More than 60,000 homes have been built in the United States under local green building programs since 1990, according to the National Association of Home Builders -- 14,000 of them in 2004 alone.

Green is becoming an option for West Virginia homebuyers, too.

Cabin in the Woods

One approach to energy-efficient, green home building is the panelized construction used by Humberson Homes of McHenry, Md.

Humberson's Cabin in the Woods panelized homes are delivered on site as the complete shell of a building: pre-constructed 4-by-8-foot wall and roof panels and pre-hung windows and doors, according to Grafton builder Frank Poling. He showed a Humberson home he built in Fairmont at an open house last spring as part of a campaign by the West Virginia Green Building Network.

Wall panels are insulated at R-19 compared with the R-13 standard for homes, said Poling, who added that roof panels are at R-30 or R-38. When the numbered sections are assembled, roof panels completely overhang the walls, holding heat in rather than letting it escape upward as it does into the attics of many homes.

Windows, he added, are low-E, argon-filled for high thermal performance in summer and winter.

The buildings incorporate other green elements as well. Ground cellulose insulating the roof panels provides a market for recycled newspaper, according to Humberson spokesman Jay Kamineck. Builders of the homes recommend green materials, such as recycled laminate floors, for interior finish work.

The Fairmont house is based on a 24-by-40-foot floor plan, plus a loft that yields 1,440-square-feet of living space. It includes three bedrooms, two baths and a vaulted ceiling over the common area. A concrete-block basement could be finished later, Poling said, for up to 960 additional square feet.

It would take less than $75 per month to heat and cool the house, according to an April estimate by Ken Auvil of the Green Building Network.

Auvil encourages both buyers and builders to be more educated and selective about building options.

"Unless you ask your builder to build those items in, he may or may not do it," Auvil said. "If we build this house here and save these customers $30 a month, should builders not have a responsibility to help their customers achieve that?"

About 20 Cabin in the Woods homes have been built in West Virginia, Kamineck said.

EcoDwell

A Charleston project hopes to show just how much savings the owner of a green home might expect.

The Charleston Area Alliance's green EcoDwell project, in partnership with the Religious Coalition for Community Renewal, will build comparison homes side by side on Jackson Street in east Charleston, according to CAA Senior Vice President Susie Salisbury.

"We decided let's do this EcoDwell and coordinate it with a traditional single-family home," Salisbury said.

On one lot, the project will build a three-bedroom home of about 1,350 square feet using standard building practices. On the adjacent lot, the project will base its EcoDwell home on the same building plan with green modifications.

Those modifications include upgrading wall construction from the standard 2x4 to 2x6 to accommodate R-19 insulation, according to project architect Lloyd Miller of N Visions Architects.

"We're also trying to emphasize recycled content or manufactured materials that are fully recyclable to minimize the impact of disposal and waste," Miller explained. "We're trying to use carpet that's remanufactured from other products. ... The exterior decking will be a plastic called HDPE. If for some reason the building were torn down, that material can be recycled."

The project involves watching outdoor water use as well.

"We want a permeable (driveway) surface so the water can be absorbed in the ground and used for our indigenous plantings in the yard," Salisbury said.

She said she expects the EcoDwell building to cost more than the other to construct.

"But even with the increased up-front investment," she said, "we're convinced and we're going to prove that the energy savings in the long run are going to more than pay for it."

The Charleston Area Alliance will sell the homes in the range of $125,000, Salisbury said, and then monitor energy use in both for a year. Miller expects the EcoDwell home to come in at least 25 percent more energy efficient than the standard home.

EcoDwell will also serve as a laboratory for architects, contractors, college students and legislators.

Miller expects construction to be complete by next summer.

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