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Golf course home could win race to become O.C.’s first super green house

October 28th, 2009, 1:03 pm · 9 Comments · posted by William Diepenbrock, Editor

Artist's rendering of 1811 Gisler Ave., Costa Mesa

Artist's rendering of 1811 Gisler Ave., Costa Mesa

Our post about a Laguna Beach luxury home project seeking the elusive platinum certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program drew many responses.

But perhaps the most interesting was from Costa Mesa resident Steve Blanchard, 35, who has been in the local oil and gas business and develops real estate.

Blanchard has good reason to believe his home project will be Orange County’s first to achieve the platinum LEED certificate.

He  started green design of his 1811 Gisler Ave. home early in 2008. Instead of razing an existing home on the site, he donated elements — such as windows and fixtures — to Habitat for Humanity, allowed local emergency services teams to practice rescues and recycled what he could of what remained.

Construction of the new home began in late 2008 and the project was registered in the LEED for Homes program in February 2009.

 Now, he says he needs only his final city plumbling approval before he can get a certificate of occupancy. Then will come the LEED certification, though no date has been set. Still, that puts him months ahead of the Laguna Beach builders, who expect to finish construction of the first of two Ocean Front homes in mid-2010.

The Costa Mesa home — well, it’s got to be seen to really be appreciated, according to Blanchard.

The home spans about 5,000 square feet,  has six bedrooms plus an office/bedroom, 6.5 baths and three-car garage, all on a 15,000-square-foot lot at the Mesa Verde Country Club. The golf course leads to the back yard, which leads to a great room, which leads to a courtyard. Pretty sweet, and we haven’t even gotten to the green elements.

Blanchard intends to move into the home with his wife and two kids, and maybe other relatives later, so he’s loaded it with the best green building elements he could. A sample of those elements:

  1. 7,000-square-foot metal roof
  2. Dual-flush toilets
  3. Fly-ash foundation
  4. Low-flow faucets
  5. LED lighting
  6. Home orientation designed for maximum solar and breeze
  7. Internal green water system
  8. 33 solar panels
  9. All native landscaping
  10. Lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council

(For a full list of the companies and products, check out Blanchard’s Web site, costamesagreen.com.)

Blanchard estimates — he doesn’t have hard and fast numbers yet — that the home uses half or less of the energy and water of a typical house of its size. But it didn’t come cheaply. Blanchard, , also said he got some good discounts along the way, but the effort still required a major investment.

“If I sell this thing, I’m not going to make a buck on it,” laughed Blanchard.

But that’s fine, because he doesn’t intend to sell — it’s intended as a home and, he hopes, an inspiration to others.

“I want people to learn it’s not really hard to build green. It’s just something you need to be conscious of,” he said.

(Photo courtesy of Steve Blanchard.)

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     9 Comments

    • Steven Smith says:
      October 28, 2009 at 2:09 pm

      The greenest home in orange county is “the oldest home” in orange county. Wherever that is. Living in an older home and replacing things as they break (and only when they break) with the most energy efficient substitutes, creates a model of “Whole Life Efficiency”.

      Ripping down & disposing of a whole house & yard and rebuilding with all new materials, regardless of how “green” those materials are, end up being almost impossible to break even “environmentally” in a lifetime. All those new materials need to be harvested, manufactured and delivered. That process always leaves a footprint.

      The same is true with cars. The longer you can maintain a car and drive it, the fewer cars go into production. It is production that leaves a big footprint. Example: suppose you drive a 2001 volvo and you think you want to go green. You sell the volvo and buy a Prius. You feel great. But wait! Someone else is now driving your volvo and you are driving the prius. The volvo is still on the road………but wait, it’s a feel-good-prius, this can’t be happening. If you had kept the volvo for another 10 to 15 years, you would have left a much smaller footprint over-all.

      Think of these things next time you hear Joe Biden yap it up over new electric plug in Hybrid technology……..oh but remember electricity comes from MAGIC! oh wait….no it comes from Coal, Nuke & Dams……Oooops

    • Jeff M says:
      October 28, 2009 at 3:14 pm

      Steven makes a good point but one most Amerikans won’t understand or want to understand.

    • John F says:
      October 28, 2009 at 8:58 pm

      Old structures are less efficient and use more energy to heat and cool. They also tend to have old appliances that are energy hogs. Water capture is also another issue old structures usually do not account for. Studies show its better to build with quality and design first so you don’t have to keep renovating and updating the home over time. Much less carbon.

    • ttularc says:
      November 2, 2009 at 11:26 am

      That house could have been twice as green if it were about half the size. Why does a family of 4 need 5000 s.f.?

      • William Diepenbrock, Editor says:
        November 3, 2009 at 12:55 pm

        The family doesn’t intend that the home remain home to just the four. They are trying to build a “generational” home that will accommodate other family members over time.

    • Darren Moore says:
      November 3, 2009 at 7:59 am

      Is the internal Green Water system a missprint for a grey water system?

      • William Diepenbrock, Editor says:
        November 3, 2009 at 12:56 pm

        Not a misprint, but yes, it’s essentially a gray water system, though the description I received suggests its more complex than your basic gray water system.

    • sammyj says:
      November 3, 2009 at 9:55 am

      He didn’t exactly have anything to do with the “Home orientation designed for maximum solar and breeze” since he bought an existing house.

      Also edible landscaping is better than native landscaping - non-native can be drought tolerant but edible may save a few trips to the market once in a while.

      And agreed, unnecessary square footage is not green. I like the homes in Terramor Village in Ladera Ranch that claim to be “green” yet they have a “tower room.” Last time anybody needed a “tower room” they were keeping a damsel in distress in it.

      And I can’t tell if that’s a “green” car in the driveway - as if any car is actually “green.”

      • William Diepenbrock, Editor says:
        November 3, 2009 at 12:58 pm

        The home orientation is a factor here. The window designs and construction basically open the home to the prevailing breeze. Remember, he rebuilt this house from the foundation up, so he could have made any number of adjustments.