I was lucky enough to get to tour the first LEED H certified home in Houston this past Saturday. The home, designed by Houston architect Kathleen Reardon, boasts a recording studio and a slide from the 2nd floor to the 1st! It's a fun whimsical house that is a breath of fresh air amongst the typical Houston landscape. The  home averages $230 a month for electricity, very impressive for 4,200 square feet. The exterior walls are made of ICF, insulated concrete forms, which are hollow foam building blocks that are stacked and filled with concrete. The attic is also sealed and insulated with the insulation on the underside of the roof instead of the floor of the attic. This keeps a hot pocket of air from filling up the attic, a key component in LEED design. 14 Solar panels, visible only from the backyard, provide 20% of the homes electricity with 2 of them connected to a solar water-heating system that is used in conjunction with tankless Rinaii water heaters.

This home is an amazing example of "green design" done right. The home is as cool as the family that lives there! For more information on the home and materials used you can head to GreenHaus Builders.

Jamie