The LEED for Homes Innovation & Design Process (ID) credit
category rewards and encourages projects in three major areas:
ID 1: Integrated Project
Planning encourages
project planning and design to improve the coordination and integration of the
various elements in a green home.
ID 2: Durability Management
Process applies
simple quality assurance measures during design and construction that improve
the home’s resilience to weather, pests, and other environmental issues.
ID 3: Innovative or Regional
Design creates
an opportunity for projects to earn credit for implementing strategies or
measures not addressed in the current LEED for Homes Rating System. Credits can
be earned for innovative designs, exemplary performance, or regional best practices
that can be shown to produce quantifiable environmental and human health
benefits.
The category includes 3 prerequisites and 11 possible points.
The prerequisites that apply to the Burns house and credits we chose to pursue
are:
ID1.1 Preliminary
Rating
(prerequisite) – This entailed holding a preliminary meeting with the LEED for
Homes Green Rater to go over the project and identify potential credits from
the LEED checklist. The LEED Green Rater acts as both a LEED consultant and the
project’s LEED inspector. Our Green
Rater is Sanyog Rathod of Sol Design + Consulting. He definitely knows his stuff, and is very cooperative.
I highly recommend him.
ID 1.2 Integrated
Project Team
(1point) – The idea here is that a well selected project team meets throughout
the design and construction process to better achieve good design and
implementation. Our project team included:
Sara Aschliman (me) of
dwellbeing
Project Owner / General
Contractor / Architect / LEED AP +Homes
Brent Niese of dwellbeing
Architect / LEED AP + Homes
Jeff Gray of Jonle Heating &Cooling
HVAC / Geothermal designer
Chris Dwyer of Sol Design &Consulting
Energy Modeling / Building Technology
Testing
ID 1.3 Professional
Credentialed with Respect for LEED for Homes (1 point) – Building are
certified, but professionals are accredited.
In this case both Brent and I have earned our LEED AP+Homes
accreditation which means that we have LEED for Homes experience and have
passed the required tests. Participating
on the project team earns us 1 point.
ID1.5 Building
Orientation for Solar Design (1 point) – Design the home such that all
of the following requirements are met:
a)
The glazing area on the north- and south-facing walls of the building is at least
50% greater than the sum of the glazing area on the east- and west facing walls.
b)
The east-west axis of the building is within 15 degrees of due east-west.
c)
The roof has a minimum of 450 square feet of south-facing area that is oriented
appropriately for solar applications.
d)
At least 90% of the glazing on the south-facing wall is completely shaded (using
shading, overhangs, etc.) at noon on June 21 and unshaded at noon on December
21.
Since houses
in the 1800’s were built to take advantage of natural light, it not so coincidentally
happens that the existing house sits within the 15 degrees of a due east-west and
that there are nearly twice as many windows on the north and south sides of the
house than the east and west. The
existing old growth deciduous trees on the perimeter of the site, provide the
shade in the summer, yet allow the light to pass thru in the winter. Here's a pic of our south-facing wall in the winter showing 90% unshaded windows. In June we will see how much shade the trees provide.
ID2.1 Durability Planning
(prerequisite) – It is a LEED requirement to evaluate the home based on location
and construction type, identify potential climate, topographic, and pest
related risks, and develop strategies to combat these risks to create a more
durable building. Durability strategies
that we identified in the Burns house include:
Exterior
Moisture:
Seal all plumbing, electrical, and
other penetrations of walls and floors, and seal joints.
|
Continuous drainage plane behind
exterior wall cladding fully sealed at all penetrations
|
Raise paper covered gypsum board
1/2" above concrete slab
|
Fully flash all window and door
openings
|
Installed system for diverting
roof water from house (e.g. gutters of overhangs in dry climates)
|
No. 30 roof felt underlayment
minimum
|
Reduced ice dams: No non-airtight
recessed light fixtures in insulated flat ceilings; no non-airtight recessed
fixtures in insulated cathedral ceilings.
|
Interior
Mosture:
Nonpaper-faced backer board used
in all tubs, showers, and spa areas.
|
Water-resistant flooring in the
kitchen, bathroom, laundry rooms, and spa areas.
|
Water-resistant flooring within 3
feet of all exterior doors.
|
Drain and drain pan installed for
any tank water heaters in or over living spaces
|
Drain and drain pan OR
single-throw supply valve installed for any clothes washers in or over living
spaces
|
Conventional clothes dryers exhausted
directly to outdoors
|
Whole house ventilation and local
kitchen and bathroom exhaust systems that comply with ASHRAE Std. 62.2
|
Use highly durable materials in
wet areas
|
Heat Loss:
Exposed concrete slab edge
insulated.
|
Install insulation per Thermal
Bypass Checklist
|
All ductwork within conditioned
space
|
Window: U-factor ≤ 0.40
|
Exterior doors to be weather
sealed
|
Basement walls insulated
|
Pests:
Seal external cracks, joints, etc.
with caulking and install pest-proof screens
|
Use solid concrete foundation
walls or pest-proof masonry wall design
|
keep all wood 12" above grade
|
Radon:
Provide minimum 4" diameter
PVC pipe to vent Radon gas from under slab to roof or exterior wall.
|
Provide junction box at roof end
of pipe for future exhaust fan.
|
Use solid concrete floor
|
ID2.2 Durability Management
(prerequisite) – supplemental to ID2.1, is it required that the builder inspect
construction to ensure that the identified durability measures our implemented.
ID2.3 Third-Party Durability Management Verification
(3 points) – As an added level of insurance, the Green Rater may inspect the
project to verify the durability measures.
ID3.1 Innovation 1: Advanced
Utility Tracking (1 point) – To earn this credit we enrolled the
Burns house in the USGBC’s Building Performance Partnership and gave it
permission to track our utilities for their database. This is a pilot credit which means that the
USGBC is exploring the potential for adding it the rating system.
ID3.2 Innovation 2: Street Network Intersection Density
(1 point) – This is also a pilot credit.
Similar to the Preferred Locations, Community Service & Transit, and
Access to Open Space credits offered in the Locations and Linkages Category, like
the name implies, Street Network Intersection Density rewards projects that are
located in in areas with many street intersections as research shows that this
can cut down on gas usage and therefore carbon emissions.
ID3.3 Innovation 3: Exemplary
Performance in Materials
and Resources 2.2 Environmentally Preferable Products (1 point) – Because our
project reuses much of the existing structure which is considered both recycled
and local material, it earned more points than were available in the category. Therefore
this exemplary performance earns credit in this innovation and design category.
