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Environmental Services

Green Home Choice Program

 

 

What is a Green Home?

A green home is a healthy, comfortable, cost efficient home that reduces energy and water usage and protects the environment. Components of a green home may include:

  • Specific construction practices to minimize and recycle construction waste;
  • Careful insulation practices;
  • Nontoxic interior finishes (low VOC paint, sealants, and carpeting);
  • Components made from renewable resources (such as cork or bamboo floors, wheatboard cabinetry);
  • Recycled content components (such as recycled glass tiles, recycled-content countertops);
  • Energy efficient appliances (Energy Star rated refrigerator, dishwasher, water heater, etc.);
  • Photovoltaic (solar) panels;
  • Water efficient appliances and landscape irrigation (front loading clothes washers and moisture sensing irrigation systems);
  • Stormwater collection (rainbarrels or larger cisterns);
  • Careful placement of shade trees;
  • Careful placement of windows to maximize interior light and ventilation.

The list is endless and allows you to use your imagination and creativity in constructing a green home.

  Why Build Green Homes?

There are lots of reasons to build a green home. Green home save money, provide healthy indoor environments, and reduce impacts on the environment.  Read a case study about an Arlington Green Home (about PDF format).

An energy efficient home can reduce electric and natural gas bills by 30% or more. Careful analysis of house size and configuration, insulation levels, heating and cooling equipment selection, and ductwork location all enhance energy efficiency. Designing your home to take advantage of natural wind currents, sun angles, and on-site shade reduces the need for air conditioning.

Water efficient appliances, faucets, toilets, and landscape watering equipment also save money on your water bill. For example, a conventional washer uses about 40 gallons of water per load. In contrast, a full-size ENERGY STAR® clothes washer uses 20-25 gallons per load. This saves as much as 7,000 gallons of water per year, and uses less electricity as well.

If specific attention is paid to the materials used in construction, a green home can reduce exposure to potential allergens and toxins. For example, protecting the ventilation ducts from dust and moisture during construction reduces the introduction of airborne particulates and mildew into the home. Using paints, adhesives, sealants, and wood products that don’t contain volatile organic chemicals and urea formaldehyde reduces exposure to chemicals.

Designing your home to reduce stormwater runoff helps protect Arlington’s streams, the Potomac River, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. Runoff can be reduced by minimizing the building footprint, reducing driveway pavement and using water from downspouts to water the garden. Other ideas to make your home an environmentally friendly place include saving existing trees on the site and using native plants for your landscaping.

  What is the Arlington Green Home Choice Program?

Arlington has developed the Green Home Choice program to provide a structure and support system within which builders and homeowners can build green. The Arlington Green Home Choice program is based on the Earthcraft House program, a green home rating system designed by the Southface Institute in Atlanta, Georgia.The program provides a listing of building techniques and components that result in a more efficient and healthy home. Participants in the program are offered front-of-the-line plan review, lawn signs indicating participation in the program, attendance at County-sponsored seminars, and recognition as “green” builders.   

  • A guidance document (about PDF format) describes the various green components you can choose from in order to achieve the Green Home Choice certification. 
  • A scoresheet helps participants track green components and add up points. In order to receive “Green Home Choice” certification from Arlington County, the project must achieve a predetermined number of points as outlined on the scoresheet.  The Scoresheet is available in Excel format Scoresheet or PDF format scoresheet (about PDF format).

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  How Does the Green Home Choice Program Work?

If you are interested in participating in the program, you should first download the guidance document, scoresheet, and program process overview, to make sure you understand what is required. Next, contact Helen Reinecke-Wilt in the Environmental Planning Office at 703-228-4792 to discuss the project. You will be asked to sign an Intent Form and your plans will be labeled as a “green home” project. You will be assigned a plans examiner and a building inspector who will both track the project through the program.

If you have comments on the program, please contact Helen Reinecke-Wilt.  

 

Green Home Choice Professionals

If you are looking for builders, architects, building service specialists or green products suppliers, please check out the list of Green Home Choice Professionals.  The GHC Professionals include vendors that provide the following services:

  • Contractors and Builders
  • Architects
  • Landscape Design
  • Energy Auditors and Solar Services
  • Deconstruction Service and Waste Salvage
  • Green Product Suppliers.

Information on federal tax credits for home builders.

Information on federal tax credits for homeowners.

Information on federal tax credits for energy efficiency.

  Green Building Resources

There are many websites with information on green homes. A search on the web for specific information will provide the most up-to-date information. Some general information websites include:

There are additional resources on green buildings and energy on our resources page.


Last Modified: November 05, 2009
2100 Clarendon Blvd. Arlington, VA 22201 Tel: 703-228-3000 TTY: 703-228-4611