Real Estate

Green Built House Tour Features Eco-Friendly La Grange Home

The Lewandowskis have spent years preparing their home for LEED certification—and they have their final inspection just days before the tour.

Flushing the toilet confuses some of Anthony and Janet Lewandowski’s house guests.

Rather than pushing a simple lever, their commode requires that you make a choice: left button or right.

That equates to big flush or little—and in the long run that decision helps conserve water.

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“It starts a conversation,” said Anthony, laughing.

The adaptable toilet is just one of the earth-friendly features in the Lewandowski’s La Grange home, which will be featured this weekend during the Green Built House Tour. The event showcases 16 sustainable homes throughout northern Illinois.

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It’s fitting the tour will come just after the Lewandowskis reach a major milestone: the final inspection in their quest to have the home LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Read more about the Lewandowski's construction process.

A variety of criteria comprise the different levels of LEED certification, but at its most basic level, the label means a home has been constructed with the environment in mind at every stage during its life cycle.

You can see that conscientiousness in the Lewandowski’s home from the size of its footprint—narrow and tall so it’s surrounded by more lawn—to its casement windows, which shut more tightly in the long run than double hung frames.

While the painstaking thought process is very modern, the end product looks like a traditional home.

“The idea behind the house is we want to make it so people wouldn’t say, ‘I can tell this is a green house,'” Anthony said.

The Lewandowskis and their two children have lived in four houses in La Grange over the past 16 years, including another one they built on Peck and one they renovated on Bluff. They moved into their green home on Edgewood, which they built from a teardown, in February 2012.

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While it cost about 5 percent more to construct than a regular house, Anthony said the home is already paying them back in many ways.

Across the board, the family’s utility bills are about 50 percent less than in their previous homes. 

Janet wakes up with clear sinuses every morning thanks to the low-VOC paints and formaldehyde-free boards used for its walls. 

It only takes about an hour to dust the surfaces and sweep the floors because of the intricate filtration system that recirculates air in the well sealed three-story home.

You’d think that anyone who invested so much sweat equity into a home would be planning on living there forever, but that’s not the case for the Lewandowskis.

“I don’t have that nesting gene,” said Janet, who sells cabinetry and is a collage artist on the side.

There are other, stricter environmental building standards out there, which give the couple something to aim for in their next home, should it come to fruition. And because of this house, much of that research has already been done.

“So the next one should be faster,” said Janet, with a sly smile toward her husband.

The Lewandowskis hope their enthusiasm for green living catches on throughout La Grange.

“It’s normal now,” Anthony said, “or it should be.”

They have a small vegetable garden out back, filled with locally sourced plants, and would consider building a chicken coop should the village change its ordinance.

Most telling about the couple's philosophy is a line from an email I received from Anthony the day after I visited his home.

"Hopefully you realize that we live green, but it really isn’t that hard to do," he wrote, "and I think we live better for it." 

Visit the Lewandowski’s Saturday or Sunday as part of the Green Built House Tour. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online or by calling 312-245-8300. For more information, visit greenbuilthometour.org


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