Two Trails Client Wins USGBC South Florida GalaVerde Award for Most Outstanding LEED for Homes/Single Family With the 2020 Alton Project
Sarasota, FL (PRWEB) October 23, 2013 -- The GalaVerde Awards are awarded in several project categories including Public, Private, Single-Family, Municipal, Educational, Healthcare and Corporate. Two Trails client Matt Lahn owner of Florida Green Home Design Group won the USGBC South Florida GalaVerde Green Award for Most Outstanding LEED for Homes/Single Family for their work on the 2020 Alton project in Miami, FL. To our knowledge this project is the highest scoring LEED home in the nation with 120/80 points earned giving it a LEED Platinum designation.
The 2020 Alton project is a sleek, super-modern beauty — all concrete, glass, high-end European appliances, and high-tech bells and whistles. The project is about 3,200 square feet and it’s luxurious. The home, which for most days is net-zero, will also boast a minimal environmental footprint, a rarity in the area for new builds. The compact and efficient design of this home manages to fit five bedrooms and five bathrooms in just 3,200 sq. ft. Nestled on a site of 58x120 and with setbacks imposed by the city, the design sought to take advantage of these dimensions by making the main portion of the home a cube, which would be setback substantially from the busy street. An exposed masonry wall further protects the house by wrapping it on the north and west while creating a private courtyard for swimming and a balcony with views of the golf course across the street.
The home includes a dual 600-watt vertical axis wind turbine, a geothermal heating and cooling system, 7,000-gallon rainwater cistern, and a HERS rating of -8. And then there’s the 11.5-kilowatt rooftop solar array composed of frameless photovoltaic panels produced by 1SolTech. This project is among the first building projects, residential or commercial, to utilize these innovative, American-made solar panels. Given its Miami location and rough weather situations, the project's renewable energy systems are storm-resistant: the solar panels are rated for 160 mph winds and the turbines easily collapsible for when things outside get too windy. Additionally, there’s a back-up battery system and the aluminum framed, low-E windows from CGI are built to withstand Category 5-strength hurricane winds. A very unique feature is the rainwater cistern and the home’s reflecting pool are both lined with a nontoxic epoxy called Pond Armor that renders the water potable in the event of emergencies.
Other green specs of the 2020 Alton project include LED lighting throughout, sustainable wood custom cabinetry from Poggenpohl, WaterSense-qualified Toto faucets and fixtures, recycled glass countertops from Vetrazzo, Sherwin Williams low-VOC paints and finishes, and Icynene spray foam insulation. Outside, there’s Resyta decking and a pool equipped with an EcoSmarte water purification system that eliminates the need for chemicals. Last but not least the projects home's Walk Score of 85 is beyond excellent. South Beach is a short stroll away.
Green achievements for 2020 Alton:
• United States Green Building Council: LEED for Homes, LEED Platinum Designation
• Home Innovation Research Labs: ICC 700 National Green Building Standard EMERALD (highest level), indicating that the home saves 60% or more of its energy use.
• HERS (Home Energy Rating System) Index: -8 (100 is normal for new construction)
• Named an Energy Star® Qualified Home.
Team Members:
Green Building Consultant: Two Trails Inc.
Owner: Florida Green Home Design Group
Architect: Ari Sklar
Contractor: Robert Arkin
MEP Engineers: Buchanan P.E. Consulting Inc.
Structural Engineer: R.E. Engineering Design Corp.
Civil Engineer: Holland Enginerring Inc.
About Drew Smith | Two Trails, Inc. was founded in 2001, by an innovative builder who set out to change the methodology of conventional building science. Drew realized that the only way to change the industry was to become the resource for the knowledge on how to implement healthy, sustainable projects. He “hung up his hammer” and opened one of the first green building, consulting firms in the nation.
By helping to develop standards for the American Lung Association, National Home Builders Association, Florida Green Building Coalition, and USGBC LEED for Homes by either writing the standard or testing the viability of the standard in the field, he was able to provide his firm with a thorough understanding of the science of building sustainable, healthy, environmentally conscious, and affordable solutions for the building industry. He was “green” before “green” was more than a color. Our President, Drew M. Smith, LEED AP BD+C, was the founding President of the Florida Green Building Coalition and is the first Governor appointed Green Building Commissioner for the State of Florida. Two Trails, Inc. provides hands-on consulting making it easy to achieve certification.
About Two Trails, Inc. | Two Trails, Inc. is one of the nations premier Green Building Consulting firm established in 2001. We provide green consulting services nationwide for commercial, residential, remodeling, and developments seeking to obtain LEED certification and/or LEED commissioning by USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council), National Green Building Standard (NGBS), Energy Star by the U.S. Department of Energy, & Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) certifications.
Contact Information:
Tom Rupp
Two Trails, Inc.
Communications and Marketing Manager
tom at twotrails.com
941-776-8680
http://www.TwoTrails.com
Tom Rupp, TWO TRAILS, INC. - Green Building Consulting, http://www.twotrails.com, +1 (941) 776-8680, [email protected]
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