Two Trails Reaches for the Top of the LEED Platinum Point Scale with the “Sarasota Power Haus.”
Drew Smith from Two Trails has done it again. He has contributed his expertise in assisting in completing a home rated the greenest new house in the country in the Polo Club at Lakewood Ranch. Drew Smith and Josh Wynne collaborated in building this ultra green house. Drew has stated, “Josh has raised the bar on this one.” In a nutshell, the “Power Haus” is an amazing accomplishment by scoring the lowest score conceivable on the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) as an index of (-) 22 in comparison to an excellent score being a (+) 40 on a scale of 0 to 100. As for the rating for the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) has scored 118 for the “Power Haus” with points awarded in a variety of green features including but not limited to energy producing PV panels, recycled building materials contents, and water efficiency materials. To place this score in perspective, a score of 95 is a good enough for a LEED Platinum certification. A person with no background in green building can see the magnitude of the scores for the “Power Haus” and why Drew Smith is the leader in green building consulting. He is a true genius and has already been recognized for various green building awards including NAHB CGP (Certified Green Professional) of 2010 & FGBC 2010 certifying agent of the year.
As if the LEED and HERS scores are not impressive enough, the “Power Haus” is at the top of the rating systems used by the Florida Green Building Coalition and Energy Star. With the installation of the PV system, Drew Smith has been reported as saying, “The owners should never have to pay an electric bill. Unless they significantly increase their consumption, they should get a credit each month.” An electric bill is something that anyone would love to eliminate as a monthly debt. The possibility of a credit seen as a negative consumption of electricity seen on an electric bill will be from the highly proficient PV system.
Some of the other amazing green features of the “Sarasota Power Haus” include concrete blocks filled with foam insulation, kitchen cabinets constructed with recyclable material, using programmable LEDs (light emitting diodes), flooring from polished concrete, and interior walls from troweled clay. A garage is not used in order to not waste material to house a car and instead use an overhanging roof for the owners to park their cars in the shade. Drew Smith is the leader in green building and has stated, “We are working to find ways to get more points in the future.” When going for such high point values it is important to look as far as possible into the future for your point decisions. One decision may affect another and cast points rather than gain them. Points or no points, either way everyone wins with a spectacular built home!
The “Power Haus” has been recognized for a long list of accomplishments. It is currently the highest scoring LEED Platinum home in the world and has a HERS index of a negative (-22). The “Power Haus” also took home 13 Aurora Awards held during the Southeast Builders Conference (SEBC). The awards are:
Project: Power Haus, Sarasota, FL Energy Efficient Home Best Energy Efficient Home-Grand Aurora Award
Residential Construction/Custom Home (One of a Kind)-$1,000,001-$1,500,000-Grand Aurora Award
Solar Energy House Best Solar Energy Efficient House-Grand Aurora Award
Green Construction New Construction- $1,000,001- $2,000,000-Grand Aurora Award
Environmental Design/Water-Wise Home Best Water-Wise Home-Grand Aurora Award
Residential Construction Custom Home (One of a Kind) $1,000,001- $1,500,000-Auroa Award
Interior Merchandising/Design Kitchen $1,000,001- $2,000,000-Aurora Award
Interior Merchandising/Design Bath $1,000,001- $2,00,000-Aurora Award
Interior Merchandising/Design Interior $1,000,001- $2,000,000-Aurora Award
Environmental Design Energy Efficient Home Best Energy Efficient Home-Aurora Award
Environmental Design Solar Energy House Best Solar Energy Efficient House-Aurora Award
Environmental Design Green Construction New Construction- $1,000,001- $2,000,000-Aurora Award
Environmental Design Water-Wise Home Best Water- Wise Home-Aurora Award
About Two Trails, Inc. Two Trails, Inc. is a Green Building Consulting firm established in 2001. We provide green consulting services nationwide for commercial, residential, remodeling, and developments looking to obtain LEED (US Green Building Council) NAHB Green Home Standard, Energy Star, FGBC (Florida Green Building Coalition) certifications.
Our President, Drew M. Smith, LEED AP, was the founding President of the Florida Green Building Coalition and is the first Governor appointed Green Building Commissioner for the State of Florida. Two Trails, Inc. provides hands-on consulting making it easy to achieve certification.
Source | PRWeb