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Hernando Today

Going For Platinum-Level Green

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By TONY MARRERO

Published: June 15, 2008

RIDGE MANOR - Mike Lyles and Judy Yates are a husband-wife team who counsel contractors and homeowners on how to make their buildings as green as possible.

Now the couple is building their own dream home on the banks of the Withlacoochee River.

"And we're going to live up to what we preach," Lyles said with a smile as he stood at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to his new home while crews hammered and sawed away out back.

The couple are striving for the platinum level of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Homes rating system. LEED, for Leadership in Energy Design, is the benchmark for efficient, environmentally friendly building practices.

The program includes a checklist and point system to figure the level of certification, which includes silver, gold and platinum. There are only a handful of platinum-level homes in the country, and only one in Florida.

Lyles and Yates say theirs will be next, and considering what they do for a living, it's hard to bet against them.

Their Riverwood Consulting firm certifies green buildings for the Florida Green Building Coalition, which has similar standards though no official connection to the USBGC.

Yates, 60, served for 23 years as director of the Pinellas County Extension Service, where she was first introduced to green buildings. Later, she researched environmentally sustainable practices for the University of Florida.

Lyles, a former instructor and safety supervisor in the trucking industry, retired and wound up helping his wife with the research. It inspired them to start their consulting firm last year, and now guides the construction of their house.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is situated at the end of cul de sac in Riverdale, a subdivision of modest homes built as early as the 1950s. The couple fell in love with the 1.5-acre lot situated on an oxbow in the Withlacoochee.

Lyles, 62, describes the three-story house, with its wraparound porch and planned metal roof, as "Caribbean cracker." They hope to move in by the end of the year.

"When we get done it will look like a home that's been built in Florida for 100 years," Lyles said. "It's kind of gracious and casual at the same time."

At a total of 5,000 square feet with 2,500 square feet of living space, it's much larger than the average cracker home, its roof sharing space with the tree tops. The first story, however, is garage and storage space because the building code doesn't allow living space below the 100-year flood level. A dark shading as high as six feet up the trunks of nearby oak trees serve as a reminder of how high the Withlacoochee River can swell, and the second floor sits nearly 10 feet above the ground.

The house won't just be ecologically friendly. It also will be built to withstand the elements.

Among the features of the home that will make it green and strong:

— It's constructed with insulated concrete foam blocks, which provides energy efficiency, durability, and fire-resistance. The blocks are rated to withstand 285 mile per hour winds.

— Windows with plastic frames and doors made of fiberglass reflect solar heat and are nearly draft-proof.

— A six-inch deep layer of Icynene, a state-of-the-art foam insulation, will be sprayed in the attic.

— Fiber cement siding on the exterior walls looks like wood but is more fire resistant.

— Every appliance will be energy-efficient. A re-circulating pump on the water heater conserves by negating the wait for warm water from the faucet.

— "Dual flush toilets" feature two separate buttons to use 1.28 liters or .8 liters.

As well, some 90 percent of the leftover building materials are being reused or recycled.

The couple, who have a condo in St. Petersburg and a house in Nobleton, found an ally in the man who would become their builder. Brian Blakenship, owner of Diamond Construction Services in Spring Hill, worked for his family's plumbing and air-conditioning businesses in Pasco County before starting Diamond in 2002.

Now he's decided to specialize in green construction. He replaced the sign in front of his Spring Hill Drive office just last week and has penned a mission statement to explain his mission to would-be customers.

It makes sense for business, and it makes sense for Mother Nature, Blakenship said. He said meeting Yates and Lyles also was "a big factor" in the decision.

"The whole concept of building green is something builders are going to have get on board with or fall out of the business," Blankenship said.

Blakenship estimates the Lyles and Yates are spending some $40,000 on green features. The couple say they are confident they will see a return on that investment in the house, which they say is their last.

"If our electric bill is more than $115 in August, I'll be really surprised," Lyles said. It's also hard to put a value on the peace of mind when storms threaten, the couple said.

They said there is a grander scheme to be considered.

Yates paraphrased a quote from Henry David Thoreau to explain: "What good is a wonderful home," she said, "if you don't have a tolerable planet to put it on?"

On the Web

To find out more about green building practices, visit www.usgbc.org or www.floridagreenbuilding.org.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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