The Live Green, Live Smart Institute has announced that is has received the coveted Outstanding Custom Project Award from the US Green Building Council®(USGBC) for the highest rating home in the history of the LEED for Homes ® program.
The project referred to as The Sustainable House® was a comprehensive, residential construction, research project conceived and managed by the Live Green, Live Smart Institute. The house, a 1948 rambler, located in Minnetonka, Minnesota was planned and remodeled by 7 teams of 278 individuals over a period of two years. The house features a broad variety of sustainable energy systems, water saving devices, incorporates significant reuse of materials and has had extensive landscaping to demonstrate effective land management techniques.
The home received a platinum level rating of 121 points making it the first platinum remodel and gaining the highest score in the history of the LEED for Homes® program. The house is also the highest scoring home for Minnesota GreenStar and attained the top performance rating of Gold with 633 points. The house also is an Energy Star® Home with a HERS rating of 31.
According to the Institute’s Information Office: To date the home has had over 6,500 individuals tour it, be educated in it and it has been the subject of numerous TV shows, books, short films, magazine articles and has had extensive coverage on the Internet. A family of 3 who are tracking a variety of data for the Institute is currently living in the home. In a joint venture the Institute completed a second remodeled home in Minneapolis in the fall of 2008 and plans a third test home for late 2009 or early 2010.
Peter Lytle, Executive Director and founder of the Live Green, Live Smart Institute said in a statement to the press: “ We are very pleased to be honored by the USGBC for this award. The project was conceived to test the rating systems of several certification programs, to see if they actually performed as advertised. I am happy to say if you build to the higher standards of all these programs the homes will perform, as everyone believes. We have watched this home for almost one year and it is definitively saving energy, resources and has created a strong harmony with the surrounding environment as the USGBC, GreenStar and Energy Star® have promoted.”
Live Green, Live Smart Institute ® is a Minnesota-based organization dedicated to promoting a sustainable planet through education, primary research, linking of resources, and fostering a global, green community. The organization is formed for the benefit of those individuals concerned about the impact their housing, transportation and lifestyle choices have on the environment.
For more information: Visit our on-line Press Kit and Press Room and the Sections called Primary Research / The Sustainable House: http://livegreenlivesmart.org on the Live Green, Live Smart website. Viewers can also take an interactive tour on-line at:
http://livegreenlivesmart.org/shelter/sustainable_house/interior.aspx