Big Green House at International Builders Show

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It's time for the International Builders' Show in Orlando, where everyone in the industry comes to see the latest marble counters and vinyl siding profiles. A big thing is always "The New American Home" and this year they are into urbanism, building it on an infill site in an historic district near downtown Orlando.

"The home’s architectural design challenge was to achieve an urban international style home with a chic feel that will stand out, yet fit in with the surrounding historic homes. The show home will feature a single-family three story contemporary style home in an urban setting encompassing 4,309 sf and will include a basement, a detached two-car garage with living space overhead, a courtyard and a roof plaza." Oh, and it is also certified as a "green" or environmentally friendly home under standards set forth by the Florida Green Building Coalition, an organization dedicated to eco-friendly construction practices.

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We learned about the energy saving features from a PDF put out by one of the sponsors, the US Department of Energy, with the wonderful motto: "Bringing you a prosperous future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable and affordable." They are off to a poor start with this- 4309 square feet of air conditioned house out of concrete and stryrofoam is hardly a model of energy efficiency, even if it is covered with photovoltaics and sod.

Other green features include a green roof, efficient windows, solar preheating of hot water, instant-on hot water heaters. it is estimated that it will use 73% less energy for heating and cooling than a "house of comparable size".

This is the same show that exactly one year ago launched the Katrina Cottage by Marianne Cusato. It has had tremendous impact and used a lot fewer resources than this, and costs a lot less to heat and cool. They should have learned from it. ::International Builders Show

click on plans below to enlarge