A 2,000-square-foot home in Parkdale was awarded Oregon’s first residential Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification this summer by the U.S. Green Building Council.
PARKDALE — A 2,000-square-foot home in Parkdale was awarded Oregon’s first residential Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification this summer by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Tom Kelly, the home’s owner and president of its builder Neil Kelly Com-pany, remains cautiously optimistic that the home’s energy-efficient design and use of photovoltaic panels will result in
a net-zero energy use.
The home received a silver award and was the fourth residence in the country to be certified in the LEED for Homes pilot project. The initiative provides a national standard for green homes.
“The industry has changed a lot since our construction of Oregon’s first commercial LEED building five years ago,” says Kelly. “Green building products are much more available. It’s extraordinary.”
The home was built with reclaimed and sustainably grown wood and Durisol, a recyclable wood shaving and chip wall form filled with cement. The steel roof and countertops also contain some recycled materials. Radiant-heat floors, energy-efficient windows and appliances, and insulated roof panels help tune inside temperature.
Kelly says the home would cost $650,000 to $700,000 to replicate, a price inflated by the high-end finishes and the team’s learning curve on the benchmark project. Tim Ahaus of Earth Advantage, the nonprofit corporation that guided the project through the certification process, estimates that a typical green home could be built for a 15%-20% premium.
— Robert H. Hamrick
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