Tour of Green Homes Builders, Remodelers Choose Vinyl Siding

New Orleans tour homes built to NAHB's Model Green Home Building Guidelines

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- New Orleans builders/remodelers KC
Contractors and Olde World Builders and Remodelers relied on vinyl siding to
help rebuild three homes that suffered the effects of Hurricane Katrina. As
part of the Tour of Green Homes at the National Green Building Conference, the
projects were required to meet NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines.
While original plans for two of the homes called for fiber cement on the
exteriors, low-maintenance vinyl siding quickly became the builders' cladding
of choice. Unlike fiber cement, vinyl siding does not require painting or
caulking and can help builders earn points for resource efficiency and energy
efficiency in the NAHB Guidelines.
In addition to meeting NAHB Guidelines, vinyl siding has the potential to
contribute to achieving more points than other exterior cladding in the
leading green building certification programs including the United States
Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED(R) for New Construction and LEED(R) for
Homes Rating Systems and the draft National Green Building Standard(TM).
The selection of insulated vinyl siding by Janice Caddie, co-owner of KC
Contractors, and Toni Wendel, president of Olde World, for their respective
homes on the tour further validates vinyl siding's sustainable features of
durability; ease of installation; no need for paint, adhesives or sealants;
long useful life; and energy efficiency. What's more, the vinyl siding used by
both builders has been certified through the VSI Vinyl Siding Product
Certification Program for both product quality and color retention.
"Vinyl siding is the most popular choice for exterior cladding among
builders, remodelers and homeowners in the United States and Canada, yet some
seem surprised to learn that that it also is an environmentally preferable
product," said Jery Y. Huntley, president of the Vinyl Siding Institute, Inc.
(VSI). "The fact is, vinyl siding contributes less to global warming and
outperforms other exterior cladding in almost all of the performance measures
using Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES(R))
software. And it doesn't use or release materials shown to adversely affect
the health of manufacturers, installers or others."
KC Contractors rebuilt two homes for the tour to replace originals that
had been surrounded by up to eight feet of water brought on by Hurricane
Katrina. One home featured clay-colored insulated clapboard as the dominant
exterior cladding. "The vinyl siding we used was easily installed and
outstanding as far as aesthetics are concerned," Caddie says. "The homeowners
are very pleased with the look."
The other home by KC Contractors used white insulated clapboard in
combination with brick -- a practice that is becoming more and more popular.
Wendel says Olde World, responsible for the other remodeling project,
combined two different profiles, insulated beaded and board & batten, in
varying shades of beige on the front of their tour home to create a distinct
finished look. The back of the house featured a darker-hued insulated board &
batten. "The products are spectacular," she says, adding that along with
raising the homes four feet above the grade line in accordance with flood
elevation requirements and using wood framing, insulated vinyl siding was an
ideal choice to help the homes meet the NAHB Guidelines.
Additionally, a fourth home featuring vinyl siding was added to the tour.
Originally built by modular builders Palm Harbor Homes, Inc. in Florida, the
home was assembled in the parking lot of the Orange County Convention Center
as part of the annual International Builders' Show (IBS) Show Home Village.
The light weight of vinyl siding helped reduce transportation costs, and the
home was then transported to New Orleans to take part in the Tour of Green
Homes.
According to Huntley, helping builders and remodelers earn points in the
NAHB Guidelines is just one of vinyl siding's environmentally preferable
attributes. "Vinyl siding is the only exterior cladding with certification
programs for products, colors, and the professionals who install them -- all
of which are administered by an accredited, independent quality control
agency," she says. "This increases durability, and thus, sustainability."
More information on vinyl siding is available at
www.vinylsiding.org/environment .
About the Vinyl Siding Institute
The Vinyl Siding Institute, Inc., located in Washington, D.C., represents
manufacturers of vinyl and other polymeric siding and suppliers to the
industry. VSI is the sponsor of the VSI Vinyl Siding Product Certification
Program and the VSI Certified Installer Program.
www.vinylsiding.org .
Contact:
Molly Kersten
R/P Marketing Public Relations
(419) 241-2221
mkersten@r-p.com

SOURCE Vinyl Siding Institute

Molly Kersten of R-P Marketing Public Relations, +1-419-241-2221,
mkersten@r-p.com, for Vinyl Siding Institute