Extreme Home Makeover Goes Platinum
It always amazes me to watch a crew tear down a ramshackle hut and construct a new, large, beautiful home in just one hour every week on Extreme Makover: Home Edition (not to mention the tears that Ty has me in every single time with the stories of the hardships those families have endured). I know, in reality they have a whole week, but still - I can’t even catch up with my laundry in that same amount of time!
As astounding as it is that they can build an entire home in a week is the fact that they’ve accomplished constructing an LEED certified home in that same amount of time. The Usea family of Westwego, Louisiana had the fortune of Ty’s presence, along with his TV crew and gang of home builders who came to build them a green home, which earned platinum certification in the LEED program.
Several of the energy efficient and eco-friendly facets that the team was planning on had to be scrapped for the sake of finishing the project on time, but several adaptations were put into play in an effort to make up for the losses.
For example, the home’s plumbing fixtures were supposed to consist of all low-flow products, but the team was not able to procure them quickly enough. To ease water consumption in other areas the show’s crew installed a rainwater collection system, irrigation in the lawn, and also three separate water heaters in different zones in the house to cut down on the travel time for hot water to reach any given tap.
Other features that gave the home LEED points were the energy efficient windows and appliances, an attic conditioned to prevent light heat loss and additional light switches to give the homeowners more control over down lighting. Not to mention that the entire project is contained within a prefabricated Deltec hurricane-resistant shell.
Deltec was particularly selected for this project because of their green operating practices and energy efficient modules (they use 100 percent renewable energy for their production facility).
Highlights to the home’s green features include a 37 percent improved energy efficiency, 52 percent builder water usage reduction over the typical American home building project, and builder waste reduction of 78 percent in the Deltec shell.
Out of a possible 136 points in the LEED program, the Usea family’s new home scored an 88.5, scoring a perfect 10 in the category of Location & Linkages, and a two out of three points for Awareness and Education - thanks to the 1 billion plus viewers who tuned in to watch Ty and his guys build this green LEED project.
Other points earned by the Usea family house were 17 for the sustainable site, eight for water efficiency, 24 for energy and atmosphere, eight for materials and resources, 14 for indoor environmental quality, and five and a half points for innovation and design.
While Extreme Makeover: Home Edition does several green projects, this is the first one they’ve taken all the way to LEED certification.