LEED and Energy Star
Sustainable Designs is committed to following the industry's best practices contained all the Energy Star Program and the LEED for Homes Program.
The LEED for Homes Program was created and administered by the US Green Building Council. This program embodies the best industry practices for sustainable home building. This is a points based program with 18 prerequisites that rates sustainable buildings in four categories: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The basic structure of the rating system has 35 topic area in six categories: Innovation and Design Process, Sustainable Sites, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Awareness & Education. Using the LEED for Homes Checklist, the project team can track the preliminary rating and the final rating after third party certification. Below are links to pages with expanded explanations of the LEED categories and our approach to meeting each requirements.
Innovation and Design Process (ID)
Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ)
Within the LEED for Homes program are close ties to the Energy Star Program. All LEED for Homes projects must meet the minimum Energy Star for New Homes requirements for Tier 1. Additional points are available for home that exceed the Energy Star basic requirements. All Sustainable Designs homes are designed meet the Energy Star for New Homes Tier 3 requirements, yielding 22 points in the Energy and Atmosphere category. This is achieved in part by also meeting the Energy Star Advanced Lighting Package requirements. Within the Indoor Environmental Quality category credit is given for meeting the Energy Star Indoor Air Package requirements. The Energy Star IAP is an excellent example of an easy way to significantly improve the quality of new homes without adding a lot of cost. All of our homes are designed with the IAP as a requirement.