No one likes tests, even if they are voluntary. Similarly, few builders relish the inspection process. It's time-consuming and, many times, depends on the inspector.
While many builders are looking to eventually reap the dividends of increased sales at higher margins by becoming green builders, there are some unintended consequences from building green.
Namely, things like increased costs, sales challenges, finding new products and vendors, design changes and delays in the construction cycle are all byproducts of "going green."
Moreover, an additional inspection process is required to attain a green certification. But is that extra inspection a burden, and should it be a deterrent to building green?
It certainly wasn't for Mike Mishler, co-owner of Mishler Builders, a custom builder in Rockwall, Texas. Although he admits to a few butterflies in his stomach, he relished having his first green home subjected to the detailed green inspection process established by the Home Builders Association of Dallas.
History of Mishler Builders
Mishler has been building homes in Texas since 1985, but had never built a green home until recently. He runs the company with his wife, Rhonda, and originally moved from Ft. Wayne, Ind. to Texas in the early 1980s to be the construction manager for 250-unit condo project.
He constructs about four homes per year ranging in all sizes and styles, from zero lot lines to Texas hill-country style to traditional to waterfront on Lake Ray Hubbard, about 20 miles east of Dallas. The homes have ranged from 1,400 square feet for $130,000 to 7,500 square feet for $1,750,000.
The company is a charter member of Green Built North Texas, a Home Builders Association Initiative of the HBA of Greater Dallas. "We also do a lot of remodeling and some commercial work," says Mishler.
"My thought is it is better to position myself to be able to move from one sector of construction to the other as the economy changes and demands change than to find one niche and then not have any work when that particular niche dies."
That nimble nature enables Mishler to keep up to date with anything happening in the construction industry. So, when the green movement began (and the HBA of Greater Dallas began looking into establishing a program), Mishler joined and was a part of the initial group.
Mishler says the association did a phenomenal job of researching, analyzing and creating the program under the direction of Paul Caduro and Phil Crone, the group’s government relations department directors.
"Getting homeowners to buy into some of the ideas wasn't quite as easy as I had expected, mainly due to the increased upfront costs," Mishler says. To resolve that sales objection, he now educates potential buyers about the ways in which they will immediately be saving money - even on their very first mortgage and utility payments.
He does that by calculating the monthly savings on those combined payments and subtracting the increase in the house payment needed for the initial additional "green" costs.
Getting Started on a Green Home
Putting his sales techniques to work, Mishler just recently had two homes qualify for the Green Built North Texas guidelines, which are patterned after the NAHB's Model Green Home Building Guidelines.
One of those homes is in Park Place West, a new subdivision close to downtown Rockwall, styled after the older neo-traditional neighborhoods. Mishler Builders is one of the developer-selected builders for the project.
Among the construction requirements for the homes in the development are their having front porches and cement board siding or painted brick and their meeting strict design requirements approved by the Architectural Review Committee.
Mishler was contacted by a client who purchased a single lot from the developer, and he was contracted to build her home.
"Initially, the homeowner was not looking for a green home," Mishler recalls. "She was more interested in style, color, layout and a place to show off her 1950s-era soda fountain room, which included her 1958 Thunderbird automobile.
"During the design phase, we discussed ways to make her home more energy efficient, and she became interested in the various aspects of those suggestions."
Mishler began by obtaining a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) storm water permit and following guidelines for controlling silt runoff from the lot into the street and storm sewer drains.
Next, he began the actual construction process, using green products that any builder can purchase. For example:
- Framing material that included finger-joint studs and engineered I-joints, T&G Sturdi-Floor decking and OSB sheathing and roof decking
- Tyvek house wrap to install under Hardiboard siding, soffit and trim
- Jeld-Wen vinyl windows & low-E insulated glass
- Two Bradford White EverHot tankless water heaters and water-efficient toilets
- Panasonic Whisper vent fans
- Demilec Sealection 500 foam insulation for all exterior walls and the roof decking underside
- A gas fireplace with combustion air intake
- Frigidaire 90-percent efficient furnace/AC units used in conjunction with energy recovery ventilation (ERV) and programmable thermostats to maintain temperature and humidity
- Energy Star dishwasher and refrigerator
- Landscape and turf plantings of drought-tolerant varieties
- Rain and freeze sensor for the irrigation system
Getting Listed
The goal for Mishler was to get the home listed in the Green Built North Texas registry. To do that, the home had to be inspected by third-party officials approved by the association.
The procedure includes an inspection at the insulation stage (before covering the walls with sheetrock) and, then, a final inspection. The final inspection includes a blower door test that checks the tightness of the "envelope" and a duct blaster test that checks for leakage in the duct system.
The builder needs to be available to meet with the inspector in case he has questions or needs clarification on anything.
So how did it go? "Being the first time, I was somewhat nervous not knowing exactly what to expect," Mishler says. "We thought we had everything ready, but of course, there were a few things we needed to gather up or answer for the inspector."
He recalls, "We were right at the limit for duct leakage, and he [the inspector] showed me some areas to have corrected. I had to get a copy of Manual J calculations for him as well as the make and model of the toilets so he could verify their efficiency.
"He also needed a letter from the landscaper attesting that base materials installed will survive a Stage 3 drought condition."
Overall, Mishler says the final inspection, done by certified verifier Stan Folsom of Systemhause LLC, went very well. Mishler just had to gather up the additional information and bring the heating/AC installer back to the job to make some minor adjustments and corrections to his ductwork in order to accommodate a re-inspection.
Mishler estimates the additional time to make the house green was minimal if any. "You are either installing material that meets 'green' requirements or you are installing the 'normal' material," he says. "The labor is the same. The 'green' will be the 'normal' in a couple of years anyway."
Mishler estimates the additional cost of making the home green to be "in the vicinity of $10,200, of which the majority is in the insulation, upgraded HVAC and tankless water heaters."
In the end, the home earned its Certified Green Home rating. Mishler advises other builders to definitely begin constructing in a green fashion.
"I think 'green' will be the accepted standard in another couple of years," he says. "We are such a wasteful society. Recycling and reusing should be a way of life for us."