EnergyStar has been a welcome guest in homes since the labeling for energy-efficient appliances was approved by the government in 1992. Another label that might soon become commonplace in residences is LEED.
For years, architects and environmental designers have been creating "green" buildings - schools, libraries and offices - that meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design criteria. Now those same innovative design principles are popping up in single-family houses.
The latest trend is residential buildings with LEED certification. LEED, created by the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council, is a national third-party certification program for environmentally responsible building. Overlook Clipper Mill, a new development of 38 semi-detached houses in Baltimore, boasts the first private homes in Maryland to be LEED-certified.
"This is really the cutting edge of housing," says Overlook resident Robert Kan, a retired surgeon who moved into his new home in April.
"There was nothing else like it," says Lucinda Rouse, who moved from a 6,000-square-foot house in Federal Hill to her new 2,300-square-foot home in Overlook Clipper Mill in June.
The houses, which range in size from 2,300 to 2,600 square feet, provide eco-friendly amenities that include spacious light-filled rooms that are quiet, thanks to an argon layer between the attached walls and windows, tankless hot water heaters, water-saving shower heads and low-odor paints. Outside, there is an award-winning community pool reminiscent of a Roman grotto. And while the energy-efficient houses are in the city, they offer a sense of seclusion thanks to their wooded surroundings.
"It backs up to 765 acres of Frederick Law Olmstead parkland," says Sarah Taylor, sales manager at Overlook Clipper Mill.
This big chunk of protected green space in Druid Hill Park provides back-to-nature peace where owners can walk or bike. Rouse's home is within spitting distance of the woods that make her east-facing deck feel like a green retreat despite the construction going on next door.
"I can walk out my door and go into this incredible park with huge trees," says Rouse, a musician who loves the juxtaposition of nature with urban amenities. "But I can get to the train station in 12 minutes and I'm 13 minutes from the symphony hall."
