Concordia LEED Platinum Portland Home

By archives on May. 6, 2009 | Topics: LEED, Single Family | 21 Comments

Zac Blodget, designer and owner of Portland’s first LEED Platinum home, sent me an email recently. His smartly designed home lacks the fuss usually associated with LEED Platinum palaces – no pun intended, but it’s down-to-earth – and Blodget has the green house listed for sale at $340,000. Located two blocks from Concordia University, the 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 1680 square-foot residence sits on a tight footprint on a corner lot. I’ve explained a number of its green elements below, but we also have a one-question poll at the end of the article (scroll down).

Concordia Residence is 25% more efficient than a similar Energy Star home and 40% more efficient than a similar code-built home. As is required in this area, 100% of the storm water is managed on-site, and water is economized through the use of dual-flush toilets, low-flow fixtures, drought-tolerant landscaping, and a rain barrel water reclamation system for irrigation. The home also has the following:

Efficient tankless water heater;
96% efficiency furnace;
Tightly sealed building envelope;
Automated fresh air delivery and air filtration;
Low-VOC and formaldehyde free materials;
Wheatboard kitchen cabinets;
PaperStone countertops;
Bamboo flooring throughout;
Recycled content fiber cement siding; and
Numerous windows providing abundant natural light.

Now that you know a little more about the Concordia Residence, you’re qualified to answer one question below. Will you tell me why Blodget hasn’t sold the home yet?

Photo credits: Design/Verte.

Article tags: residential

About archives: This article was contributed by the founder of Jetson Green. With the arrival of new ownership in December 2012, Preston left Jetson Green to pursue other business opportunities. If you have questions or need assistance, contact tips@jetsongreen.com.

Kelly Hanna

What ONE THING do you think this green house needs to sell at $340,000?
The fact the the house is on a corner lot is a major draw back.
- duane
  
  I disagree. I have lived on corner lots and they provide great views of the street, not your neighbors.
http://barrier-busting.com Nils

I think it needs to be staged, too. The empty kitchen just looks kind of sad.
Greg

My first answer is that the house hasn’t sold yet because I don’t live in Portland.

More seriously though, based on the pictures, the only downsides I can guess would be 1.) The house appears to take up most of the lot, situated very close to the street, and 2.) The pictures don’t make the floorplan look particularly spacious. Certainly not 1600 sqft spacioous.
Anonymous

The house is too close to the footpath, i would not spend this kind of money on a house so near the path and road.
duane

Seems to be a lot of yellow, both inside and out. I personally don’t mind the color but others might. If I lived in Portland I would consider buying the house.
duane

Any chance they could add cut-out roof top deck into the gable. Would be a great view of the street. Are there any other outdoor spaces, decks, etc…?
bobk

Going to preface my comments with the disclaimer that the pictures could be misleading, ie, different/more pictures may invalidate some or all of my comments.

I don’t know what comparables go for in the Portland mkt, but living in KC,KS – for that price I would expect a yard, a more open floorplan, and yes, more square footage for that price. I also agree partially or completely with the other commenters (especially the yellow paint – possibly the only thing that Zac has control over changing).

Finally, a better economy / housing market would mitigate a lot of the challenges.

Best of luck to Zac,
bobk
kaby

I agree with the comments that it needs staging and help with the paint colors. The exterior paint looks outdated and rather scary…
http://www.newenergyworks.com jonathan orpin

well, perhaps he shouldn’t have trusted his male instincts in the exterior color palette. often, eco-style homes lack style and quality, and it’s not hard to see through the green-wash of pvc windows, chinese flooring. a few thousand more dollars might have paid off. that said, there aren’t a lot of buyers here right now. another approach to leeds-h platinum in portland can be seen at http://www.vermontstreetproject.com.
GeorgeD

Lot position is key…if there is some type of backyard it might be OK, but as others have said the siting directly on the sidewalk is not very desirable for the average person.

The interior has a very vanilla feel to it. Monotonous color schemes in every room. Some people don’t see that as an issue since they customize once they move in, but a vast majority of people do not want to repaint every or most rooms in a new house; they want it move in ready. It also needs to be staged which could mitigate the paint issue.

Does it have a garage (noted in the survey) ? I live outside of Chicago, and nobody I know of would pay over $175,000 for a house with no garage.

In the end though, obviously the market is in the tank right now…marketing the house’s efficiencies would be a plus.
Abby Krumel

Tasteful interior staging.
http://mportlandrealestate.com Portland Real Estate

Gorgeous little place, and its not too far off of my commute home. I would love to scoop up a green LEED certified house in Portland. Keep em coming
http://www.facebook.com/people/Zac-Blodget/508067459 Zac Blodget

Wow, lots of good comments! I appreciate all of your feedback. I’d like to first say that I’m not too surprised that the paint colors aren’t too popular (I’m not exactly in love with them either). I’ve come close to spending the ~$2500 to just get the home repainted, but I’ve hesitated because I’d much prefer to have the home’s future occupants pick out the colors they’d like. When and if I ever do this again, I think I’ll have the home painted in a neutral colored primer and offer a paint credit. I have also staged the home recently, and I’ll be updating the pictures soon.

For those of you that are local to Portland, I’m having open houses every Sunday, 12-5 PM if you’d like to stop by and take a tour of the house.
MMahaffey

I think it really needs some staging, as far as I could tell in the pics it looks like it may have a little akward floor plan and the spaces need to be well defined. This is expecially true in older homes with smaller rooms. People just can picture how things will fit. Hire a stager and I bet you get it sold.
green pea

A better location. The area where this house is located can not support a home of this price. Not when homes in better, established areas of SW, including Lake Oswego are selling for the $400k’s. Granted, they are not comps. with regards to quality. But location trumps green any day.
- http://mahalie.com/notebook mahalie
  
  I would agree with the commenters about the lack of yard. I don’t mean it needs grass but it looks uncomfortable so close to the sidewalk. Perhaps there’s a back yard we aren’t seeing? Outdoor spaces are important, especailly in the PNW where residents sun worship during their brief season respite from cloudy weather.
  
  Also, I recently looked at unemployment stats and they were considerably higher in OR compared to WA and even CA.
Jennifer

I toured the home and the complete lack of yard or outdoor space combined with the fact that it sits on a corner half-lot right on the sidewalk is what killed it for me. I loved the inside. Just too much money for not enough space, especially for a family with children.
Milos

This house at a steal. The house does not need to change, it’s the buyers how need to change. Well built, healthy, efficient and with a great layout this house is far superior to any older home with single pane windows, bad plumbing and outdated electrical and heating systems that are prevalent in the area.
Anonymous

I’m not familiar with the neighbourhood so I don’t know how this home fits, but at first glance it seems to lack curb appeal. As a green home, it certainly doesn’t need to be bigger or have a two car garage or a grass lawn. Maybe a heat pump?
chosen

The house needs more style. I believe that most “green” home buyers are also individuals that appreciate a more modern styled interior. At worst a “green” home buyer wants something that doesn’t look like an average subdivision builder designed the interior.

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