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Grey water recycling.
Instead of letting all the shower, laundry, and bath water go down the drain the system in this home collects it, runs it through some filters, and saves it in a storage tank. Water is then reused to flush toilets. What's the big deal? It costs a lot of electricity to pump water from the big lake to your home. Almost half of Durham Region's energy budget goes for water delivery. We think water conservation that's this simple makes a lot of sense, so Marshall Homes is first to offer grey water recycling in a production subdivision home. |
A Green Driveway!
This LEED feature helps reduce rainwater run off. Under the grass is a sturdy honeycombed permeable structure that lets you park your car on the grass without compacting and damaging the roots. Could this be the future of driveways? |  |
Hello, old paint.
All the walls in this LEED house are painted with recycled paint. This paint was cured in its first life so there's almost no off-gassing, which makes for more breathable air inside. And this paint would otherwise have been disposed of as toxic waste. Even the old paint cans are melted down and made into new ones. It's now a standard option in every Marshall Home.
Energy Star® and beyond.
This is an Energy Star home, so named because it meets or exceeds the higher standard of energy efficiency required to earn the rating. |  |
Heating and cooling stay inside where they belong.
Double-blanket wall insulation is air-tight. Walls are insulated with R-40 material, then R-10 sheathing goes over all exterior wall surfaces.
R32 walls.
A standard Energy Star wall is rated at R22. The Ontario building code is R19.
Natural light saves electricity.
That's why we installed extra large windows in as many places as possible. We've always believed there's no such thing as too many windows.
Our low e argon gas filled windows exceed Energy Standards,
and are actually rated for further North climates including Mount Logan in the Yukon.
Why pay to run a machine when it's not being used?
This switch controls the heat recovery ventilator, which is explained in more detail down in the basement. The top button is for normal everyday use, the one in the middle is for times of heavy air use, like when a lot of guests are mingling, or there's cooking smoke. The bottom one is for when you'll be away for a time.
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Programmable thermostat.
Set it according to when you'll need more or less heating or cooling, and save energy and money.
Draft free
The plugs, switches, cable boxes, phone jacks and anything else on the outside walls are sealed to prevent air leakage. A draft-free home is a nicer environment to live in.
Waste management.
Careful planning kept waste to a minimum, and the material that did accumulate was sorted by type and taken to be recycled. Silt fences were used to keep erosion down during construction, and topsoil was saved for reuse on the site.
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As many light bulbs as possible in this home are the long life fluorescent type.
They out-last standard bulbs and consume less energy. |
Low-flow water taps
still have plenty of pressure for whatever you need. Go ahead and try one out. But remember to turn it off when you're done. No waste allowed around here!
The fireplace is a good place to save energy.
We installed a spark igniter instead of a gas pilot. It saves on natural gas and the pilot doesn't compete with your air conditioning in the Summer. Insist on this feature, it pays for itself very quickly.
Toilets are designed to use less water,
4.5 litres vs. 6 litres in a conventional toilet. That saves energy as well as water because it takes energy to pump water up from the lake.
Bathroom ventilator fan has a timer
so you don't have to remember to turn it off.
Showerheads are low flow,
1.5 gallons per minute vs 2.5 for the other kind. Now you can take a longer shower and still save on hot water bills.
Attic insulation.
If you could see through the ceiling you would see that the insulation above is R-50. The building code value is R32.
Garages are notorious air leaks in most homes;
we combat that by sealing cracks and seams with non-aerosol foam, drywall, tape and primer paint to seal.
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Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV)
Energy Star homes are pretty tightly sealed, yet a home needs to breathe to keep us healthy. Fresh air is drawn in from outside and stale air is vented out through this device which captures the heat (or cool) by means of a heat exchanger. Heating and cooling cost money and this device keeps it where you want it; inside the house. |
Recycled Plumbing
Check out the plumbing and you'll see it's made of plastic pipe (PEX) It's pipe made from recycled material. Copper is
getting scarce, and PEX has proven to be an environmentally friendly, easily worked, and less expensive alternative to copper. It also resists condensation in humid weather, so it's less likely to sweat.
The ECM motor in the furnace consumes 25% less electricity
than the conventional fan motor. If you know someone replacing a furnace, tell them to replace it with a furnace with an ECM motor. Be Bold it's your environment too.
Basement insulation all the way down.
The building code says, insulate halfway down the basement wall. It isn't that hard to insulate all the way down. Why settle for halfway measures?
All the seams on all the heat ducts are tape-sealed.
Details matter if you want to go green.
Basement windows
are low-e argon gas filled for high insulation value.
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