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hoseobyoon

(2007-03-15 16:13:31 )

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Eco-freindly house

Earth-freindly no longer equals Space Age design.
Welcome to EcoManor, the first certifiably green mansion,
built in Bult in Atlanta by Ted Turner's daughter.

Mar 19, 2007 FORTUNE by Patricia Sellers

From the outside, the Sydel family's new home looks like
any old Tudor manse. Well, it's too tall for its quiet block.
(Neighbors have complained.)
But who would guess that this is the largest eco-freindly house
in America? With its 27 photovoltalic panels on the roof, sola tubes that
snake into interior rooms, geothermal heat pumps, and rainwater-collecting cisters, this is, in fact, the first home over 5,000 square
feet ever to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council--and
evidence of a new wave of eco-building that doesn't look like eco-building. "Everybody has in their head a picture of an environmental
home--usually some Space Age design," says homeowner
Laure Tuner Seydel, who moves into EcoManor in March.
"We wanted to prove that it dosen't have to look odd."

GREEN HOME from the paint to the gizmos, EcoManor is packed
with environmentally friendly detail:

*  Solar panels on the roof will contribute to 80% to 90% energy savings.

*  In the attic, celluloe insulation costs more-but is super-efficient.

*  Laure used Benjamin Moore Eco Spec paint in her study
   and throughout EcoManor.

*  Kitchen cabinet doors are built with Lyptus, from fast-growing
   eucalytus trees.

*  A Crestron touch panel in the kitchen monitors energy and water use.

*  Rugs, upholstery, and draperies are made of natural fibers.

*  The bedroom's solar-chip-embedded window keeps things light.

*  A dual-flush Toto toilet lets guests choose a big or little flush.

Seydel is also the dauter of Ted Tuner-- Which gives you a clue to
where her environmental drive comes from. while her billionair daddy
has practiced what he has presched by buying two mollion acres to preserve(he is America's lagest individual land owner), Seydel thinks big on one yiny yract: a half-acre in Atlanta's highbrow Buckhead
neighborhood. She and her husband, Rutherford, an environmental
lawyer, spent $ 1.5 million to construct EcoManor-- Some 10% extra for
going green, estimates architect Bill Harrison. But he predicts that the Seydels' energy cost will be 80% to 90% below average for a like-sizef
atlanta home.

EcoManor was born four years ago when Laure--who serves on more
than dozen nonprofit environmental boards-- and Rutherford bought a shabby two-bedroom cottage behind their sprawling hilltop home. They
had Planned to turn it into a guesthouse. But a few weeks after their
purchase, a magnificent 200-year-old oak, whipped by a storm, fell and crushed the tiny house. Ted Tuner is the one who, after touring the devastation with Rutherford, prodded the Seydels to tear it down and rebuild. "and when they started from scrach, they decided to go
eco-friendly," Ted recalls.

Or more like eco-obesessive. Self-pro-claimed environmental activists,
the Seydels collect rainwater to fill their toilets--low-flush, dual-flow
units from Japanese manufacture Toto("Press button No.1 when you go No.1, and No.2 when you go No.2," instruct Laura, 45, as we tour the master bathroom, which is naturally lit via four solar tubes.) Meanwhile,
used "gray" water fron Seydels' sinks and showers passes through filters and irrigates the lawn--which is drought tolerant, of course.

Throuhout the five-bedroom house(the seydels have three children, 9,11,
14), the doors are wheat-core--yes, composed of wheat, and formaldehyde free. In the first-floor study the wallpaper is recycled newspaper, though you'd never know it: It's an elegant-looking linen
white. the floor downstairs are made of fallen oak from Ted Tuner's plantation, Avalon, in Florida. (Upstairs the floors are sustainable wood from Hoe Depot, and they don't look as nice.) In the attic the insulation is made of soy-based celulose. "It's the most expensive but also the most efficient," says Rutherford, 43, as we explore EcoManor's 6,000-plus square feet.

While Laura thinks of EcoManor as the ultimate nontoxic environment
(she evangelizes about hemp pillows, jute draperies, and natural cleaning products), Rutherford views their new home as a sort of energy toy. His favorits gizmo, in the kitchen, is a 15-inch monitor that measures
and controls the family's energy costs per second--"down to a hundredth
of a cent," Rutherford boasts. : If the kids have a party in the basement,
I can tell how much the party cost." Predicts architect Harrison: "Five
or ten years from now we'll be building homes that are totally self-sufficient in terms of energy usage."

The Seydels are pioneers in a growing movement. Currently there are 98 homes that are LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Coucil, but the group, which is based in washington, D.C., expects some 5,000 to be certified in the coming year. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.) Most LEED-certified homes are in the west and Northeast; EcoManor is the first in the Southeast. The movement is spreading to mass-market home development; Between 5% and 10% of new homes will probably be eco-friendly by 2010, according to the National Association of Home builders. Meanwhile, Rutherford wamts to entice evryone, especialy the luxury set, to go for LEED status. Currently LEED judges favoer small homes in their rating system, which effectibly penalizes  rich forks who like to live large. "That shouldn't  be the case. Peaple who can afford to build stately homes tend to adopt revolutionaly technologies early. these are the peaple who can make a huge impact," says Rutherford, who is lobbing the Green Building  Coucil to ease the restrictions. the coucil is considering it.

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