McGraw Hill Construction, a research firm specializing in home construction, reported that 40% of home renovations will have some type of green feature in 2007. By 2010, this firm further predicts that 10% of all new buildings will be comprised of green homes totaling to approximately a $20 Billion Dollar industry. The following interview will provide you with just a glimpse of who is on the leading edge of green design and architecture and exactly how they are going to lead us into the next decade of green design.
Meet Ellen Honigstock
Meet Ellen Honigstock of Dumbo, Brooklyn in New York. Ellen and her 3 design teams comprise the entire EHAPC. Together, they have been providing sustainable living design in the New York area for quite some time now and are considered experts the ridiculously strict New York zoning and permit policies. Having designed some great pieces in classic New York city neighborhoods like West Village, Gramary Park and Chelsea, they graciously agreed to answer some questions about how her team and their philosophies on green design has made a tangible difference:
What does your company do to be green?
Commuting: Workers take public transportation to work (unless I have to pick up 2 kids at different locations at the same time). Additionally, all of our job sites are accessible via public transportation, limiting the need for vehicles.
Lunch: We try to bring our lunch to work in reusable containers to minimize use of materials that are thrown away.
Resources: We recycle paper and cardboard in our building and save cans and bottles for recycling in a streetside recycling container (in DUMBO, the first in the city)
Projects: We speak with our clients from the very beginning about potential green strategies for each project, also exploring the possibility of green building certifications (such as LEED, Energy Star, etc) and present them with a “green checklist” so as to measure how carefully the projects measure up.
Outreach: I volunteer as the LEED for Homes Advocate for the USGBC-NY chapter and head the Homes Sub-Committee for NYC’s Greening the Codes task force. We also do many pro bono seminars to homeowners, businessowners and real estate brokers to educate about making spaces healthier and more efficient.
Team: As much as possible, we aim to involve the contractor early in the project in so as to realize as many efficiencies as possible.
What Green Technology will we see in the homes of tomorrow?
While technology is extremely important for sustainability and improving eco-friendly homes, its critical that this technology is combined with human interaction and decision-making. A space is only as green as the people living in it, so technology alone is not enough. That being said, the two technologies of the future we are most excited about are
- Remote meters to track energy usage – they are simple and inexpensive and can realize great energy savings.
- Solar thermal technology is a “no-brainer”. This technology has been around for decades, we just have not pushed forward enough with it.
What kind of value do green features add to your house?
- Lower operating costs
- Higher re-sale value
- Improved indoor air quality helps with ailments such as asthma and allergies
Is the green movement slowing down because of lowering gas prices? If that’s the case, what can we do to bring it back up?
That’s a tough one – we don’t know. I don’t think so. I believe that people have gotten a sense of how oil prices affect the operating costs of our buildings. With our unstable current economy and the Obama Administration’s commitment to green technologies, I think green building is on the upswing, although we are still very far from the tipping point.
What are the tax benefits that most people don’t know about converting your house to a green house? What are the negative effects?
In New York, NYSERDA has money available for weatherization improvements in addition to the more well-known solar initiatives. And many green improvements qualify for the $500 federal tax credit. The negative effects however are the small print for those incentives. There are stringent paperwork requirements and often a limited amount of money is available each quarter, so the homeowner must carefully research the guidelines and parameters that must be fulfilled before assuming the benefit is guaranteed. Also, there is a weird phenomenon that when an incentive is involved, people sometimes make decisions based on availability of funds, rather than what would constitute the most effective strategy.
How would you slowly convert a traditional house to a green home?
Depending on different personalities and lifestyles, the term ‘green’ can vary to different people. That’s why if someone is serious about creating a “guaranteed” green space, its important to look to national standards such as the Health House, Energy Star, and the one that covers the largest spectrum of strategies – LEED for Homes.
How green a house is depends on many factors including the size of the home, its location and orientation, how the heating and cooling systems work, how well the house is insulated, the quality of the doors and windows etc. – there are countless pieces that must be evaluated to determine whether a house is eco-friendly or not. In fact, some older homes actually have some very clever designs that incorporate many ‘modern’ ideas, so its important to look at the home as a whole before any serious renovations are performed.
Most green homes are very modern. Are there more traditional designs that can be as effective? If so, how much more does it cost?
When talking about green, style doesn’t matter at all. Architects talking about costs – now that’s what gets us in trouble! The rule of thumb is a green home will have somewhat higher initial costs but lower operating costs that will more than offset those initial costs.
How much longer do you think the government can afford to give tax breaks to green homes?
The government involvement is extremely important to push the green movement along. Looking to other countries that are ahead of us in the sustainability aspect, many times there are government mandates that require spaces to follow a set of guidelines. Its important that our government takes an active role in pushing sustainability, whether it through tax breaks, or other means to advance it.
What kind of savings can expect in how long of a time by going green?
It depends on what strategies are used, and a large part depends on how involved the owner is. Each situation is different. For example solar panels, while a great new technology, can be very expensive sometimes with a 15 yr. + payback time. Other strategies such as sealing your windows, insulating pipes, or insulating walls could be a much lower cost with a much higher savings. But again, all of these really depend on the existing conditions of the house. The only 2 strategies I can think of off the top of my head that have a payback period of less than a year are remote energy meters and replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.
What’s the future of green architecture in 10 years? 20 years? 30 years?
It is my hope that ‘green’ isn’t an added feature anymore, but a way of living and incorporated into all projects. It has to be. I believe its a matter of time that these rating systems will no longer be voluntary, but a required part of every project.
Who are your design inspirations? What made you get into the green movement?
I have always been fairly frugal and energy conscious but it was when I took the LEED training class about 5 years ago that I realized that green building was achievable at a less than exorbitant cost. An early inspiration was William McDonough. He’s so committed and it pays off.
What does “Green” building mean to you?
On every project, we get our clients to prioritize what is important to them – whether it’s clean indoor air or energy efficiency. It is impossible to make every project entirely green because of all kinds of constraints; budget, time, availability of materials, etc. but we push for as many eco-friendly features on every project as possible. Honestly, getting kinda sick of the word ‘green’, I hear it everywhere, particularly as related to green washing and all the false advertising out there.
What are your favorites types of material to work with?
Materials that are provided locally, have low or no VOC’s, and materials that can be multi-functional.
What has been your favorite project to work on and why?
The projects that have been my favorite to work on have been the ones where there were times that it wasn’t necessarily easy, but where the team worked together to push for a new eco-friendly idea or material that wasn’t readily available, or that involved a certain amount of educational aspect to it – the ones where the easy ‘non-green’ solution would have worked, but where the team said that wasn’t good enough and looked for another way (and succeeded) in the end. We’re just finishing up a beauty salon in the West Village where the owners were committed to materials with low VOC’s and little off-gassing and frankly it makes it easier because it narrows down the choices.
Why should someone consider green living and convert their house to a green friendly environment?
There are so many unmeasurable benefits to living a more sustainable lifestyle. For example moving into a home that has been painted with zero VOC paint won’t leave any lingering smells. Living in a house with a cleaner air filtering system, simply feels fresher and is easier to breathe. Living in an eco-friendly environment is also a lifestyle change – or rather its living each day to pay attention to things you use, buy, throw away where items are made, etc.
Contact Info:
Ellen Honigstock Architect P.C.
45 Main Street
Suite 806
Brooklyn NY 11201
T: 212 228 1585
F: 212 477 0426
Here are some pictures of the designs by Ellen Honigstock:
