Business & Professional
ON THE COVER
Eco Livin g
Couple's dream house is a "green" house.
Staff photos by Angie Bean
Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News
E
nvironmental activists Gail Danto
and Art Roffey are putting their
money where their mouths are.
That's because the dream house the
couple is building is actually a "green"
house for which they are paying 15-20
percent more to build "green."
"We've elected to build this home not
only because it embodies our values
regarding environmental awareness and
conservation, but it's also a statement that
you can live comfortably, even elegantly,
and still 'tread lightly on the land," says
Roffey, a counseling psychologist who
is on the board of the Oakland Land
Conservancy (OLC).
"Our goal is to go off the [energy] grid
— to show people it can be done seconds
Danto, vice president of the conservancy.
"You can have a glorious home [including
a workout room and outdoor Jacuzzi] and
honor the earth at the same time."
Their commitment to protecting the
environment has its roots in 30 trips to
It will be another year before Art Roffey and Gail Danto can move into their Bloomfield Township house, which architect Don
Paul Young has designed to blend with the land more than sit atop it.
doors, appliances, oak floors and hardware
up for sale at its warehouse.
"The deconstruction provided us with a
tax write-off and the sale of recycled items
reduced reliance on landfills while offering
perfectly fine building products to people
who need them at a good price
Roffey adds. "That's a total win-
win-win."
Their new three-bedroom
house, designed by Young & Young
Architects of Bloomfield Hills, is
still a year from completion. It
should qualify for gold certifica-
-Gail Danto tion under the new Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED)
residential standards (See related
the Amazon, begun when Roffey, a Ph.D.
story).
who taught at Michigan State University's
But it has to overcome a major handicap
medical school, studied native healing.
—
it is 7,200 square feet, not including a
Over years of leading group tours into
remote areas, "We've seen how the jungles
and waters are receding:' Danto says.
"We decided to bring our work with the
environment home and to build a green
house."
"You can have a glorious
home and honor the earth
at the same time."
larger than three-car garage. "The United
States Green Building Council (USGBC) is
oriented toward smaller homes, say 2,400
square feet:' says Jim Newman, managing
partner of Newman Consulting Group,
LLC in Bloomfield Hills and the couple's
LEED consultant.
"They were credited negatively for such
a large house says Newman, who serves
on the board of the Michigan Coalition
on the Environment and Jewish Life (MI-
COEJL). "But because they've gone to such
lengths to meet LEED standards," there's
an outside chance they could qualify for
platinum, the highest certification.
At The Core
The couple has gone to great lengths to
build a home top to bottom, inside and
out, that will be environmentally sound
but won't appear as the stereotyped green
home.
"It's not made of straw bales or insu-
lated with wrappers from crunchy granola
bars." Roffey says. "But it employs prin-
ciples of sustainability, energy efficiency
in construction as well as technologies to
assist in energy efficiency once we move
in." It is also how they hope, over the years,
to recoup their added investment.
Major components such as the roof,
made of copper which is recycled and
mined in Michigan, and the outside walls,
made of concrete stucco and limestone
from Wisconsin, meet the goal of being
either produced or warehoused within
a 500-mile radius. "We searched long
and hard to find it," Danto says of the
Wisconsin limestone.
All lumber, whether used for base con-
What 'Shade Of Green' Is Your Home?
Quick Attraction
It happened that the couple, married 13
years and living in Bloomfield Township,
fell in love with the first property they
saw — overlooking a pond on one of the
township's back roads.
Rather than demolishing the exist-
ing 1957 home, they deconstructed it.
Architectural Salvage Warehouse of
Detroit (ASWD) took it apart, at no cost
to Danto and Roffey, and put its windows,
C2
November 22 • 2007
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC)
launched the LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) for Homes Rating System this
momnth.
LEED for Homes is a voluntary system that promotes
the design and construction of high performance "green"
homes. It identifies homes as "shades of green," refer-
ring to various levels of achievement in meeting stringent
guidelines for resource efficiency.
The levels (shades) are: certified, silver, gold and plati-
num, with platinum being the highest.
A green home uses less energy, water and natural
resources, creates less waste and is healthier and more
comfortable for the occupants because of reduced green-
house gas emissions and less exposure to mold, mildew and
other indoor toxins.
Although the rating system is primarily designed for new
homes, the green building council and other groups are
working on guidelines for green home renovations, accord-
ing to a recent article in USA Today.
The LEED for New Construction Rating System has been
used for non-residential buildings since 2000 and is the
nationally recognized standard for green building.
- Information provided by the USGBC