THE "GREEN" home of architect David Hertz consists of four buildings on his Venice, Calif., property.

Built in two phases, the house today consists of a 4,700-square-foot family compound comprising four buildings. Three bridges and interlocking courtyards connect them; together, the structures create interior and exterior spaces that constitute a climate-responsive system of natural cross ventilation in the hot weather.

Eco-Architects Cara Battaglini, spokeswoman for the American Institute of Architects, says that although finding a green architect takes some digging, there are resources available that may help us locate a specialist. The AIA website (www.aia.org) has a sustainable-design category in its search engine.

One green material Hertz used extensively was a type of concrete called Syndecrete, which was developed by his own company. Made of natural minerals and recycled materials such as discarded carpet fibers, bottle glass and fiber ash, Syndecrete replaces the energy intensive component of regular concrete. In the Hertz home, Syndecrete is found everywhere—from the kitchen counter to the sink, dining room table, fireplace and even the showers. Hertz says it is     a good example of how an eco-friendly product can be substituted for more commonly used materials.

Energy conservation is a common theme in the design of environmentally sound houses. Many eco-builders install climate-response systems that regulate ventilation and light when the weather changes, thus minimizing energy use. Eco-houses may use some form of solar energy and insulation made of recycled materials.

TOP: THE David Hertz home in Venice, Calif., Bottom: The Ray Anderson home in North Carolina. (Bottom photograph by Lynne Siler.)

These amenities add to the cost. Builders and architects estimate that the budget for an eco-house, depending on its size and the extent of its eco-friendly accessories, can run 5 percent to 20 percent more than for a conventional building, mainly because of the added expense of the specialized materials. Certain hardwoods, such as mahogany, can cost up to 20 percent more than usual if an organization such as the Forest Stewardship Council has certified them as having come from a sustainable forest. Solar power technologies also remain relatively expensive, despite their growing popularity. Eco-aware architects do not usually charge more, but because their fees are based on overall costs of a project, their compensation may be higher because these projects tend to be more expensive.

Anderson participated fully in designing and building his house, to ensure it met his objectives. He found the site—a remote 86-acre parcel, aptly called Lost Valley—after reconnoitering the area for a year. After acquiring the property (and placing 79 of its acres in a “forever wild” trust) Anderson hired Atlanta architect Jack Davis, whose aesthetic sense he appreciated, but who did not have green credentials. To bring him up to speed, Anderson says he educated Davis about building off the grid, a term that describes living independently of utilities. He also consulted organizations, including the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Southface Energy Institute, that provide green construction know-how ranging from the selection of materials to design.

Anderson’s search for the perfect logs is typical of the lengths to which eco-enthusiasts will go. Chopping down healthy spruce trees to build the cabin would have been at odds with his goal of conservation. Instead, he tracked down a company in Colorado that could supply dead standing trees. It took more than a month—and a trip to Colorado to inspect the trees—to complete the deal.

He also wanted to avoid conventional heating and cooling systems. He installed quiet ceiling fans to circulate air and looped coils through the floors to circulate water warmed by the sun. Radiant heating of this nature is popular because it produces drier heat than other methods, such as forced-air heating, and minimizes mold growth.

Anderson ended up installing many of the features that architects and consultants say are in demand, such as energy-efficient appliances and solar power. He says it was a particular struggle to find experts to install the photovoltaic panels that convert sunlight to electricity, because so few engineers specialize in the field.

Daylight Savings
Picard gravitated to eco-houses after a career as a builder and project manager for homes costing between $10 million and $70 million. When one house he built rang up a monthly utility bill of more than $300,000, Picard realized that he needed to find a more efficient method of harnessing energy.

The design for his 2,100-square-foot home, a few steps from the water in Manhattan Beach, Calif., grew out of that quest. Because his lot is relatively small—35 by 40 feet—Picard downsized the original plans to a more reasonable square footage, because he wanted the appropriate scale. For the interior, Picard and architect Tanya Chan devised light and ventilation systems, along with solar-powered radiant floor heating, that would illuminate and warm the home, which has high ceilings and a spacious, open floor plan.

Picard says the key to a successful eco-house is wringing several benefits out of each component. One notion is daylighting, in which natural light is used on a grand scale to save energy. In the kitchen, for example, a large floor-to-ceiling glass wall, which has a layer of prismatic plastic, allows a soft white light to flood the space. The $5,000 glass wall is the major light source for the entire third floor of the house, where the kitchen is located, and it significantly decreases energy usage, Picard explains.

Picard, like Anderson, had to surmount hurdles obtaining the materials he sought. He selected a special wood from South America, that comes from a sustainable forestry program wherein only the branches of the tree are harvested. The cost was about 10 times more than regular wood, he says, and it took over a year to secure delivery. Yet not all environmentally sound materials cost more; Picard used a line of eco-paints from Benjamin Moore, with organic compounds, which cost the same as standard house paint.

Picard says his goal was to build a high-end house that operates in a low-tech and sustainable way. It was also a good investment: The house cost approximately $800,000 to build; he recently sold it for more than $2 million.

Rick Joy, an Arizona-based architect who is building a 3,000-square-foot, off-the-grid home for Francis Ford Coppola in Rutherford, Calif., says he tries to assure his top-tier clients that they can “care about the environment and be environmentally advanced, and also have high-concept architecture."

Combined, these attributes add up to an intangible and powerful statement about a commitment to the environment. “I proved that it could be done—that an eco-sensitive house could be built and that it doesn’t cost that much,” Anderson exults. “It’s a start.”