Historic Georgetown Rowhome Achieves LEED PLATINUM
Project Location: Georgetown, Washington, DC
Certification Level: LEED Platinum
Owners: Malcolm and Wendy Walter, Eco-Broker
Builder: Landis Construction, Co.
Architect: Erik Hoffland
Two years ago, Washington, DC residents Malcolm and Wendy Walter were walking the streets of DC discussing the idea of building an energy efficient home. They had no idea what that meant or what they’d be getting into.
From Malcolm Walter: “We wondered do we try to achieve the targets established by the Kyoto protocol? Should we seek to achieve zero carbon emissions? Can we even afford that? Then in a conversation with our son-in-law, he suggested it shouldn’t be all about carbon or fossil fuels. We needed to be thinking about water usage, land development, heat island effect, etc.
It was only getting more confusing at this point. Then someone turned us onto LEED and things became very clear. LEED for Homes provided the perfect recipe and holistic approach along with an industry standard for benchmarking and measuring success.
How to Begin?
Finding the House and Architect
Our first contact was Erik Hoffland, an architect in DC who happened to sit on a non-profit board with our daughter. We arranged a meeting with Erik and knew we were on the right path. So we began to look for a home that needed extensive renovation–a gut rehab. And we looked in Georgetown because we wanted to test the premise of going green with a project that would appeal to a highly discerning buyer to show green didn’t need to be just for “tree huggers.”
The Builder
Once we found the right house and the right architect, we wondered who would build it for us? Erik introduced us to Russ Clark, “The Green Guy,” of Landis Construction and we realized we all had the same goals with respect to LEED, green, etc.
Going for LEED
Soon after signing a contract with Landis Construction, Erik, Russ, Wendy & I were off to Charlottesville to be trained in LEED for Homes by Southface. That day was an eye opener. We each completed the LEED checklist throughout the day as each point was described to us. And while we all arrived at slightly different figures, the startling conclusion was that we had an opportunity to not only become LEED certified, we had a really good shot at Platinum! It was from that point on that anything less than platinum was off the table–nothing less would do.
We brought on new members to the team–Asa and Andrea Foss with Everyday Green as our LEED Provider Reps and Green Raters, Mary Pat Rowan as our landscape architect, and a long list of Landis folks. We faced some challenges, we had budget issues, we met with the Mayor and we stuck with it. In the end, our collective, dogged determination and a single vision of creating something really worthwhile paid off in a LEED Platinum certification.”
About the Home
Besides developing designs that would meet the requirements of the historic board and the LEED for Homes standard, a key goal of the project was to restore the home’s interior and exterior towards a more traditional Georgetown style while subtly packing in green design techniques, materials and technologies. All goals were met with great success through a collaborative design process that involved the whole team from the beginning. The home has been and will continue to be used to host educational events to share the news about the benefits of green building with the community.
The Walter’s home is 50% more energy efficient than a typical new home. All ducts are within conditioned space, spray foam insulation was used throughout, and a solar hot water heater all contribute to dramatically reduced utility bills. 
Mechanical ventilation supplies fresh air without losing conditioned air and a dehumidifier keeps the home comfortable even during DC’s humid summers.
The neighbors love the attention to site water management. Even with record rainfall in the Spring of 2009, the next door neighbors commented it was the first time in over 20 years their basement didn’t flood. All water in the backyard is directed to infiltration features and managed on-site, recharging the water table and reducing demand on the city stormwater management.
Below is a summary of many of the green design and material features that contributed to the LEED Platinum rating:
Demolition, Excavation, and Site Work:
- Deconstruction
- Donation of salvageable materials to Community Forklift
- Recycling of construction and demolition waste
Concrete and Block Foundations: Concrete with coal fly-ash content
Rough Framing:
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified dimensional lumber
- Borated-treated, FSC dimensional lumber
- FSC, formaldehyde-free plywood for subflooring
- FSC, formaldehyde-free oriented strand board for sheathing
- No-VOC adhesives
- Optimum Value Engineered Framing Techniques were employed to save wood and increase size of insulation cavities
Insulation: Soy-content spray foam for all walls, basement and roof.
HVAC:
- Very high efficiency (96% efficient) gas furnace
- Very high efficiency (21 SEER) AC unit
- Ducts sealed with mastic rather than tape to minimize leaks
- Ducts kept sealed during construction to minimize contamination
- Energy Recovery Ventilator brings in fresh air that is pre-heated or pre-cooled by exhaust air reduces heating and cooling loads
- MERV-16 air filters remove air contaminants
Electrical: LED lighting throughout home in the form of recessed cans and under-cabinet lighting
Exterior Windows and Doors:
- Historically-correct windows and doors
- Restored original front façade windows re-weather-stripped for energy efficiency with high-end storm windows
Exterior Trim, Siding & Soffits: Reinstallation of cement-board, Hardie-plank siding salvaged from side of neighbor’s addition
Plumbing:
- Fusiotherm piping was used rather than copper
- Low-flow bath and kitchen faucets, toilets and showerheads
- Solar thermal hot water
Paint: Green Seal certified primers and paints
Flooring & Millwork
- No carpet used
- Engineered salvaged heart pine flooring on middle and upper floors
- Solid, woven bamboo installed in basement
- Interior mouldings milled locally from Bethesda-area salvaged trees
- Local and/or recycled content tiles in bathrooms, foyer and laundry
- Low and no-VOC adhesives and/or finishes used on the flooring
Appliances: ENERGY STAR appliances
Hardscaping and Landscaping:
- Native plants used to minimize need for water or pesticides
- Hardscaping shaded to minimize heat island effect
- Hardscaping stones were locally-sourced
- Water from yard is absorbed on-site rather than directed to a storm drain
