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International Builders' show house: big but green

The 2008 New American Home, from the International Builders' Show in Orlando (James F. Wilson / February 20, 2008)

Gary Dymski | Home Work

February 21, 2008

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Like many of its predecessors, the New American Home 2008 is big on luxury, big on space, big on, well, everything.

"It's too, too big," says Ray Accettella, president of the Long Island Builders Institute and an executive at Jarro Building Industries, an East Meadow contractor.

The sprawling, two-story plantation-style residence in a prestigious Lake Nona, Fla., subdivision has a $4.8-million price tag and, as a featured attraction of the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla., pulled in thousands of visitors last week.

"Big, big, big," Accettella says, shaking his head.

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Colleague Colette Frey-Baker agrees. "We have families, especially here on Long Island, who can't afford homes, and everyone is telling us we have to build smaller, greener," says Frey-Baker, who owns Delft Enterprises, a Center Moriches construction and property-management firm.

The 25th home in the series, which is sponsored by the National Council of the Housing Industry and the National Association of Home Builders, is nearly 7,000 square feet, plus 2,950 square feet of covered outdoor living space.

It has four bedrooms, including a master suite that spans the house's entire western framework; two laundry rooms; a second-story game room/ theater room; a first-floor guest suite, complete with kitchenette; and a leisure room off the kitchen with two walls that retract and open to a landscaped pool.

Built to flaunt the latest new-house trends in technology, design and style, the New American Home in recent years has earned its share of disdain from industry professionals because the structures have become palatial, saturated in decadence and dripping in luxury. The first home in the series, built in 1984 in Houston, was only 1,500 square feet, but recent show houses consistently have come in at 6,000 to 8,000 square feet.

What's happened? Manufacturers and builders want to showcase as much product as possible, and they can't do it in 1,500 square feet. If people - homeowners, builders and remodelers - see products in use, they'll be better able to make decisions on application, purchasing and installation.

If anyone understands the size issue, it's Dan Slater, a southwest Florida architect and the 2008 home's chief designer. "What we tried to do," Slater says, "is to feature product and design that can be used in smaller homes. And we've done some of this in other homes we've built." Certainly, carpet made from recycled plastic, Energy Star appliances and an eco-friendly landscape design are features that can be applied to any house, anywhere, any size.

And, big as it is, this year's home is green certified, achieving a gold rating - the highest status in the new National Association of Home Builders' Green Building Program. With solar hot water, high-efficiency mechanical systems and airtight insulation, energy consumption is cut by 64 percent for cooling; 55 percent for heating; and 57 percent for hot water.

Overall, the New American Home is 62 percent more energy-efficient than a similar size home built to the conventional "non-green" code.

Such energy efficiency tells one Long Island contractor, Tony Panza of Turtle Pond Builders in Southampton, that there's a lot to like in this spacious designer home. "We can't tell people not to build homes that are 6,000 and 7,000 square feet," Panza says, "so when they do build them, we should try to make them as energy-efficient and as green as possible."

If that's the case, and Long Island Builders Institute executive vice president Michael Watt seems to think so, this year's home is a success. "What amazes me," Watt says, "is the home's marriage of functionality and luxury. In the past, it wasn't always so easy to have both."

Project manager Steve Robertson, whose family business, Robertson Homes, is developing the high-end, 11-site subdivision, says the New American Home is geared toward the highly successful professional. Pro golfer Ernie Els owns a house nearby, and across the lake sits a medical center with some of the best doctors in the nation, Robertson says. "The homes in this subdivision are geared to people with substantial incomes."

So, what's the average Joe get from such a structure?

Look past all the high-end features, Panza advises. For one, Panza was intrigued by the home's wastewater system, which uses an aerobic septic design that reduces the amount of nitrogen released into the soil and recycles water for landscape irrigation.

"In Southampton, where we have issues with groundwater and the water quality along the shoreline, this is something worth exploring," Panza says. The drawback: An aerobic system is three or four times more expensive than a traditional septic system.

Another plus, Panza says, is the water-treatment system of the in-ground pool and spa. The system uses sea salt to create chlorine gas that is soluble in water. It's a greener, cleaner way to sanitize pools, and, Panza says, and it means storing fewer harmful chemicals on site.

From a design standpoint, the open-air space could work on Long Island, says Watt. Two walls of the home's den/great room are made from sliding glass doors that retract and open to the pool area. "I think the doors are sufficiently insulated so the idea would work on Long Island, especially in the high-end home."