Demonstration buildings show the feasibility of new materials, equipment or construction methods. As if to emphasize that there's no need to wait for certain innovations, a demonstration house in Portland, Oregon is called HERE Today. This demonstration house is Healthy and non-toxic, Environmentally responsible, Resource efficient and Energy efficient.

The demonstration's major sponsors were Portland General Electric and the Sustainable Building Collaborative (SBC) --a group of Portland-area building professionals and consultants.

Uniquely Common

Perhaps the most unique thing about the house is how common it is. While there are materials you won't yet find in the local lumber yard, there was only one product used in the home that's not commercially available.

Design and forethought played a key role in meeting many of the HERE Today goals. Some features are simple consumer choices.

Take dust mites, which often cause allergies. By choosing wood floors instead of carpets for many of the rooms, the owners reduced a major habitat for dust mites and made dust easier to clean. The owners chose electric space heat to reduce exposure to combustion gases. In addition, the home was separated from the garage with a breezeway to isolate auto exhaust.

"Sometimes one feature has many benefits," explains Mike O'Brien, SBC's energy consultant. Advanced air sealing tightens the house against heat robbing air leaks. It also prevents harmful gases from leaking into the house. For example, a tight floor blocks radon from the soil, while sealing walls and ceilings holds back insulation fibers and binders. Plus advanced air sealing improves the effectiveness of the low air volume ventilation system. It runs at only 130 cubic feet per minute, so a small air leak could "short circuit" the fresh air flow before it passes through the house.

Cost and Savings

You might expect this house to be considerably more expensive than the typical home. "The cost was between 5 and 10 percent above standard practice," says Greg Acker, the home's architect and general contractor.

Many of the recycled materials were no more expensive than standard materials. Of the recycled materials, the biggest extra cost item was $600 for drywall made partially from recycled drywall and cellulose fibers.

"Construction waste recycling was the biggest cost saver," says SBC member Debbie Palermini. "We kept seven tons of lumber, drywall, metal, concrete and cardboard out of the landfill and avoided $500 in disposal costs." Another two tons was disposed of in the traditional manner.

It's difficult to calculate a payback on the health and resource features. The benefits come over many years. But energy savings offer a direct financial return.

Based on the HERE Today experience, PGE has started the Earth Smart Home® Program. For more information, you can contact the Sustainable Building Collaborative at 503-235-0137.