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When it Comes to LEED, Platinum is the New Green

An architect committed to environmental stewardship uses 3D BIM software to design a home that's a Wisconsin first.

About seven years ago, Carol Richard, a partner from the Atlanta-based architecture firm Richard Wittschiebe Hand, bought an empty lot in the tree-lined Sunset Hills neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin. The plot would become the site of her new home.

Noting the tranquil landscape and the modest homes nearby, Richard concluded she shouldn't build anything "out of whack scale-wise." While planning her home in 3D BIM (building information modeling) software, she modeled her would-be neighbors' homes as well. She wanted to ensure that her house didn't tower over the rest.

The result was an inconspicuous 2,700 sq. ft. modern home smoothly integrated into a series of Cape Cod–style, post–World War II homes. Aesthetically, Richard has succeeded in blending in, but her residence now attracts attention for a different reason altogether: It's the first residential home in Wisconsin to earn the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Homes Platinum certification.

Carol Richard, a partner from Richard Wittschiebe Hand, built a home that became Wisconsin’s first LEED Platinum–certified residence.

Southern Light Box

"My intent was to create a 'light box,'" explained Richard, "with simple forms and clean lines, with large windows to the south."

The amount of light admitted into the rooms is controlled by a set of fixed louvers, offset about two feet from the front windows. "The width and depth of the individual louvers and the distance between the system and the windows was carefully calculated using modeling tools so that on June 23 [peak summer], no light penetrates the windows at all, but on December 21 [peak winter], light travels all the way to the back of the space [where the windows are]."

Richard's home is also equipped with low-flow lavatory faucets, low-flow showerheads, and dual-flush toilets, along with a roof washer and a 550-gallon rainwater collection tank. The water efficiency strategies resulted in the home being awarded 12 of the 15 possible points under the LEED Platinum crediting system.

Neighborly Adjustments

While modeling her home and its surroundings in detail in Graphisoft ArchiCAD, Richard was able to compare the scale of her home with her neighbors' houses. That gave her a good sense of the maximum height for her design.

"When it started out, [our roof] had a much steeper slope," Richard recalled. "But in the end, we went with a flat roof and kept the slope to a minimum. I didn't want our [roof] to be higher than the neighbors'."

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