Editor’s note: A of Colorado Green Building Guild’s virtual meeting was posted online Thursday.
Boulder County residents affected by the Marshall Fire on Wednesday were given tips on what building a green or sustainable new home can look like with the big factor of affordability in mind.
“If you know what you’re doing, you have a team that’s learned how to do it, it doesn’t really cost you anything (more) to do it,” said Jessica Hunter, president of Colorado Green Building Guild.
Wednesday’s event was part of a yearlong series hosted by the , a nonprofit trade organization made up of green building leaders. The series is sponsored by Boulder County.
About 400 people registered for the event.
During the conversation, five Colorado Green Building Guild panelists highlighted 10 main questions that Boulder County residents should ask themselves, builders and architects when planning to construct a new home.
Greg Fisher, a Fort Collins architect, answered the question: “What natural resources do you already have?”
Fisher explained that looking at the orientation of a building and its form doesn’t cost a homebuyer anything but can improve its efficiency. He said solar and geothermal energy are two designs to keep in mind.
If there are tall trees surrounding the area, it may not be the best place to build to have solar, he said.
“Geothermal is basically taking advantage of the 55-degree temperature that’s in the earth year-round, and we run pipe down into the ground basically to try to draw that heat out of the ground,” he said.
Fisher also responded to the question: “How can you design with the future in mind?”
“We want to think about durable materials — quality construction homes and last (or durability) versus things that are flashy and temporary,” he said.
Mark Attard, a Louisville builder, answered the question: “Where can you save real money?”
“The more corners, the more cost,” he said. “If we are adding more corners, we’re adding complexity to the design, which requires the builder to look at the design from a different perspective than if we’re dealing with a more straightforward design.”
He also responded to the question: “What is a smart home, really?”
Attard said his home once had a draft, so he peeled the siding off his house, air sealed it and insulated it.
“When my house went through the fires, a home across the street unfortunately burned down,” he said. “I didn’t have smoke in my home because it was completely airtight, and this was something that I could do at a very low cost.”
The third panelist Wednesday night was Andrew Michler, a Masonville architect. He answered the question: “How do you invest in resilience?”
Michler said a home with a simple design can help prevent embers from slipping into places and igniting.
He said homes or neighborhoods that are considered “firewise” are much more protected from fires.
“A ventilation system to your roof is one of the fastest ways for embers to come into a very vulnerable part of your house — your attic space — and burn your house from the inside out,” he said.
Michler also addressed the question: “Who are your biggest carbon culprits?”
He said concrete is probably the single largest carbon emitter.
He said people should ask, “Why do we not have construction plans, engineering plans to reduce the concrete on site?”
Brian Fuentes, a Louisville architect, discussed the question: “Why do materials matter?”
He said people need to be mindful of their insulation choices and finish choices. He used a straw bale plaster finish on his home rather than paint and had a ceiling made from salvaged timber.
Mariana Pickering, a building science educator at Emu Passive, discussed the question: “What makes a home healthy?”
Pickering said it’s important for people to think about indoor air quality and the importance of fresh air exchange, which can be created by having a mechanical ventilation system.
“It’s a simple, simple, simple piece of equipment,” she said.
Pickering was also given the question: “Windows. … are they worth it?”
She said window selection is important and needs to be done early on in the home building process.
“I think a lot of people talk a lot about the glass and don’t realize that the frame is actually the trouble spot,” she said. “Window frames are a highly engineered item, and there is a massive difference between code minimum window frames and high performance windows that are available on the market.”
Fuentes was given the last question of the night: “Are you ready to start?”
He said after losing his home from the Marshall Fire, he and his family are now trying to decide how to start again.
“I think having had a zero energy home, a passive house that was comfortable, we will absolutely do that again, and I think we can do that at the same price as other comparable projects,” he said.
Wednesday’s meeting was recorded and was posted online at .
