Published by Martha Danly under Green Building, Inside Design, LEED, Sustainability

In citing the top three factors that drive real estate valuation, the universal drum beat ‘Location, Location, Location’ has been around forever. For sure, location is a big part of the green home, but to create the greenest of homes we need to step it up a level. So it’s time to upgrade the realtors’ ancient maxim. From now on, it’s ‘Integration, Integration, Integration.’

That’s the lens that David and Sara Gottfried used for viewing the 1915 Craftsman home they purchased and renovated in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland, California. “When it comes to being green, it’s all about where you live and how you live,” says David. The purpose of selecting and greening a home is to mesh our living situations with our lives and our work, so they can all operate in balance. That’s integration.

Of all people, David should know. He’s CEO of Regenerative Ventures, a consultancy that helps businesses with green building initiatives, and he founded the U.S. Green Building Council and the World Green Building Council, two of the most influential organizations driving sustainability in the built environment.

The Gottfried home, which was recently awarded the highest green ratings of any in the United States, didn’t attain these scores based purely on whiz-bang energy features and technological marvels. Its chart-topping greenhood began well before the renovation, based on the Gottfrieds’ selection criteria for the home.

With two young children, a busy medical practice (Sara’s) and a thriving consulting business (David’s), the Gottfrieds began the search process by understanding their needs and creating a list of requirements for their new home. Meeting those standards would enable them to live sustainably according to a full range of life dimensions: ease of transportation and shopping, connection with neighbors, ability to grow food and flowers, managing the carbon footprint of the house, building orientation, property layout, connection with history, aesthetic quality – all solid bones. That’s a far cry from 4 BDR, 3 BA.

A sense of place—living in a location that means something to us and in a home that nourishes us—is central to green living. Here are a few of the elements that the Gottfrieds chose when they bought their home, in order to fashion an appropriate sense of place.

The neighborhood feels more like a European city than like most American cities; in just two blocks between my parked car and their front door, I saw three women pushing strollers, several kids on bikes, a couple carrying full grocery bags, and another two ladies out for a stroll. The house sits five doors away from the Rockridge shopping district that stretches along College Avenue, where you can buy whatever you need for supper, get a cup of coffee, pick up a book, visit a gallery; the list goes on. Most important, you can ditch your car (on occasion or forever), as it’s an eight-minute walk to the Bay Area Rapid Transit stop, then a 30-minute ride to downtown San Francisco.

It was important to David and Sara that they buy an existing home, making use of the embodied energy already there. The house is on a level lot on a flat street, which is not a gimme in the hilly Bay Area. The advantage here, of course, it that it’s easier to get around by foot, bike, or stroller, and gardening is greatly simplified.

The house itself is a gem of a Craftsman. My own first home was an 1828 Federal colonial outside of Boston, so I can fully appreciate the love and attachment one can have for a house that combines good design, handmade features and rich history. The Craftsman has two other things going for it—its typically urban location and compact footprint. The Small Is Beautiful movement notwithstanding, this 1,460 square-foot house presented real layout challenges to creatively maximize the space for a family of four.

Siting was another major factor in the Gottfried’s purchase decision. The south-facing home has excellent positioning for solar energy, and the level garden gets plenty of sun with room for vegetable and flower beds—it was gratifying to see artichokes making their way in the low-angled January sun.

And what more ideal commute could be had than a 50-foot stroll? From the back door to David’s free-standing office in the garden, it’s just a short meander with mug in hand. The office—a10′x12′ steel structured LifePod—is another element of the integrated life for the Gottfried family. Privacy and solitude are always at hand, plus the ability to pop back into the house whenever needed.

Using eco-efficient location as the foundation for integration, the Gottfrieds then focused on home layout. Look for the next blog in the series to pick up on this topic: small house, big agenda.