What is a Green Building?
The construction of buildings consumes a large percentage of the earth's natural resources. Building "green" is a practice that uses our resources efficiently while creating buildings that enhance healthy living environments. A green or "sustainable" building is a construction project that is developed in an ecologically-friendly manner. Green structures meet objectives such as maintaining or improving the health of the occupants, reducing the consumption of natural resources both during construction and during subsequent occupancy of the building, and minimizing impacts on the environment.
What Are the Elements of Green Buildings?
 Energy Efficiency
Homes at Bel~Lago are at least 40% more energy efficient to heat and cool than the current code standard dictates. These measures are achieved through the use of a variety of innovative components including The Icynene Insulation System®, high SEER heat pumps, sealed HVAC ducts and Anderson® triple glaze windows. These products were specifically used to create a synergistic system that not only performs more efficiently but also provides a more comfortable living environment.
- Site
Bel~Lago is within minutes of major hospitals, schools, shopping and natural recreation, thereby reducing travel distance. The site is also a preservation paradise with grand-daddy Live Oaks in abundance. Special care is taken to minimize disturbance of the soils and control runoff during construction. Storm water runoff is directed to, and retained on-site as a practical function of the beautiful lakes.
- Materials
At Bel~Lago, sustainable construction materials and products have been selected by evaluating many eco-friendly characteristics. The structures are constructed using engineered, wood products and recycled concrete aggregates. We have used dimensional planning and other material-efficient strategies to reduce the amount of building materials needed and greatly enhance the durability of the homes.
- Water
At Bel~Lago, great lengths have been taken to reduce required water consumption both inside and outside the homes without impacting needs of the homeowners. Specialized commodes and fixtures manage water use inside, while custom-designed irrigation and landscape systems reduce the amount of water needed to maintain the landscape. Care is taken to eliminate invasive exotics and landscaping is done with Florida-friendly, native foliage. These plants are specifically chosen for central Florida’s climate and to compliment this phase of green building while providing homeowners with a botanical masterpiece that is also cold-hardy and disease/pest resistant.
- Lighting and Appliances
The homes within Bel~Lago have been designed to blend natural lighting with high efficiency general use as well as task lighting to provide a complimentary light spectrum that fits the needs of the homeowners. Special care has been taken to filter infrared natural light so as to limit the intrusion of heat and the damaging portion of the light spectrum. Appliances are all Energy Star rated, including the Euro-style washer and dryer.
- Disaster Mitigation
The developers of Bel~Lago have designed all of the homes in such a way as to minimize natural disasters. Hurricanes, floods, wildfires and termites have been targeted during the planning, site development and construction of Bel~Lago homes. Their potential impacts have been greatly diminished through the use of specifically designed systems proven to guard against these situations.
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Occupant Well Being (Health)
Recent studies reveal that buildings with good overall environmental quality can reduce the rate of respiratory disease, allergy, asthma and other possible building-related symptoms. At Bel~Lago, great care has been taken to assure the occupant’s health in the following ways:
- Construction materials and interior finish products such as stone countertops and Zero VOC paints drastically reduce emissions that can become trapped in the building. Fireplaces are vented to the exterior to remove carbon dioxide. Urea-formaldehyde has been excluded from carpets and substrates.
- Fresh air and a high-efficiency, in-duct filtration system are used. Heating and cooling systems are designed to be positively pressurized to stop uncontrolled intrusion of warm humid air. Laundry rooms are equipped with mini-supply/return systems so as not to consume large amounts of conditioned air from the home. The insulation systems provide for HVAC ductwork under air, virtually eliminating mold in the transmission lines.
- We are preventing indoor mold contamination through the selection of materials resistant to microbial growth, providing effective drainage from the roof and surrounding landscape, installing adequate (quiet) ventilation in bathrooms, allowing proper drainage of air-conditioning coils, and designing other building systems to control humidity.
Doesn't Building Green Cost More?
It may be true that a green building costs slightly more to develop but a green building will save far more money over the life of the building through lower consumption of resources. The green building approach applies a project life cycle cost analysis. This analytical method calculates costs over the entire life of the project. Benefits such as the occupants’ well being, pollution and landfill waste reduction are not easily measured.
Many of the green building measures at Bel~Lago have been incorporated with little or no initial costs. We simply want to make those technologies readily available to all of our homeowners. While some people will enjoy energy savings, others the heath benefits, almost everyone approves the minimalistic environmental impacts. Green is for everyone at Bel~Lago.
Building Operation and Maintenance
Over time, your home's performance can be assured through measurement, adjustment, and upgrading. Proper maintenance ensures that a building continues to perform as designed and commissioned.
Steps to Ensure Success
 The Bel~Lago Developers have taken many steps to guarantee the success of this project. These include:
- Establishing a vision that embraces sustainable principles and an integrated design approach;
- Developing a clear statement of the project's vision, goals, design criteria, and priorities;
- Developing a project budget that covers green building measures;
- Developing plans and specifications to ensure that the building design is at a suitable level of building performance.
For More Information about building green see:
References: California Integrated Waste Management Board Green Building Web site.
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