Go green! Groundbreaking house saves energy
By Greg Kowalski
Eccentric
July 13, 2008
Woody Gontina is LEEDing the way to greener living in Bloomfield Township.
Gontina co-owns Gontina Building & Design, along with partner Timothy Risk, and is currently building one of the first LEED homes in Oakland County. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and is a certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Practically, it translates into energy-saving construction techniques to produce more environmentally friendly houses.
"You have to look at the project in a holistic manner," Gontina said. That is a term not often used in house construction, but it does have a meaning with a LEED house. Even before construction begins, the site is examined.
"We work with the existing landscape," Gontina said. Trees in place are considered for their shade, and the house's orientation takes into account the position of the sun for solar panels.
The 3,700-square-foot house Gontina is building in Bloomfield Township sits in a secluded cul de sac near Square Lake Road and Adams. Just around the corner is another LEED-certified house that Gontina built. The owner of that house boasts $20 monthly gas bills.
That is not a typo: $20 a month.
"You need to start from he very beginning," Gontina said. Once the site has been selected, construction begins with an insulated concrete basement walls featuring 2.5 inches of foam insulation on the inside and outside of the walls. A geothermal heating and cooling system cuts utility costs, while energy-saving features are incorporated into the building, including spray foam insulation, timed bathroom exhaust fans and a heat recovery ventilator.
That last item addresses a concern about super-efficient buildings. Because they are so tightly sealed, they must have a way of bringing fresh air into the house. Heat exchange fans do that while conserving heat.
When completed later this summer, the four-bedroom, four-bathroom "European estate" won't look much different from the other upscale homes in the neighborhood. And it won't cost much more than they do.
The energy-saving amenities add about 3 percent to the cost of the house, but that cost can be recovered in lower utility bills in just a few years, Gontina said.
This house will run about $1.3 million, but, Gontina said, "our goal is to start building smaller scale homes on smaller lots, in the $300,000 to $500,000 range." Even cheaper ones may be in the offing.
Gontina sees the day when there will be so special designation of a "green" house. They will be the standard for the industry, he said. LEED houses already are common in other parts of the state, he said.
"People are starting to recognize their benefits," he said.