Growing Green Building-From Saskatchewan to Seattle
To understand how far green building has come, it’s important to first take a look back at a few of the pivotal events in its history. It is no great surprise that many of the early advances in green building were directly linked to energy crises; however it would appear that the real grassroots momentum was a result of academic focus, product differentiation, and profit motive. Today’s green building is a story of lessons learned and an honest commitment to building better, less impactive buildings. It is a combination of doing more with less and paying special attention to connecting with consumers.
The origins of green building in North America goes back to the 1200’s where there is evidence of the Anasazi people of the Southwest designing whole villages to take advantage of solar warming in winter months. Their homes were designed with awnings that would shade the home during summer, but would retain warmth when the sun was lower in the sky. This approach to passive solar design remains intact today. For the modern origins we look to the environmental movement of the 1960’s and 70’s that led to some of the first experiments in contemporary green building. Ultimately it was the oil crisis beginning in 1973 that spurred research into improved energy efficiency in homes.
In 1977, a group of Canadian researchers built a demonstration home known as The Saskatchewan Conservation House. This was a nearly airtight building that was super-insulated, featured triple paned windows, passive solar design, and one of the world’s first heat recovery ventilators. Not long after a similarly designed home, The Leger House was built in Pepperell, Massachusetts. When progressive builders and energy researchers saw the dramatically reduced energy demands of these homes they sat up and took notice.
It wasn’t till the 1990’s that the government and builder’s associations began to formally organize themselves to develop a framework around what would come to be commonly known today as Green Building. In 1992, the Environmental Protection Agency launched its first Energy Star program, becoming one of the most recognized symbols of exemplary energy performance. The Energy Star program now places their label on qualifying buildings, homes, and thousands of consumer products that save or require at least a 30% reduction in energy demand. It was also in 1992 that the nation’s first local green building program was launched in Austin, Texas, followed three years later by Built GreenÒ of Colorado. Since then, the number of local and national programs has steadily increased to today where there are over 90 local green building programs operating across the country.
After California, Washington State boasts the greatest number these in the country with at least 8 active programs, the most predominant of which is the Built GreenÒ Program of King and Snohomish Counties. Since the programs inception in 1999 it has certified over 14,660 homes, qualifying them on a scale from 1-5 Stars. The vast majority of these homes have been certified at the 3-Star level, representing an improvement over local code but by no means the epitome of efficiency or sustainability.
By 2006 the stage had been set for greater Seattle area green building to move toward the mainstream. Sustainable design had been emphasized as part of architectural curriculum for the prior 10-15 years, financing for new construction was still relatively easy to come by, and “going green” was rapidly gaining in popularity. That year the Built GreenÒ program certified 2,713 homes, a jump of over 400% from the prior year’s 582.
Since 2008 the housing crisis and the economic slowdown have brought the number of new certified homes back down to about 1,000 homes a year in the greater Seattle area. The great news is that a larger percentage of them are being certified at the 4- and 5-Star levels requiring significantly more attention and investment in many key areas. While the boom that we saw in 2006 laid the groundwork for many technological advances and a great deal of public interest in green building, it also served as the beginning of the journey by some in the industry who truly wanted to make better homes and communities. One Seattle builder in particular saw an opportunity to examine their process, set goals, and to make an impact on the future of homebuilding.
Seattle based design + build firm Dwell Development has found success by charting a course, sticking to their values, and designing very cool houses. They set out with simple goals: adding density within walkable, livable neighborhoods that are strongly connected to public transportation, and raising the bar on modern new home construction. They build a small number of projects each year and make sure the homes they build are good neighbors; that they’re a positive addition to the community. Last, but not least they build them as green as they can, and try to dive a little deeper into efficiency, materials, and impact with each new project.
Dwell Development builds primarily in Seattle’s southeast urban neighborhoods. Not so coincidentally this is where the principle members of the team themselves reside. Dwell consists of Developer and Founder Anthony Maschmedt, Architect Julian Weber, and Construction Manager Roland Williams. This is design + build, and the three work very closely, having built 24 homes together since 2005. Their collaboration is ongoing and intricate. Anthony’s focus is primarily on development issues, materials and technology decisions, budget, and design. Julian covers design, materials, technology, and his work extends onto the jobsite to make sure the vision for each project is realized. Roland manages every phase of the construction process, dabbles in design, and gets the job done on time and on budget. They have a well-established common understanding of their goals and how to achieve them.
As developers Dwell is careful not to claim that they are the greenest of the green. They are doing what they can and are constantly examining what will work with each project. It is important for them to be known first and foremost for their striking designs, quality craftsmanship, and “bigger picture” approach. The fact that their homes are green should be seen as an enhancement to an already appealing living experience.
They look to education and active participation in local green building groups to promote their message. They believe that in order to really work a green building features must be elevated to an expectation and not a costly luxury. To do that takes helping people understand what it is, how it works, and why it’s better. Dwell wants to help people to see the value of green building by creating connections between it and what is important to them in their daily lives. They do this through community events, informal case studies and co-hosting educational green home tours at their projects.
Lastly they place a heavy emphasis on making sure that there is sustainability in their business model. Their committed contributions will be most powerfully felt if they can stay in business and doing that means creating realistic budgets, executing each detail flawlessly, and remaining competitive with other homes in the immediate area. Dwell is taking a focused, holistic approach to sustainable development. It is not just building for today, but learning from the successes and challenges of the past while planning for tomorrow that will leave a lasting impression on residential development.
Materials, techniques, and technologies have come a long way since the first super-efficient homes in the United States were built in the late 70’s. There are literally thousand of organizations around the world who are realizing greater and greater efficiencies in production, transportation, and cost. Now is the time to turn our focus to connecting with the masses; to develop a framework with which to quantify the efforts and broad impact that green building represents. Economics is at play and demand must rise to meet supply so green building can itself be economically sustainable.
The future of green building depends on blending efficient and successful business models with a dedication to do it better than it has been done before; to provide homes that can give back to the homeowner just as much as went into them. Despite the fact that we have been utilizing what we refer to today as “green” building principles for almost a thousand years, green building as we know it today is still a very young idea.
