides of this house, and am ok with much of the design - but that porch is busted, and looks like a shack in the process of succombing to nature! Nasty. All they had to to was make the leading edge of the porch horizontal, for God’s sake. Any design genious want to explain this nonsense to me?
This house first listed at about $1.2-$1.3 million, but has dropped substantially. Still, there’s little yard, only 3 bedrooms and the location isn’t ideal. It’s going to be on the market a while.
[…] metropolitan areas than ours (no offense, Takoma Park,) however, the DC area is the first to have a private residence earn a Platinum LEED Certification. Thanks, DC Metrocentric for the […]
Nice. Now we just need someone to make a LEED Platinum house that is also a brick townhouse, so that we can get on with our life and build “green” houses that don’t take up huge amounts of land or aesthetically assault the neighbors.
I disagree with the comment that this level of ‘green’ can be ‘affordable.’ This house does not proove that point - at $1.175 MM, I think it is far from affordable. I believe the median sales price for the DC metro area is around $270k.
We need more data points to gauge affordability.
This house is in North Arlington where the single family homes are all priced around $1 million, I am sure if they built it out in Sterling it would be half the price, the point is that for a similar price to other real estate in an area, they can now build a home that is environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Personally, whether it’s platinum or not isn’t important. It’s a great accomplishment for sure, but if we could get homes at silver even, that would be great. I don’t think the diminishing returns given the money you’re putting in to achieve platinum would be worth it for most people. The basic things you can do to make it silver wouldn’t be so cost prohibitive but still yield a more environmentally friendly and energy efficient home.
LOL that despite its designation this house still features the car at the front. That’s green living!
But Maia - it’s a hybrid!!! Haha. Talk about greenwashing.
Correction:
Per metro green’s press release, this is the first Leed Platinum home in Virginia, not the nation. It is technically 4 bedrooms with a loft - convertible to a fifth bedroom.
Thanks for all the comments though. You are a lively crowd!
I’m just curious about whether this house was built on a vacant lot, which would be surprising for this older, fairly dense neighborhood. If it was built following a tear-down of an existing house, then it is questionable whether it is really environmentally superior to any other home.