Builder Information

Some Background

There is growing homeowner interest in having homes that are more green. Some clients will want a new home or remodel that has green certification and others will simply want to have green products in their home, where possible. So, what are green hearth products? A basic reference point to identify them can be found in current green construction specifications. They are:

1. The US Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

2. The National Association of Homebuilders(NAHB) pending National Green Building Standard.

Unfortunately, these specifications are somewhat myopic as they relate to hearth products. They both have a very narrow perspective and only consider the potential problems that hearth products can have on indoor air quality. In spite of this, they do allow a wide variety of hearth products to be used. It appears that this has happened because the specification writers had a limited understanding of hearth products. In some cases they allow very energy wasting designs to be used, while giving no credit for other hearth products that are actually more efficient than central heating systems. In other cases, amazingly, they give no additional credit for clean burning hearth products that use renewable and sustainable fuels and no additional credit to fuels that do not contribute to global warming.

The US Green Building Council LEED rating system:
The USGBC is a 12,000 organization strong green building and certification, non profit corporation that encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. Their LEED system is the only current system for specifying and certifying green construction. Here are their green hearth products:

1. Heater rated gas fireplaces (Z21.88/CSA2.33) are acceptable. This allows hundreds of different gas fireplaces to be used, if they are heater rated. It does not allow "decorative" rated fireplaces and for some unknown reason it does not allow heater rated gas stoves and inserts.

2. Masonry fireplaces must be masonry heaters that comply with
(ASTM1602 and IBC 2112.1). This only allows the special category of masonry heaters and eliminates all site built masonry fireplaces.

3. All EPA certified wood stoves, inserts and fireplaces are acceptable. This allows hundreds of certified clean burning wood stoves and inserts currently sold and it allows certified clean burning fireplaces. It does not allow factory built, open, wood burning fireplaces.

4. Essentially all pellet stoves and pellet inserts are acceptable.

National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) pending National Green Building Standard.

This new NAHB standard will likely be approved in 2008. NAHB has essentially copied the USGBC in defining green hearth products, but has eliminated masonry heaters. Here are their green hearth products:

2. All EPA certified wood stoves, inserts and fireplaces are acceptable. This allows hundreds of certified clean burning wood stoves and inserts currently sold and it allows certified clean burning fireplaces. It does not allow factory built, open, wood burning fireplaces.

3. Essentially all pellet stoves and pellet inserts are acceptable.

A Better Standard For Green Hearth Products

Green hearth products have much greater impact on the environment than just air quality inside a home. The HeatGreen Council has prepared a detailed list of green hearth products, properly considering all relevant environmental aspects. A complete listing of green hearth products is shown in Fireplace and Stove Ratings section. Only those hearth products that can be used as a primary heat source are included. Here's a summary of all the important features of green hearth products, including those that the green building specifications have missed:

Heater Rated Gas Hearth Products:

1. Gas Stoves and inserts too: In addition to the natural gas and propane fireplaces listed in the specifications, natural gas and propane stoves and inserts need to be included. These appliances are tested to the same heater rated specification and they tend to be even more efficient than gas fireplaces.

2. Thermostats: Only gas fireplaces and stoves controlled by a thermostat should be used because when they are wall switch controlled, they can waste substantial amounts of energy by being left on when they are not needed.

3. Electronic Ignition: Only gas appliances with electronic ignition should be used. Many gas fireplaces and some stoves now come with electronic ignition (and optional standing pilots for very cold weather). This feature eliminates standing pilot lights. Most homeowners do not turn their pilot lights off during warmer weather. Standing pilots needlessly consume about 175 watts of power when not needed. This amounts to existing gas fireplaces and stoves currently wasting about 350,000,000 Kilowatt Hours of gas energy annually in the US.

4. More Efficient: Gas fireplaces and stoves are more efficient than typical ducted central heating systems installed in homes and therefore save energy and reduce CO2 emissions. Duct work can lose as little as 5% of the heat coming from the central furnace. The US Department of Energy however, states that typical systems lose 25% to 40% due to poor design, incorrect installation, leakage and aging. Hearth appliances lose nothing, so their listed efficiency is their overall efficiency. Hearth appliances are also zone heaters, not wasting energy by heating rooms not being used. Heater rated gas hearth appliances also provide substantial radiant heat which is not only more enjoyable, but reduces the circulation of airborne mold and allergens. Here's the efficiency comparison:

1. HVAC Typical High Efficiency Central Gas Furnaces: 90% Efficient X 75% Duct Efficiency* X 85% Zone Efficiency = 57% Overall Efficiency

2. HVAC Typical Low Efficiency Central Gas Furnaces: 80% Efficient X 60% Duct Efficiency* X 85% Zone Efficiency = 41% Overall Efficiency

3. Gas and Biomass Hearth Appliance Efficiency: 70% Efficient X 100% Duct Efficiency X 100% Zone Efficiency = 70% Overall Efficiency

Wood burning fireplaces and stoves: Same as the USGBC and NAHB requirements which do not allow open, wood burning fireplaces. Masonry heaters should also be allowed as they are very efficient and clean burning. Additionally, these appliances should be given credit for the fact that they use a renewable and sustainable fuel. And, with the fuel being carbon neutral, they do not contribute to global warming.

Pellet Stoves: Only pellet stoves and inserts that are self starting and controlled by a thermostat should be used. Manual ignition pellet stoves that are manually controlled waste large amounts of fuel because they are left on low burn for hundreds of hours a year instead of being turned off and manually reignited when they are needed again. Additionally, these appliances should be given credit for the fact that they use a renewable and sustainable fuel. And, with the fuel being carbon neutral, they do not contribute to global warming.

Electric Fireplaces and Stoves: Electricity is perfect for some uses and poor for others. Electric hearth appliances can be very good looking, decorative, save installation money and be easy to install. But, they are definitely not green heating sources. Not only are they not able to be a primary heating source, but according to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, electrical energy delivered to a home is only 20% efficient overall. They may be 99% efficient once the electricity is delivered to a home, but 80% is lost getting there! Why not burn natural gas in a fireplace that is 70% efficient instead of burning natural gas at a remote power plant that loses 80% of its energy in getting to a home?

In Summary
So, when you are building a green home or doing a green remodeling, don't jut use the green building specifications. Be sure to use the HeatGreen Council's additional features needed in green hearth products. Using these features that are described above insures that there will still be a wide selection of hearth products to choose from, but only the most green will be used.

A quick green hearth product list for builders:
1. Look for gas fireplaces and stoves with electronic ignition.
2. Understand that clean burning wood stoves, clean burning fireplaces, masonry heaters and pellet stoves need to be given extra value because they use a renewable and sustainable fuel that does not contribute to global warming.
3. Look for automatic ignition pellet stoves that are controlled by a thermostat, as these appliances waste very little fuel.
4. Don't look for electric hearth appliances.