“Energy efficiency has community benefits,” she said. “It creates local jobs and saves millions of dollars.”

“The built environment is humanity’s largest artifact,” Karolides said. “People spend 90% of their time indoors. How we design buildings is critical to our well-being.”

She cited the Village Homes of Davis, CA, as one of the earliest examples of a sustainable community. These homes were built in the early 70s during the oil embargoes and energy crisis.

The Village Homes were described as the “earliest of what are now called ‘ecoburbs,’ communities that respond to and respect native vegetation, plan their land to harvest water from natural drainage, and site homes and other buildings with respect to climate,” she said. “The houses at Village Homes were designed to take advantage of passive solar for heating, and depending on local climate and topography, siding for wind protection and natural ventilation.”

Karolides said that homes in the Davis subdivision achieved indoor comfort despite outside temperatures of up to 115 degrees F.

“The homes contained ceiling and oscillating fans, attic radiant barriers, a whole house fan, and double drywall,” she added.

Although the early homes were a hard sell, the mature subdivision has long waiting lists for buyers. Property values have soared.

Karolides also cited reasons why buildings are designed with the well-being factor in mind. “Day-lit schools [utilizing natural daylight in design] result in higher grades among the students,” she said.

Karolides disputed the opinion that greening a building is costly. But she added that cost is an important part of a financially successful project. “Green technology has to cost less to the developer, cost less to the homeowner, and cost less to the environment and its inhabitants,” she said.

Publication date: 06/17/2002