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