Chad Giese, Plantation Homes

This afternoon my REAE 5304 class drove to Marine Creek Ranch near Lake Worth to see an affordable LEED-certified home being built. Chad Giese spoke to us about the features included in a LEED certified home, some of the benefits, and some of the obstacles a builder faces when constructing green homes.

Surprisingly, a home does not need a lot of expensive equipment like solar panels to classify as LEED certified. In fact, a lot of the "upgrades" that help with LEED certification are only a few dollars more than standard building hardware. Some of these affordable green features include thermal ply, cement based siding, hurricane straps (rafter fasteners), upgraded insulation, low flow faucets, and single filter

heating and cooling systems.

The sum of these green upgrades allow Plantation Homes to be certified as both Energy Star compliant and LEED certified. On the average, Plantation Homes' LEED-certified homes have Home Energy Rating System (HERS) scores about 30 percent lower than an average new home of the same size on the market. For LEED certification, though, Planation also needs to ensure that their homes exhibit durability, longevity, and innovation in design.

While I enjoyed Don Ferrier's talk last week about his custom built green homes, I am not sure that I would be able to afford one. I could see myself buying a Plantation Home, though. The LEED certification is a tremendous selling point, especially with the prevalence of greenwashing nowadays. It is nice to know that a third party is inspecting the homes to make sure that their green features truly are green.