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    | 2 min read

    Othello House: Five-Star Built Green

    Better Builders has been a proud member of the Built Green ™ program for years. Homes constructed with Green Building in mind are more energy efficient, use fewer toxic materials, and minimize the environmental impact during construction.

    Today we’ll talk about the Built Green ™ certification program and one Better Builders project that was built to five-star standards.

    The Benefits of Building GreenBuilt-Green-scaled

    • Cost savings
    • Healthier, more comfortable living
    • Conserves natural resources
    • Healthier Habitat
    • Reduces your water, energy, and carbon footprints

    For more details on the benefits of Building Green, visit the Built Green ™ website here.


    Built Green ™ Star Levels

    There are many different factors that go into making a home that meets the Built Green ™ certification standards. The most notable differences are the energy requirements.

    Built Green Energy Requirement

    The Built Green ™ certification checklist includes hundreds of criteria, most of which can be broken into the following four categories:

    • Site & Water: amending disturbed soil, preserving native vegetation, retaining a certain percentage of the trees located on the site, etc.

    • Energy: pre-wire for future PV installation, achieve a certain percentage improvement over Washington State Energy code, install energy-efficient appliances, etc.

    • Materials Efficiency: reusing salvaged materials, meeting a certain minimum recycling rate, using materials made of recycled content, etc.

    • Health & Indoor Air Quality: use less toxic cleaner, use only low VOC products, HVAC equipment, indoor pollutant control, etc.


    Othello House: Better Builder's 5-Star Built Green Custom Home

    The Othello House project was completed in 2015 with design by PRDG Architecture + Design and built by Better Builders. While the homeowners opted not to process full certification, the qualifications of a five-star Built Green ™ project were met with this build.

    Othello House

    Some of the key requirements of the five-star project are: preserving existing native vegetation, retaining 30% of the trees on site, achieving a 30% improvement over the Washington State Energy Code, achieving a minimum recycling rate of 70% of waste by weight, and use a minimum of 10 materials with recycled content.

    You can see from these photos; the Othello house landscaping is full of gorgeous greenery and foliage. The home has windows on all sides to capture as much natural light as cloudy Seattle will allow.

    Meeting standards to make your home green isn’t always easy, but we believe it’s worth it in the end.

    Othello House: Five-Star Built Green

    10 OTHELLO 05_NEW

    For a closer look at the Othello project, visit the project gallery.


    If saving money isn’t incentive enough, you should consider our planet’s needs. Resources are finite, and the impact the built environment has on the earth is high. If you’re interested in learning more about building a home that is beautiful, functional, and environmentally friendly, contact us to get your project started!

    Download the eBook The Homeowner’s Guide to Planning a Remarkable Renovation to discover what it takes to remodel your home and have it done correctly the first time. 

    homeowners-guide-to-planning-a-remarkable-renovation

     

    Pete Baughman

    About Pete Baughman

    Home renovation and custom home building have been a part of my life since birth. My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all Carpenters. It was only natural for me to be drawn to it as well. I worked as a Carpenter and Project lead helping him create and produce many extraordinary projects. My experiences have varied from Carpenter, Lead Carpenter, Project Manager, Production Manager, Project Developer, and Sales Manager. I started with Better Builders in 2011 and, in 2019, became an owner.