LEED-constructed home offers blueprint for the future
The house of the future is on display right now in a northeast Oshawa neighbourhood.
The unique home on Copperfield Drive has been designed specifically to be the ultimate example of green-friendly architecture and technology.
Marshall Homes created the home to meet LEED standards. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a program that seeks to meet the highest level across five categories: sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality.
It isn’t easy to become a LEED-er. The expectations are very demanding, the standards extremely high.
But the payoff is energy savings and efficiency and a much smaller carbon footprint.
The unique features of the LEED home in Oshawa are intriguing for those of us used to living in average houses.
The most obvious characteristic happens when you park your car on the lawn -- er, grass driveway -- at the residence.
Why grass? The goal is to prevent rainwater run-off and the traditional asphalt driveway is a prime offender. Grass soaks up the water that would otherwise run into the street and down a storm sewer.
Speaking of water, the house also features a grey water recycling system. Grey water is what runs off after a shower, bath or from doing the laundry. In the LEED home, that water is used in toilets to save fresh water. The toilet water can be a bit soapy and requires a filter cleaning once a week, but saves plenty of water that would otherwise be wasted.
A programmable thermostat is also a key element in the LEED home. Such a feature is not unique to LEED, but allows the homeowner to regulate heat and air-conditioning depending on whether someone is home or not and as a result of outdoor conditions. The goal is to optimize heat and air-conditioning to ensure top efficiency.
Other key elements include the use of recycled paint, recycled plumbing (plastic instead of copper pipes) and a heat recovery ventilator that keeps the air refreshed by bringing air in from outside and sending stale air back to the great outdoors.
To make LEED homes standard in new communities will be the challenge of the future, but it may well be that someday soon grass driveways, grey water recycling and other sustainable features will be the norm. Our environment will thank us for it and we will all reap the long-term rewards.