DURHAM -- It may not be easy being green, but one local developer is proving it is possible.

A home built by Marshall Homes in Oshawa is attempting to become LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.

LEED is a certification program for clean and green building projects. The prerequisites and credits to qualify for certification are organized into five main categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

Project ratings are certified by the Canadian Green Building Council based on a point system after independent review and audits.

There are four LEED levels in ascending order: certified, silver, gold and platinum.

What does it take to be a LEED-er in green home building?

That’s what the construction team at Marshall Homes is working to figure out. They are hoping the newly unveiled green home on Copperfield Drive in Oshawa will be certified LEED gold.
    Here are some of the features that make the home uniquely ecological:

Grey water recycling system

What is grey water? It’s the water that goes down the drain after a shower, laundry or bath. A grey-water recycling system filters that water and reuses it for toilet flushing. Right now a family of seven in the subdivision is testing the system that has also been installed in the LEED model home. Craig Marshall of Marshall Homes said the only difference people will notice is that sometimes the toilet water will be a bit soapy.

The system is low-maintenance and requires a filter cleaning about once a week depending on usage, Mr. Marshall said. Right now a large family in another house built by Marshall Homes is testing the system and Mr. Marshall said it’s “running like a dream.”

Grass driveway

The front yard at this house looks a lot like the yard in the back.  

No asphalt here, it’s all grass. The eco-design element is causing a stir among passersby, Mr. Marshall said.

“It’s funny because people stop and ask about it,” he said.

Part of LEED promotes reducing rainwater run-off and one of the worst offenders for such run-off is a traditional driveway, Mr. Marshall said. To make sure it works the company has been putting it to big tests, he said.

“We’ve been parking everything on it, cars, forklifts, bobcats,” Mr. Marshall said.

They won’t start installing more grass driveways until they see what the maintenance is like in the winter, so they can tell customers how to take care of the extra grass, Mr. Marshall said.

“It takes a little extra care,” he said. “But it makes a big statement.”

Recycled paint

Even the sand-coloured walls in this house are actually green.

All the walls in the Copperfield Drive home are decorated with recycled paint from a company called Boomerang. The company uses discarded paint which is separated into oil and latex types and grouped by colour. Paints are then tinted to become one of 27 standard colours the company offers.

The result is reused paint that looks no different then new. And even the metal containers the paint comes in are recycled.
        
Programmable thermostat

This feature can be set so homeowners can have more heat when they need it and less when they don’t. Families won’t have to remember to turn the air conditioning down while they are at work and turn it up when they are cooking dinner. The thermostat will do it automatically once programmed.

Recycled plumbing

Instead of copper, which is becoming a scarce and expensive commodity, this house has plastic water pipes.

The plastic piping (called PEX) is not just less expensive, it’s made of recycled material too.

Heat recovery ventilator

Stale air is gone with this innovative venting system. It allows fresh air to be drawn in from outside the house and stale air to be taken out.