'Green' rebuild serves as springboard for PhD

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SALT LAKE CITY -- A woman working on a Ph.D. in construction is retrofitting a house for practical experience toward her degree. She wanted to discover why "green" building is not the norm and what can be done to change that.

Vera Novak set out to rebuild a modest cottage in the Highland Park neighborhood "beyond green." She also wants the finished product to fit in with the historical neighborhood and provide resources for builders.

"The basics of housing should be that you have something that's durable, that's functional, that's adaptable, that's energy efficient, and that fits the neighborhood," Novak says as she shows us around the house.

What is LEED?

LEED is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2000 through a consensus based process, LEED serves as a tool for buildings of all types and sizes. LEED certification offers third party validation of a project's green features and verifies that the building is operating exactly the way it was designed to.
U.S. Green Building Council

As part of her education, Novak wanted to find out why those elements don't always come together. You see, she's working on a Ph.D. in construction from Virginia Tech; she'll be among the first to earn that degree. As part of her education, she wants to develop a blueprint for "green" home building.

"So that every house comes out with those elements, minimum," she says. "We're America, for goodness sakes. We should be building the best housing in the world, at the lowest price."

The "green" builder says one of the real keys to the efficiency of this home is that the process is even more important than the products.

"You do it right the first time, and efficiently. It's called 'lean construction.'"

So, Novak aims to optimize resources, build smart, and embrace history and culture. In the course of this project, she discovered some builders already do that.

The keys to efficiency in this house include airtight construction, continuous insulation, and effective planning of the HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) system.

When it's finished in the next few weeks, she expects LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certification with sustainability features beyond the requirements. It's also a "net-zero" energy home. With the right management of resources, the owner will spend little on energy costs.

E-mail: jboal@ksl.com