Builder Andrew Moore in Arlington's first gold-certified energy efficient home. (Photo: TBD Staff)

At 3017 North Underwood Street in Arlington, the windows are double paned, the insulation is spray-foamed, and the carpet is recycled. These are just three of the many things that make it one of the most “green” homes in the county.

The house just received a gold-level green building certification from the National Association of Home Builders, making it the first single-family residential home in Arlington to receive that designation. It also has two energy efficiency ratings from independent auditors.

So how much more did it cost to build this home than one built to current codes? Builder Andrew Moore of Arlington Designer Homes sort of hedges his answer, but he claims that every green home doesn’t have to cost as much as this one. (For the record, the 5,000 square foot contemporary house is currently under contract for more than 1.2 million.)

According to one metric, the home is 45 percent more efficient than a home built to regular standards — something that may become far more common if Arlington County implements new recommendations from its energy task force.The recommendations, if implemented, would require new homes to be 30 percent more efficient beginning in 2015.

“There’s $40,000 of windows. This is a $100,000 kitchen,” Moore says as he stands in the kitchen, one hand on the marble counter top. Even with less expensive amenities, he says, the house could have met the gold standard from the home builders association. The HVAC system cost $18,000, but he could have saved a quarter of that and still had a high level of energy efficiency, according to Moore.

The savings later, he points out, more than make back the additional money laid out by a green home buyer. The solar-assisted hot water heater, for example, could be paid off in 12 to 18 months and after that represents pure cost savings on energy bills, he says.

Still, even with the home’s amenities and Arlington’s penchant for environmentally friendly design, the home didn’t exactly sell in a snap. It went on the market in January, and ADH just recently started getting offers after lowering the asking price to $1.27 million. But the company is about to build another one of the homes “on spec,” this one in Falls Church.

Many of the green practices that make ADH’s homes more efficient have become standard practice for the company. “We’re trying to build for future codes,” he says. “The building industry in general could be doing so much better.”

And yes, he acknowledges, there are critics that wonder about such a large home, or one with two garages, being truly green. But Moore says that’s a reality of the way many people live their lives and make housing decisions. “We’re trying to build a green house, yes,” he says. “We’re also trying to build a green house for the way we live.”