Major metropolitan areas are known as hotbeds of activity for many facets of life. But traditionally, green home building has not been one of them. That's starting to change, however, as a growing number of eco-friendly projects are breaking new ground in big cities.

 

There are many ways to build a green urban home. Some are noticeable to the untrained eye, while others are less so. What's interesting is that in addition to using cutting-edge green building materials, many of these urban residential projects are incorporating such technologies as solar energy, geothermal heating and cooling, and rainwater catchment systems - which are not the types of technologies and systems you'd typically associate with a home in the city.

To explore the many options available to urban homeowners who are ready to go green, we focused in on four projects in urban areas across the country. Although each project takes a different approach to sustainable building, they all have something in common: They tend to break with tradition in creating homes that are healthy, efficient and eco-friendly.

(From left) Steve Servais, Juli Kaufmann and Nikolai Usack, principals of Pragmatic Construction.

 

Revitalizing an

Urban Brownfield

Pragmatic Construction

Milwaukee, Wisc.

What others saw as a blight on the community - an overused tract of land once home to a junk dealer and a waste materials facility - Juli and Mike Kaufmann saw as the perfect spot for their dream home. They were attracted to the property because of its location in a historic neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisc., and by the fact that it was within walking distance of the city center and most necessary amenities. But the project proved to be a challenging one. "Building an ideal green home in the city is not a simple undertaking," Juli says matter-of-factly.

The Kaufmanns purchased the desolate site, known as a brownfield because of its pollution levels, in 2005 from the city of Milwaukee, which had owned it since the early 1980s. Environmental testing found that the lot's previous owners had left it heavily contaminated.

"Contamination was pervasive, and in some spots elevated to hazardous levels," says Juli, who, in addition to being the homeowner, is one of the principals of Pragmatic Construction, the Milwaukee-based company that undertook the decontamination of the lot and the subsequent building of the home.

The extensive cleanup began with the removal of the top six feet of soil from the lot; it was replaced with clean soil, which was procured at a minimal cost. The contaminated soil was trucked to a freeway reconstruction site, where it was used as fill.

In addition to reclaiming the building site, the Kaufmanns wanted to heat their new 1,800-square-foot home using a geothermal system. In this type of alternative energy system, a series of closed horizontal loops of tubing are installed at a minimum of five feet below the earth's surface. Liquid circulating from a geothermal heat pump inside the home through the underground tubes exchanges heat with the earth, so that in the winter the liquid is heated by the earth, which in turn is used to heat the home; in the summer the liquid loses excess heat to the cooler earth. The system was more costly to install than a conventional heating system but the payback period is relatively short - "about five years," says Juli.

The Kaufmanns chose their interior building materials carefully. They used insulation made from recycled denim, and non-toxic paints, adhesives and sealants that contain little or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can affect indoor air quality. Reclaimed flooring from a salvage yard gave the interior a warm, distinctive look. Helping to conserve water are dual-flush toilets and a rainwater retention system that stores rainwater in barrels for later use in irrigation. http://www.pragmaticconstruction.com; 414-221-9548.

 

Self-Sufficiency in the City

Lorax Development

San Francisco, Calif.

Five years ago, Mike Kerwin, Joel Micucci and Pat Loughran, partners in the San Francisco-based contracting firm Lorax Development, came together with a single goal in mind: "To build environmentally friendly homes with renewable materials, energy-efficient systems and smart technologies," says Kerwin. Since then, the three contractors have worked together on a number of building and remodeling projects, including Clipper House, a recently completed green home located in the Noe Valley region of San Francisco.

Clipper House is unique not only because it is one of the greenest homes in the Bay Area but also because it is the first residence in the city to include a rainwater catchment system on its property. The system catches rainwater (18,000 to 20,000 gallons a year) as it runs off of the specially designed roof, then cleans and stores the water for later use. "All water needs can be met for non-potable [non-drinking and bathing] uses," Kerwin notes.

To install the system, the contractors first had to receive approval from the city, which proved to be a tricky process. Initially, city building officials were tentative about providing a permit for the system because they were not familiar with the technology and had concerns about cross-contamination with the drinking water supply. However, after a number of meetings and discussions, officials finally approved the system.

Kerwin hopes that rainwater catchment systems similar to the one installed at Clipper House will soon become standard on all new homes. "There will come a time when architects and engineers will include a location for the catchment tanks in the early stages of home design and development," he predicts.

In addition to harvesting rainwater, Clipper House also harvests sunlight. Solar photovoltaic panels on the roof generate enough electricity to power the whole house. "In theory, the home could sustain itself with minor modifications to allow for the storage of energy," says Kerwin. Rooftop solar thermal panels also heat water both for domestic use and for the home's Warmboard radiant floor heating system.

The home's green components also include recycled insulation made from denim, low-VOC paints, reclaimed hardwood flooring, fiber cement siding, skylights for daylighting, eco-friendly kitchen cabinets, low-e windows and energy-efficient doors.

Transparent Green

Bergworks GBM

New York, N.Y.

You wouldn't know just by looking at it, but a recently remodeled apartment in the swanky Upper East Side of New York was designed using sustainable practices. The project's architect, David Bergman, is also the owner of Bergworks, a multi-faceted firm that specializes in lighting and furniture design in addition to remodeling. He uses a design style he calls Transparent Green when remodeling apartments for clients.

His hope, he says, is to bring his green design style to the mainstream. "An eco-design might not look any different from a non-eco one, and that means it can appeal to anyone, not only a niche audience," he explains.

Combining green materials, vivid colors and contemporary elegance into one neat package is not easily done, but when these aspects are mixed the right way, as they are in this case, the end result is something that is both eco-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Green materials used in the 900-square-foot "Eco-apartment," as Bergman has dubbed it, include cork flooring, recycled glass tiles, recycled-content resin panels and wheatboard cabinets. In addition, Bergman used low-VOC paints and finishes.

Originally, the project - which involved the renovation of the apartment's kitchen, living room, dining room and office - was not supposed to incorporate green building materials, but after some gentle coaxing and a guarantee that it would not affect the price or the quality of the finished product, the owners agreed. "I brought up the subject and asked them, "If we can include sustainable elements without adding substantial cost or compromising design, would you be interested?' Phrased like that, it's pretty hard to say no," says Bergman.

Despite the obvious upside of incorporating sustainable products into a renovation, Bergman notes that he still has a ways to go in winning over converts to eco-friendly building. "The interest in and awareness of sustainable design is growing and becoming more mainstream, [but] it's still not on enough people's radar," he says.

It's also difficult to change accepted practices that have become ingrained, Bergman notes. Many builders feel pigeonholed into using outdated methods for renovating and remodeling homes because, he says, "It's easier to do the same old thing than to learn new methods."

With eco-apartment renovation a financially feasible alternative to customary design, Bergman hopes to lead the way for others to follow in his green footsteps. "I consider it a part of my personal and professional responsibility," he says. http://www.cyberg.com; 212-475-3106.

Creating a City

Neighborhood

Glenwood Park

Atlanta, Ga.

Building a green, efficient home in the city is a challenging, time-consuming undertaking. Building 300 such homes is even more of a challenge. Welcome to Glenwood Park.

Located in the heart of Atlanta, Ga., Glenwood Park is a housing community comprised of 325 condominiums, town houses and single-family lots. The community also includes retail stores, office space, civic buildings, parks and recreational facilities.

In an effort to build a sustainable community, most homes in Glenwood Park will be certified as eco-friendly and energy efficient by the EarthCraft Program, which ensures environmental best practices are followed during construction. Office buildings will be certified under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Although individual contractors are ultimately responsible for which green factors go into the homes they build in Glenwood Park, most of the properties in the community will contain the same sustainable components, such as high-efficiency HVAC systems, cellulose insulation to ensure a tight building envelope, windows with low-e glass, Energy Star appliances and efficient lighting fixtures.

In addition to the homes and commercial buildings, the landscaping of Glenwood Park will contribute to the natural environment. Trees and bushes are strategically placed along the streets to accentuate the small-town atmosphere. The trees also will help to shade homes and eliminate the heat island effect, keeping temperatures in the community bearable. "The more green space, the cooler the environment is going to be," says Paul Boat, a spokesperson for Green Street Properties, developers of Glenwood Park.

To help keep the area green and lush, a rainwater retention system was created to capture nearly all of the community's rainwater, which is stored in a culvert and used for irrigation.

Glenwood Park was constructed out of the footprint of the New Urbanism movement, which aims to intermingle residential and commercial areas to reduce reliance on automobiles and combat sprawl. The goal is to create a walkable "city neighborhood" of tree-lined streets, homes, stores and parks, just two miles from downtown Atlanta. The developers believe this will give Glenwood Park an advantage over other developments because, according to Boat, it will be a place where you can raise a family safely, socialize with neighbors and enjoy your surroundings. "You don't just whiz by it in your car," he says. http://www.greenstreetproperties.com; 404-879-2230.