Modernist Without the Markup: Sustainability on a Budget

Enlarge Image Image Gallery The homeowners hired an arborist to inventory existing species, relocate large trees, install root-aeration mats and put up tree fencing. After the house was finished, regrading approximated the land's natural contours. A terraced rain garden slows runoff from the driveway. Michael Shopenn

Building an eco-friendly dream home for about the same cost as a conventional home seemed daunting when my husband, Luke, and I bought three acres of Virginia forest nearly eight years ago. Our purchase came just before the dot-com crash (Luke owns a software company); shortly thereafter our funds would have evaporated.

Believing fate was on our side, Luke, our two children and I set out to build an environmentally conscious home for no more than
5 percent above the cost of a conventional one.

We set our goals high; we wanted to use green products, but they had to be cost competitive—within 5 percent of a comparable mainstream product. Luke and I vowed to limit waste by choosing a clean design style, ordering supplies conservatively and salvaging whenever possible. As a conservation policy consultant, I'm passionate about the environment, and our subcontractors began to understand my ardor when I climbed inside the Dumpster one day to retrieve a good piece of drywall.

The plan takes shape

To disturb the natural landscape as little as possible, Luke and I planned for site preservation six months before construction began. We hired a professional arborist, RTEC Treecare, to assess the health of all trees within 50 feet of the project footprint. The company surrounded the entire impacted area with tree protection fencing and helped strengthen trees within 20 feet of the disturbance area with root aeration mats.

We worked with the company to develop a set of tree-protection rules, including financial penalties for violations, and made all contractors sign it before entering the job site. These tree-protection measures cost $34,000—about one-third of our total landscaping costs—but I consider it money well spent. It was an additional expense, but by contrast, our neighbors just finished construction without any tree-protection measures. They spent nearly $10,000 to fell three 100-foot trees killed by construction impact. We kept our beautiful trees—and their cool shade.

Our architect, Bob Wilkoff of Archaeon Architects, sited our home on one of the land's natural slopes to utilize the moderating effect of the Earth's temperature; this is one of the most energy-saving aspects of our home. In summer, it can be 10 degrees cooler on the lower level than in the upstairs bedrooms, so each July we move downstairs to our "summer home." In winter, the window placement and second-story overhang help us exploit the sun's warmth on our south-facing spaces.

To build the house, we contracted Jeff Carpenter, founder of the custom building company Monticello Homes in Fairfax Station. Although he had little green building experience (which was the case with most builders in this area a decade ago), Jeff was committed to building sustainably while staying within the project's budget. His homebuilding planning method was to budget each individual category: He gave us the estimated prices of the average conventional products we would need in each category, and we added our 5 percent premium to get each category's individual budget ceiling. When we were under budget in certain categories, we could put the excess funds toward another, more expensive item somewhere else. One of Jeff's biggest concerns was that his usual suppliers wouldn't carry recycled concrete, drywall, insulation and countertops. To our surprise, in many instances they did—without a premium price.