When man made products like engineered trusses and floor joists are considered green in part because they use small trees and small pieces of trees, without understanding they are part and parcel to the Industrial form of clear cutting – plantation forestry we get green washing. When these products fail in under 5 minutes in a house fire and fire departments are getting hip to not going inside those building that may contain them we get green washing. When these critically important distinctions are ignored because of the prestige of a silver or gold certification we get green washing.

LEED is a process of green washing when it doesn’t adequately separate green from green washing. The inmates are driving the bus….

One feature that no one seems to think is appropriate is Composting toilets. Everyone seems to talk about saving water with water saving 1.6 gal. toilets and water saving faucets. Composting toilets use only enough water to to keep the compost damp while it decays, saves urine to use as fertilizer, requires very little attention by the homeowner. Yearly removal of composted material is normal..
Heat generated during the process kills off harmful toxins, the composter is located in the basement and air drawn down through the toilets exits via a 4″ vent through the roof.

The main purpose is to show the public how it works, along with led lighting energy star appliances, passive solar, well insulated, sealed envelope, thin film solar solar cells on south facing roof that is angled to take advantage of the sun during all seasons. It does not have roof gutters, catches the water in concrete gutters at ground level directing it and grey water to a mini wetland. It uses vestibules at entries to avoid drafts while shedding the rainwater from pedestrians. It will use either a combined heat and power system with a balanced heat recovery ventilator, or geothermal heat.
Roof overhangs provide shade to south facing windows. Use of the well insulated envelope should eliminate the need of air conditioning.

Again I emphasize that it will be a house to show how those combined features work together to save energy, provide comfort. The features could be adapted to many other floor plans, if they prove
to be as effiecient as I expect.

My plan is to build the house, keep it open and available for all interested parties to view for a year, keeping records of the, in and out door temperatures, humidity levels, energy consumed.
What I seek most is some sense of approval from the housing industry as a whole. Everyone so far has turned up their nose at the thought of composting toilets.