LEED for Homes Lecture
Thursday May 8th 2008 | 7:00pm-9:00pm
Presented by Heather Peters, Mindscape Innovations
- Presentation on LEED for homes pdf
- Video footage of the workshop - coming soon
- Complete the healthy homes checklist
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| LEED For Homes Lecture |
The Grand House Cooperative welcomed Heather Peters of Mindscape Innovations to share information on the LEED for Homes program.
Heather began the lecture by introducing Mindscape Innovations and the need for building sustainably. A brief discussion of ‘greenwashing’ and a survey of sustainability rating systems gave attendees a backgrounder before getting into the nitty gritty of the LEED system.
Heather noted that a new building code would be adopted by 2012 and that would push current energy star ratings into the required standard and therefore push all other systems up in terms of benchmark status.
Energy star is a prerequisite for LEED.
CaGBC LEED program is the most widely accepted system in North America
13000 homes have been registered in the US
Canada’s version is due in June 2008
LEED for Homes rating systems has the following categories:
Location and linkages (10pts)
Site and natural landscaping
Water efficiency (15pts)
Energy and Atmosphere (38pts)
Materials and resources (16pts)
Indoor environmental quality (21pts)
Awareness and education (3pts)
Innovation and design (11pts)
Heather showed a case study of Reid’s heritage homes in Guelph, a LEED for Homes development that included:
- Xeriscaping and 100% permeable site
- Rainwater harvesting and dual flush toilets
- Under slab insulation, low e argon windows, ERV and ground source heat pump
- Solar hot water, drain water heat recovery and cent-a-meter monitor
- Engineered floor systems
Heather moved on to discuss LEED for Neighbourhood Development. There are 24 Canadian neighbourhoods participating in the US pilot project.
The Grand House is going for LEED Gold or Platinum status.
Heather concluded by taking questions from the audience. Although there were not many attendees, they all had very good questions and seemed quite familiar with the LEED system, its potential and its pitfalls, which Heather seemed to answer quite well!
