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The New American Home Earns Green Home Project Award
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Features including low-e windows, advanced insulation, vertical and horizontal solar overhangs, window louvers and a highly-efficient gas-powered heating and cooling system enabled The New American Home to achieve a Five Start-Plus HERS rating of 57. Photo by Erin O'Boyle/Courtesy of the Portland Cement Association | Earlier this month, The New American Home 2009 was named the Green Home Project of the Year in the Dream Home Awards annual competition open to architects, builders, interior designers and other industry professionals.
The state-of-the-art home ― designed by Danielian Associates of Irvine, Calif. and built by Las Vegas builder Blue Heron ― combined builders’ best practices, energy efficiency, indoor-air quality, safety, convenience and aesthetics. More than 6,000 housing industry professionals toured the home during the 2009 International Builders Show in Las Vegas earlier this year.
“Many of the green details had to do with passive design,” said John Danielian of Danielian Associates who served as project manager. “We incorporated broad overhangs over the windows to block out of a lot of sun on the south and west exposures. We used 12-inch thick insulated concrete forms (ICF), which gave us an R-50 insulation rating and enabled us to recess the windows and provide plenty of shading. We also added louvers along the southern exposure of the south tower to provide additional cover from the sun.”
The New American Home was sited to optimize solar resources and incorporates landscape design to limit water and energy demand. The development did not impact any environmentally sensitive areas. Soil erosion and disturbance were kept to a minimum with storm water pollution prevention plans, continued on-site monitoring and best management practices.
The project selected manufacturers and suppliers who were able to provide recycled building materials, new materials manufactured from renewable resources or materials made with fewer resources than traditional products. During construction, implementation of a recycling and waste-management program included on-site bins for collecting and sorting waste materials to be recycled off-site.
“Everybody involved in this project was committed to going green. It gave us an opportunity to work with some leading-edge green products and to learn more about the NAHB Green Building Program,” Danielian said.
Sponsored by the National Council of the Housing Industry (NCHI) – The Leading Suppliers of NAHB and Builder magazine, The New American Home is one of NAHB’s most successful and visible programs.
“The whole purpose of The New American Home is to help promote the breakthroughs that will shape the housing industry in the coming years,” said Bill Nolan, of The Nolan Group, a housing industry consulting firm in Altamonte Springs, Fla. and chairman of The New American Home Task Force. “This show home gives home builders from across the country and around the world the opportunity to see how innovative products and construction methods have been applied in a real home.”
For more information about The New American Home, visit www.tnah.com.
 ‘National Green Building Standard’ Available at BuilderBooks.com
“The National Green Building Standard,” available through BuilderBooks.com, provides “green” practices that can be incorporated into multifamily and single-family new home construction, home remodeling and additions and site development.
The standard covers lot design, resource, energy and water efficiency; indoor environment quality; and owner education.
Currently the first and only ANSI-approved green building rating system, the National Green Building Standard is the benchmark for green homes.
To view or purchase this publication online, click here.
 The Future of Residential Construction Is Green
The Certified Green Professional (CGP) designation teaches builders, remodelers and other industry professionals techniques for incorporating green building principles into homes using cost-effective and affordable options.
Earning the CGP demonstrates to clients and peers your commitment to the best and latest in green building practices and techniques. More than 1,000 people have earned the CGPdesignation to date.
For more information, visit www.nahb.org/CGPinfo.
‘Building Greener Neighborhoods’ Available at BuilderBooks.com
“Building Greener Neighborhoods,” available through Digital Delivery at BuilderBooks.com, shows those involved in building new communities the advantages and rewards of saving, planting and transplanting more trees in their developments.
The examples are drawn from decades of experience of land developers, home builders and urban foresters.
To download this publication in a PDF format, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
 ‘Build Green and Save’ Available at BuilderBooks.com
“Build Green and Save: Protecting the Earth and Your Bottom Line,” available through BuilderBooks.com, is a comprehensive, easy-to-read reference that shows builders how to identify and select green building materials; implement green construction techniques; explain the benefits of green housing and offer affordable green building solutions to consumers; and use resources wisely and reduce water and energy consumption.
To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
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