Couple building very green home in Powhatan
MARK GORMUS/TIMES-DISPATCH
The house at 3072 Judes Ferry Road in Powhatan County will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday.
Open house |
In her job, Allison Dunaway makes sure people follow state environmental laws.
That entered into her thoughts when it came time to build her dream house.
"I wanted to put my money where my mouth was," said Dunaway, 30.
She and husband Greg, 32, are building an unusual, environmentally friendly house on 2 acres in Powhatan County.
If all goes well, green-building experts say, the house will probably be the first in the region approved by the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design residential program, or LEED for Homes.
"To my knowledge, it would be the first in the Richmond area to be certified," said Sean Shanley, director of residential operations for EarthCraft Virginia, a group that helps projects get green-building status.
The LEED program is run by the U.S. Green Building Council, a Washington-based nonprofit group. The program began in 2000 for commercial buildings and in January 2008 for homes.
Approval for the Dunaways' home could come in late summer. The house at 3072 Judes Ferry Road is not quite finished.
Nine homes in Virginia have received various levels of LEED certification, including ones in Crozet, Afton and Arlington County, according to the building council. The house in Powhatan is going for one of the top certification levels.
Watershed Architects in Richmond designed the Dunaways' three-story contemporary. It's small -- at about 1,900 square feet. That means builders use fewer materials, fewer trees get cut and there is less space to heat and cool.
Small size, among other features, helps a house gain LEED certification.
"Overall, it's promoting living more economically and environmentally," said Wayne Grebe, president and CEO of Handcraft Homes, the builder. "In that respect, LEED has an impact on total lifestyle."
The walls and roof of the home were built with special panels of foam sandwiched between plywoodlike boards.
Called "structural insulated panels," the sheets are extremely strong and provide about 40 percent more insulation than you get in a typical home, Grebe said.
In addition, the house was built off the ground, on concrete columns, to reduce problems such as mold that can arise from leaks in basements and crawl spaces.
The home cost about $280,000, while a standard home that size might cost $210,000, Grebe said.
Handcraft Homes would have charged even more, but the Goochland County-based company wanted the experience of building its first green house, Grebe said.
Depending on how many environmentally helpful features go into it, a green house can cost anywhere from a few percentage points more to more than 25 percent over the price of a standard home, Grebe said.
But the owner of a house like the Dunaways' can recoup the extra cost in about seven years through energy savings, he said.
For that reason, a green house is for people who are settling down.
Dunaway, who works for the state Department of Environmental Quality, said her parents live nearby. She and her husband, who have a 2-year-old daughter, Madeleine, plan to be in their home for years to come.
"This is it, hopefully," she said.
Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or
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Reader Reactions
Mikey, where did you pull those figures from? A quick MLS search for Powhatan shows that your numbers are WAY off (“VERY misleading”). For $600,000 in Powhatan, you could buy five acres with a 4 bedroom house already on it, tear it down, and build another house in its place.
Agree with the other comments but would add 1900 sq.ft. is a small house only in comparison to the recent “McMansion” era where the average new build house was 2400 square feet. In 1960 the average new home was only 1400 square feet. In 1950, just over 1000 sf.
This is a VERY misleading story.
The cost of the structure itself may be $280,000, but I promise you that does not include the cost for the two acres. Going rate for two acres in Powhatan is about $350,000, so the total property value will be in the $600,000 range when done. The story says the parents live close by. I doubt a young couple can afford Powhatan on their own. Mom and Dad either had the land and gave it to them or bought it for them. So for someone who doesn’t have big money, it’s not that affordable.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not against green building. I’m against the added cost in a region where there is practically nowhere you can build a quality 1,700-square-foot home on a quarter acre lot for under $220,000. Green building on average adds 8-10 percent to the cost of the home. That 1,700 sf home becomes $240,000 built green, which means a large majority of Richmonders can’t afford it.
I would have to agree with the first few posters. The concept of a very efficient house is good, but how about building it on one of these vacant lots in the heart of the city? Public transportation could be used, bikes, walking or even that Segway that was mentioned. Although I would imagine that these homeowners probably own vehicles that are either very fuel efficient or hybrid, the fact remains that commuting is a huge waste of resources.
There seems to be a lot of emphasis on green construction. New, energy efficient homes are being built. There doesn’t seem to be enough emphasis on green remodeling/refurbishing. Taking an old house in the city and turning it into something as efficient as these new homes that destroy woods, put additional strain on resources like schools, fire, police, roads, etc.
I agree with the other comments on this article. New construction of any kind certainly doesn’t seem very green and two more vehicles commuting 50 plus miles per day, 5 days a week to Richmond doesn’t seem very green.
I’m far from a tree hugger and have been looking at realistic ways for us as a Nation to go green. One Google “Garbage Warrior” this guy builds some interesting houses. Two Google cars that run on air, I’m not kidding. Compressed air! Check it out.
My thoughts exactly. How ‘green’ is any new building compared to the rehab of an existing building? How about that commute? Now, if they moved from like, Farmville or Lynchburg that would be one thing almost. How much in fuel, emissions, and carbon footprint in general did it cost to build a new home when so many are sitting around empty these days just waiting to be loved and occupied? There is nothing really ‘green’ about this story at all. I bet more than a few trees were killed in making room for the property.
That sounds exactly right. Why not buy a rowhouse in the city where you can ride a segway to the store ond spend little energy traveling to work? I could build a “green” house 100 miles away but how would I get anywhere???? Maybe on the new high-speed rail haha
What’s so green about building a brand new house in the middle of no where that you have to commute back and forth to and start up a car everytime you need a loaf of bread? The greenest house is the one that is already built; like a bunch in the city from which you can actually walk to something. Greener than thou is the new piety but under that r-65 inulation it’s just plain old vanity.
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