Building Strong, Green & Beautiful
DID YOU KNOW?
Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of GDP.
Whether or not you choose to formally enroll your build in the United States Green Building Association’s LEED™ program, Terra Pacific incorporates many of the principals of the LEED™ program into our everyday construction methods and materials purchasing.
The great misconception is that adopting sustainable construction practices is cost prohibitive. Much of the time, it is common sense and simple things can reduce construction costs. A case in point is minimizing waste – this can be controlled in a number of ways such as purchasing precise quantities of materials and training construction crews to use advanced framing techniques to minimize or eliminate waste. Another example is the use of low VOC finishes, caulks and adhesives – we buy them wholesale for no more than high VOC products, which are commonly used by contractors and are detrimental to the home owner’s health.
One of our greatest concerns is that there is an end to the needless depletion of our rain forests by the irresponsible purchasing of Tropical Hardwoods by suppliers and builders that choose to ignore the true source of their product. It’s common knowledge in the industry that many Tropical Hardwoods are illegally logged and often illegally certified. Terra Pacific ensures that all Tropical Hardwoods are from legitimate sources – one of the best ways to do this is by purchasing from FSC Certified Suppliers.
We are currently building our Model Home that is targeted to be the first LEED™ Platinum Home on Kauai.
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WHAT IS LEED?
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) program is their rating system which encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.
LEED™ is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
LEED™ promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas.
- Sustainable site development
- Water efficiency
- Energy efficiency
- Materials selection
- Indoor environmental quality
Certification is based on the total point score achieved, following an independent review and an audit of selected credits. There are four levels of certification: CERTIFIED, SILVER, GOLD AND PLATINUM.
WHY CERTIFY?
A rapidly growing number of builders and homeowners are adopting LEED™ certification with the goal of achieving and demonstrating sustainability. The reasons for certifying include:
- Conserve natural resources, help protect ecosystems and biodiversity
- Improve your living environment and the health of occupants
- Reduce waste and save money
- Enhance the value of your investment
- Increase the marketability of your project
- Gain recognition and validate achievement through third party review
- Qualify for a growing array of government incentives
- Contribute to a growing green building knowledge base
- Save utility costs with the selection of Energy Star Appliances & Lighting
- Save water with the selection of Low Flow Faucets
