Local Builders Travel to St. Louis to Tour Green Homes

Members of the HBA of Greater Springfield's Green Building committee travelled Friday to St. Louis to meet with green builders from that area and to tour a few cutting-edge green-built homes. The HBA of Greater St. Louis and Eastern Missouri boasts one of the premier green building programs in the country.

The Springfield-area builders and other HBA members toured certified green homes and exchanged ideas and best practices with St. Louis area builders who also specialize in building homes in an environmentally sensitive and beneficial way. The St. Louis HBA's green building verification program was one of the first of its kind in the U.S. and is considered one of the most comprehensive and effective green building programs anywhere. The verification program is called the GBI-St. Louis Program. The verification process for the GBI-St. Louis Program is handled through Laclede Gas, the third party verifier, and the homes are verified for compliance with the NAHB Model Green Building Guidelines.

Above: Sam Bradley (left, Sam Bradley Homes), Zach Miller (center, Murney Associates),

and Jason Bekebrede (right, Monticello Homes) prepare to depart for St. Louis -

but not before they stop to pick up a few more HBA members who reserved seats for the trip.

HBA's Green Product Showcase a Big Success!

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.

View photos from the event in the slideshow below:

Discover Green Ideas To Grow On at HBA's Product Showcase Night

Learn more from industry professionals about products and processes involved in building a green home. "Green Ideas to Grow On" is the theme of the 2009 HBA Green Product Showcase Night on Tuesday, August 18 at the Clarion Hotel, 3333 S. Glenstone Ave. This year, HBA members can attend the show during a members-only time, 5:30 pm to 7 pm, for a light buffet and exclusive time to visit the exhibitors. Prizes including golf balls, the book "Go Green, Live Rich," and a water-efficient shower head will be given away during that timeframe. The meal cost is $15. From 7 pm to 8:30 pm, the event will also be open to the public by invitation. To RSVP or for more information, call 881-3711 or email carrie@springfieldhba.com.

Credit Crunch Hits NAHB Green Show Home

The New American Home 2010, a model of innovation in energy and resource efficiency, has now become a high profile model of restrictive lending practices by a banking industry that is choking off the supply of credit for residential construction.

As Las Vegas builder Domanico Custom Homes works tirelessly to complete the home in time for its debut in January at the 2010 International Builders' Show (IBS), the company must now contend with lenders who have cut off the supply of capital for even the best projects. The builder of one of the most heavily visited and widely covered show homes in the world is having trouble getting the financing needed to finish the project.

The 2010 home is being built to the new National Green Building Standard and will be a near net-zero-energy home. It serves as a laboratory that will help shape the building practices used by thousands of those who seek to produce energy efficient homes. However, Domanico Custom Homes has not been able to find a bank that will finance the final draw needed to complete the home, even though it is 60 percent finished.

"Instead of being a showcase for innovative new products and green building technologies, The New American Home 2010 has become a showcase of excessively restrictive lending practices and failed regulatory oversight," said Joe Robson, Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. "We've been hearing from builders across the country that banks are cutting way back on loans for construction, and this is a prime example."

NAHB is calling on banking regulators and the banking industry to end the stranglehold on acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans that has emerged as a major impediment to the housing recovery. Lenders are refusing loans for viable new housing projects and cutting off funding or calling performing outstanding loans, producing unnecessary foreclosures and losses on AD&C loans.

"The banking regulators need to allow and encourage lenders to give leeway to residential AD&C borrowers who have loans in good standing by providing flexibility on re-appraisals, loan modifications and perhaps forbearance to give builders time to complete and sell their lots and homes," Robson said. "The New American Home 2010 is a great home from a program that has a long history of sound performance and good returns. If the builder of this home has trouble getting a loan, then you know the system is not working."

The home was designed by the architecture firm KTGY Group of Irvine, Calif. Much smaller than other recent homes in the series, the 6,000 square foot desert-contemporary home is a model of space efficiency in residential design. The architects have also incorporated many universal design features into the home.

Adam Knecht, general manager at Domanico Custom Homes, said he understands the lenders' perspective.

"Banks are just not lending because Las Vegas has been a tough market," Knecht said. "But this is a beautiful home in a great location and it is the state-of-the-art in green building. The New American Home is seen by thousands of people - millions if you include feature articles in newspapers and magazines. We're not going to have trouble selling this home.

"If there is an investor out there looking for a good lending opportunity, I would love to hear from them," Knecht said.

The home's green building features include APEX block construction for exterior walls, a solar hot water system with gas backup, several types of insulation for different parts of the house, and photovoltaic cells. It also includes a greywater recycling system, tankless hot water heaters, high-efficiency furnaces, and "intelligent" fireplaces. It even has a green roof system to cover part of the patio.

Sponsored by the National Council of the Housing Industry (NCHI) and Builder Magazine, The New American Home is one of NAHB's most visible programs. The show home is just 10 minutes from the Las Vegas Convention Center. The home will be open for free guided tours during IBS 2010 exhibit hours. For more details, visit www.tnah.com.