Unfurling a large blueprint of their future home on the hood of their car, Millie Leung and David Huang wear contagious smiles on their faces while exhibiting their latest project: the Green Concept Home, a two-story 2,840 sq. ft. contemporary single-family home at the Greenwich Crest neighborhood in Bellevue, Wash.
They broke ground on Sept. 9 and embarked on building Bellevue’s first nationally registered LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) home, a rigorous program reserved for the top percentile of housing designs demonstrating environmental responsibility. Regionally, this project is recognized by Built Green and Northwest Energy Star, which supports programs that encourage the construction of homes that promote environmentally friendly practices.
Designed, built, and owned by David Huang from Modus V Studio Architects, the couple emphasizes sustainable living by articulating the importance of living in a house that is viable for a healthy lifestyle and has low impact on the environment without sacrificing functionality, style, comfort and cost. Huang and Leung hope their project will increase public awareness on alternative ways to build homes at affordable prices. They are mindful that the materials used to construct a home will affect air quality and aim to use considerably less energy and water than a regular home built without the green practices. It is an innovative demonstration project using cutting-edge ecological products and systems with inspiring and contemporary design elements.
What is most impressive is that Huang and Leung have essentially been self-sufficient in the entirety of materializing their dream home. The determined couple worked religiously to educate themselves by conducting extensive research regarding every aspect of their green design.
“We have binders and binders of research information everywhere,” the couple said. And although the permit process is tedious, they urge that this should not deter others from building their own eco-conscious dwelling. If building a green home is too ambitious of a proposition at the moment, the couple advocate for other ways to practice energy efficiency: improve insulation to prevent air leakage to save 20-30 percent on energy bills or switch to energy-saving light bulbs to conserve 25 percent in electricity bills. Every little effort in conservation helps.
The community is welcome to participate in educational presentations and public tours that will take place after the targeted project completion in the summer of 2010.
For further information about this project, please visit: The Green Concept Home Project: www.greenconcepthome.com or Modus V Studio Architects: http://www.modusvstudio.com.
The Green Features of their home include:
- Solar hot water heater: A 30-tube system that will provide 100 percent of the domestic hot water use during the summer and sustain the temperature for the radiant floor heating system during the winter.
- Structural insulated panels (SIPS): Panels used for exterior walls and roof structures that enhance insulation performance and air tightness.
- Rainwater collection system: A 1700-gallon underground water cistern collects the rain water run-off from the roof and foundation drains to be reused for toilet flushing, laundry, car washing and irrigation.
- Radiant heat flooring: Space heating is distributed by a high-efficiency hydronic radiant floor system to ensure a steady temperature.
- Renewable and environmentally friendly materials (e.g., bamboo flooring, recycled-content countertops, recycled-content metal roof, etc.);
- Solar photovoltaic panels pre-wiring;
- Heat recovery ventilator;
- Concrete floor (indoors);
- Pervious concrete (outdoors);
- Energy Star appliances and fixtures;
- Low flow water fixtures;
- Low maintenance landscaping
Green Concept Home at Greenwich Crest is looking to partner with companies and organizations that want to align themselves with providing green, sustainable, comfortable, water and energy-efficient homes. For more information and for details on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Millie Leung at [email protected] or call (206) 992-8765.
