Greening the Home Front

Transcript

OPEN: Over the past few years, a lot of environmentally-friendly office buildings have sprouted up in the region and across the country. So now, more and more people are turning their attention to greening the home front. The Allegheny Frontís Violet Law has the story.

[Ambient sound of home construction]

LAW: Chris Capato is standing inside the ìgreenî house of his dreams on Pittsburghís North Side. Itís almost ready for him to move in.

CAPATO: I sold a house here in the neighborhood that was much larger. The idea was to have a small contained space without any barriers, to not have so much square footage to not use as much energy.

LAW: So, Capato decided to build his own environmentally-friendly house. The two-story house is just a little bit over a thousand square feet. Enough space for him, an overnight guest and dinner parties.

This fall the U.S. Green Building Council is going to release its certification guidelines for LEED for Homes. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the gold standard for green buildings. Rebecca Flora is executive director of the Green Building Alliance in Pittsburgh. She says even before LEED certification becomes available, sheís already seen a lot of interest.

FLORA: We do think that the market is ready to start looking at green buildings within the residential communities. We have a lot of inquiries. I donít know if this market will necessarily have a lot of LEED home certifications, but that doesnít mean Pittsburghers canít take steps to move towards a greener home.

LAW: Capato says he isnít planning to get his house certified, though he did follow some of the guidelines. One thing he did was to buy products from nearby sources. One popular place is Artemis Environmental Building Materials in Pittsburgh. Artemisís co-owner Linda Metropulous says sheís getting a lot of people who want healthier products in their homes.

METROPULOUS: I have to say that the health issue for homeowners is a very big one, and one that seems to be universal. People are very much motivated across the board.

[Ambient sound of tiles]

LAW: People like Charlie Lamondo, a contractor from Allegheny County. On a recent weekend, Lamondo visited Artemis to learn more about green building materials.

LAMONDO: Nice pieces of tiles. What is this made of?

LAW: After decades in business, Lamondo now realizes that building green is better for both the homeowner and himself.

LAMONDO: Our client can be in a home that is a lot safer and easier to live. I have a number of allergies myself so Iím sensitive to these things. And yet in the trade that Iím in Iím exposed to them constantly.

LAW: Builders like Lamondo have a lot of say about what materials go into a project, but most are driven by the bottom line. They may or may not consider the environmental benefits of using green materials.

LAMONDO: There are some that are responding to it. Thereíre some that are entrenched in the way that they do things that you couldnít change their mind with a hammer.

LAW: Although most people canít build their green house from the ground up, they certainly can begin with one fixture at a time. Like Chris Capatoís new countertop is made of paper, hemp and water-based resin.

CAPATO: It is a solid surface countertop, matte-finish that looks in my mind a combination between granite and soapstone, except that the materials are not dug out from the earth.

LAW: And Capato plans to have lots of parties in his open kitchen. So it has to look nice then.

CAPATO: It has to look nice, it has to work well, it has to be casual and not formal and it has to feel good.

LAW: By choosing to use green materials for their house, homeowners like Capato believe that theyíll make it a beautiful, healthy and energy efficient place to live. For The Allegheny Front, this is Violet Law.