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DeKalb County, Indiana – Construction is underway for the first registered single family home in northeast Indiana pursuing LEED® Gold Level Certification. Owners, Fred and Mary Anna Feitler live with a commitment to the environment. When Mary Anna was asked, “Why pursue LEED Certification?” Her response was simply, “Why not?” The new 3,500 square feet Modern-Style eco-friendly home is being constructed by Cedar Creek Homes, Fort Wayne, Indiana using 12” ICF’s (insulated concrete forms). Structurally engineered by SLM and Associates, Fort Wayne, Indiana the ICF’s will give the exterior walls a true R-24 insulation rating as well as reducing the potential of air and noise infiltration.
The home was designed by Viridian Architectural Design, Inc., Fort Wayne, Indiana using the LEED® for Homes Green Building Rating System administered by the U.S. Green building Council (USGBC). The design will provide an open space floor plan that includes a 2 ½ car garage, master bedroom suite, living room, family room, kitchen, dining room, laundry, outdoor patio, studio, and two (2) additional bedrooms. The HVAC system consists of a geothermal system to heat and cool the house. Heating will be provided through an under-slab radiant system tied to the geothermal system. The Feitler’s are, “Excited to have a high efficiency fireplace in the center of the house living space. This provides backup for the geothermal system and the mechanical design provides the ability to program the geothermal to come on in the morning to warm up the floors and house.”
The plumbing fixtures include ultra low volume water closets that use 1.28 gallons per flush and faucets that use 1.5 gpm at 60 psi. The majority of the light fixtures in the home will be LED can fixtures that use 50% less energy than a compact fluorescent and 80% less than traditional incandescent fixtures. The home is also designed for a future 4kw roof mounted photo voltaic system to minimize the homes dependence on the traditional electrical grid. This high performance home was mechanically and electrically engineered by Primary Engineering, Inc., Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Simplicity is a core value for the Feitler’s. “We think this house will demonstrate the effective use of sustainable products in a residential building in a reasonable economical fashion. We re-used cabinetry, stairs, garage doors, and gave re-usable items to Habitat for Humanity for others to re-use where they did not fit with our newer house. Local manufacturers of finished components were a plus. Using local suppliers was an advantage and reduces transportation costs while supporting the local economy.” Fred states, “Basically our goals were to build a house that would be comfortable and easily maintained as we use economical energy sources, especially reducing our use of non-renewable sources.”
Construction of the new home goes beyond the house itself. Sustainable design looks at the project holistically ensuring that the site is also critically examined as part of the design process. With the home being located within a wooded area, and knowing that we needed to clear a small area of the trees to open the house to southern exposure it was decided to offset this loss of the existing trees by incorporating the use of locally grown and harvested sycamore for all of the interior cabinetry and wood trim. The hardwood trees that were harvested will be used for other projects in the area too. Civil engineering to prepare the site and manage erosion control was designed by Fox Contracting, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Construction is well under way and the project is expected to be completed in February 2010.
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