Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:
When I did high-end building, I would do the occasional 'Green' project, including LEEDs, all the way to full Off-Grid.
My thoughts - 1) It is a really expensive way to build. REALLY. Especially to do it right and get Leeds Certification. 2) A lot of the building techniques, products and practices are not practical, they are just there to be cool and groovy. 3) To run a house with solar requires a huge system, plus battery back-up, once again terribly expensive with a long payback that limits it to the wealthy.
Not saying that there are not positives to the whole concept, of course there are, but it is just not viable, may never be, because unfortunately, money is the driver as always. Unless people want Govt control of building and super high taxes to finance this, then it is going to stay a playground for the entitled, more or less.
Having said that, of course it would just simply be smart of consumers to want their homes to be as efficient (cheap to operate) as possible. And I think we do a pretty good job of that already.
Just my .02
Unfortunately it sounds like your experience was with a team that did not prioritize using the integrated design approach to seek out maximum benefit to each strategy used (stacking functions, synergistic benefits). So you are absolutely correct - that approach is a disaster and can end up costing much, much more and turn people off. Also, the market is ever-changing, so doing a LEED (no s) project 10 years ago could have more of a per/SF cost premium that in today's market. No VOC paints were very expensive back then - today they are cost comparable to any other quality paint.
Regarding solar - yes, still very costly, especially if including battery backup. I am actually in the process of adding that to my house as we speak. Although the overall cost is high, when you compare dollars - from a monthly expense, we are a wash with what my electric cost is (fully electric home). There are also tax benefits and SRECs you can use from that system. The bigger picture with any energy source is to minimize the need for it from the outset. So, super tight envelope, added insulation, high performance appliances (as budget allows), LED lighting... all reduce overall demand. My home is 3,100 sf and we have one mini split (ducted) for the whole house. For what it's worth, there is also a report from LBNL that has found that homes with solar add $3/watt produced of value to homes. Not sure how they came up with that, but take it for what it's worth.
