SPAFFORD - A Skaneateles Lake residence has earned the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes Gold certification in New York State, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
The LEED rating system determines the energy efficiency of homes by awarding certified, silver, gold, or platinum status.
Dr. John Callahan, a local orthodontist, and his wife Elet Sangrey Callahan, a professor of law and public policy at Syracuse University's (SU) Martin J. Whitman School of Management, are the owners of the house.
The Callahans' house on East Lake Road in the town of Spafford is a demonstration project sponsored by the State University of New York School of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), the U.S. Green Building Council, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), in collaboration with the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (Syracuse CoE).
All these organizations teamed up to select Kevin Stack, owner and president of Syracuse-based Northeast Natural Homes, Inc., for the task of building a green demonstration home as a pilot project.
It was about that time that the Callahans had approached Stack about building their house. So he asked the Callahans to' be guinea pigs for a green demonstrationproject, and they agreed.
"I was brought on during the integrated design process," Stack says. "My involvement was to get the LEED rating and NAHB rating."
Stack identified, bought, and installed the green products in the Callahans' house. These sustainable products include an enhanced thermal envelope with soy-basedspray foam, cork flooring, cabinets made from a waste product from the harvest of wheat, low-volatile organic compound (VOC) paint, and high efficiency heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC).
According to Stack, the Callahans' home is one of just four residential homes nationwide to receive the LEED gold rating.
He says the three-bedroom home, on which construction took nine months - will recoup the extra cost of materials in energy savings.
"We spent more on insulation but saved because we used less lumber," Stack explains. "We've learned from this and learned how to save on costs."
Practicing what you teach
Elet Callahan says her teachings in environmental law and policy are increasingly focusing on sustainable practices. In 2003, she and her husband decided they wanted to build a new house.
"We came to realization we were going to build a house, so it was natural to seek out a builder familiar with green strategies," Callahan says. "We did our research and all roads led to Kevin Stack."
Callahan says Stack has regional and national expertise in green building. The Callahans then hired Skaneateles architect Andrew Ramsgard, principal of Ramsgard Design Associates.
Stack explained his green pilot project to the Callahans and they were delighted to participate in the experiment, Callahan says.
The pilot project's objective was to build houses in New York State that would demonstrate green-building principals and strategies in operation, Callahan says.
"So all of the factors came together and led to the green house," she adds.
As one of the founding members of the Syracuse CoE, Stack used that organization's expertise and facilities while building the Callahans' home.
Callahan declined to disclose any financial figures for the home value or building costs of their Skaneateles Lake residence. According to the Onondaga County Office of Real Property Tax Services, the 2,321-square-foot home at 2425 East Lake Road in the town of Spafford is assessed at $462,700. The 3-bedroom, 4-bath home is located on a quarter acre of land.
Green materials
Callahan says that one of the key green attributes of her house is its renewable materials. Her stone countertops will last forever and the cork floors - a renew-able resource - need only to be cleanedwith water, which has a direct impact on indoor air quality. The concrete exterior of the home looks like wood but is more durable and will only need to be painted once every 10 years, she says.
The Callahans, their son Michael, and dog, Toby, are in the process of moving from DeWitt into their Skaneateles Lake residence. They waited to move so their son could graduate high school.
When construction of the home started in 2004, Stack estimated the construction cost 3 percent more than conventional construction, which Callahan expects to recover with the Energy Star rating of the home.
"Three years ago, there was a'3 percent cost differential, but now I would say it is a wash because of the significant savings in strategy usage," Callahan says. "For example, we used less lumber and the savings from that offset the higher cost of the soy-based insulation."
The house is also equipped with data loggers that will record energy efficiency.
"We will essentially be living in a research facility," Callahan says. "That is the purpose of the project."
Callahan expects the project sponsors will want at least a year's worth of data to calculate energy savings. She doesn't yet know how many kilowatts of energy the house will save.
Edward Bogucz, Jr.
Edward Bogucz, Jr., executive director of the Syracuse CoE, is particularly interested to see how the Callahans' homeperforms energy-efficiency wise.
He says his organization's role is to help companies like Northeast Natural Homes become leaders in the field of sustainable building and enhance the reputation of the entire region.
"We are excited about this project be-cause it is one of the first homes in the country to be certified gold," Bogucz says. "It helps us make case that firms in Central New York are leaders in green products and processes."
The Syracuse CoE did not directly support the project financially - instead, it supported Stack by connecting him to faculty members at SU.
"We are partners in the project in that we offer facilities and people that Kevin and his team can learn from," Bogucz says. "We are observing how the house performs, almost like it is an experimental apparatus."
The Syracuse CoE is partnering with Stack on some other green projects in the Central New York area - a home under construction in Fayetteville as well as a DeWitt residential project. Stack plans to seek LEED'certification for both homes.
"We plan to build on the lessons we learned in Skaneateles," Bogucz says. "I would reinforce that this region has extraordinary capability in its firms and learning institutions, and we are on the forefront of the green-building explosion nationwide."
© 2007 Central New York Business Journal Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.
