Even in a challenging housing market, people remain interested in all things green. The HBA of Greater Springfield opened its annual Green Building Product Showcase Night to members of the public for the first time at its 2009 event, following an exclusive "members-only" screening of the latest green building products, materials, and techniques the local industry has to offer. The event, held on Tuesday, August 18, featured 31 cutting edge booths and lots of interest from more than 200 HBA members and interested consumers.
In its July 20-27 issue, Springfield Business Journal reported that the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield will host a Green Product Showcase Night on August 18 at the Clarion Hotel. The article also shared the HBA will offer designation classes locally for people who wish to pursue their Certified Green Professional designation. Those courses will be offered September 9-11, 2009. Tuition charges apply. Registration is through the HBA of Greater Springfield's education coordinator, Carrie Smith.
GREEN ACT THE RIGHT APPROACH FOR AFFORDABLE, SUSTAINABLE HOMES, SAYS NAHB
In testimony before Congress on June 11, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) praised H.R. 2336, the GREEN Act of 2009, which sets new green building and sustainability benchmarks for properties that get financial assistance from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
But NAHB President Jerry Howard also left members with a warning: H.R. 2454, the other major piece of climate change legislation now before Congress, includes requirements that conflict with H.R. 2336 - making the GREEN Act obsolete before it's even signed.
"I am hopeful that this Subcommittee will be able to restore the balance necessary to truly incentivize green building and preserve affordability as the debate over climate change continues," Howard said. "It would be terribly disappointing to see the good faith effort and collaborative work on the GREEN Act displaced with unworkable federal mandates as envisioned in H.R. 2454."
Howard told lawmakers on the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity that the association's members agree with the bill's approach, which will ensure cost-effective energy-efficiency improvements to HUD-financed homes.
In accompanying written testimony, Howard detailed the strides NAHB members have made toward the creation of more sustainable housing stock and the education, certification and training programs the association has launched to further that growth.
"We have a major role to play in the manner in which energy efficiency and sustainable technologies are introduced into the housing stock," Howard said. "Despite the downturn, NAHB has not wavered in its commitment to promoting green building and energy efficiency in a manner that is affordable and effective, and legitimately improves energy efficiency for the next generation of housing."
Howard asked Congress to rework some sections of GREEN Act's text: It is unclear in the current draft whether new efficiency requirements apply to Federal Housing Authority-financed home purchases as well as to direct subsidy programs or competitive grants.
"The scope of the GREEN Act and the new programs that it creates is ambitious, but the intent is thoughtful and NAHB hopes that the resources will ultimately be available to develop the programs into effective tools to promote sustainable principles," he said.
Source: NAHB.org
The National Green Building Standard™ for all residential construction work including single-family homes, apartments and condos, land development and remodeling and renovation was approved today by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
The approval signals a new era for the nation’s builders, remodelers and developers and also provides an extra measure of reassurance for home buyers, said Joe Robson, a home builder in Tulsa, Okla., and Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
“The National Green Building Standard is now the first and only green building rating system approved by ANSI, making it the benchmark for green homes,” said Ron Jones, who chaired the consensus committee charged with developing the standard.
“The standard provides home builders and remodelers with a much more expansive third-party rating system that they can use to achieve green certification under NAHBGreen and the National Green Building Certification Program,” said Mike Luzier, CEO of the NAHB Research Center.
The Research Center provides certification for NAHBGreen projects, which until now have only included single-family homes. “Consumers are looking for authentic, verifiable green building practices, and now they’ll find them with a true industry consensus standard for residential green building,” Luzier said.
The standard defines what green practices can be incorporated into residential development and construction and how home owners can operate and maintain their green homes.
But the National Green Building Standard also provides for flexibility – allowing home builders and home buyers to make green choices based on climate and geography as well as style preferences and budget.
As part of the stringent process required by ANSI, NAHB and the International Code Council gathered a fully inclusive and representative consensus committee composed of a broad spectrum of builders, architects, product manufacturers, regulators and environmental experts. The work of the consensus committee was administered by the NAHB Research Center, an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer.
The consensus committee deliberated the content of the standard for more than a year, held four public hearings and evaluated over 2 ,000 public comments in the development of the standard.
[EDITORS’ NOTE: Representatives from NAHB and the International Code Council will hold a teleconference early next week to discuss what the standard means to home owners, elected officials and the building industry. A media advisory regarding the date, time and call-in number will be released Friday, Jan. 30.]
