Green homes come in many varieties. Some simply have ecofriendly features, such as recycled flooring or low-flush toilets. Others are tightly sealed boxes that the aim to conserve energy. All these types of homes have popped up throughout the Washington region. In the District, an ambitious $700 million project under construction at the site of the city’s former convention center plans to offer a mix of offices, shops and homes — including green roofs on all the residential buildings. In Bethesda, there’s a super-insulated “passive house” built to a German green home standard, which claims to require only 10 percent of the energy it takes to heat and cool a conventionally built house. Add to that the Frederick development, which also claims energy-efficiency feats.
Builders have been trying to corner the green market for years, and green homes have gained some traction in the past decade. The market in residential green building increased from $7 billion in 2005 to between $12 billion and $17 billion last year, according to McGraw Hill Construction’s most recent Green Outlook report. Yet, these types of homes still remain far from mainstream, and many who track the industry are still waiting for a big break.
“Everyone says that once the industry emerges (from the current housing crisis), housing will be reinvented and there will be no other way but green,” said Rick Schwolsky, editor-in-chief of the construction industry magazine EcoHome.
North Pointe, which stretches across a three-block expanse of Frederick’s historic district, aims to be one of the first “net zero” communities in this region, meaning its homes are designed to produce as much electricity as they consume.
For starters, the homes will be built with a tight envelope (walls, roof and basement), which should reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool them. The walls are made of structural insulated panels, essentially two pieces of super-strong recycled wood filled with nearly seven inches of insulation. A foam that expands to 70 times its size is sprayed on the rafters and bandboards, for more sealing and insulation.
Each home has roughly 20 solar panels, mostly on the rooftops, that absorb energy from the sun and convert it to electricity. During the day, when a family is at work or school, the panels generally produce more energy than the home needs. That energy is fed into the electric company’s power grid, and a meter on the home tracks the transfer. At night, the energy is credited back to the household, said Mike Murphy, executive vice president at Nexus EnergyHomes, which developed North Pointe.